sparverius Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) Trip: Mount Redoubt - NE Face Date: 7/17/2009 Trip Report: Donn and I climbed the NE Face of Mt. Redoubt on Friday. I was ready to get back on the horse after the fiasco on Mt. Terror and Donn was eager to climb the face after two aborted attempts in recent years. We were able to drive about 2 miles up the Depot Creek road and crashed there with nary a car in sight. The skeeters were busy and gave us a preview of what was in store for us at Ouzel Lake. The hike in on Friday was reasonable. We arrived at the border after 45 minutes of hiking on an old logging road through 2nd growth forest. photo by Donn Soon after crossing back into the states we passed a posh cave that I wish was available on the N. buttress of terror. We followed a well maintained path through pretty Hemlock old growth forest climbers left of Depot Creek for about 4 miles That put us at the base of the impressive waterfall. I haven't seen a waterfall in the cascades backcountry that matches the sheer volume of this one. Several fixed ropes made the wet slab climbing less intimidating We climbed steep ground through alder, talus, and forest left of the main fall and were cooled by the mist. Soon we were atop the falls in a marshy/meadowy flatland infested with mosquitoes that allowed us first glimpses of the face. Photo by Donn Looking back down Depot Creek Valley and into Canada. From above the waterfalls it was only about 1.5 hours to Ouzel Lake. But we made the mistake of climbing up through alder to the left of the creek when we should have stayed closer to the water. We made it to Ouzel in roughly 5.5 hours from the truck and had the lake to ourselves. We were able to see the top of our route near camp, including the ice apron, arete that connects the apron to the hidden couloir, and the final couloir. photo by Donn photo by Donn The bugs forced us into the tent early and we both had restless nights. I dreamt that I was back in the cave on Terror. But it was more precipitous,and I was tied into a block that kept falling out. Shaking off the nightmares, we crossed an outlet of Ouzel Lake @ 5 a.m., the pain from the cold water bringing us to life. After a short scramble above the Lake we traversed on snow and slabs to the Depot Glacier Donn led us through a maze of crevasses and icefalls to the base of the apron. He set up a belay above one of the bergshrunds and I led up the apron. The snow was in good shape for kicking steps and we simul-climbed the entire apron. Deadmen pickets gave us decent protection and we were able to place screws in the ice under the shallower snow slush we found near the apron's crest. I belayed Donn from a crevasse near the top of the apron and he led the last hundred feet. The apron was about 700 feet of climbing. Donn has some good shots of climbing on the apron. Once on the arete above the apron, Donn led up to it's end and then traversed left and up for about 30 meters to the base of some easy rock climbing that enabled us to bypass the exposed entry into the hidden couloir. Indian paintbrush on the easy rock pitch leading to the hidden couloir After two short pitches of easy climbing we rappelled into the couloir. Donn led up to the right of the couloir for 200 feet, placing protection on the rock before traversing left under the cornice and topping out on the summit crest. The couloir was soft from baking in the sun all morning and was steeper than the apron. Donn started some wet snow slides as he traversed that picked up speed as they harmlessly rushed past me. We down climbed loose third class briefly and then traversed rotten ledges to the intersection of the south side route. We ditched our packs here and simulclimbed up easy ledges, through the cannonhole back to the northside, and then up 100 feet to the summit. The ascent had taken us 10 hours from camp. The views of Bear's North Face and the northern faces of both Picket Ranges were incredible. photo by Donn We did three raps from the summit and then downclimbed back to our packs. Donn rappelling under the cannon hole The descent was straightforward from there, following the path of least resistance back to the snow, which led us all the way back to the Redoubt Glacier. The long walk on the expansive and mellow glacier was enjoyable in the evening light. We made it back to camp 14 hours after setting out for the climb. We feasted and drank cold beers I'd stashed in the snow and scrapped any plans we'd had for slogging up Spickard the next morning. At that time, beers at boundary bay seemed more enticing than a scree fest. We slept for 11 hours and on our hike out the next morning passed at least four parties headed up to the lake. Overall, the climb was an exciting mix of rock, snow, and ice, and was worth the approach. Gear Notes: 60 meter 8mm rope, three pickets, three screws, 4 pitons (used one) handful of nuts, four medium cams (should of brought smaller ones), one axe, one tool, steel crampons, deet, headnet. Approach Notes: Depot Creek road driveable in 4WD up to washout (~2.5 miles up) Trail to base of waterfalls is in good shape, with signs of recent maintenance. Trail from waterfall to Ouzel Lake easy to follow. Edited July 20, 2009 by sparverius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Piston Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Way to get it done! Nice pictures and stout climbing. Did someone actually brush out the approach trail? When I tried to go up there last summer we lost the trail in dense foilage. Damn! I've got to figure a way to get time off now and head back up there for Spickard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweatinoutliquor Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Sweet report writeup, that looks like an awesome route! I can imagine you are probably the right person to weight the pros and cons of specific caves at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchuck71 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Way to get back on the horse! Nice TR and sweet pics. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Good report! Ahh, The Nightmares!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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