Created 18-Jun-23
Modified 20-Dec-23
2023-06-03| Mt Burke traverse N>S | 2500m North | 2541m South | 1674 TH |12.8km | 1431 TA | w/ Peter This was the 2023 Super Saturday season opener!! Its been on the docket for a while, I had done it before in 2017 as a Fathers Day trip https://www.zenfolio.com/claytonditzler/e2/p380466071, plus I’ve done the south summit on several occasions, so this is familiar ground. This was with intention as this was also the first ‘major’ hike on the rehabbing knee (which requires surgery for a bucket handle meniscus tear) and knowing the route and any difficulties seemed prudent. All that aside, I didn’t sleep well the night before angsting over whether this was a good idea or not, if I would hurt the knee again or have to turn back. It was not, as recommended by PT, a “stay on trails with no loose rock or scrambling” kind of day. The trail begins out the end of the Cataract creek campground and ascends mostly trail-less up the slope over some downed trees and other normally minor obstacles. But that’s how the knee was damaged last July so – slow and careful. This is the “pay before you play” part of the game. Once on the ridge it was all the good stuff. There was more scrambling than I recall from the prior trip so this trip was packing in the challenges. The ridge between the two summits is fine ridgewalking and we were treated to a relatively calm traverse. The ‘crux’ was mostly snow free and required a few scrambly moves to pass by. At the summit we had lunch in the shelter of the west side of the aging fire lookout structure taking in the expansive views. A low snow year, it seemed even Mist is in shape. The trail down the south peak is very well defined. When I first did this route the bottom of the route followed the creek bed, now there is an unpleasant extra ‘up and over’ hill that at the end of a long hot hike just seems unnecessary. But that’s hiking, and likely the new trail was made to avoid some significant damage from the 2013 flood.
© Clayton Ditzler