• Destination: Mount Constance (7743')
• Date: June 05, 2006
• Starting Point:  Washout on the Dosewallips Road (c.650')
• High Point: Mount Constance (7743')
• Round Trip Distance: c.14 miles
• Equipment: The ten essentials, ice axe, crampons 
• Difficulties: Route finding, steep snow, 3rd class scrambling

    It was summer and I had Constance on my mind.  Actually, I have had Constance on my mind for some time.  Ever since she had turned me down two consecutive times, I have not been able to purge her from my consciousness.  So I had to give her one more try.  I was serious this time, there would be no fooling around.  Mt Constance is the third highest peak in the Olympic Range (if Olympus' sub peaks are not counted), and is readily visible from various points around Skagit County and Puget Sound.  The peak was named by George Davidson, a surveyor, in honor of Constance Fauntleroy [100 Classic Hikes in Washington, pg. 218-219]. First ascent was in 1922 by R. Schellin and A.E. Smith [Climber's Guide to the Olympic Mountains, pg. 102].

    Having researched a few recent trip reports on cc.com and summitpost, I discovered that the access road to the trailhead was washed out and would remain so for the foreseeable future.  This would add about seven miles to the round trip mileage, but all of it would be on the old road grade.  I decided to travel light and make it in a long day and loaded the bike onto the Vanagon.

    The drive from my parents house went quickly.  The Dosewallips Road ended up being almost too rough for the VW.  There was one large washout that luckily for me was inclined down.  I was assisted by gravity getting through it, but was somewhat worried about the return when I would have to drive it going uphill.  I camped at the huge washout at the end of the road and set the alarm for an alpine start.  I wanted to be sure that I had enough time to summit and get down the trail before dark.  I needed Constance off of my mind.

    3:30AM comes early.  I stifled the impulse to smash the alarm clock and slowly arose and made a quick breakfast.  I mounted my trusty steed and started the long uphill pedal up the old road bed.  The going was smooth but steep, almost too steep to pedal in places.  The trailhead was about 31/2 miles up the road at an elevation of about 1600'.  I stashed the bike and started hiking up what I still cannot believe is an official Olympic National Park trail.  Having prior experience with the Lake Constance Trail, I knew what I was getting into.  This trail, and I call it a trail only in the most general sense, travels steeply up 3300 feet to the lake in two miles.  It is brutal and without switchbacks, and is more of a route, complete with third class ladder ways of tree roots and wet mossy rock slabs.  More than a few hikers have been turned around because of this trail.  I needed to be down the trail during daylight on the return trip.

You call this a trail?  The Lake Constance "Trail"

Lake Constance.

    Lake Constance is a gorgeous, classic tarn set in an impressive cirque.  The route continues past the lake up the appropriately named Avalanche Canyon.  Here the scenery turns almost lunar in nature.  The vegetation disappears, and the walls of the canyon are composed of weird bumpy pillow lava that cooled in odd, rounded shapes.  It was easy to imagine gargoyles checking on my progress and making bets as to the success of my endeavor.  About halfway up the canyon, the unmistakable "cat ears" appear to the west along the ridge.  The standard route climbs a gully to the south of this formation, then roughly follows the ridge to the summit.  Having some prior knowledge of this route, it was my choice as opposed to the North Chute route [see Climbers Guide to the Olympic Mountains, pg 105].  After gaining the ridge, which exposed me to some excellent views of Seattle and Mt Rainier, I continued up to the notch in the "minor east-west ridge" [Climbers Guide to the Olympic Mountains, pg 105], which had been our high point thirteen years prior.  From there I descended a short distance and traversed some steep snow to the start of the "Finger Traverse" [Climbers Guide to the Olympic Mountains, pg 105].  I knew the location the Finger Traverse, but was unfamiliar with the "Terrible Traverse".  So by default, I decided to give the Finger Traverse a try.  It ended up looking much worse than what it was.  There was no snow on the ledge, and I traversed it without having to use my fingers.

Avalanche Canyon;  Inner Constance from the ridge.

From the minor notch looking at the summit block in the distance.  The finger traverse is the horizontal seam to the right of the upper left snowfield.

Another look at the summit block.  I followed the ridge on the left to the summit.

    Although it was not described in the guidebook, I elected to follow the ridge to the summit.  Being the efficient (read lazy) climber that I am, I did not want lose the elevation required to regain the gullies as described in the guidebook [see Climbers Guide to the Olympic Mountains, pg 105].  A few steep snow traverses and third class scrambling led to the summit block, which is very imposing from the south.  A run around to the north side revealed an easy scramble to the summit.  After thirteen years, I had finally purged Constance from my mind!  After about 30 minutes on the summit, I started the down climb.  I reversed my climbing route, the trickiest part being the steep snow down climbs.  The trail seemed endless, and care had to be taken down climbing the steep sections, but finally I reached the bike.  The ride down was pure bliss, I don't think that I had to pedal once.  I reached the car ten hours and forty-five minutes after leaving it that morning, including about thirty minutes at the summit.  After getting temporarily stuck on the uphill washout, I made it back to HWY 101, and headed for the Port Townsend ferry.

    I would recommend this climb to experienced climbers who are looking for an outing of a different flavor.  Good route finding and third class scrambling skills will be useful on this climb.  The outing can be made into a two day trip by camping at Lake Constance, but leave a significant amount of time to pack up the trail.  For less experienced climbers, a rope would make the Finger Traverse more comfortable.  Bikes are recommended for the approach to the trail head, and are great for the return trip.  All in all, an enjoyable alpine outing in a great setting.