Ladies Peak & Cape Horn

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Access:

Distance: 6 miles
Elevation Gain: 6,000+ feet
Summit Elevation: 7,708 & 7,316 feet
Access: Paved

The Route:

Ladies Peak makes for a great scramble during a superb hike in the Wenatchee Mountains. The summit is well hidden from all major roads and only becomes visible to hikers after much effort in elevation gain. This part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness is just north of the Enchantments but gets much less visitation. Ladies Peak can also be combined with nearby Cape Horn and even Grindstone Mountain. We did Ladies and Cape Horn together, making a loop of around 20 miles in one day, coming down Icicle Creek south of Ladies Peak. This required a few miles of walking on the Icicle Creek Road at the end back to the Chatter Creek Trailhead.

Take the Icicle Creek Road out of Leavenworth. Drive it 16 miles, pass Chatter Creek Campground, then take the next road to the right. A short distance brings you to the Chatter Creek Trail.

The Chatter Creek Trail is a nice well graded trail. It climbs through forest to a high pass at the end of the valley. Near the end of the valley, the scenery becomes meadows for the remainder of the climb. From the pass, the trail drops a few hundred feet before gaining more elevation to the scenic Lake Edna, just below Cape Horn. When the trail reaches a high point just beyond the lake, Cape Horn is a quick and simple scramble to its summit. A bit further along the trail is Ladies Pass. Leave the trail here and scramble up the southeast ridge. A climbers trail exists much of the route, all class 2 stuff to the summit.

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There are all kinds of car camping spots along the Icicle Creek Road, some developed some primitive. There were some camping spots along Chatter Creek a few miles up the trail, just before the meadows started.

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