North Cascades Splendor

Hidden in plain sight, Teebone Ridge is a high ridge, towering nearly 6000 ft above Highway 20 and the Cascade River Road. It is seen by many but experienced by few. I have driven by it countless times, always impressed by the steep relief from forest to meadows to rocky ridge lines. Finally, after years of procrastination, I ventured up to Little Devil Peak on Teebone Ridge. A week after getting food poisoning (during my wedding!), and with a smoky forecast down south, it felt like a nice way to ease back into activity.

The route begins with a nearly 4000 ft grind into the alpine. The trail was definitely more rugged than I expected, but I wasn’t planning on trying to bomb down it anyways. Around 5k, I filled up on water as I broke into the open.

From the high point, where you can first see Monogram Lake, there is a faint path heading up the ridge. The blueberries were excellent here, even at the beginning of August!

There’s one class 2-3 section, but otherwise there’s a nice trail up the ridge!

Once atop Teebone Ridge, it is a remarkably easy and pleasant stroll across granite boulders and heather. With views from Eldo to Glacier Peak, it has an incredible position 6000 ft above the valleys. Clouds blew by and flowers swayed in the breeze. It felt magical.

Rounding the corner, it was an immediate transition from lush meadows to the rocky, icy cirque of the Monogram Glacier. This glacier is an unusual North Cascade glacier, occupying a relatively flat, south facing cirque. Even the north side of the ridge does not have a glacier. My theory is that the broad south facing slopes of Monogram Lake get wind stripped by westerlies and the snow is deposited onto the Monogram Glacier. The accumulation of this spot must be incredible to hold such a southerly glacier without high peaks avalanching snow down onto it, like the Columbia Glacier.

I followed the ridges toward Little Devil Peak, scrambling granite slabs to the right of the ridge crest. This was the most technical section, with some up and down, and a good amount of class 3-4.

I made it to the summit in just under 4 hours of extremely pleasant travel. Clouds were thicker to the north, but the views were still excellent in every direction!

The simplest way to return would have been to go back the way I came, but I wanted to make a little loop out of it, so I dropped down to the Monogram Glacier and strolled across the flat snow and ice. The “glacier” is a very sad, shrunken shell of its former self. But it is still incredibly beautiful, and I feel grateful to have seen it before the ice is completely gone.

After climbing over the moraine, I immediately returned to a green, lush wonderland. The stark contrast of terrain here is incredible.

I dropped down to the saddle above Monogram Lake, where it started to get brushy. In hindsight, I think it would be easier to ascend a few hundred feet to the bump above Monogram Lake and descend more gentle terrain to the outlet of Monogram Lake. There is probably a foot path also. The more direct way I went had a bunch of annoying micro terrain.

At the lake, I chatted with a few other hikers and went for a swim. When I was getting into hiking 10 years ago, I went swimming in every alpine lake I passed. It made me a little sad that this was my first (and last, since this is the last free weekend I have this summer) swim of the summer. Lately, I’ve been in too much of a rush. But today, I had no schedule to keep. It felt nice.

Life has been incredibly busy, and sometimes stressful, lately. Little Devil Peak was a 5 star relaxing North Cascade adventure – a wonderful change of pace. With great views, incredibly diversity of terrain, and a nice lake dip, this felt like a perfect summer day.

Notes:

• This route was 14 miles and 7k ft gain. It took me about 7.5 hours at a relaxed pace for me.
• This is one of the best Type 1 fun off-trail routes in the North Cascades! There is no bushwhacking, minimal choss, good scrambling, and great views. You pass through sublime meadows and cross a little glacier. It packs a lot into a neat little package.
• As noted, I would probably go over the ridge above Monogram Lake. There appeared to be a path there. Descending directly to the lake from the saddle was the only annoying part of the route.
• The fall colors are crazy above Monogram Lake, but I still enjoyed it during summer.