Rainbow Pass Weekend: Bowan and McGregor
Bowan Mountain (7895′)
McGregor Mountain Attempt (8122′)
For our 14th annual Mid-Summer Climbing Trip, Jon, Todd, Adam, and I spent a long weekend in the Rainbow Pass area above Lake Chelan. We were chased out of the Lake Chelan valley last year by the Wolverine Creek forest fire. Thankfully, there was no such drama this year.
Day 1: We took the Lady Express up to Stehekin, followed by a bus up to the bakery, from where we launched our trip. It was 1:00pm when we began hiking up the Rainbow Creek Trail in full sun and uncomfortably hot weather. Every creek crossing demanded a long stop to cool off and rehydrate. McGregor Mountain, our main goal for the weekend, was plainly visible from the lower trail.
We rolled into Rainbow Lake shortly after 8:00pm and immediately headed for a swim. The lake served as a base camp for three nights. Although our campsite was in dense forest, we found a nearby rock outcrop that made for a fine dinner spot with a terrific view of Tupshin Peak. A slight breeze here helped to quell the annoying mosquitoes, flies, and gnats.
Day 2: After the heat and exertion of Day 1, we were happy to have a relatively easy climb of Bowan Mountain the next day. We hiked up the trail 1/2 mile, then headed straight uphill to a 7300-foot saddle south of the peak.
From the saddle, Rainbow Lake and a cluster of upper lakes sparkled in the sun.
We traversed around to Bowan Peak’s east ridge, then scrambled up a shallow gully and over several false summits to reach the true summit (3.0 hours from camp). I expected to find a register here, but none was found even after overturning every summit stone.
Bonanza Peak stood out to the southwest…
...while Boston Peak, Mt. Buckner, Mt. Goode, and Mt. Logan stood out to the northwest.
Of more immediate interest was McGregor Mountain, rising closely to the west. But not THAT closely. Its 2.5-mile-long east ridge looked awfully rugged, and the Sandalee Glacier was split up by numerous rock ribs. We knew tomorrow would not be an easy day.
Day 3: In contrast to our usual “country club start,” we got a reasonably early start for our McGregor Mountain attempt. The hike up to Rainbow Pass was in pleasantly cool morning air. We then followed a bootpath westward up through beautiful meadows of green heather and white rock.
From atop the first knoll above the pass, we got a close look at our intended traverse route along the north side of McGregor's long east ridge. There were lots of scree and talus slopes, multiple rock ribs, and five or six glacial cirques between us and the summit.
We dropped into the first cirque and traversed over to a major rock rib at 6000 feet. A cliff on the other side required a drop of 450 feet to get around the buttress. From there, we made a long rising traverse to the next rock rib. Some exploration of the rib revealed an easy crossing at a 7000-foot col on the left side of the large rock horn shown in the photo below.
After crossing through the col, we donned crampons and traversed across another small but steep glacier. A 7400-foot notch in the next rock rib looked like a good crossing point.
We scrambled up to the 7400-foot notch, expecting to find an easy walk-off to the next glacier. Instead, we found a near-vertical 100-foot cliff. Yikes! McGregor’s summit pyramid—with its prominent radio tower—taunted us from this impasse.
We were running out of time for a summit climb. As a last gasp, we climbed up to a 7600-foot saddle at the top of the glacier
Unfortunately, the high saddle still did not provide easy access to the final glacier. Instead, we could see that several small horns would need to be circumvented in order to reach glacial ice. From there, it appeared that the summit was a 1/2-mile traverse away. Not having adequate time for the trip over and back, we chalked this up as a good reconnaissance and headed back along our up-route. We reached Rainbow Lake with just enough daylight for a quick swim.
Day 4: Before 7:00am, we were packed up and on the trail back to Stehekin. Cool morning air succumbed to summer heat before we were halfway down. Several hours later, as we sat on the rear deck of the Lady of the Lake and admired the rugged outline of McGregor Mountain, plans for a return trip were being drafted up. We all sensed that the ridge traverse had all the trappings of a classic alpine route.
Approximate total stats: 30 miles traveled; 11,800 feet gained and lost.
