Holland Peak, Swan Range
Date: July 8, 2017
Trip Leader: Brent Maier
Photos and Write-up by Bryan Kercher
I met Brent, Abby Stensland, Forest Dean and Fintan Maguire at the trailhead Saturday morning. It was cool and sunny when we started before 8am. After not too long on the East Foothills Trail, we turned off on the steep but good trail up – this long steep uphill section took an hour of steady climbing through woods and small clearings. From there it was mostly easy sidehill trail through woods, open flower-covered hillside, and then a stand of dead trees for the short climb up to Lower Rumble Lake. After a short rest we continued on rocky trail and then scree and an easy scramble up to Upper Rumble Lake. This lake was more than half ice covered, and the water is amazingly clear. After a good rest and water refill, we headed up a short snowbank onto the social trail that ascends up to the ridge. From there it took another hour to cross a couple flats and with a climb in between, make our way across the sharp ridge line saddle between the high point south of Holland to the summit climb, and then pick our way up to the top. Really cool traverse and climb, I must say! The views were amazing of course, though a bit hazy. We spent almost an hour up top resting, snacking, enjoying the views, pointing out other peaks to climb, and of course taking pictures. Just after 1pm we headed down. Of course down was faster and easier, but we still took a good long rest and water refill at Upper Rumble before heading back down. Overall it took us about 4.5 hrs to get up to the top, and 3.5 to get down, including the usual rest stops here and there, for a total of about 9 hours for the trip. Weather was good all day, sunny and warming throughout the day, but it didn’t get really hot till heading down off Upper Rumble. Awesome hike and great group to hike with!
Member discussion