Whale Peak

Route: Whale's Tail
Posted On: 6/1/2025, By: colin j
Info: There are intermittent snow drifts along the Gibson Lake trail all the way to the lake, but not enough to skin or ski. The couloir is in and even with above freezing overnight temps snow conditions were very good when I entered around 8 am. I descended the NE bowl and snow remained generally supportive even later in the morning. 

Route: Whale's Tail Couloir
Posted On: 5/17/2025, By: blonde_dinosaur
Info: The road is clear from Hall Valley Campground to Gibson Lake TH, but there is a stream about a mile from Gibson Lake that was relatively deep. We decided to park right before the stream. Approach from Gibson Lake TH is really annoying. Snow is not continuous until a couple hundred feet below treeline, so we a-framed our skis and were postholing a lot on the approach. Switched to skins around 11,200ft or so and gingerly crossed some dirt areas and took skis off a couple times as well. Past treeline snow is mostly continuous except for the section above the lake to get to the base of the couloir. We attempted the couloir, but got there too late so ended up turning around. Some photos of the couloir attached. 

Route: From Gibson lake
Posted On: 10/28/2024, By: L1zzz1ee
Info: Some snow on the trail up to the lake. I took the northwest ridge up to the peak instead of the direct approach to avoid snow. Very manageable. No snow on the road got a 2018 Toyota RAV4 up to the trailhead driving slow no major issues. Snow was definitely coming in! 

Route: Gibson Lake TH
Posted On: 10/20/2024, By: IHikeLikeAGirl
Info: ~1" of snow at the parking lot and increased to ~5" higher up the mtn. Socked in with clouds/fog the entire ascent. Cold and windy the last 600 ft. Just enough sugary snow to make the steeper sections difficult to find footing. Tedious and super annoying, slipped several times and took a few, unplanned (but short), slides down the slope. Had plenty of gear, but everything, including eye protection, got coated in ice/blowing snow. Not horrible, but found much joy after summiting and descending 700 ft and getting out of the wind. Views "somewhat" cleared on the descent, but then my clothes started thawing and I was just a damp mess. Glad I brought a change of clothes. A group of 5 (4 bipeds and 1 quadruped) started out just before me, at the TH. We chatted some, even hiked together a bit, but they turned around ~800ft from the summit. Nice hiking with you all...only got the dog's name though, Rosie! She is cute! :) Significant snow in the forecast through Monday afternoon so...as is usually the case, my conditions report has little meaning. Just be prepared for winter conditions...summer is over.... 

Route: Other
Posted On: 9/26/2024, By: seoulman
Info: bone dry, so is guyot. a bit of snow on boreas, and then more and more as you look south. nothing up north or to the west 

Route: Gibson Lake
Posted On: 7/13/2024, By: tlgold1990
Info: Lots of people camping on the way to the 4WD TH. Didn't use 4WD but definitely want some clearance. Comparative to 14er THs I would rate a level 2. Creek crossing was minimal. Trail to the lake clear with the exception of some muddy spots. Trip report Whale and a Dog is pretty spot on and was easy to follow. Great day and only a handful of other people plus a doggo. 

Route: SE Ridge via Gibson Lake TH
Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: two lunches
Info: i last took my 4runner up here in 2019 and the road from hall creek campground to the trailhead seems to have deteriorated slightly since then. 4WD recommended, decent ground clearance encouraged. the creek crossing was pretty low today (12-15" at the deepest part?) 7am start from Gibson lake. there is a small amount of deadfall to navigate but the approach is pretty dry until treeline when mud/trailstreams and snow join the party. once above the pines, snow mostly fills the basin between willow "islands" (?) and surprise streams. we ascended dry tundra interspersed with small, stable boulderfields on the southeast side of Gibson Lake to gain the ridge and follow a trail to the cairned summit. the four of us did a lollipop loop and glissaded down the well-covered northeast bowl, which completely covered the "standard" route. we ended up on the north side of the lake (thawed) and then hiked back over surprisingly stable snow for 11am. used an axe for the glissade, but otherwise left microspikes in my pack. no need for snowshoes and while the conditions were great in the bowl, it wouldn't have been worth the ski carry for me. 

Route: Whale Tail Couloir
Posted On: 5/29/2024, By: baconhead
Info: Ascended Whale Tail couloir and descended south along ridge before turning north to glissade back towards Gibson Lake. Trail is mostly snow covered with some dry spots near the trailhead. Some postholing on the way out. Trailhead is accessible with decent clearance. 

Route: Whale Tail Couloir
Posted On: 5/5/2024, By: tintinrhys
Info: Couloir is in descended the southeast ridge, road snowed in about a mile from the trailhead. Snowshoes would be helpful below treeline. 

