Stiletto Peak Lookout 10/25/2024

10/25/2024 10.2 miles 3900 ft

We were looking for a hike that was about 3500-4000 feet of gain.  I really wanted to try and find some larches if they were still larching around.  Ross had suggested Stiletto Peak earlier in the week and I got my heart set on it, as I do.  There was the idea of possibly trying to scramble the peak but we were going to have to see how it looked when we got up there, I had not read too many reports some saying class 3. Luckily, he was agreeable and we set off about 6:45 AM and got to the Bridge Creek Trailhead off Highway 20 about 9:30 AM.

This was my flex Friday and Ross took it off too because the rest of the weekend looked windy and stormy.  The trailhead was about 38 degrees and overcast.  It was wild driving past Maple Pass and Blue Lake and hardly seeing any vehicles!  We were the only car in the parking lot and we set off crossing the road on foot to join the PCT.  The trail was a gradual downhill for ~0.7 miles until we made a left off the PCT and onto the Copper Pass Trail for 0.2 miles and onto the Stiletto Spur Trail for 0.9 miles totaling -500 ft.  Once off the PCT the trail seemed not well traveled, I do not know why this area is gorgeous! Along the way heard Black-Capped Chickadee’s, Golden Crowned Kinglets, Red-Breasted Nuthatches, and Brown Creepers.  While I was changing out of my jacket, Ross heard some tap tap tapping of woodpeckers where the recent fire had burned some trees.  We got a great look (Ross’s lifer) of a Three-Toed Woodpecker, hell yeah birds!

Now for the climb on the Stiletto Peak Trail! Slow and steady was the plan, I am still having massive anxiety from missing two weeks of my life due to a poorly handled depression episode. We counted 26 switchbacks and gained about 3,200 feet.  After the first 6 switch backs, Merlin ID’d a Pine Grosebeak, oh I wanted to see that so bad but we didn’t.  I got super excited when I heard that familiar drunk chickadee call (Mountain Chickadee), these tiny birds are so underrated.  The climb was steady, it was steeper than usual but keeping a slow pace made it not a problem. It did not look like we were going to see any larches on the trail, we did see them across the way down the valleys.  We came out into the meadow with beautiful granite outcrops, pink blueberry stems, and my favorite spruce trees.

The trail heads North and then East up the ridge to the summit, we turned East and could see the blocky granite top and LARCHES!  They were spent from the last windy weekend but they still held a little color and it made me so happy! 

The summit was unreal, 360-degree views of the area’s mountains and peek of Glacier Peak in the distance.  The site still had parts of the old lookout and the foundation that it stood on, great handstand spot.  Stiletto Peak was a hard no that day, it would have involved climbing the climbers trail towards Stiletto Lake and then summiting on the South side.  But it will be a great scramble in the future and no we know what to expect.

Maybe the best part of the trip, a Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch landed right in front of me and posed for a few photos or quite possibly not seeing another soul the whole hike.