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Trip: Abernathy Peak - Northwest Ridge Trip Date: 08/22/2020 Trip Report: Abernathy Peak 8321’ Trip Report – August 22-24, 2020 I climbed Abernathy Peak, the Northwest Ridge Route, over the weekend. This route can be done in 2 long days, I started late so I stretched it into a third day. The weather was perfect all weekend 70’s – 80’s. I started at the Cedar Creek Trailhead off Hwy 20 about 5 miles West of Mazama. I went up Trail 476 (Cedar Creek Trail) about 8.5 miles. At 5600’on the trail I took a hard left off the trail heading East along the 5600’contour line heading toward the South Fork of Cedar Creek. The bushwacking on this approach is pretty nice by Cascade standards. Most of the brush is waste deep and not super thick, so navigation was pretty easy. Once to the South Fork of Cedar Creek, I follow up the East side of the creek to Lamont Lake (6640’). Getting up to the lake requires some work, either a loose rock gully or some Class 3 rock. The camping along Lamont Lake is fantastic, lots of room and flat areas for tents. Just before heading out in the morning from the lake I was serenaded by a pack of coyotes for about 30 seconds from somewhere on the other side of the lake. They must have felt that it was a glorious morning too. I climbed up a gully on the Southwest side of the lake that lead to the Northwest Ridge leading to Abernathy Peak. The gully is loose rock and steep up the middle but there is a goat trail off to the right side which is a better route. Once on the Northwest Ridge to Abernathy the travel is very nice, lots of potential for camping. About halfway to Abernathy Peak you will start hitting 2nd & 3rd Class rock that will take you to the summit. Some of the rock on the ridge is exposed but fairly solid. There are a couple plateaus along the way up that you could camp on. Overall the climb is very nice with decent views and you get to checkout some history in the old mining area. The trail approach is nice with several camping options along the way. Most people on this trail are day hikers, I was the only climber in the area this weekend. Some Tips and Notes: 1. There are several camp spots along the Cedar Creek Trail & great camping at Lamont Lake. 2. The bushwacking to Lamont Lake is not bad compared to the Westside of the Cascades. 3. There is about 600’ vertical of steep gully or Class 3 rock to get to Lamont Lake by way of the South Fork of Cedar Creek. There may be an easier way but this was fine for me. 4. There is no water on the Northwest Ridge to Abernathy so bring what you need from the lake. Travel Time for reference: Day 1 (TH to Lamont Lake), 7 hours – Day 2 (Summit & back to lower camp off trail), 11 hours – Day 3 (back to car), 1 hours. Gear used: Trekking Poles, Helmet, Full Gaiters, Work Gloves. The camping at Lamont Lake is very nice, worth the bushwack! Gully climb up from Lake Lamont to the Northwest Ridge of Abernathy Peak. I climbed the gully closest to the 1st pointy peak, you can see the goat trail at the base of the peak. Northwest Ridge to Abernathy Peak. Nice relaxing ridge climb. Some old mining equipment along the route. Summit View - A good peak to plan other climbs from. Gear Notes: Trekking Poles, Helmet, Full Gaiters, Work Gloves. Approach Notes: Trail 476 (Cedar Creek Trail). Bushwacking to Lamont Lake.

Trip: Mount Challenger - Eiley Wiley Ridge Trip Date: 08/17/2020 Trip Report: 3rd time's a charm.... After a failed attempt in July 2019 (Via whatcom glacier) and getting stuck in a whiteout on Whatcom peak with thunderstorms moving in.... ...and a cancelled attempt July 2020 with a forecast of non-stop rain and snow, we finally had a window to try Challenger via Eiley Wailey. We made a third attempt on “Wilakin-ghaist” almost 161 years (and a week) after it was first sighted by swiss born engineer Heinrich Custer (Reading “A Range of Glaciers: The Exploration and Survey of the Northern Cascade Range” by Beckey is a great way to get stoked for the climb!) For late season we opted for the Eiley Wiley approach and researched the stories of those who went before. Many thanks to those who posted before with their beta on the legendary Eiley Wiley schwack including Manacus, ncascademtns, gum, David_Zeps, Ian Lauder, and others. We found the following maps to be the most helpful and accurate for the traverse route of Eiley Wiley (forgive me, I didn’t keep track of who posted them, but thank you): Day 1 - Ross Lake boat ride to Big Beaver and on to Beaver Pass camp for a ~16 mile day. Chugged two liters of water between each campsite (39 mile, Luna, Beaver Pass) in the heat and listened to a tree fall at Beaver Pass and the distant rockfall up Access Creek and Luna Basin. 