Mt Herman

Mt Herman scramble

I enjoyed a reasonably "easy" scramble to the summit as a solo adventure, an adventure I am not experienced at.  I like my friends and the safety it adds to any climb, but Covid and other circumstances allowed me to give it a day.  This peak is famous to back-country skiers and boarders for powder, but little known to climbers.  It doesn't even get mentioned in the Beckey book!

I left the Bagley Lake Trail at the middle parking lot near the Mt Baker ski/Board area where the Heather Meadows  visitor center is, overlooking the Bagley Lakes trail system, but not at the top of Artist Point.  It's a quick downhill to the Bagley Lakes trail on the North side trail that takes you up to Herman Saddle then on to the Chain Lakes Trail.  I left the trail once you  hike through the last of the switch backs and almost to the Herman Saddle. You are looking up to the lowest "pass" on ridge above the trail.  Up and over the pass on heather slopes, pretty steep, but not more than a couple of hundred feet up from Trail. Mazama  Dome is West and sharp ridge back East.  An attractive small unnamed lake is directly below with the series of small cirques  in view that you must travel some ups and downs through to get to slope of Heather and gullies leading up to Mt Herman.  The topo shows a gully leading directly from unnamed lake to Summit which I found close to true scramble route with a relatively short traverse where I topped out on a ridge that led to summit.   I did find the brass Summit Surveyor's marker too, confirming I picked the right high point.  Views were great as expected, no one else around... although I found a quarter in the dirt/scree on the  way back in the middle of nowhere.  Funny evidence of previous visits.  No trail, no boot path, no Carins, although I did find a 25 cent piece in the middle of a scree field...civilization !!!