The planet Venus from Hwy 504 on the drive up: The camera saw more light on the horizon in this longer exposure than my own eyes could see at the time.
At 2.7 miles in, looking back along the lake: The sun was long up but still dim light in the shadow of the ridge to my south.
Mt. Venus has been on my to-do list for years. It’s the fourth highest peak in the Mt. Margaret back county at ~5820’, essentially tied for elevation with Mt. Whittier and the Mt. Margaret/Mt. Teragram twins. It’s also the most difficult named peak to get to in the area, taking 8 miles one way just to get to the final bushwhack to the summit.
P 5020 across the way: I don't think that rock ridge has a name, but it should have. The Coldwater Peak trail goes between the top of the ridge and the high point beyond it.
Nice fall color on the trail:
Minnie Peak from the trail:
I did a couple of preliminary hikes from the Norway Pass TH from the east side in 2018 and again in Sept of 2022 and got within a couple miles of my goal on the 2022 hike. Those treks proved that route is only about ½ mile out-and-back farther and a much better trail. The big drawback is the 2k’ more EG for that route. Given those findings I opted for an approach from the western side via the Coldwater Lake TH.
My first try from the Coldwater Lake TH was last year on Oct. 1st. I had hiked this trail nine years earlier with my friend Peder on the way to a successful summit of Minnie Peak, so it wasn’t new to me. I’d completely forgotten that I was nine years older now so perhaps not as fast on the trails!?
Snow Lake, 8 miles in and the start of the bush whack section of this trek: That clefted summit in the distance is P 5620. Should I add it to the goals for the day? Nope, not on this trip!
Peder and I got to Snow Lake in three hours 45 minutes on that earlier hike at a leisurely pace. That’s the start of the bushwhack part of the hike both for Minnie Peak and for Mt. Venus and I guessed I could do it in four hours or so now. Not!! The huckleberries were too good to pass up so that slowed me but really those extra nine years didn’t help at all. It took me 5 hours exactly, again, at a leisurely pace to save energy for the hard part of this trek.
As I left the trail at snow lake, I looked up at P 5207 which has also been on my long to-do list. Nope, again, not today. That's Coldwater Peak in the left distance.
I thought I was more-or-less on track to get this accomplished and get back before dark so found a spot to drop all extra weight and make my way off-trail to Mt. Venus’s summit, only a mile and a half distant (and another 1,200’ EG, or so including re-climb.)
Mt. Venus is the bump in the left distance: This is challenging terrain!
The entire area is covered in game trails but those don’t go just where you want them. It’s nice to find a good section though and I enjoyed what I could. The deep sand and many logs left over from the big blast of 1980 make the going slower than I’d like. Totally worth it, though! What an amazing, beautiful area and this was the perfect weather.
A few views as I climbed higher:
I was surprised to find this game camera as I walked through the meadow in the previous photo: I waved and took this photo:
Nearing the summit, looking back the way I came. The meadow in the previous picture below, lower left center:
Venus Lake:
A nice view of St. Helens on the way up:
Approaching the summit: Mt. Hood in the center distance barely visible.
The final pitch:
Summit view looking east:
Looking west:
Lower Venus Lake and Venus Lake from the summit:
Once on the summit I took a few more photos and a five-minute break and started back to my cached gear. It took over four hours to get up and back from the maintained trail. The terrain was rough, to say the least!
More huckleberries kept me busy for a while and now I knew I wasn’t going to make it back by dark. No worries though, I had a good headlamp and of course my cell phone light. Both proved useful later on.
I was starting to get a little tired by now so took my time on this rocky narrow trail but made it back without incident at 9:33, exactly two hours after I had to start using my lights to see. I had not used my cell phone (three year old I-phone XR) for a trail light in the past and was surprised how long it lasted despite it showing only 8% battery life when I turned it on. It lasted an hour and twenty minutes before going out! My headlamp guided me the rest of the way and I’m glad I had checked it before leaving. By then, the moon was nearly set, and it was as dark as dark can be! I was so very glad to see my car waiting for me in the parking area!
I still had the energy for the hour forty-minute drive home, but just barely!
19.1 miles, 5,000’ EG with re-climbs. 14:45 total time. Hike # 109.
