Gold Dust to Pika

Date: 07/25/2021
Partners: Heather Ryan, Becky White, Mike Johnston
TH: Fulford Cave TH
Distance: 12 miles
Elevation Gain: 4700ft
Summits: Gold Dust Peak, Pika Peak
Difficulty: Gold Dust (Class 2+), Traverse(Class 4), Pika(Class 2)
Duration: 9 hours 40 minutes
GPX

Gold Dust Peak 14ers Page
Pika Peak 14ers Page

We made good time up the easy-going Lake Charles trail before heading left(east) on a faint trail about 3 and a quarter miles in. From there we made our way up to Negro Basin (wonder when that name will change?) along the right side of a creek. We even found some fun scrambling below tree line on the way. Before long the basin greeted us with lush marshes, ponds, wildflowers and views of the rugged ridge between Gold Dust and Pika.

We traversed the basin and gained Gold Dust's rocky western slopes. The scree and talus seemed endless as we climbed to the summit ridge.

The ridge exposed amazing views of Finnegan Peak and New York Lake to the north. The name Finnegan seems to be a name you would give to a cuddly teddy bear... not a mountain as proud and bold as Finnegan Peak.

The west side of Gold Dust's summit ridge is where the scrambling begins, and we didn't hesitate to make our way east to Gold Dust's true summit.

After some quality summit time we descended Gold Dust's fun and seemingly solid class 3 ridge to the saddle with Pika. Along the way we managed to knock a microwave size rock off the side ridge. The hairs on my neck stood up as I watched the rock accelerate and crash to the bottom. Would not want to be on the receiving end of that one.

From the saddle we rounded the first tower on the left hand side and ascended a loose gully that lead to a class 4 dihedral. I think this was at the north side of the second tower.

Close to the top of the gully (before the dihedral) another large rock was knocked loose bring it and other sizable rocks down with it. Only this time two members of our party were in the gully below. Thankfully they were able to get out of the way without incident. Another reminder to evaluate risk and exposure to rock fall and develop strategies for climbing sections like this safely.

We took a collective sigh of relief and climbed the dihedral. Near the top of the dihedral, the terrain transitioned from class 4 to low 5... an indication that we were off route. From that point we descended a class 4 gully to the east. Midway down, we ascended another steep class 4 gully to the right that terminated on the south side of the second tower. From there we spotted some cairns and climbed Pika's north ridge to the summit on solid rock.

After enjoying some summit time, we descended Pika's tedious western slope to Lake Charles where we soaked our feet before heading back to the trailhead for happy hour in the newly minted "Paco Fondue Lounge". Another great day in the books!