JasonG Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Trip: Northern Pickets July 23-29 - Various Date: 7/23/2007 Trip Report: I don't have a lot to add to the many TRs already out there, but here is a brief synopsis of what we (Dennis, Gord, Steve, and myself) did last week. Following some rain over the weekend, we delayed our start till Monday (7/23) and took the boat up to the Little Beaver. The hike in was uneventful and beautiful, although the trail could use some brushing here and there. During the evening and night it rained and rained, and made us wonder if our choice of light, single wall tent was indeed wise. Ahh, the Pickets! The next day dawned drippy but improving, and we made our way upwards to Whatcom Pass. We stopped at the pass to dry out and examined our first objective - the North Ridge of Whatcom. What appeared intimidating from below actually was quite a fun and moderate climb. Some steepish snow and exposed third class scrambling brought us to the summit: We could spy our next objective from the summit, Challenger: We booted quickly down to Perfect Pass and had a grand evening watching the western sky glow: The next day Steve and I split early from Dennis and Gord and went to try our luck on Crooked Thumb: It was a bit involved just to get over to the start of the regular route and I ended up turning us around a couple hundred feet below the summit. I didn't think we had enough gear to get off the thing ( lots of slingage, a longer rope, and maybe some pins), and time was fading and I still wanted to climb Challenger that day. We ended up going over to Challenger and climbing it, just as Gord and Dennis were coming down. The key bridge is now out and you have to do some steep snow climbing around some ugly crevasses to get to the summit pyramid. Keeps your attention for sure! From our Crooked Thumb attempt, we were pretty tired and opted to camp on the shoulder of Challenger: The next day we dropped into Luna Cirque, hiked up to Luna lake and then above to Luna col. Wild Country! The Luna Col camps are small but incredibly scenic, with running water nearby. We had a nice evening reading and readying ourselves for Fury. We left camp just before six the next morning and heading up along the regular route to east Fury. Very scenic! The hardest part of the route was traversing steep meadows to get to the glacier (dirty, wet scrubby cliffy areas), but in general the climb was pretty straightforward and enjoyable. Soon we found our selves up top lounging and enjoying the views down into the pit of brush hell on all sides. We headed back to another night at Luna col and got up early the next day to watch the morning light from the top of Luna Peak. What a great spot, it might be the best scramble view in the state! Steve and I went over to the true summit, although I am not sure I would recommend it. Very loose rock and not really any better views-you might be better off spending more time enjoying the view on the false summit. We did have a good view of Gord and Dennis on the false summit though: That afternoon the weather looked like it was changing so we broke camp and headed down to the camps at the head of Access Creek. It is a very pretty hike across the meadows and over to the gullies leading down into Access Creek. We had nice last night, swatting bugs, enjoying a good camp fire, and drinking the rest of Steve's Scotch. We knew the next day would't be too fun, but it turned out to not be that bad either. We went down stream of Access Creek to find a log across the Big Beaver that didn't look like it would throw us into the river, although it most certainly tried. Some beautiful and impressive old growth hiking kept the views interesting along the trail on the way out of the Big Beaver. And a long trip such as hours isn't complete without a good swim! We saved the last six miles of walking with another boat ride, and finished the trip off at the Marblemount Drive Inn (Good Food)- burgers, fries, beer (shhhh), and milkshakes. Good Times!! Jason Griffith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonG Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 Oh, I have to add that we had every summit to ourselves and saw only one other party of three while off trail (they had just pioneered some super brush bash down to Lousy Lake from Challenger). I wish we could have warned Steph and Ed about Luna Creek, maps don't tell the whole story! After seeing the Pickets in person, I also have a lot of respect for the folks that put up all those crazy north side routes- HARD CORE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra_Commander Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 [ Looks like a classic Pickets experience. Thanks for the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Lovely photos and very nice choice of routes! Makes me want to go do the exact same trip you did... Thanks! goatboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarch Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Wow! You're pictures are really nice:tup: I esp. like the B/W ones. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeezix Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Classic North Cascades traverse... I like the way you mix B&W with color images. Top-notch trail report. Way to go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken4ord Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 I freaking jealous. I want to move back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
payaso Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Any Pro needed for Fury? If so what? Would you ascend the Challenger schrund to the left or right and if it is getting steep would your recommend a couple screws? Don't want to go up there and wish I had brought one more piece of gear. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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