Along the way, I had a nice view of the Spirit Lake, the crater, and what looked like a wisp of vapor coming out of St Helens.
At the Boundary-214 trail junction, I got my first clear view of the Whittier ridge. “S” marks the summit,
and “1”, “2”, and “3” are the towers I would have to traverse to reach it.
I found an old, largely unreadable sign thrown in the trees near the start of the 214 – probably the one that says “proceed at your own risk.” The 214, as it heads north to intersect the Whittier ridge was in OK shape and pretty easy to follow.
Soon, however, it reached the ridge proper and the scrambling started. Not too hard – but I had to pay attention all the time, both to where the trail was and to my footing. Although I took a couple of wrong turns, the trail was generally pretty evident thanks to the clear sunny skies. It doesn’t leave the ridge (as some confusing goat trails did) and basically passes the 3 towers on their right (E) sides. The arrow (triangle) shows the trail following a wide ledge to the right of the first tower.
It then goes around the second tower the same way – to the right as a wide ledge hewn in the rock.
The trail passes the third tower by first going around it on a ledge,
then descending an exposed ramp covered with loose soil and a few loose rocks. Most descriptions of this route consider this to be the crux segment. I agree - it’s not technical but if I’d lost my footing here gravity would probably have written the closing chapter. In my opinion, this segment would not be something to do unaided if it was wet or icy. It amazes me (as it has others) that this is (or was) a formal Forest Service trail!
Looking back from higher on the trail gave me a good idea of the exposure in this crux section (just above the triangle (arrow)).
After this section, things mellowed considerably and the trail became (mostly) more like a trail. There were still a few ledges to follow,
but soon I’d passed the summit and was looking back (S) toward it.
By now it was just past noon and the air temperature was reaching for the 90’s and I was already 3 liters of water down. So I headed back, found some cool, clean, running snow melt at Bear (“bare”) Camp, hit the TH, and was back in Portland by 6pm (including a 45 minute delay while they paved WA 503). Overall, an exciting scramble (it's more than a hike and you have to PAY ATTENTION) with great views. It's a fascinating area - I think I’d like to go back and hike Mt. Margaret when the Fall colors come out.
but once I got going it wasn't bad at all - thanks in part to the helpful postings on this site and on SummitPost. Try it in dry weather and pay attention to the route & your feet, and it should be a lot of fun.
