McDonald Peak (Missions) - July 1-2, 2023

Leader:  Corey Hinshaw

Participants: Forest Dean, Stefan Kolis, Anne Dellwo, Kevin Ewing

This peak had been on my list for awhile. We planned to try the East approach and camp at Cliff lake. Past Heart lake, we tried to stay as high on the ridge as we could to avoid the bushwhack. It did make for quite a bit of additional up and down going over the multiple ribs of cliff and rock. Once at the Post creek divide, we took the very steep trail down to the mid-thigh deep creek ford, which was not too challenging. Set up camp at NW corner of the lake and enjoyed the views. The waterfall coming from Lake of the Clouds was flowing incredibly. We then got an early start Sunday morning, took a good look at the East Face, and decided to head towards the standard South slope approach. The winds were blowing a steady 30-40 mph, which lead to the south snow field to be quite firm. We put on crampons and wielded ice axes and headed up the snow which covered approx. half the slope. We then hiked/scrambled up to the summit. On the way down, we found a less steep snow field, which had also softened up, allowing for a fun boot ski with little risk of needing to self arrest. On the way back out, we made the mistake of following the decent trail from the Post Creek divide down to Island lake. From there, we were met with a horrendous bushwhack back to Heart lake. Glad to get this one done.

Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSZ7pKaJ-2w