Mazamas — For the Love of Mountains
The most commonly misspelled peak in Oregon and one of a handful of alpine rock routes, this is a fairly easy day climb. It may look quite challenging from the start, but the technical climbing is just one pitch of easy 5th class rock at the top. Duct taping your boot tops is recommended for the scree descent. An apres climb swim in Diamond Lake is recommended.
Known as “the Lightning Rod of the Cascades”, the striking summit of Mt. Thielsen is the 7th highest peak in Oregon. The peak was named for a pioneer road builder, Hans Thielsen. It is similar in age and structure to Three Fingered Jack and Mt Washington, where glaciation and other types of erosion have left a relatively solid exposed plug of basaltic andesite. The plug is excellent rock in contrast to the rest of the mountain, which is generally poor. There is a small remnant glacier on Thielsen, and thus summiting this peak qualifies one for Mazamas membership.
The first ascent was done in 1883.
Activity Notes
Carpool will meet at MMC on Saturday, 9/7/19 at noon to drive to Diamond Lake Campground. All 238 campsites are walk up after 9/3/19 so we should be able to secure 2 sites for the evening. We will begin our climb at the Mt. Thielsen Trailhead at 6am. A strenuous hike leads to a sublime single pitch of protected 5th class rock to the summit. Leader plans on maintaining a moderate hiking pace, please only apply if you feel conditioned enough to keep a 2-2.5 mph pace. We'll rappel off the top and then carefully descend the choss. Back to the cars in time to drive back to Portland around sundown. Sound good?! Climb on...
| Other Information | |
|---|---|
| Driving Distance from Portland | 250 miles |
| Driving Time from Portland | 5 hours |
| General Route Info | summitpost https://www.summitpost.org/mount-thielsen/150419 mountain forecast https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Mount-Thielsen/forecasts/2797 |
| Expected Duration | Car to car in one day |
| Relevant Books | Oregon High by Jeff Thomas |
| Relevant Maps | USGS 7 minute series, Mt. Thielsen and Diamond Lake Google map https://goo.gl/maps/xg6vS1k4prQ2 |
| Useful Links | GPS Track GPS Coordinates Map |
