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You could also approach via Stehekin and avoid the Chickamin monsters.

There is some mighty fine looking rock up there!

My hands are still cold! https://spokalpine.com/2025/07/21/dakobed-glacier-peak-frostbite-ridge-ii-ai2/

A classy traverse in even classier style. You spared yourself the worst choss by skipping Frenzelspitz.

I look forward to hearing about your anniversary climbs! Then & Now pictures!

Interesting trip report. I’ve read another trip report in that the team bailed (Vince who wrote the Black Cun guide). Is the route just a piece of shit? Warren and I had a fun time doing it in 1996, but maybe that’s cos all we were doing back then is climbing lots and lots. Anyway, thanks for sharing this. Cam

Are you still looking? I have a 45L and a 60L. Size Small I think.

On July 8th at 1:20am, Felipe Guarderas and I began walking up the Goodell Creek drainage with the intention of traversing across the Picket Fence skyline. We ended up climbing just a few peaks shy of the “proper” traverse but had a wonderful time moving through a ton of incredible terrain and we are very content with our execution and style of the traverse. By the time we began to walk out, we had already begun to scheme when our next trip into the range will be. We had about 56 hours of high pressure and we knew that the traverse would be an uphill battle to complete before the rain arrived. We opted to climb in a stripped down, lightweight style carrying a small bivy kit and tarp to maximize our ability to move in the terrain. We carried two dinners and two breakfasts just in case we would need to bivy a second night and we both carried about 3000 calories/person per day. Approaching the Southern Pickets in the early morning of Day 1. We had a rack and a half of cams, aluminum semi auto crampons, 70m 8.5mm rope and shared a single Petzl gully. We both had 40L packs and carried a small puffy, vest, wind jacket and hardshell rain jacket. We hoped that we wouldn’t have to deal with any rain but wanted to be prepared if the weather arrived a bit early. The approach went smooth with lots of snow above 6000’ and we arrived at the base of Little Mac at 7:30am. We enjoyed a long break on the warm rock and attempted to dry out our approach shoes and socks from the long snowy walk above the tree line. Soloing over to the base of Little Mac. We scrambled the exposed heather ledges to the base of the 5th class climbing on Little Mac and then launched up into the 5.7 terrain above. After a bit of terrain confusion, my pace started to increase and I began to find the flow through the exposed face climbing on the upper panel of Little Mac. We continued climbing up to the summit and continued up and over the three Macmillan spires. East Face of East MacMillan. Summit of East MacMillan. I had attempted the traverse last August with Dan May, and we had made it to the backside of Terror before pulling the plug and retracing our steps back over the East Face and down into Crescent Creek Basin. This go around I felt more familiar with the terrain and moved a bit quicker through some of the confusing 5th class terrain that Dan and I struggled to read last year. We continued simuling and soloing across the skyline until we reached the base of East Tower #5, where we broke the rope out and Felipe fired the stiff 5.8 pitch to the summit. We rapped into the familiar gully of Inspiration Peak and soon after found ourselves at the base of the East Face of Inspiration. Felipe led up the impeccable pitches on the East Face of Inspiration before we rappelled down to the Inspiration-Pyramid Col and continued racing towards our hopeful bivy at the base of Mount Terror. P1 on the East Face of Inspiration Peak. P2 on the East Face of Inspiration Peak. Pyramid and Degenhardt went quickly and we reached the base of Terror at around 7pm. Tired but very psyched on all the terrain we had travelled. There were minimal bivy options and the wind had increased throughout the day out of the south. Pyramid's 5.8 Chimney Pitch. Instead of enduring a lumpy