plaigar Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Trip: Snowfield Peak - Date: 6/6/2009 Trip Report: 5 of us climbed Snowfield peak this past weekend. A very enjoyable climb, but with a strenuous approach. Day 1: Started by picking up our permit at Marblemount and proceeded to have breakfast at the "Bunny place". Happily fed we started up the Pyramid Lake trail. for two and a half miles. A climbers path takes over, which was steep, but well defined and easy to follow. Once on top of the ridge, we got patchy, then complete snow coverage. Beautiful views towards Colonial Peak. Some steep steps to negotiate once on top of the ridge. We set up camp at the toe of the Colonial Glacier on some dry patches of glacial debris. Day 2: Woke up early in a whiteout and got going. Unfortunately we had whiteout conditions most of the time, except for some occasional short breaks which allowed us to see a rock outcropping or two. We did end up finding Snowfield and were at the summit at 9am. Final scramble had some slippery lichen covered rock. Excellent summit views of the great white cloud. As we started descending, it started slowly clearing out, and back at camp we had blue skies which again allowed for some nice views. Overall a strenuous but beautiful approach. The climb itself is fairly gentle, and given the right weather likely beautiful too. Thanks everyone for making a great climb, and special thanks to Ed for organizing it! Climbers trail. First views of Colonial Peak Nice drainage below colonial. Sometimes I wish I had a nicer camera so I could capture all of it. Looking down to Diablo and Ross lakes. Looking into the Colonial glacier basin. Looking out from the Neve glacier during one of the few clearings that day. Sun slowly coming out as we were descending Approach Notes: Steep but well defined. Snow on top of the ridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCamKenny Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 I hate whiteouts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeezix Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Nice pix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Nice job and nice pics, Peter! That approach is indeed a "character builder". Whenever someone complains about an approach, I often mention Snowfield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadmade Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 One more note - we didn't find a summit register. If you plan to head up to snowfield peak, the summit can use a new summit register. Snowfield peak is definitely worthwhile outing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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