Ascent of Molybdenite Mountain on 2009-08-22| Date: | Saturday, August 22, 2009 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Car | | Peak: | Molybdenite Mountain | | Location: | USA-Washington | | Elevation: | 6784 ft / 2067 m |
Ascent Trip ReportFrom Sullivan Lake head S on signed FS 1936. Good road, public access. Head towards the permanently gated FS 1936100 and park here. Walk this road as it curves around to the N side of a ridge just as mapped until 5650. The map shows the road ending at this point but in fact it simply becomes quite overgrown. Think head high weeds though with a bit of a path bashed through them. Follow this unmapped continuation of the road briefly to a saddle at 5800'. From here I took a left and headed mostly E through a corridor in the forest. As you start to hit the N ridge, take a right and follow the ridgeline. Fairly discernable semblences of the old lookout trail can be found here and there right along the ridgeline. This will ascend for a few hundred feet and then the ridgeline will turn into a mix of boulder fields and forest. Nothing tricky but you can just boulder hop or even do some class 3 if you like. Easy enough to stay on the ridge or just to the right/west of it. Eventually you will top out at the old lookout site with a manmade pole and a BM. Cairn and register too. Good views. Return was via the same route though I dropped left too soon on one of the several tree corridors that drop off the west slope.
This peak is one of the relative few high prominent peaks in Eastern WA which does not feature a road or trail to the top. The other few which lack those manmade features are generally grass slopes or modest brush bashes. Molybdenite is- along with Hoodoo Mtn- probably one of just two peaks out of the 32 top 200 summits in Eastern WA which rates more than class 1. In this case, that is a good thing as it breaks the monotony of summits which are otherwise rather dull.
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| Summary Total Data | | Elevation Gain: | 1694 ft / 516 m | | Elevation Loss: | 1694 ft / 516 m | | Distance: | 6 mi / 9.7 km | | Grade/Class: | Class 2 | | Quality: | 5 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Road Hike, Unmaintained Trail, Open Country, Bushwhack, Scramble | | Gear Used: | Ski Poles | | Weather: | Pleasant, Calm, Clear | | Ascent Statistics | | Elevation Gain: | 1694 ft / 516 m | | Distance: | 3 mi / 4.8 km | | Route: | North Ridge Clockwise | | Trailhead: | Cato Basin 5090 ft / 1551 m | | Descent Statistics | | Elevation Loss: | 1694 ft / 516 m | | Distance: | 3 mi / 4.8 km | | Route: | North Ridge Counter-Clockwise | | Trailhead: | Cato Basin 5090 ft / 1551 m |
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