Mount Washington Standard Route

I met friends Paul M, Troy B, and Michael W at Big Lake campground late on a Thursday evening with an intended climb the following morning. For Paul this was his 14th ascent of Washington. For Troy, his final Oregon Cascade volcano, with Michael and I closing in on also finishing up the Oregon Volcanoes. Paul has been up the mountain many times, and I declared him our official guide. Anyway, with some of us arriving a little late we weren't up and on the trail until 7ish the next morning. The hike felt like it went pretty quick, but we weren't at the first climb pitch until 10am or so.  

Paul surveys the route

Up the north ridge

Once at the notch Michael led the first pitch, setting a belay for the rest of us to subsequently follow up. There is a lot of talk about ramps, and which one to take, about the only advice I can offer is its not first big wide ramp that you could walk up. We climbed the narrower steeper ledge right above that first ramp. The vertical climbing had one interesting move where the pitch is overhanging a bit, I experienced a slight amount of hamstring cramping getting myself up and over that one, never a great experience climbing rock. 

Up the 1st pitch

Once above that first pitch, Paul led us through the maze of route options scrambling up to the summit. Lots of fun little variations through this section, and it can feel pretty exposed at times. The rock is solid in many sections so you're not hanging out into the breeze, but at other times you find yourself traversing loose talus across a slope that feels almost vertical.

Upper mountain climbing

We had a nice long respite on the summit, taking time for pictures and eating while being swarmed by flying ants. After an hour or so we'd had enough and headed back down. We rappelled off directly off the summit, scrambled down some, then rappelled the last steep pitch to the notch below. This 2nd rappel was pretty airy, with you kind of hanging out over a slot that carves into the east face of the mountain.

Rappelling off the north ridge

Rappelling off the summit

Overall this was a very nice climb. Perfect weather, good group, and nice to finally pick this peak off my life list of Oregon Mountains.  I've been climbing peaks here in Oregon for about 10 years now, its been a great experience. I started slowly with the non-technical peaks, doing a lot of Eastern Oregon stuff, and then moved on to the more challenging mountains these last 4 years. It's worked well for me, and I would recommend it to anyone.