dirt bivouac in the wind, we opted to utilize a large snow moat beside a large boulder that marks the start of the East Face of Mount Terror. We spent an hour kicking in a suitable flat spot large enough for the both of us and settled into a heavy night of sleep before an early wake up the next day. Our snow moat bivy at the base of Mount Terror. We awoke at 3:30am and were well into our first simul block when the sun began to paint the east face at around 5am. We continued up and over Terror, onto the Rake’s extensive ridgeline and over the Blob and the Blip. Felipe on top of Mount Terror. One of the highlight pitches of the traverse was the knife edge ridge climbing of the East Twin Needle. It was a superb pitch of climbing in a very wild position. We hit the summit of East Twin Needle right around noon and the increase in winds made it obvious that a low pressure system was on its way. Felipe cruising the wild climbing on the East Twin Needle. On top of West Twin Needle. We reached the base of the Himmelhorn at 1:45pm and Felipe hiked the crux pitch of the traverse in good time. One more pitch brought us to the top of the Himmelhorn and we high fived and kept moving over to the rappels. Six total rappels brought us to the Himmel-Otto Col and by then it was about 3:30pm and fairly windy. With the Ottohorn and Frenzelspitz still ahead of us, we discussd the pros and cons of traversing the ominous choss gully over to Frenzelspitz, climbing the last peak and then retracing our steps. It seemed as though the loose terrain would eat up a ton of time and with inclement weather on the horizon it seemed like a death march out of Stump Hollow would be inevitable if we choose to complete the traverse by the book. Base of the Himmelhorn. P2 of the Himmelhorn. Looking back at P2 of the Himmelhorn. Instead, we left our gear at the Himmel-Otto Col, soloed the Ottohorn and then descended back to the col. We felt okay with our decision to leave out Frenzelspitz and began our long descent back down to the car. On top of the Ottohorn, looking back at the West Face of the Himmelhorn. One overhanging rappel brought us to snow in the gully and we moved quickly down to the heather benches of the Crescent Creek Drainage. We hit the Barrier Col at 7pm and were able to quickly find the trail down into Stump Hollow. The Himmel-Otto Couloir. I stupidly got us lost as we began our last descent to Terror Creek and we spent the next few hours making slow progress bushwhacking down to Terror Creek, across the river and back up to the Goodell Creek Trail we had approached on. Goats on top of the Barrier Col. By the time we both reached the cars it was 1am on July 9th. Just under 48 hours since we began walking uphill. Although we didn’t complete the full traverse, we are content with our style and timing. At around 7am, it began to rain down in Newhalem and we were psyched to be sleeping in our cars rather than high up in the mountains. We also figure this likely won’t be the last time we’ll be in the Pickets and it’s nice to have a few peaks to come back to… A huge thanks is in order for Wayne Wallace, Mark Bunker and Colin Haley for their initial vision for the traverse and to Jeff and Priti Wright who’s beta was invaluable throughout the trip. Additionally, Jens Holsten, Sol Werkin, Chad Kellogg and Dan Hilden’s vision for a full enchainment of the Picket Range inspired us immensely and we are pretty mind blown at what those guys were able to do over 8 days! https://sam-marjerison.blogspot.com/2025/07/picket-fence-traverse-attempt.html Gear Notes: 70m 8.5mm rope Singles .2-3, Doubles .4-2, Small Rack of Stoppers 6x Single Length Slings, 4x Double Length Slings, 2x UL Quickdraws Aluminum Crampons & Shared Petzl Gully Windburner Stove + 2x 4oz fuel cans (only used one) Rab SilTarp 2 Small Repair Kit: Repair Tape, Ductape, 30’ 3mm cord, 3x AAA batteries, bundle of bailing wire 2x 2L Soft Flasks Feathered Friends Tanager 20 Thermarest NeoAir Small Portable Battery, Inreach, Headlamp and chargers Approach Notes: Up Goodell Creek, down Stump Hollow (don’t get lost like us!)

