43. Gove Peak, 5310' (S)
Gove Peak is part trail and part scramble. It is mostly a forested trip with nice views from the summit. Routefinding skills are important for this trip. A GPS would be useful, but you can safely do the trip with good compass skills. Gove Peak is named after Herbert H. Gove, the founder of the Tacoma Abstract and Title Company.
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Driving
Drive to the Carbon River Entrance and park in the small parking area by the old ranger station. The road is closed here owing to massive flooding and washouts in 2006.
Route
Because of the road closure, there is a 3-mile road walk from the Carbon River Entrance to the Green Lake trailhead, located on the south side of the road. (You could bike this portion.) Hike the Green Lake trail until it starts to descend to Green Lake. Leave the trail at this point and head uphill in a south-southeast direction until you reach the ridge coming from Gove. When there is no snow it is better to head uphill on the small ridgelet on climbers right to avoid devils club in the gully. Above 4600’ look for a boot track up through a blocking rock nose on the ridgelet. Head toward Gove Peak in a north-northeast direction, staying as close to the ridge as possible. Gove is the 5310' point marked on the USGS map but it is considered acceptable to stop at the flattish rounded peaklet just to the northwest of the 5310' summit.
Comments
The point marked 5310' is not the highest point on the ridge, but the Mountaineers considers the flattish area near this point the appropriate “summit” destination. There is a higher point (5565') approximately 800 yards southwest of the 5310' point. In 2012, we encountered considerable blowdowns on the lower part of the route’s off-trail portion and concluded that the route would have been easier in late spring, with better snow coverage. (Thanks to Henry Romer, Grace Parker, and Sheryl Lamberton for route information)
Vital Statistics: Gove Peak
Skill: Moderate scramble
Beauty: 5
Effort: 5
Round-trip distance: 11 miles (6 miles on washed-out road, 2 miles on-trail, 3 miles off-trail)
Elevation gain: 3300'
Total time: 6 hours
Best season: June through October or first snow
Equipment: Scramble gear
Gove Peak Topo
(use CalTopo to print PDF topo, view Google Earth, download tracks, for trailhead weather) [How to ?]
Gove Peak Photo
Gove Peak boot trail Photo by Henry Romer