Steven's Peak-bagging Journey

December 10, 2024

759m

Lake Cavanaugh / Arlington, WA

Bald Mountain isn’t an exciting name and this is in fact my 5th officially named “Bald Mountain” bagged. This is a somewhat obscured objective in the vicinity of Lake Cavanaugh. The peak itself does have an iconic profile but the area has some access issues. The logging company had taken over the land and apparently a permit is required to visit the area, even on foot. I had read most of the trip reports published on peakbagger.com and it seemed like most had opted to simply trespass, which was my preference as well. The company had hired a private agency to patrol the area around the gate (and at least one party almost got a ticket), so this trespass would be slightly more serious. I nevertheless decided to take the risk as I simply do not support the concept of needing a permit to hike up a mountain. The first time I saw Bald Mountain was from Mt. Cavanaugh. I thought this would require some degree of rock climbing but apparently a trail had been built on the “backside” and the ascent should be nothing harder than 3rd class.

Due to the recent warm temperatures I estimated the route would be still dry and I happened to have half a day available. I couldn’t find a last minute partner but that’s okay. I decided to bring mountaineering boots and crampons but those turned out to be training weight. I left home after work at around 10 pm and simply slept in the car on a small pull-out not far from the gate. My original plan was to wake up early and do the approach in the dark to avoid confrontation with the authorities but at 2 or 3 am I saw several logging trucks coming in and out of the zone. The gate had been opened and the site was definitely active. There would be no point in killing my sleeping hours anymore, so I leisurely got up at 8 am and started at around 9 am.

To my surprise there was no authority at the gate guarding the site so I still had a chance. The working site was actually at the very beginning but they weren’t actually logging right next to the road, so I was able to walk through without a problem. In fact, I encountered nobody along the ~2 km of the plodding. After passing that 1.5-mile sign I turned onto a spur road and it was here that I finally knew the summit would be in the bag, so I slowed down and started to actually enjoy the hike. There’s more elevation gain than I thought to reach this summit. For the final scramble on the back (north) side of the peak I found the trail using Fletcher’s GPX track. The scramble was easier than I thought and there were at least several hundred meters of fixed ropes. They were of course not needed but one has to deal with several 3rd sections on tree roots, if not using the ropes. The true summit was forested with no view but there were a few bluffs on the SW edge that offered some views.

Not doing much lingering I decided to head home to catch up with work. The descent warranted some caution but was overall fairly straightforward and then I jogged down the steep spur roads. I encountered one working truck but the guy did not fuss around with me. It’s not possible for him to tell whether I had a permit or not, so that’s understandable. At the very end I decided to take a bushwhacking short-cut back to the highway to avoid the gate area, mostly because of the other party that almost got a ticket upon returning. Of course when I eventually walked by the gate (along the highway) there was no patrol there giving out ticket so I could have just walked down the road instead. Anyway, better safe than sorry. I then rushed back home and got back in time for work.