Tatoosh Twofer
Summits #39 and #40--October 7, 2023
After a fun Friday trekking up to Comet Falls and Mildred Point, Mitch and I aimed next for the Tatoosh Range. This would be a more moderate hike to Pinnacle Saddle, with a good chance to bag two relatively easy summits, Plummer and Denman Peaks.
The Tatoosh, immediately south of Mount Rainier, is another of those fine hunks of Cascades geography that I had somehow not got around to exploring. It was time to correct the oversight. We arose from our campsite at Cougar Rock at daybreak, lounged a bit over coffee and breakfast, and drove to the trailhead at Reflection Lakes.
The hike is straightforward, gentle at first, steepening toward the top. The last quarter-mile offers outstanding views of the volcano, so of course it’s a popular trail. Busy, but not crowded this sunny Saturday. It was also kinda special to be bagging summits with Mitch.
From the saddle, we turned toward Plummer, named for Fred G. Plummer, a cartographer for the U.S. Forest Service. At a fork, however, I continued ahead to first scamper up Denman, while Mitch trucked up Plummer. I’d meet him up there later. I managed to overrun the climber’s path up Denman, but finally spotted it and was up in a jiffy. Summit #39—yahoo! Denman, by the way, is named for a lawyer who served the Mountaineers organization for decades.
The descent was quick, the second ascent not so quick. But soon enough, I joined Mitch atop Plummer. We absorbed the views and lunch simultaneously. Conspicuous to the south was 12,281-foot Mount Adams, Washington’s second-highest volcano. Right of that we could just make out the distant, snowy rise of Mount Hood, Oregon’s tallest at 11,249 feet. I was up there once and recall coming down in a steep glissade at a place I probably shouldn’t have been.
Adams I’ve summited several times and would love to go back. And turning around to Mount Rainier, Camp Muir is easy to spot on a snow-white crest. It’s where the vast majority of climbers attempt to nap for a spell before roping up at some ungodly hour to begin their upward adventure.
I hope to scale Tahoma again, perhaps next year via the Emmons Glacier on the northeast side. Assuming, of course, that I can remember how to put on my crampons.
