Eldorado Peak

Overview

Eldorado Peak is Located in the North Cascades National Park and is on the Washington Top 100 list. Fred Beckey calls this peak "Queen of the Cascade River" considering that it is in the middle of a collection of beautiful peaks. Massively aloof, perched at the edge of the largest contiguous ice-sheet in the lower 48 states not connected to a volcano, the summit has a Himalayan like splendor owing to its remoteness, position, and knife-edge summit ridge. The total climb encompasses a 6,800 feet of vertical feet (not including ups and downs) and can be made through one of two interesting approaches. The climb is not technically difficult, and a number of people climb up each year to experience the thrill of stamping out a "just-wide-enough" path on the summit ridge and looking into the heart of the Klawatti-Inspiration-McAlister icecap. Views into Marble Creek, Dorado Needle, Forbidden Peak, Mount Buckner, Logan, Johannesburg and the other peaks of the Ptarmigan Traverse. It is an exhilarating summit experience, the ridge gives one a feeling of being out in the true alpine environment. This is a mountain that any mountaineer visiting the Pacific Northwest really should see and climb it!

Routes

Getting There

Standard Climbing Route

From the trailhead start out hiking 280 or so feet to the left (West) until you get to a big clearing where you will find a nice big tree fallen over. Use this log to cross the river unless you happen to find another way across that is more to your liking. Be careful, the log is often slippery and may have some ice on it. Thank goodness it's kinda wide, so if you feel uncomfortable you could straddle it (personally I was fine walking it). Go all the way to the end of the log and get off on the right side to avoid bushes and devils club. Keep in mind that this could change some day if the log gets washed away.


Locating the trail might be a little difficult depending on your luck. If you encounter the trailhead sign, you are officially on the trail. Now keep in mind for a little while the trail is broken up in some spots at the beginning. Once the trail becomes more solid, it remains decent all the way until you get to the boulder field. This is considered by many to be a steep trail which usually takes people a few hours to head up depending on your pace.


At around 4,000 feet you meet with the boulder field. This could range from simple boulder hopping to a nightmare of postholing. Conditions and time of year dictate the fate of this. You should now see many cairns that lead you up and slightly right as you go up the mountain. The boulder field ends and switches to a boot path for a little ways. Soon it brings you into another boulder field which goes up and then traverses over more to your right. As before, follow the cairns to show the way. It's easy to loose the cairns but hard to get lost here which above there is a large cliff that as long as you keep this in view as you traverse, you will be fine.




At the end of the boulder field you will arrive at some small waterfalls around 5,000 feet. From here you should see a trail that goes around the water falls and continues up Eldorado Basin. Views of all sorts of North Cascade peaks start showing up in full view like Mixup Peak, Mount Pugh, Snowking, and many more from the Ptarmigan Traverse area.


Eventually you get onto the Eldorado Creek Ridge and look for a appropriate spot to head down into the Roush Basin. There are two ways of doing this. The way I'm familiar with is to go right over where there are rock slabs below where if you look hard enough you can scramble down. The other route is to go up where the ridge steepens and descend left into a class 3 gully. It contains dirt and rock and is approximately 150 feet down into the basin. The gully is marked by a large boulder just below the ridge crest. Make sure your in the right one, or go back and look for the scramble path I mentioned.



Once your in the basin, start heading up north towards the Eldorado Glacier. In summer finding the edge of the glacier should be obvious, but in winter time it is not so obvious. Look for signs of crevasse to your left and when in doubt, rope up if your unsure if your on the glacier or not. Though most of the year the glacier remains not very crevassed as long as you stay on route. If there is not already a made boot path up, follow some what near the cliff but not too close. Rock and ice do fall from the cliffs daily so be on the watch out while climbing up through this section. Higher up on the glacier there is what I call "The Ice Cliff" which you go left in order to go around it. Soon you go from the Eldorado Glacier to the Inspiration Glacier which it flattens out.



All around the glacier is flat for quite a ways which means as long as the place is not over crowded, there are many options for camping here. So now cross the mostly flat Inspiration Glacier and head up towards the higher gap on the lower East Ridge of Eldorado. You might have to switch back going up if your going through deeper snow. Once you head through "The Gap" you are officially on the East Ridge. This is a great spot to take a rest and enjoy the views.



