Quick Stats: 7.4 Miles & 3,015′ gain via West Ridge (Mountaineers Route) from Colby Canyon.
Strawberry Peak is the best local adventure– it is easily accessible 3rd class scrambling that can be made more difficult (even a brief 4th class section if you try hard enough), and I will always jump at any opportunity to make my way up those scrambles. So naturally when my new adventure partner Frankie told me she was interested in doing some scrambling, and has signed on to some of my High Sierra trips that involve a lot of scrambling. . . it was time for Strawberry Peak!
This was our second adventure together, so would be another good opportunity to see how we do together in the mountains since we’ve made some pretty ambitious plans over the summer. I made a point to let her know that there are the established lines up the scrambles (even marked with graffiti arrows at points at the summit block), but I follow the “fun lines,” or as Ann put it: “The Brielle Danger Lines.™”
The hike through Colby Canyon and up to Josephine Saddle was beautiful as usual, made more so by how lush it is right now after some much needed rain and snow melt. I know it won’t last long, but it was nice to see.
Making our way up the first scramble was a lot of fun. In order to make it as safe and easy as possible, you want to follow the line to climber’s left. No exposure, shorter route, and simple to follow holds. So we decided to go as far to climber’s right as we could! This makes it moderately exposed, and far more challenging in terms of the level of moves required. Still solidly 3rd class. . . just a lot more fun!
The hike from the first scramble to the summit block is the usual sort of adventure I’m used to– use trails and dead ends in various spots from fires and overgrowth over the years. It’s like clockwork that at least once in an adventure to Strawberry Peak I take a wrong turn here. This time I got it out of the way right off the bat.
And then we got to my favorite thing: The Strawberry Peak summit block. On this portion of the route, the easiest, safest, and least exposed line is sticking to climber’s right. However, the Brielle Danger Line™ calls for sticking as far to Climber’s Left as possible before it cliffs out.
When I take people to Strawberry Peak, I always let them know that we don’t have to follow my line; the option exists to either take the established route, or to take the established route if they’re not comfortable following me. I especially point this out at the brief 4th class section. Frankie was an absolute champ and followed me every step of the way, and even established her own beta in a spot where I stemmed up, but her legs wouldn’t be able to reach for the same move.
After having the times of our lives on granite, we found ourselves on the summit! The summit has been littered horribly by summit signs, which is really frustrating. I’m not a big fan of summit signs, but if there’s one there. . . okay. Whatever. There are I think 6 there at the moment, which is ridiculous.
After getting some subpar photos from someone at the summit (that won’t be included here) and lamenting to each other about summit signs (we share a lot in common, including our commitment to LNT principles), we made our way back down the summit block, typically sticking to the established route. . .
And then back down the first scramble bringing us to Josephine Saddle. . .
And then back to where we started at the Colby Canyon Trailhead.
Frankie is an awesome adventure partner, and I’m really looking forward to going on more adventures with her all over the place!