Beckler Peak and a 60+ Year Old Summit Register

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There was one car at the Jennifer Dunn Trailhead when I arrived at 7:45 and we were on the trail by 8. The trail is in good shape, only a few blowdowns along the way. It follows an old road for the first half with several overgrown spurs along the way.



The trail stops at the farthest East of 4 peaks. The rest looked slightly higher from where I stood and a 30 foot class 4 drop separated us. I followed the edge of the wall a ways before realizing I would need to lose about 600 feet of elevation to get down and around it with my dog.




We left the trail at about 4500' and rounded the cliff band at 4400', staying close to the base to avoid travelling over large talus. I found a definite trail cut into the rock below the middle peaks. The one farther to the east is about 15 feet lower, and I was able to walk right up. The higher of the two is a monolith requiring some technical climbing and probably some rope to achieve, so we continued past and followed the fading trail to the West peak which still looked to be the mountains high point.



At the rounded summit I found a summit register in a very old mason jar half buried on it's side in dirt and pine needles. The lid had corroded the way to almost nothing, but the rolled up notepad had weathered surprisingly well. It was placed by a group of Everett Mountaineers in 1946 and the last entry was made in 1966 by some goat hunters. I'm quite sure that the summit has been visited since then (probably while buried several feet of snow) but it was still exciting to be the first to sign a register after so many years. I considered bringing it to the UW library but after nearly 50 years, I think it will survive until another NWHiker or two add their names (and hopefully bring a replacement in a new container, or at least a new lid for the mason jar). Only peekaboo views are obtainable from the summit itself including a good shot of the other 3 peaks in line.




On the way back we stayed to the west of the talus field, crossing below it on another faint section of trail. The trailhead was a zoo when we returned at 1:30. Not surspising considering the proximity to the highway, a short hike with such killer views and the roads good condition. 8:00- Leave Trailhead 9:45- @ East Peak 10:30- Begin descent 11:20- @ Middle Peak 11:40- @ West Peak 1:30- Back @ Trailhead