Back in 2019 or so, yes, approaching the northwest side of Terror we did it from the cok between the Terror and the Rake formation. Lots of snow down climbing but pretty smooth sailing all the way to the base of the route. That was early July.

Thanks for the TR! Once I read that the pencil was missing from the summit register on Degenhardt I raced back up there to replace the pencil! Went up there last weekend and climbed Pyramid Degenhardt, Ottohorn and Frenzelspitz. Thanks for the stoke and the TR!

Love it! And really, the entire report top to bottom. I took two different ways to get back and forth over the Challenger E-W ridge line. The further east one was definitely harder. I think the west one is Solar pass, and wasn’t technical.

It’s a matter of personal preference. Chikamin is big and deep, there are some house swallowers there. But I think you’ll find 2 person parties are not rare.

Trip: Markhor and Needle Peak - Traverse Trip Date: 07/07/2025 Trip Report: I am too behind on everything right now to write much, but I figured some of you may be interested in a lesser known romp across the valley from Yak Peak off the Coquihalla. It is quite the scenic and reasonable outing for the mature mountaineer, but I think most would enjoy the lovely ridgeline between Markhor and Needle Peaks. It starts with a steep grunt up the climber's trail up Markhor, with expanding views of Yak Peak across the way: Within an hour or two, the summit of Markhor comes into view, with nothing more challenging than some exposed class 3 standing between the car and the summit: The view expand greatly, with the shapely Needle peak beckoning across a kilometer (we're in Canada, eh) or two of ridgeline: The bugs were a bit on the bad side so I didn't waste much time picking my way down Markhor to a rap station and fixed line which greatly aided the descent down a slabby section. I wrapped a prusik around the thin line which was a nice hand hold as I slid it down and scrambled lower. Here's looking up at the slabby bit below the summit of Markhor after clearing it: And then the really good stuff lay ahead. Always scenic, often exposed, sometimes a bit on the kitty litter side, it was nonetheless "distinctly alpine and a pure joy" to quote Fred from some peak or other in the North Cascades (Logan?). It was usually pretty easy, although a few sections edged into exposed 4th class where a fall would end very badly: I caught a glimpse of another couple behind me as I scrambled along: And soon was on the summit of Needle, alone with the festive summit register: The bugs here were terrible as well so I didn't stay long, mosying down the well trod Needle Peak trail that was very scenic the entire way. Yak Peak on the left and Markhor on the right: Partway down there was a nice viewpoint where I could take in the entirety of the Markhor to Needle ridge traverse: And soon was spit out at the well marked Needle Peak trailhead: I think it took me about 5-6 hours for the loop, including stops, which was a bit longer than the drive, thankfully. The only bummer is that it isn't longer! Gear Notes: helmet and approach shoes. Brought a 30m RAD line to rap but fixed line in place on slab downclimb Approach Notes: Park at Needle Peak Trailhead and find flagged route up Markhor to the east, starting in pipeline swath. Descend well marked Needle Peak trail after traverse

Quite the difficult adventure climbing way back in there @JonParker, way to keep it safe and somewhat sane! Less sane is solo broken ankle dude. To say he won the lottery is putting it mildly. Good on you guys for helping redeem what likely would have been a very bad outcome.

Absolutely fantastic trip report and photos. I'm hoping to visit the Gunsight range later this summer. I noticed that you mention that you found two climbers who "wanted to check out the Gunsight range using a rope team larger than 2 for the Chikamin." Is the Chikamin particularly broken up? I was planning on just one partner but maybe I'm missing something.

Just read your blog...wow what a great season!! You have been getting after it this spring. Thanks for the post.

Very cool seeing gunsight getting climbed! Nice work and glad you all were able to get the hiker a rescue!

We went up to the right of that arete under the col: Tim scrambled it and dropped a rope to Steve and I and we were glad for it!

I haven’t been to that area yet, but it looks incredible!! One of these trips I’d love to invite myself with you 3 (+ Kurt). Ya’ll really seem to enjoy your time up there in good style.

Dude! That was awesome having our last person we saw on trail give us some picket stoke. I appreciated the additional reminder about choss from pulling rope, it was a particularly cautious choss dance up there at times. Also, stellar work on that trail, we were really admiring all the hard work that went into it as we marched our wet feet home on blissfully easy trail miles 🫡 🙏 We’ve got some schemes and dreams, but who knows, the route serendipitously chose us the week before we went out this year. The more we explore the nooks of this range, the more options seem to arise! I’m always astounded by the sheer magnitude of ridges and towers particularly in the northern pickets (look at this crazy tower!!). Each time we go to the pickets it’s overwhelming at first, but then we get enchanted and can’t imagine not coming back. This one was Umami 🤤

Thanks for the love ya’ll with the climb, and the kind words with Teemo. I think our pattern of traverses has got to be partly inspired by his tendency to walk and chill on fences.

Yeah 5 people in the vicinity within an hour or two of the event, on a Monday at least 1.5 days from a road (for most). Would have been game over otherwise. While remote, the ptarmigan traverse does seem to be blowing up.

Damn!

Good to see you out with someone Lucas!

So let me get this right. You came across a soloist. Who was injured. By Sinister Mountain? And then by chance another two people come? Whoa.