Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2015

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VanMarmot
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Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2015

Post by VanMarmot » July 28th, 2015, 7:07 am

Mt. Thielsen is, justifiably, "the" summit in the the Mount Thielsen Wilderness and is the focus of much of the scrambling/climbing activity. But it sits near the end of a N-S ridge that divides this wilderness and which is itself studded with peaks and peaklets. One of these, Tipsoo Peak, has its own easy trail to its summit (and to some grand views). The other, multi-summited Howlock Mountain, is a short but intense exercise in XC trail and scrambling over loose rock and scree. But the views to be had - wow! The Tipsoo Peak TH is about 4 mi N of Diamond Lake off of Hwy 138 (USFS Trail 1472). It's described as Hike #16 in Sullivan's Southern Oregon guide (3rd edition). It was piping hot down in the valley but up here at 6500'+ hiking conditions were ideal and even a little chilly first thing in the morning. :shock:

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This trail climbs languidly on large sweeping switchbacks through an open forest,

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and some open meadows,

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to Tipsoo's red volcanic rock summit. This is probably the easiest (family/kid friendly) best view hike in this wilderness.

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From there, I had a great view S down the ridge to Mt. Thielsen and my next objective (arrow) - Howlock's eastern summit,

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N to the Three Sisters,

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and E to Miller Lake and Red Cone.

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Trail 1472 ends on Tipsoo's summit but it was an easy XC descent down it's SE slopes to intersect the PCT in a large meadow,

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with a view back to Tipsoo,

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followed by a visit to the PCT's highest point in OR & WA.

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I followed the PCT S until I was lined-up with the valley just S of Howlock's western summit and then headed to the saddle (arrow) at the top of that valley. I went up to the N of the valley and had to negotiate more scree slopes that I'd have liked. Coming back, I dropped directly off the saddle into the forest, thereby reducing scree travel to only a few hundred feet - definitely the way to go as travel through the open forest is almost as easy as along the PCT.

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From the saddle, I had a good view to the W of the large open meadows that also facilitate easy XC travel.

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Then it was up some gentle scree slopes,

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to Howlock's higher (but this has been disputed) eastern summit and an encounter with the dinner plate, broken china rocks that make scrambling here (but more so on the western summit across the way) somewhat exciting.

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The views from Howlock were stunning - of Diamond (left arrow) and the Three Sisters (right arrow) to the N,

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Mt. Bailey and Diamond Lake to the W,

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and of Mt. Scott (peak on far left), Crater Lake, and Mt. Thielsen to the S.

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There are seemingly no trails on the E side of the Thielsen wilderness and I've been wondering if that was because the terrain was particularly difficult or because there was no reason to build trails there. Looking toward Miller Lake (an obvious E side TH) from Howlock's summit, the latter possibility seemed right - just no reason (i.e., mining or logging) for trails or roads that became trails. While water might be a limiting factor, XC exploratory travel looks entirely possible on the E side (another something to add to the already bulging "to do" list - sigh.)

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After lunch on the summit, I retraced my steps to the PCT and went N on that to where I was on the same contour with one of the switchbacks on the Tipsoo trail. After 0.6 mi of easy XC travel across the open forest floor, I intersected Trail 1472 at the 7200' level and took it back to the TH. Wonderful hike (11 mi RT, 2800' EG) through a pleasant forest to some outstanding views! :D

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Don Nelsen
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Re: Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2

Post by Don Nelsen » July 28th, 2015, 9:06 am

Thanks for a great TR and beautiful photos! I've wanted to explore that area for ages after seeing it from Thielsen on a climb 12 years ago. Your TR really shows the beauty of the area.

dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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VanMarmot
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Re: Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2

Post by VanMarmot » July 28th, 2015, 10:00 am

Don Nelsen wrote:Thanks for a great TR and beautiful photos! I've wanted to explore that area for ages after seeing it from Thielsen on a climb 12 years ago. Your TR really shows the beauty of the area.

dn
Thanks, Don! The eastern side of this wilderness looks like unexplored territory to me. If there was water in one of the major creeks (like Howlock Ck) draining that side, it would be possible to do more than just a dayhike. TBD!

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Re: Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2

Post by olderthanIusedtobe » July 28th, 2015, 10:16 pm

That's interesting, I swear the high point of the PCT in Washington used to be about 7600' in the Goat Rocks, on the shoulder of Old Snowy, just south of the area referred to as the Knife Edge. Apparently that section has been rerouted to about the 7200' level currently.

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Re: Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2

Post by teperilloux » July 29th, 2015, 5:56 am

Nice TR! We did Tipsoo on a whim when were visiting Crater Lake last year looking for an easier than Thielson "view hike". I was wondering what it would look like to wander the meadows around the PCT below the summit. Very cool.