Stay roped up on the East Ridge because you do travel back onto the glacier and there are some potential crevasses on the ridge as well as it being a safety net for the summit knife edge. On the East Ridge you start out going a little ways up onto the glacier until you find a decent ramp that brings you on the crest of the East Ridge. There are a few crevasses that you should watch out for here. Once on the ridge it is very straight forward all the way until you get near the summit. Near the summit be sure to go right in order to get onto the final famous summit knife edge. This is perhaps the most famous knife edge in the state of Washington. Some people come to this mountain just for this part. Sometimes it's wide and super easy, and at other times it looks like a cornice.


At first glance it might be very intimidating in looks, but it's more friendly than meets the eye. Crampons are highly recommended if you have not been wearing them already. The climb up the knife edge is absolutely brilliant and gives one the feeling of a true alpine experience. I do admit that this is not for the faint of heart, if exposure scares you, perhaps this isn't the best place to learn. As you get higher on the ridge you do start seeing that on both sides there are huge cliffs. But as long as you kick good steps and plant your ice axe in deep, it should be a exciting experience. Once you make it to the top of the ridge, take a few more steps and your on top of Eldorado! This is an accomplishment.

Descending

On the summit you still have unfinished business, the way down can sometimes be a difficult task. First you have the knife edge you have to down climb and after that the East Ridge. You may find yourself having to make haste because of the sun almost setting, snow slides starting up (winter), very cold air, and of course the worst part. The snow turning into ice! What happens is the layer of snow on the glacier freezes over while the snow under the ice layer is still soft. What happens? It can become a posthole nightmare where the slope is slippery making skiing and snowshoeing very difficult, but the inner layer soft enough so that you sink in deep. This makes traveling take hours longer with more effort and sometimes spots where you have to dip yourself out. In summer you probably won't encounter these conditions which you should be happy for this. But when there is heavy snow, expect this and try to get out of the snow before the sun sets.


On the way down the boulder field if you cannot find the cairns and are feeling lost, follow the bottom edge of the boulder field in places which makes it virtually impossible for you to get lost as long as you have a general idea of where to go. Then find the climbers path that goes to the lower boulder field. On the lower boulder field do not go all the way to the bottom because the trail is around 300 feet or so from the bottom which has a mini sign post that indicates the trail. Keep in mind this part of the trip will probably take place in the dark. Now it's just a hour or so away of hiking down the steep trail down to the car. After crossing the log and walking to the trailhead you can say to yourself "Wow, what a Day!"

Red Tape

Camping

When To Climb

Mountain Conditions

Gear for the Climb

   Here is a list of pretty much everything that you will want/need for this climb. Keep in mind, this list only applies to the standard route. Any other route will most likely require more gear and technical training.

Mandatory Gear for the Climb:

• Ice Axe


• Crampons


• Helmet


• Rope


• Glacier Rescue Gear (prusiks, carabiners, webbing, ect.)


• 2 Snow Pickets (for standard glacier travel)


• Shell Jacket


• 2-3 Liters of Water Per Person


• First Aid Kit


• Glacier Glasses/UV Glasses


• Full Scale Mountaineering Boots (or plastics if your up to it)


• Plenty of Food

Recommended Extras:

• Nylon Shell Pants


• Sun Screen


• Map and Compass


• Long and Short Sleeve Shirt

Overnight Gear:

• Tent/Bivy


• Sleeping Bag


• Ground Pad


• Water Filter/Tablets


• Stove, Fuel, Pot, and utensils (for cooking)

Optional Gear:

• Camera (Highly Recommended)


• Tooth Brush and Paste


• Shorts


• Toilet Paper/Blue Bag


• Trekking Poles


• GPS

Topographic Maps

History

This peak was first climbed in 1933 by Donald Blair, Norval Grigg, Arthur Wilson, Art Winder.

The peak was given the name "Eldorado" during the 1890's as a symbol of hope for riches that could occur from local mining claims, especially the Skagit Queen Mine which was a major mining operation located east of the mountain near Thunder Creek.

Historical Fact About "Eldorado" Name:
"El Dorado" was originally the Spanish name derived for a legendary Muisca tribal chief in northwestern South America. According to legend, "El Dorado" would cover himself with gold dust, and throw gold and jewels into a lake to appease an underwater god. Europeans later associated the name "El Dorado" with the Lost City of Gold. The term "El Dorado" was eventually anglicized to the single word "Eldorado" and many settlers of European descent began using it as a metaphor for any place where wealth could be quickly gathered. Hence, by naming a peak "Eldorado" it provided hope to nearby miners and settlers that riches would soon be found and vast.

Special Thanks to Redwic for getting most of this historical information.

Sunset and Sunrise Photos

Videos

External Links

Images

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