Well Harumph!

Right, four peaks over 10,000 feet. However, two of those are only a tad over 10,000 feet. Hence, there are only two peaks in the state that are (meaningfully) higher than Camp Muir, as I mentioned.


Only a handful of others break 9,000 (is it 10??? Lezzeee....Bonanza, Stuart, Goode, Logan, Black. Maude?......) and as I said , most of the higher peaks in Washington top out at about 8,000 feet. I've climbed about 25 routes out there, which is damned few, considering that I started in 1978.

What hiking trails there are, generally don't get too close to many actual summits and the average Cascades backpacking trip tops out, as I said, at an elevation significantly lower than Camp Muir.

As for my proposed clothing list for the torso in summer Cascades, it is essentially identical to that currently advised by American Alpine Institute in Bellingham for mountaineering in the region.

See:

http://www.aai.cc/pdf_download/am_tl_equipment_list.pdf

They suggest carrying down or "puffy" jacket only before July and after mid-September. If they're wrong about the gear list, they'd sure hear about it from their high-paying, nicely coddled clients.


With only 2 hypothermia deaths reported by NOAA in the 50 states during a recent year, I'd say it's easy to get cold, harder to freeze to death & yeah it's good not to get too cold and wet.

I definitely agree with you !!


The timberline environment in Washington is different than the Colorado timberline.

Interesting facts*: Timberline generally corresponds to where the mean July temperature is 50F. In Cascades, however, the excessive summer snowpack results in a slightly lower treeline than isotherm would suggest.

"In the interior of Western North America, temperature drops an average of 3 degrees for each 1,000 foot gain in elevation. However, in the Maritime PNW, it's closer to 1.4 degrees drop per 1,000 ft" So what does that mean? Dunno exactly, but I find it interesting. Maybe I'm even slightly doubtful, but I guess it's true.

*Reference: "Timberline," (Arno & Hammerly, The Mountaineers, 1984).