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Red Flags to Gunn Peak

Norm Buckley

The view from Gunn Peak was breathtaking; looking south we saw Baring Peak on our right, Merchant on our left with a vast expanse of Cascade Range to the east, flowing north and south. Three of us were on this trip which Tom and I had attempted once before. We had left the red tape up and down the mountainside on the first trip and even then found navigating back to the trailhead difficult. The tape was still marking our route from our earlier trip and was very much needed in the dense brush.

Our first attempt was October 16, 1994 on the first fallen snow of winter. We ran out of daylight and found our movement slowed by rocks made slippery with snow. Tom and I did get to a nearby peak, 5,842', a half-mile south of Gunn.

On our latest trip, the August 13th date would give us enough daylight to complete the scramble, but only if we could find the route up the “V-notch”, vaguely described in Beckey’s Guide. Tom Barnhart, John Kelly and I departed Bothell and got to the trailhead at 7:45. After fifteen minutes of preparation we were off over the stream and through the brush until we found an old logging road and then a climbers trail that went up and up. We gained the top of the ridge and continued up to a saddle (5,600'), then down heading easterly across a valley and up a boulder field to a wide gully. At about 5,700', after not finding a better route and backtracking, we went up a ravine on the right. We decided Becky did not take this trip and must have gotten his information from others. We did find the V-notch that was mentioned is his guide and made a note of the elevation (6,160'). The 5,700' is important waypoint because the route is not readily apparent.

We arrived at the summit at 2 P.M. The view is the best of any in the Cascades and well worth the difficult journey. After spending a half-hour on the summit we made our way down. We definitely needed those trail markers to find our way out of the brush on the steep downward slope. The worst part of the trip was crossing back across the valley through the brush and old logged off area. We were all tripped up by fallen limbs and had the marks on our shins to prove it. Tom led us through this area and John and I questioned his route finding skills. Tom and I occasionally question each other’s route finding, tempered with plenty of humor. Finding a way over the stream proved to be another difficult obstacle. We ended up at the Barclay Lake trailhead, about a half-mile from where we had started. It was a long day and very strenuous trip. The sun was setting as we made our way back to the cars. We agreed we would like to come back again but not too soon.