Corteo Peak

We left from the Rainy Pass trailhead at 9:45 AM, and onto the Maple pass loop. We left the trail at Maple pass and began our cross country trek towards Corteo. 

We dropped a short ways to 6,400 ft then contoured around the big basin through park-like terrain, ascending gradually once we hit talus. We headed towards the eastern ridge that comes off Corteo – the one you see as you’re traveling towards it on the skyline. We watched a large black bear meander ahead of us across this bowl. 

Once we hit the ridge we began scrambling up, picking our way up through trees on the rocky ridge, or at times staying just south of the ridge proper. At 7,600 feet we began contouring again, leaving the ridge and traversing across the eastern side of Corteo on small ledges. Once below a notch on the skyline, we again began working our way up to the saddle that separates Corteo and a peaklet just to its north. There are more ledges and some slabs to navigate as you ascend here. 

Fog and clouds were swirling low for us that day, so periodically we lost visibility and continued without much of a view. From the saddle/notch, it’s a short but exposed scramble up to the summit. With 1 or 2 4th class moves, but mostly 3rd class. 

After a short break at the top, the clouds cleared briefly and we got great views of the surrounding peaks and valleys. We then reversed our route back to the car.

Total distance was 8.98 miles. Total time was 6 hours 53 minutes. Total gain was 3,481 feet.

Fun and beautiful day in the Cascades!