Route: Face slopes to ridge slopes
Posted On: 10/15/2023, By: Skimo95
Info: Intermittent packed snow to lake. Put steps in shortly after lake to summit. Took the ridge down, micro spikes advisable for face route, not so much ridge slopes. Still in shorts and trunners 

Route: SE Ridge from Gibson Lake
Posted On: 6/20/2023, By: madmattd
Info: Headed up Whale today, only person on the mountain. Snow-free until ~11k when intermittent minor snowfields pop up here and there until near treeline (~11.3k), but nothing to worry about. The snowfields become more frequent and longer above treeline, but only one was all that long, maybe ~1/4mi long ending shortly before the lake, and it was solid in both directions for me (though softening fast late morning). Around the lake is completely snow-free. I headed up to the mine tailings and picked up the intermittent path to the saddle with PT12733 that is mentioned in a few TRs, and followed it easily from the saddle to summit. Head just slightly climber's left of the mine tailings to pick up the path earlier than I did. From the lake to the summit via this route is effectively snow-free, I crossed one ~20' wide shallow snowfield that will be gone soon. I planned to glissade down the East Slopes (as others clearly have done recently), but it was very cloudy all morning after an overnight freeze, and so even at 9am the snow was pretty icy and it would have been "survival glissading", so I returned the same route. As soon as I got back to Gibson Lake (~10am) the clouds cleared and the snow started softening. If I'd summitted 1 hour later I would have been in good shape today, but on a normal day the snowfields down to treeline would have been torture (though short-lived torture) that late. Oh well. If one hits the softening timing right, you should be able to glissade/ski/whatever on continuous snow from just East of the summit down to ~200' above Gibson Lake where the snow ends - so around 900' vert or thereabouts. Some debris noted from what appears to be remnants of a couple small cornices that fell recently on the S face of Pt13001, so be aware. The slope from the Whale side into the bowl seemed OK, and no cornices. Whale's Tail still looks mostly in once you get onto the snow ~200' above the lake - at least 2 booters from recent days all the way up. 

Route: Whale's Tail
Posted On: 5/30/2023, By: dwoodward13
Info: Inconsequential snow until about 11k. From there until treeline its pretty annoying. Deep enough that you would want flotation, but also not consistent either. We gave in a bashed the snowshoes on rocks/dirt in the bare spots as the postholing was sucking a lot of time and energy. Once breaking treeline, good coverage until about a quarter mile to the base of the couloir. We stashed snowshoes here. We had near freezing overnight temps and clear skies and the bottom of the couloir was nice a firm at 630am. By the time we topped out, the top portion was getting pretty soft. Would not have wanted to start any later. Glissaded down NE facing slope very close to the summit (before the cornices start). Snow was in perfect condition for glissading. Getting out was a mess as you would expect, but all in all a great day. 

Route: Whales Tail Couloir
Posted On: 5/21/2023, By: Hiking_TheRockies
Info: Couloir is in, but is softening quickly. The Gibson Lake trail is 95% snow, without floatation the postholing is awful. It took us a good couple of hours to get to the base of the couloir (started at 5am a mile down the road from Gibson Lake TH and got to the base of the couloir at 7:40), so consider starting even earlier than 5 to get on the couloir while the snow is still decent. The lower couloir, especially on the sides, and all of the snow surrounding Gibson lake was a postholing mess, especially on descent around 9:00 am. The upper couloir is a little firmer but nowhere near bulletproof. Expect soft snow if you are on the couloir after the sun hits it. There are a number of wet slides around the couloir and on surrounding slopes, so start early and be very cautious. Summited at 8:40 and got back to car at 12:20. 

Route: via Jefferson Lake
Posted On: 10/15/2022, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Combined with UN12088, UN12596 and Glacier Peak (12,853'). Bushwack from Jefferson Lake to UN12,088 ridge was pretty open and easy. Looped over UN12596, onto Whale Peak and then onto the CDT over to Glacier Peak before dropping down the long ridge back to the parking area. Bushwack on the lower part of getting back to the lake was thick in places. Completely dry fall conditions all around. No special equipment needed. Saw one person when I arrived at Whale Peak who came up from Gibson Lake (that route also looked completely dry). 

Route: From Gibson Lake
Posted On: 6/25/2022, By: Corey17
Info: Summer conditions. There were a few snowfields to avoid up near the ridgelines, but nothing problematic. Hiked in trail runners from Gibson Lake, recorded 6.6 miles. We ascended the grassy slopes near the E Gulley and descended the SE Ridge. The SE Ridge was great - some trail segments up high, and nothing mandatory exceeding class 2.