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Re: Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2

Post by VanMarmot » July 29th, 2015, 9:37 am

olderthanIusedtobe wrote:That's interesting, I swear the high point of the PCT in Washington used to be about 7600' in the Goat Rocks, on the shoulder of Old Snowy, just south of the area referred to as the Knife Edge. Apparently that section has been rerouted to about the 7200' level currently.
The highest point in Oregon is an unnamed saddle (elev. 7,560′) north of Mount Thielsen.

The PCT crosses eight named passes above 11,000 feet in California, the first being Forester Pass (elev. 13,153′), the highest point on the entire trail.

The "official" (per the PCTA website) Washington high point is Lakeview Ridge (elev. 7,126′) located only eight miles before the Canadian border. However, others claim the high point is at 7,230' in the Goat Rocks area (quite a thread on this in NWHikers a few years back). Without getting into this debate, either is still lower than 7,560'.

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Re: Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2

Post by olderthanIusedtobe » July 31st, 2015, 7:03 pm

Of course 7560' is higher than 7100 or 7200. I'm quite sure the "official" PCT has been rerouted on the shoulder of Old Snowy. I'm sure many on this site have climbed the peak from Snowgrass Flat, the trail is still there and passes not far below the 7900' summit and it does continue north and leads to the Knife Edge. I've seen it in print more than once that it was the highest point of the PCT outside of California. Was being the operative word, since it is no longer officially the PCT route it doesn't count anymore. I think the reroute is fairly recent, within less than 10 years probably.

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Re: Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2

Post by VanMarmot » August 17th, 2015, 7:46 am

olderthanIusedtobe wrote:Of course 7560' is higher than 7100 or 7200. I'm quite sure the "official" PCT has been rerouted on the shoulder of Old Snowy. I'm sure many on this site have climbed the peak from Snowgrass Flat, the trail is still there and passes not far below the 7900' summit and it does continue north and leads to the Knife Edge. I've seen it in print more than once that it was the highest point of the PCT outside of California. Was being the operative word, since it is no longer officially the PCT route it doesn't count anymore. I think the reroute is fairly recent, within less than 10 years probably.

While whether the PCT high point is in WA and OR really wasn't the point of my hiking Howlock, all this back and forth got me to do some digging in my pile of old guidebooks that extend back 50+ years (yes, I collect old guidebooks... :roll: ). In the 1960s, the old Cascade Crest Trail (CCT) apparently (per the 1962 Willis "High Trails" CCT guide) contoured around Old Snowy by cutting across the upper part of the Packwood Glacier to the saddle N of Old Snowy - the high point on this route was 7,000'. However, the 1962 USGS map for the Old Snowy quadrangle shows a trail climbing the N shoulder of Old Snowy Mountain to a height of 7,630'. This apperently became the "official" route of the PCT (per Schaffer & Hartline's guides from 1974 and 1976) when the PCT adopted/supplanted the CCT in the early 1970s. The old CCT cut-across did not go away, however, and hikers kept using it. So, in 1978 (per the Schaffer & Selter guide from 2001), the Forest Service blasted a new "official' route for the PCT that more or less follows the old CCT route - this trail appears on the 1988 USGS quad map while the 1962 one up the shoulder does not. As you note, both trails are still in play at heights bewteen 7000' and 7600+' - but today's PCT no longer "officially" goes to 7,630'. Whew! Maybe next time I see a "highest" whatever sign I'll just hike on by... ;)

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Re: Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2

Post by olderthanIusedtobe » August 17th, 2015, 9:49 am

Sorry for the thread drift on my part. I enjoyed your TR, I like the area around Thielsen. Looks like you did some interesting research. Which leads me to a little more thread drift. Since your reading led you to mentions of the Cascade Crest Trail that predated the PCT, I found it fairly fascinating to recently stumble upon what must be a fairly old sign for the CCT along the current PCT route at Fire Creek Pass on the NW aspect of Glacier Peak.

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Re: Tipsoo Peak & Howlock Mtn (Thielsen Wilderness) 27-Jul-2

Post by VanMarmot » August 17th, 2015, 1:52 pm

olderthanIusedtobe wrote:Sorry for the thread drift on my part. I enjoyed your TR, I like the area around Thielsen. Looks like you did some interesting research. Which leads me to a little more thread drift. Since your reading led you to mentions of the Cascade Crest Trail that predated the PCT, I found it fairly fascinating to recently stumble upon what must be a fairly old sign for the CCT along the current PCT route at Fire Creek Pass on the NW aspect of Glacier Peak.
Wouldn't be surprised to find a few remnants of the CCT. I've had a lot of fun ( :D ) searching for (and occasionally finding) traces of it in southern WA.

2011 TR, 2013 TR #1, 2013 TR 32

I've also found old metal "Pacific Crest Trail System" signs on (or sometimes almost buried in) trees along parts of the old CCT that were re-flagged that way as it was becoming the PCT.

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