Del Campo is yet another of the well-traveled peaks in the Seattle peakbagging community. It’s close to town yet feels remote and requires some exposed high-quality scrambling that folks generally call fourth class. As a result, it’s a great peak if you’re beginning to break into more exposed scrambling (which will open up a lot of WA summits).
Del Campo is easy to link up with its next-door neighbor, Gothic Peak, which is easier. So if you’re calibrating your scrambling comfort (or trying to get two peaks in one big day) start with Gothic and if that feels good, try Del Campo next.
A disclaimer on this description and track - this off-trail line was traveled on a single day with certain conditions. The route described is a reasonable way to move through this terrain, and the description below mentions some of the hazards found during the trip. However, conditions may be significantly different when you visit this area. The advice in this trip report is not meant to be followed perfectly - you will need to adapt the route for the conditions you find and for your party’s abilities.
The Basics
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Seasonality/Snow: This area holds snow pretty late. As a result, it’ll often have snow into early July. However, this snow actually makes the approach and descent more pleasant/efficient (less talus travel). Assuming you have snow travel experience, you can get after this peak from whenever they open the Mountain Loop Highway until whenever they close it. However, most years it’ll be relatively snow-free from mid-July through early October when the new snow can make things sketchy.
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Route Add-ons:
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Road Closures: The Mountain Loop Highway has great access to rugged areas, but this means that it also gets a lot of snow. Make sure you’re checking whether it’s open before you head out on your trip - it’s closed throughout the winter.
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Number of Days: You can do this as one big day but Gothic Basin has beautiful camping (though it is often busy).
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Navigation: Bring a map and/or a GPS, it can get a bit tricky out there.
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Gear:
A Note on LNT
This is a popular area, and if you’re breaking into this type of scrambling, you know the drill, but it bears repeating. Please make sure that you're modeling proper Leave No Trace behavior for your partners and other backcountry folk. Clean up after yourself and others to ensure that this special area stays the way it is for future visitors!
The Climb
Beginning at Barclay Pass. head straight south along a closed Forest Service road. After just over 0.75 miles, you'll find a sign pointing toward Gothic Basin and Foggy Lake. Follow this sign right, and then continue contouring for almost another mile, before turning uphill and beginning the real climb. The trail rises steeply, heading southwest, all the way to a small unnamed lake between Foggy Lake (higher) and Weeden Lake (lower). The "official trail" ends here, though if it's snow-free, you'll see an obvious bootpack heading up and around a rock ridge. If it's snowy and early season, there may not a bootpack, but follow your nose and the map, heading northwest, which will shortly bring you up to Foggy Lake.
From the Foggy Lake outlet, you’ll head north, going right of a small tarn. Head northwest up an obvious ridgeline, climbing from 5,200 to 6,000’. Once you’re almost directly south of the Del Campo summit, head straight uphill. You’ll see several peaks, Del Campo is roughly in the middle. Aim for the obvious saddle but once you’re within a few hundred feet, take a gander and plot your route up the rock left of the notch. The terrain up to the clumps of vegetation climbs well. Don’t get sucked into the notch, the climbing is a lot tougher here.
The scrambling looks steep but is easier than it looks - as is almost always true! Scramble up toward the vegetation before reaching the ridgeline and getting some phenomenal views. From there, continue up broken third-class terrain toward more continuous moves. Wind your way up following your nose west before hitting the summit!
Enjoy the summit views (and the summit register) before beginning the long descent back to the car.
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