From Nathan and Terrence's trip report a few weeks back on WTA
We are the Mountain Goats, Nathan (15) and Terrence (13), and recently (on Memorial Day) we climbed Eldorado Peak.

We started from the trailhead at around 1 PM. We had a hard time finding the creek crossing on the way up, but on the way back we realized that on the road there is a small turnout, and a cairn marking where you want to leave the road (left from the parking lot) and bushwhack down to the creek. It's about 250 feet from the parking lot. There are decent logs to cross the creek (you actually cross twice) before heading back to the right (east) where you will find the the trailhead sign and trail.

The trail starts in the woods, and it is very steep. Very similar to Mailbox, and even Snoqulamie Mountain. Pretty tough with full packs, and it takes awhile to get to the start of the boulder field at about 4,000 feet. You pick your way left to right over the boulders, which are large, so there is a lot of "hopping." There are a lot of cairns, and we we were able to pick up the actual trail here and there. Note that you want to stay to the right - the nice part about the boulder field is the views start to come up, especially Johannesburg, The Triplets, and the other peaks up the valley towards Cascade Pass.

After the boulder field, things get dicey. We hit snow, and note that now there are a lot of boot paths going here and there, trying to get around the roaring creeks and waterfalls running underneath the snow. This part is a bit treacherous and tough to navigate. It's hard to say which way to go here this time of the year when there is snow - you just have to find a safe path heading a bit northeast, before veering left and heading northwest towards the ridge above Roush Creek Basin. At this point, it is all snow, and pretty easy to find a safe path up, although it's melting out around the rocks.

Once you hit the ridge, there are two ways to drop into the basin. Don't go to far to the right, as you can't drop into the basin. We ended up going to the left a bit and dropping down, which we managed do, but it was slippery and sketchy on the slab rocks. The route down slightly to the right when you hit the ridge is quite steep, but provides a direct way into the basin (we came out that way). At this point it was 6:30 and we were tired, so we decided to camp at a nice flat spot right below the ridge in Roush Creek Basin at about 6,200 feet.

The next morning we woke up at 445 am and started at 6:00. The route from here was somewhat steep, but straight forward up to the crest of a ridge and onto the Eldorado Glacier - from here you have a good view of the objective - which still seems a ways away. Soon we roped up, and made our way across the Inspiration Glacier. This was flat, and then actually dipped down a bit. The scenery here was just amazing - Forbidden, Torment, and so many mountains, it was just unbelievable! We could see people heading up and down towards the summit - it looked like some were making it, and some not. Eventually we reached high camp, which is at about 7,800 feet and where most people were camping.

We met a few people here who had come down from the summit, and we started getting information - mainly that the snow was getting soft quickly. We were worried at this point if would be able to make it or not. The beginning from high camp started rough, as the snow was up to our knees and very difficult to move, since it starts getting steeper here. Luckily, as we moved up, the wind picked up and it cooled off, which made the snow a bit firmer. We put our heads down and slogged up as quickly as we could, racing against time. Finally we made it to the knife edge ridge, right as a group of six, who had been on the ridge for about an hour, had just come down. The path to the summit was decently kicked in and wide, but the snow was soft, and they had placed a lot of protection on the ridge.

We got our bearings, took a deep breath, and with our dad going first, and belaying where he could, we made our way up the ridge. The sky was clear, the wind was blowing hard. We stayed as close to the edge as we could, on the side that drops hundreds of feet below. We used the footholds already there, holes as holds for axes, and were very careful about our foot placement with crampons. A tight rope, staying focused on the next step, and keeping an eye on where our next step or handhold would go kept us focused and helped us avoid looking down! Before we knew it we were on the very small summit at 9:40 am. It was very windy, very cold, but the views were awesome and made it all worth it. Because it was so cold and the sun was making the snow more treacherous, we headed down after only a minute or so. Coming down the knife edge wasn't as hard as we thought it would be, but we were thankful to be off of it and on the relatively safe snowfield heading down to high camp.

We enjoyed our early lunch at high camp, taking in the amazing views of the North Cascades and savoring our achievement, still knowing we had a long ways to go. We scurried across the glaciers, quickly dropped down to our camp, and broke down our tent and gear, getting our full packs back on. Heading back UP over the ridge was not fun...the snowfields down to the point above the boulder field were easy, with a little bit of glissading possible, but it's getting dangerous. The trees above the boulder field were a mess of snow bridges, creeks and waterfalls, and trails everywhere - tough navigation, and we were happy to be on the relative safety of the boulders without snow. The last few hours were downright tough. Full packs down boulder fields, and very steep trails made for an exhausting haul, ending with having to find our way across the creek again, to finally get to the car at 6:30.

Overall, Eldorado is a difficult climb with the elevation gain and loss (7,000 feet) over very tough terrain with heavy packs making for a grueling trip. Some people do this climb in a day - it would be nice to go light! However, the views, scenery, and thrill of being in an alpine environment make this climb a very rewarding experience for those up to the challenge of challenging navigation, glacier travel, and some exposure! Thanks for reading and happy hiking (and climbing)!