Onion Peak NE Route 4-24-22

Onion Peak…

Onion Peak – NE Route. This route requires you to obtain a permit from the big troll, Weyerhaeuser Timber. Most of this route is on Weyerhaeuser logging roads up to a small patch of Clatsop State Forest up to the summit of Onion Peak. The true summit is actually owned by the Onion Peak LLC…at least that’s how onXmaps shows it.

I’ve been looking for another way up Onion Peak for a while now, something different than the standard 14 miler up the west side…although I really do love that route. Ever since I started exploring the Clatsop Towers area, I’ve been interested in finding a way up Onion Peak from the NE side.

Sunday was a dry day, after a dry day, so I was optimistic about the conditions. DOH! As soon as I hit about 2200’ on the NE side there was about 6” of wet sloppy snow, and as I went up, the snow got deeper. I wore the wrong boots and by the time I got to the summit my toes were cold and my feet were swimming in my saturated boots. The gully I planned to ascend was too deep and closed in by vertical rock, so I ended up finding short gullies choked with debris under 12” plus of snow till I reached what I call the summit saddle, just a few hundred feet from the top. The final few hundred feet was a steep snow-covered forested climb, much better than the steep gullies below. At the summit it was sunny and warm. I took my wet boots off, wrung out my socks and warmed and dried my feet off in the sun. After a 35 min break at the top, I made my way back down…which was much faster and easier than the climb…lots of vegi-belays 😊

8hrs 20min truck to truck, 11 miles x 3115’ gain…Deb would have liked this one. Fun solo day in the woods!

First view of Onion Peak…behind the fog.