Mountains of My Youth

The peaks of the Wild Sky Wilderness around Index have long been important to me. Growing up in the northern Seattle Metro, I could see them from many places. In high school, I took cross country teammates up to Lake Serene. Persis, Baring, and Index were all early peaks in my progression that I scrambled about a decade ago. One peak I never got to was Gunn Peak. For many years, I typically prioritized adventuring afar, and avoided US2 like the plague on weekends. But this year, I intended to change that.

Wyatt, Logan, and I got off work early on a Thursday afternoon to head up to Gunn. We chose a weekday so we would not have to deal with the Sultan traffic jam coming back, although there was some traffic heading out to the mountains.

The Gunn climber’s trail is one of the more direct routes in the Cascades. It wastes no time heading straight up hill, only deviating right when it reaches vertical cliffs. The goat carcass from reports was indeed there in the gully, although it was in such a decayed state that only some hair and hooves remained.

After sitting in the clouds all day, the brush was a little wet, but not too bad. I had almost forgotten that wet brush is a thing in the Cascades after one of the hottest Julys on record. Clouds floated above us, obscuring the peaks. If we stopped for too long, we often got a little chilly. It was wonderful.

Logan and I always refer to Gunn not as a peak but a “massif” – a collection of high peaks and terrain. Although it is barely 6k ft tall, there is a lot of rugged alpine terrain up here, with plenty of scrambling, ridges, and tarns.

The scramble up Gunn was quite fun, with a variety of movement, and a little bit of wet brush. The final “ledge” was melted out and thus very straightforward. Right as we hit the summit, the clouds briefly cleared!

We chilled on the summit, trying to stay warm as the clouds blowed over us. It reminded me of many moody summits when I was getting started climbing mountains. We never got the 360 degree clear views, so we descended to head over to Tailgunner.

There is an increasingly Insta-famous “infinity tarn” on the shoulder of Tailgunner. It drops away in stunning fashion, with Baring looming behind. It really does feel like the edge of the world.

Logan relaxed at the tarn while Wyatt and I bagged Tailgunner. Once again, we were on the edge of the cloud deck, but we still had some beautiful light below.

We enjoyed lovely alpenglow on Baring during our descent. The scars of the Bolt Creek Fire have touched all sides of this incredible mountain, but the burned trees had a beautiful reddish glow in the evening light.

Summer has traditionally been a time for long days in the mountains and big objectives. But this year I have been embracing the evening rambles, enjoying places closer to home in the soft light. This was a wonderful weeknight adventure returning to an area filled with rugged beauty and nostalgia: the Wild Sky.