Wedge Mountain

Wedge Mountain is a simple tour, yet the trip is exceptional for stunning views into the Cashmere Crags, a region of myriad outcrops and pinnacles in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Located just outside the eastern boundary of the wilderness, Wedge is the unrivaled vantage point of the entire Enchantments, a legendary group of lakes in rock basins and one of the most famous places in the Cascade mountains. Wedge is also the ideal viewpoint for the emperor Mount Stuart, Cashmere Mountain, and the serrated length of Icicle Ridge. Maps show the summit of Wedge at about 5840 feet lying midway between Icicle Creek and Nada Lake. But logic dictates the choice of the true summit to be the 6885-foot peak positioned between the heads of Allen and Hansel Creeks 2 miles southwest on the same crest at the terminus of the Stuart Range. Because it is gentle, Wedge is a commendable winter or spring trip. From the summit unfolds the unprecedented scope of Snow Lakes, Temple Ridge, McClellan Peak, Little Annapurna, and the rest of the Enchantments. These cathedral-like masses of granite spires are awe inspiring any time of year, but if the clouds are forgiving, the entire horizon of the jagged landscape comprises a divine encounter with this extraordinary realm. The reaction on the top of Wedge is humility, as the scale of human effort is miniscule in comparison with such imperial mammoths. But immersed in the expansive tableau, the imagination and spirit can soar. This is the place for dreams of the exquisite adventures that the highland promises.