"I did a long day hike up to Alaska Mountain on the PCT. I took a slight detour to bushwhack up to Kendall Knob #2 (see the report there), which didn't really save any time, but seemed more satisfying. There was just a little snow up at the higher elevations, not a problem on the Katwalk. The views from way up on the PCT of Alaska Lake and then Joe Lake are very cool. They are so isolated, set back above the Gold Creek valley. Somewhere under Kendall Peak I met up with a PCT through hiker, a young woman from Alabama who goes by "Dixie" as a trail name. We had a nice time talking about hiking and the state of the union. I left the trail at the point where Joe Lake first comes into view, after rounding the south flank of Alaska Mountain. Going WNW there is a bit of a path for a while, but it gets lost quickly. Also there was just a few inches of snow on the talus field there. If there was no snow, it would be easier to walk across the rocks, and if there was deep snow, the skree would not be visible nor a problem. This was a bit of a pain. There is a false summit, which I discovered by optimistically sticking to the jagged, rocky ridge too soon. Still, once I came to a 10..." — markgarrett • Sep 22, 2017

"Took a quick side trip up to this one on a backpacker across the Alpine Lakes Wilderness from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass on Section J of the Pacific Crest Trail. Awesome way to spend Labor Day Weekend. We took 4 days to do the 75 mile route. It felt like a good pace. Any quicker and you could hardly take in all of the beautiful scenery." — Al-Rashid • Sep 2, 2016

"After camping above Ridge Lake we hit the trail early, hoping to climb Mount Thomson. Upon reaching the loose, rocky bootpath from the PCT is was clear that the dogs would have to stay behind. Ben and I scrambled up to access the route and timeframe, and decided not to make Tiff wait with the dogs for the 2-3 hours it would take us to reach the summit and return. We instead continued down the PCT towards Alaska Mountain and soon found ourselves on it's eastern flank. We were glad to leave the dogs at the trail as the bootpath quickly dissapeared into the rock. The route along the ridge is just technical enough to enjoy some light bouldering without too much exposure, as long as you stay on the north side. Those prone to exposure sickness may prefer to drop down to the north and work their way up the talus fields to the summit. For it's relatively low elevation Alaska provides a surprisingly epic panorama of the surrounding peaks and ridges. I will surely be returning to this one the next time I venture far enough down the PCT." — Jeb • Sep 30, 2012