Del Campo Peak, South Gully

Activity Notes

Driving Info:

Carpooling is allowed, but those in each car should be vaccinated or live together.

Please contact the leader in the week before the climb and share your transportation plans. I plan to leave Friday morning, July 9 from NW Portland. This should avoid traffic issues on the I-5 bridge, as well as Seattle and Everett jamups.

I can take 3 riders - email me to reserve a spot, plan to meet me at my home at 700AM Saturday (I will give you directions).

Take I-5 North to Everett (exit 194) and turn onto Highway 2. Proceed east 2 miles to Highway 204 junction, then 2.5 miles on 204 to Highway 9. Go north on highway 9 for 1.5 miles to reach Highway 92. Take 92 (aka Mountain Loop Highway) east toward and through Granite Falls. Continue east through Robe, Verlot, and Silverton. After about 38 miles on 92, reach Barlow Pass. Park here. A NW Forest Pass is required. Time, about 5 hours from Portland, distance 250 miles. We will plan to meet at 12:30 PM on Friday at the pass parking area (NW Forest pass required).  Note:  there have been car break-ins here in past,  so don't  leave anything of great value in the vehicle (arrange gear sharing in advance, so extra tents or stoves are not left behind). .

Roundtrip mileage from Portland is about 500 miles. The Mazamas suggested gas contribution is $0.10 cents per mile, or $50 per person to a maximum of $150 per car, payable to the driver (the drivers should let riders know the expected charge in advance). The most dangerous part of the trip may well be the drive home, and you don’t even have a belay here. Please carpool for safety and take a nap en route if you need to.

Approach:

The hike-in begins at Barlow Pass from the gated Monte Cristo Road.

From there, hike 1.2 miles to the trailhead, just before the road crosses the South Fork of the Sauk River. The Weden Creek Trail #724 (2500 ft) takes off on the right side of the road. The trail starts off relatively easy for the first 30 minutes. After that there is a series of pretty steep switchbacks on pretty good trail. Finally, the way enters more open country and levels. Before long, you will reach a series of three creek crossings in slot gorges. This area can be dangerous when snow is present and may not be clear until late July in some years. Here are your first major views.

The next section is in brush and the trail is rather rough and rocky. Eventually, King Kongs Showerbath is reached. Pass Consolidated Mine and continue climbing steeply via a very rocky section of trail. In some spots, you need to use your hands to climb. The way enters heather terrain for a half mile before reaching the crest of the ridge and entrance to Gothic Basin. The way goes a bit more to a small pond and a campsite. To reach Foggy Lake, climb up the buttress above the pond and find the outlet stream. Follow the stream<br> to 5200-foot Foggy Lake where we will camp on the SE side. The hike in is about 4 miles with 3200 ft elevation gain, and should take about 4-5 hours.

Climb:

The climb will be done on Saturday. The summit is about 0.5 miles NNW from Foggy Lake. Leave camp by 7 AM Saturday. From the east side of the lake, the standard route ascends a shoulder north of the lake and then climbs northwest until just left of a gully leading to a notch east of the summit. Climb left of the gully on ledges (class 3) until just above the notch and then move up the face to just below another notch on the SE buttress, bypass a 30 ft step and scramble up boulders and heather to the summit on the NE side (We may use a fixed line and prussiks if needed - though I have not used them on past climbs). We will descend the route, return to camp. Time about 4 hours round trip.

After a lunch break back at camp, we will climb Gothic peak. It is approached by an Southwesterly traverse across Gothic basin and up to the SE summit ridge. A bit of class 2-3 scrambling among boulders and small trees reaches the summit. Time from camp around 3 hrs round trip. Return to campsite later afternoon.

Spend another night at camp, them hike 3-4 hours out early Sunday morning July 22 and drive home, arriving back around 6PM.