Forbidden Peak is a ten point summit that is one of the most popular rock climbing objectives in the Cascade mountains. The summit can be approached from three ridges, with the West Ridge being the easiest and most frequently climbed. The West Ridge is famous for high-exposure, high quality 4th and easy 5th class climbing and a crux at 5.6. It is listed in the 1979 climbing guidebook "Fifty Classic Climbs of North America" by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. We were guided by Mike Elges, an AMGA Certified and IFMGA Licensed Mountain Guide, to activate the summit for the first time.
Drive east on Highway 20 and turn right onto Cascade River Road and drive 21-22 miles to a small parking area on the left side of the road. The road was passable by a low clearance 2WD, but it is very narrow with no shoulder in many places. There is also a lot of traffic to Cascade Pass, just a bit further down the road, so care is needed when passing. The approach trail starts directly from the parking area (3200 ft) and is unmaintained, steep, narrow and eroded. There are abundant blueberries and several water crossings. It took us 3:40h to get to the Boston Basin high camp (6300 ft) where there are several flat spots and low stone walls for tents and abundant running water for drinking and cooking
We left the high camp at 4:30am, crossed the granite slabs and began climbing the Cat Scratch Gully (7790 ft) to the notch (8220 ft), which is the start of the west ridge climb. At the time of our trip the glacier had retreated and there were only patches of snow on the slabs that we could easily walk around. Crampons and ice axes were not required, so we wore approach shoes for the entire trip. We travelled across the ridge with a mix of short-roping and pitching, taking about four hours to arrive at the summit (8816 ft) just after 9am. Our hiking and climbing route is visible on this Caltopo map.
The summit area is small and we were fortunate to have it to ourselves while operating. I posted a spot using APRS and got confirmation, then while I unrolled the HF antenna, WA7OOO called CQ on 2m using our FT5DR with a telescopic half-wave antenna. KF7JQV was the first chaser and kindly posted a spot for WA7OOO since the APRS spot was for my call, which might have caused some confusion. I had posted an alert for HF a few days earlier, and so after getting my 29 ft random wire extended from the KH1 in an inverse L configuration (fed out along the pole and then dangling down in the open air below the summit) I started calling CQ on 40m and was picked up by the RBN after a few minutes, and my spot wen out. I had seven QSOs on 40m including a S2S with KT0A on W0D/BB-060. Three QSOs on 30m, including JG0AWE, and eight on 20m, including a S2S with K6EL on W6/NS-298. I used the N6ARA TinyPaddle which worked very well despite my very tight grip and cold fat fingers, which have made using the Elecraft key difficult in the past. Being able to adjust the TinyPaddle without tools was very handy.
Two meter contacts were much less abundant, likely due to the higher mountains that almost completely surround this summit. WA7OOO had a QSO with KJ7LLS, who then shared his radio over cell phone calls with N7NWT and KK7LHY, to get the four contacts to qualify. Without that helpful coordination we might not have been able to qualify the summit on 2m.
We rappelled and short-roped most of the way down off the ridge, getting back to camp for a 10.5 h round trip. We then directly walked back to the trailhead just before dark and drove home. A second night at the high camp before hiking out was our initial plan, but wet weather and limited permit availability prevented that.
