Located in the central WA Cascades, Sloan Peak is the highest summit west of Glacier Peak. Beckey calls it the €œMatterhorn of the Cascades.€ This climb involves moderate snow and glacier travel and some steeper 4th class rock. Recent reports say the access trail (Sloan Peak Trail # 648) is in bad shape due to a lack of maintenance and avalanche damage. Prepare for up to four river crossings and for attentive navigation to stay on the approach route.

Activity Notes

This remote and distinctive peak in the Central Washington Cascades offers a unique route to the summit: a near-complete circumnavigation of the peak that gives the route its name.

Because it's a long drive, we'll carpool from Portland on Friday afternoon. We'll hike in on Saturday, climb Sunday and then hike out and drive home on Monday. It will be a long, and hopefully, worthwhile weekend!

The approach has a river crossing and climbs through some rarely traversed forests to a high camp. On summit day, we'll cross the Sloan Glacier to the east of the peak heading south, then we'll wrap west and curliqueue our way up to the summit form the southwest. Then we return to camp.

Other Information
Driving Distance from Portland 260 miles
Driving Time from Portland 5 hours
Expected Duration Car to car in two or more days
Relevant Books Cascade Alpine Guide: Stevens Pass to Rainy Pass by Fred Beckey
Relevant Maps USGS 7 minute series, Sloan Peak, and Green Trails, Sloan Peak, #111 <href="http: maps.google.com="" maps?f="q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Sloan+Peak&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=40.732051,93.164063&ie=UTF8&ll=48.041509,-121.340089&spn=0.016843,0.04549&t=p&z=15&iwloc=addr"" title="Google map">Google map</href="http:>
Useful Links GPS Track New Window Icon Icon two stacked browser windows. GPS Coordinates New Window Icon Icon two stacked browser windows. Map New Window Icon Icon two stacked browser windows.
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