Ascent of Gold Mountain on 2018-05-05| Others in Party: | Karen Musser
----Only Party on Mountain | | Date: | Saturday, May 5, 2018 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Car | | Peak: | Gold Mountain | | Location: | USA-Washington | | Elevation: | 1761 ft / 536 m |
Ascent Trip ReportDiscover Pass required for parking lot. Drove over and parked. may trip reports including Summit post talk about illegal lands and closed water boundaries, but I found a trip report from a local hiking site that Sarah Montgomery referred to in her TR from the wta.org website and that route works fine. No signs or no trespassing issues - just follow the good report and no issues. I will say that the trails are poorly marked and the best way to get this one is to download a good gps track onto the peakbagger ap and use it. Otherwise you can ramble around the woods and get off the intended route. I used the gps from Blair Edwards and it was spot on.
Do not take the main trail north as that will take you to Green Mountain. One of the trip reports correctly advises you to park and head over to the outhouse restroom and behind it is the correct trail system. It is called as "Tin Cup" Trail. Another report I read says keep right at all intersecting trails and that seems to have been correct. Some trails to the left, I supposes slide back down and connect back up to the Green Mountain system. We kept right and following the Blair gps track. The trail is well used, wide and very steep. We saw no-body all day as the hikers go to Green Mountain instead but on the way down did pass a couple doing our hike as well.
The trails, run through nice woods and then deposits you on the logging roadway network. Again, Blair Edwards track is the way to go. You will reach a tight hairpin and head though it and up and around past a tower on the subpeak that shows on the USGS map with a spot elevation of 1687 (to your left) and the gated roadway to it shows it by some radio call letters but one stays right and heads east. The logging roads begin to rolly-coaster and I do not recommend doing the bushwhack short cut that Blair shows on his GPS. That shortcut will take you through some nasty down logs and a bunch of signs saying strictly prohibited to trespass. I saw them and backed back down to the logging road. Somebody worked hard to get us peakbaggers the ability to use this land and not be hassled and it is clear that you stay on the logging roads and you have permission (and no warning signs). Venture off even a bit and you will get the signs.
Along the way, I spotted 8 frogs, 2 ribbon snakes, and 2 lizards. A herpetofauna wonderland. The best views are half way up the logging roads but the peak itself is not all that great. There are several subpeaks with towers. All have little views so enjoy the approach hike at the beginning and the valley view in the middle of the logging hike. We did make a few mistakes here and there (like climbing half way up the peak into the bushwhack and then finding the no trespassing signs and backed down; and I did climb several of the subpeaks before I realized I was not on Blair Edwards gps route) thus a lot of the additional gain reported. Much of it was unnecessary, yet, part of our ecurions none-the-less.
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| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 1471 ft / 448 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 390 ft / 118 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 8.4 mi / 13.5 km | | Grade/Class: | 1+ | | Quality: | 5 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Road Hike, Maintained Trail | | Weather: | Pleasant, Breezy, Partly Cloudy
55F | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 1326 ft / 404 m | | Gain Breakdown: | Net: 1081 ft / 329 m; Extra: 245 ft / 74m | | Loss on way in: | 245 ft / 74 m | | Distance: | 4.2 mi / 6.8 km | | Route: | Tin cup to Gold Mountain logging see TR | | Start Trailhead: | Parking Lot (Discovery Pass) 680 ft / 207 m | | Time: | 1 Hours 30 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 145 ft / 44 m | | Gain on way out: | 145 ft / 44 m | | Distance: | 4.2 mi / 6.8 km | | Route: | same | | Time: | 1 Hours | Ascent Part of Trip: Seattle-6
Complete Trip Sequence:
Total Trip Gain: 3261 ft / 993 m Total Trip Loss: 763 ft / 233 m |
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