"From Terrence's WTA Report: We are the Mountain Goats, Terrence (13) and Nathan (16), and today one of us (Terrence) climbed Baring Mountain. The climber's trail behind the bathrooms was easy enough to find and follow. The cutoff to the right came much sooner expected, and we ended up going by it about 1,000 feet before we realized our mistake and turned around. Look for the pink where the creek is coming down the slope. The first mile is everything that you have read - very, very, steep. In fact, according to SummitPost, Baring Mountain is the third steepest mountain/hike in Washington State. It is straight up, and the dirt, mud and vegetation (with a few large rocks to go up) make it slippery and a challenging. Heading straight up the the ridge (first mile) you gain nearly 2,000 feet. The trail is relatively easy to follow, with the pink tape helping out. Once at the ridge, the next mile is the easiest part of the route. Relatively flat, with some elevation loss and regain. After another 3/4s of a mile, it's back up, up and up, through the woods towards the boulder field. We took a wrong right turn and ended on the south side of the boulder filed, so we had to..." — BryHong8 • Nov 2, 2019

"Camped at Glacier lake to summit, then back to camp. 8000' elevation gain. Crampons were worn from 2750m to summit. Full fall conditions, and Ice lead to a longer summit day. Didn't see a person in the 3 days." — ken_hercules • Oct 12, 2019

"Terrence's trip report from WTA We are the Mountain Goats, Nathan (16) and Terrence (13), and on Saturday, one of us (Terrence) climbed Del Campo by way of Gothic Basin. We left the trailhead at Barlow Pass at 8:00, hoping to be able to get our hike in before the weather turned. The Monte Cristo road is very flat for the first mile until you cut off to the new Weeden Creek trail. This stays pretty flat for another mile or so and then you start to gain elevation quickly. You are still in the woods here, but the trail gets steep with a few switchbacks. At about 3 miles you break out of the woods, crossing some creeks and then the trail turns pretty rocky and bouldery, still gaining quite a bit of elevation. The views here in the valley are great, especially Silver Tip Peak. We got into Gothic Basin at about 10:40 - the weather, which had been low clouds was now starting to clear a little bit. The Basin is beautiful and rocky, with little lakes and trails everywhere. You are surrounded by high ridges and mountains here and the views are great. There were a few people camping, but overall it was pretty quiet. At Foggy Lake, we went around the right side and picked up ..." — BryHong8 • Sep 7, 2019

"My first summit...stayed at Lila Lake Friday night, and set out around 0630 to climb Alta. Beautiful weather, clear skies, and the sun behind the clouds for most of it kept the heat down (and the breeze). Tons of blueberries along the way, and a really straightforward, non-life-threatening path. Had the place all to myself for an hour before I decided to come back down. Great views of Hibox, Rainier, and so many others. Only about an hour each way from Lila Lake, plus an hour on top." — 3SeaSons • Sep 7, 2019

"Part II - Climb to the summit from Lunch Counter Left for the summit from Lunch Counter around 4:30 a.m. with our crampons on. The sunrise at 5:30 a.m. was spectacular. Climbed up the snow fields most of the way and across rocky scree areas in places. The suncups were prominent, deep in places and endless. Overall, it was a straight-forward climb on the way up to the summit with an ice axe, crampons and one pole. The views from the summit were amazing on this clear day. From the summit you could most of the Cascade Range volcanoes (Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier, Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, Mt Baker, and Glacier Peak). it was spectacular!.We glissaded on the descent in multiple places. This was quite fun, but beware of the occasional rocks given the low and slushy snow conditions. After descending to our camp at Lunch Counter, we packed up and hiked the rest of the long and hot trail back to the trailhead. I definitely recommend getting an early start and returning before it gets too late in the day and the snow conditions deteriorate further. The wildflowers and burnt tree trunks make for a very dramatic hike." — joeerickson • Aug 6, 2019