Rampart Mountain

8/21/2023

On August 15th, David, Inthone, and Nick surveyed Rampart Mountain, located in the Okanogan-Wenatchee forest between Lake Chelan and Glacier Peak.
A steep hike up forested trail and along a burned ridge brought us to the base of a pumice slope sparsely populated with Lupinus lepidus and Aconogonon davisae with bright red foliage. Continuing up this ridge took us past Devil's Smokestack and to the base of our final push up a grassy and treed slope to the summit ridge of Rampart.
The summit ridge was largely talus and rocky outcroppings, with small areas of alpine tundra and sandy ledges. It was populated by a fairly diverse set of plants and several larches that were surprisingly large for the alpine! We observed a total of 60 species across the summit ridge, including Gentiana calycosa which last year's interns also found on the nearby Garland Peak. It was a long, hot day, but very rewarding and a great addition to this year's peaks!