Dragon Peak via Golden Trout

Overnight trip to Dragon Peak near Kearsarge Pass. • Day 1 to the northern and highest Golden Trout Lake. • Day 2 scoping the pass to see if we should take full packs and go over to Rae Lakes (we decided not to). • Day 3 climbing Dragon Peak. After another relaxing day on the lake, we packed back out the way we came. Notes on Dragon Peak: Trail to Golden Trout: The trail is pretty good, but easy to lose. At the first scree slope to the right of the waterfall (within sight of the parking lot), there are many switchbacks and the trail becomes ill defined. Generally, stay more left than you initially think, remaining on the right side of the stream bed (while facing uphill). Once you cross the stream, there are several fallen trees that easily lead you astray. Just try to stay steady, and not make any large shifts left or right. There is a talus field next to the creek before the trail divergence where you take a right. Stay low near the creek. There are cairns, but they are hard to spot. We were a bit frustrated by frequently losing the trail, but it was still a beautiful hike. There are excellent tent spots by the lake! Seems like you could get a dozen tents in there somewhere. Scramble up the gulley to the pass: The scramble up to the pass has options. None are inherently better than others. Generally, start at the green patch. Staying to the left keeps you on talus and rock. It’s a workout, and slow, but doable. Staying to the right, with the rock wall on your right keeps you higher, but more on scree. That comes with its own difficulties. Don’t go too high on the right, there are some dead ends. Don’t stay too low on the left, it just prolongs the inevitable. Chute to the pass: The chute up to the pass is a bit hidden until you are almost on top of it. It is just right of center. Aim for the lowest spot you see. The chute, and “bolder problem”, are to the right of the white rock face, and just at the left end of the diagonal white vein on that is on the right wall. The chute head up and to the right, tucked behind some darker rock. Other reports direct you to stay to the left of the rock crack with the large crack. That is true – but by the time you see that, it is already obvious where you are going. The Bolder Problem: There seems to be two chutes, with “bolder problems” that lead to the pass. We chose the one on the right, with the shelf rock. It was easier to take our day-packs off and squeeze under and behind the rock to get up on top. We just passed our packs up to each other. The chute is about 20-25 ft in total. The other option on the left seems potentially doable as well. The Ridge: Once on the ridge, stay as high as practical. The route starts just left of the ridge, then shifts to the right, and then to the left again. The route is very doable. If it looks hairy, you’re probably in the wrong place. The Peak You will get to the peak approach just west of the final climb, with a view of the “airy traverse” above you. There is a chute to the right with excellent steps and holds that will bring you to the traverse. It was a bit deceptive, and we skipped it at first, reaching the airy traverse at a less-than-ideal spot. So – stay in the chute. The traverse is a little unnerving, but there is plenty of room for footsteps and good hand holds. Put on your game face, be careful, and you will be good! Really, the last 150 feet was like a fun climbing wall! Getting Down The climb down was less stressful than we thought it would be based on the climb. Same as up, just in reverse. The worse part was choosing a path either through the talas and scree that was comfortable and saved the knees. Both were a challenge, as we were tired by this point.