Mt. Price via Southeast Route

Date of climb: July 8, 2001 Reprinted with permission from Mike Collins. Mt. Price is located midway between Snoqualmie Mountain and Big Snow to the north. The route which I followed is described by Carl Dreisbach in his book "Middle Fork Guide". Take the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie road 21.9 miles to where it forks at Goldmyer Hot Springs. This road is in horrible shape and should only be driven with a high clearance vehicle. Leave the car at the parking area right next to the road at the fork. If you ascend immediately into the forest and follow the line of gravity upward after about 200' of elevation gain one encounters red rock which is part of a gully which gains recognition higher up. Continue to ascend along the fall line until in the red gully and then follow that until 3,150' where a red cliff face will appear. Angle to the left up a fern gully to get around this cliff face. At 3,300' one can continue hiking up the left side of a subtle ridge. The ridge will go through a thick growth of young hemlock trees and then easier going with the mature trees. At 4,450 feet the mature hemlock forest ends and the route is to the left across a large boulder field. A rocky knob is seen WNW at about 5,100'. Boulder hop across the slope reaching the ridge to the right of this knob. The route to the summit is best along the north side of the ridge. It is too difficult to stay directly on the ridge. The south side is too cliffy. The slopes are covered with the hard compacted duff which is formed by mountain hemlock needles and we resorted to holding onto heather branches for support. The summit is reached at 5,587' with the road being at 1,900'. This route is the most direct way to the summit and we were there after only three hours of climbing. The last entry in the register was from 1995 although I read a trip report of a winter ascent this year. The peak is seldom visited though but has central views of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. On the descent I found a letter which had been attached to a birthday balloon asking the finder to call a certain number. I find balloons regularly on outings but this is the first message which I have had the delight to find. I look forward to contacting the person.