Mount Alfred - 2420M
1316M Prominence
50.205886 -124.076674
August 15, 2024
14H 30M C2C
Lausmann Peak - 2221M
141M Prominence
50.198609 -124.099014
August 15, 2024
1H 30M Approx. detour
This big backcountry beauty has struck my interest for years, but due to the glacier that looms below, I never considered it achievable until I had more experience. With Tyler finally getting a day off work with good weather, and having recruited an eager German in the form of Phillip, we set out to make it happen. On August 14 we drove out of town at a quarter to 9 in the evening. It was already almost dark, and by the time we hit Goat main, our energy had quickly dwindled and we all just wanted to sleep. After around 3 hours we finally made it to our camping site for the night. This was mainly because the road was becoming almost impassable for Tyler's big burly F150 after the Center lake turn off. Phillip and I pitched our tents in the middle of the road, and Tyler curled up in the truck. Roughly 4 and a half hours later, we had to be up and at it. after packing up the tents and eating a quick breakfast, we unloaded the bikes and hit the road. We left camp at 5:15AM, and biked up until around 6:30AM. Biking on the way up might be an overstatement, as the road is pretty steep and full of sections with small boulders and the odd creek crossings. Eventually we set out on foot after realizing we wouldn't even be saving time anymore. Soon after, we hit a river crossing. 2 of us managed to cross by pushing a log out and stretching across some rocks, while the other took his shoes off and waded across the knee deep water. Eventually we made it off what once would have been an FSR, and we were in the trees. I don't think I have seen such massive Cedar and Fir trees around here before. We took a minute to admire the trees before continuing on. After the big old growth, a short 10-15 meter bushwack through extremely dense underbrush brought us to the start of what was a quite well marked trail. I was shocked at how well the trail was marked all the way up until the alpine. Leading the pack, I only lost the trail a few times and had to check a GPS track. The treed slope makes for pretty easy travel, with a few steeper sections which you may need to grab some roots or shrubs. The entire route up until the glacier is also full of great water sources, so there is no need to worry about that. From the base of the dilapidated FSR to the alpine, where we exited the woods, it took us just over 2 hours. Once you exit the trees, you look out at a big sloped area that stretches all the way to the glacier and Lausmann peak. The further half, closer to the glacier is solid rock, that is covered with countless little waterfalls and streams melting off the glacier. The nearer half of the slope it is loaded with scree slides, and this is where we chose to find a wind our way up to the flatter solid rock plateau that lies just below and west of the glacier. Making your way up this section is only as difficult as you make it, and if you find a good route, you can get by with essentially just walking up scree. We weren't really bothered with the sight of a few small scrambles on steeper rock though. After almost 2 hours, we made it up to the solid shoulder, and swerved our way around loads of gorgeous alpine tarns, until we made it to the edge of the rock. We took a quick lunch break, then strapped on our crampons and grabbed our ice axes to climb the 5 meters of blue ice in order to get up onto the glacier. Once on top, we tied in with 7 meter spacing, and drew a straight line to the south ridge. The glacier was still covered in some snow, and we did not see any crevasses on our approach, only some hairline cracks in the snow. After 30 or 40 minutes of easy walking on top of the surprisingly flat ice, we made it back to rock. We un roped and then started to make our way up the summit push. The nice solid rock quickly disappeared, and we ended up going up a scree slope yet again, until the false summit. If I were to do it again, I would probably scramble my way up the ridge that is seen from the glacier, I think it would be far more fun than hiking up the scree slope. The false summit is not far from the real summit, and only a few minutes later we were all 3 standing on top of Mount Alfred. It took us 7 and a half hours to summit. The views were slightly disappointing, as most of the surroundings were in the clouds, but occasionally we got a teaser of what it might look like on a clear day. After a decent break on the summit, we headed back down to the glacier, and roped back up for the return. Instead of making a straight shot back down, we decided to bag Lausmann peak as well, which is a sub peak that lies on the south side of the glacier. Lausmann Peak is referred to as Lansmann on most maps, but according to locals, that is incorrect. This peak does not really a challenge, and the glacier brings you within 100M or so of elevation from the summit. The way up offered a few fun rocks to crawl over and more large scree to walk over nearer to the summit. It was nearly a complete white out on the summit, so we only hung around for a few minutes. To return to where we had climbed onto the glacier, we ended up drawing a straight line from the sub peak to that small ice slope. This route gave us a look at some smaller crevasses, which we steered clear of. Once down the small ice slope, and on dry rock, we took a quick break before making our way back down through the old growth forest. The bugs were treacherous on the way down, so we tried to not hang around too long. Back at the river crossing on the old logging road, Tyler and I took our original way across. Phillip decided to wade across again, but got put himself in a shitty situation when he dropped one of his boots in the steadily flowing creek. Devasted, he hiked downstream for 20 minutes trying to find his boot, coming back empty handed and defeated. After a few condolences, I gave him my insole to put in his sock, in an effort to make the bike ride back slightly less painful. The ride down was a blast for the two of us at least, as it was all downhill cruising. We all made it back to the truck eventually, and the whole shoe conundrum only ended up adding about 30 or 40 minutes to an already long day. We backed the truck out slowly and painfully, managing to rip off the fender flare in the process, and made our u turn at the center lake junction. The ride home was long, rugged and tired. With all 3 of us struggling not to fall asleep for the next 3 ish hours.
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| Leaving at 5:15 |
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| Crossing a dry creek bed in the forest |
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| Just out of the trees, views of glacier and Lausmann peak |
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The boys working their way up to the glacier,
some beautiful tarns |
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| Climbing up onto the glacier |
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| On the glacier (Split peak in back) |
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| Mount Alfred |
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| Summit push up the scree |
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| On the summit |
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| Good views despite the clouds |
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| Lausmann peak from the glacier |
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| One of the huge Cedars |
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| Route |
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| Route closeup |
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