July 3, 2021
Argentine Peak (13,738 feet)
Route: None (based on multiple trip reports on 14ers.com)
4 miles; 1595 feet elevation gain
2 hours 39 minutes
We spent the 4th of July weekend camping on Leavenworth Creek Road/Argentine Pass. A 4WD vehicle, ideally with higher clearance and/or off roading tires, is recommended for this road. While a majority of the pass isn’t too technical there are some large rocks and sketchy areas to pass, especially at the start. I wouldn’t recommend it if you aren’t comfortable with off road driving. There are also limited camping spots.
We got a later start since the weather looked great and we expected it to be a relatively quick hike. We left the campsite around 7am and drove as far up the pass as we could. We made it about 1.5 miles from the top of the pass where we decided to park because of snow drifts across the road that we didn’t feel comfortable driving through. Other cars did drive through them later in the day and had no issues, I would guess it will be clear to the top within the next week. The first 1.5 miles is on the pass/old mining road so is straightforward but feels long. When you reach the top of the pass you head along the ridge to Argentine Peak which is in your sight the whole time. We didn’t see anyone else on the way up other than some dirt bikers. There were a couple of snow patches left but nothing major. We reached the top in about 1.5 hours at the 2.5 mile marker. The weather on top was beautiful, clear blue skies and very light wind. We hung out for about 20 minutes taking photos and enjoying the views.
On the way down we cut off half of the ridge and some of the road by glissading down into the valley and meeting up with a faintly marked trail which made our descent much shorter and quicker. Overall, a beautiful peak. I absolutely love the Leavenworth Basin area, last year we climbed Edwards and McLellan from the same area. It would be a great area to create a big 13er loop, with access to at least 5 summits.
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