9 hours Big Beaver to Beaver Pass A glimpse of Challenger from the trail. Eiley Wiley ridge on right. Day 2 - The Eiley Schwack. Fearing yellow jackets, thorns and other horror stories we brought hearty bushwhack gloves and appreciated them. Having read several trip reports of this schwack, and now having done it two different ways, I can safely say there is an easy way to do this with minimal bushwhacking. Instead of telling you about another story of cliffing out, branch belays, new vocabulary, and slips and tumbles, I’ll describe what I think is the best route. If you look on the USGS map there are two clear drainages that shoot straight down the ridge east/west towards Beaver Pass. Most of the climb should take place on the spur between these two drainages. The USGS map shows the drainages you want to be between (but the shelter and campsite locations are incorrect and actually south of the start) IanLauder’s trip report was almost perfect with this one (thank you!) https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/103565-tr-mount-challenger-standard-route-07252020/?tab=comments#comment-1159784 Except that the climbers’ trail doesn’t cliff out, it was just hidden to the north This aerial imagery shows you the drainages and their position relative to Beaver Pass campsites. Ignore the side trips of exploratory bushwhacking. Directions uphill: From Beaver pass campsite, go north on the trail ~100-200 feet and then turn west towards the ridge and bushwhack downhill across the Beaver Pass drainages until you gain the Eiley-Wiley slope. Your goal is to get on the spur that rises between the two drainages. Once on the spur, the approach is nice open timber for ~700’ gain. The spur is ~100 yards wide and you can see the drainages on either side as you go up in the timber. Looking down the open timber At approximately ~4300’ you will hit a cliff. Go right (North) around the cliff and locate a climbers trail up and around it. Continue through open timber until ~4880’ where the spur cliffs out again. Look right (North) again for a boulder drainage ON THE SPUR. Not the main drainage further to the north. Work up the boulder drainage until ~4950’ where the boulder drainage pops out on a little clearing hillside on top of the cliffs. This is where the climber’s trail begins and goes until ~5180’ where you find your third cliff set Looking down the boulder drainage Here, go around the cliff left (south) and transition off the spur to the left (south), into the drainage where the climber’s trail continues up the drainage, and up left (south) onto the next spur until you reach the heather meadows at `5600 and end at a small campsite. Please enjoy this handy dandy map of the route UP: Once above the bushwhack. We enjoyed the alpine, heather meadows and stopped for lunch. 4 hours - Beaver Pass to 5600’ meadows. The climber’s trail leads to the eastern headwall of Eiley Wiley Ridge and puts you at the top of a large steep heather/grass gulley that begins the heather traverse. The general goal is to traverse a series of spurs on the south side of the main ridgeline around the 6400’ - 6200’ level. Along the way to Eiley Lake (~6126’) you’ll discover the most beautiful cascading pools trickling into a waterfall. This is the first water we found from Beaver Pass. I carried 4 liters to get here and was parched. These pools are some of the most amazing I’ve seen with a great view of Luna and the cirque. One pool even has its own drain like a bathtub into the next pool. End of Eiley/Wiley meadows at 5600’ meadows to pools - 5 hours. We made camp on two spots at Eiley Lake an hour later. Total travel time Beaver Pass to Eiley Lake ~10 hours. No water from Beaver pass until the pools. Day 3 - We opted for a 0300 wake up with a 345 departure from Eiley lake in pouring rain and navigated past the saddle to Wiley lake and up the eastern slopes of PT 7374. Crampons were needed on the exposed ice of the slopes. We found the notch recommended on the south side of PT 7374 and had no trouble getting through the notch. Once through, stay high and go north to the other side of the peak where heather benches await that drop down to Challenger saddle. Don’t drop all the way down the loose rock gulley. the notch at PT 7374 west side of the notch at PT 7374, go down ~40 feet and then traverse north on rocky ledges Whatcom Glacier and Whatcom Challenger Glacier from Challenger Arm Reached Challenger Arm by 0800 We pushed up in the rain, whiteout, and were able to ascend Challenger Arm and past the bergschrund without incident. I punched thigh deep through one crevasse. The snow arete/knife ridge to the summit block was very sharp, but we were able to walk it all the way to the end. A picket was essential here. The snow arete leading to the summit block We reached the summit block from Challenger arm in less than two hours and scrambled over to the base of the rock pitch. After clipping two pitons and placing a nut, my partner couldn’t find any foot purchase on the wet rainy rock at the crux. After a slip or two, we decided we had pushed our luck enough, climbing in the rain and whiteout clipped to a piton that was likely pounded in 40 years ago with little chance of rescue should things go south. “I climb to go home” is my motto, and just getting to this point was truly an incredible experience. We called it a summit and safely descended. the weather improved slightly and for a brief moment I saw the summit from afar. It was also at that moment that my partner had to self arrest near PT 7374 and I set loose a very large loose boulder behind me. It was becoming apparent we were not welcome. Wiley lake seemed welcoming enough…. ...for a dip However on the way out, traversing the outflow of Wiley Lake, I heard a large cracking sound and immediately jumped off the snow area I was on only to find it collapse into the lake. I now know what a collapsing snow structure sounds like We made our way back to Eiley Lake camp to call it a 12.5 hour day camp to camp and crashed. Day 4 - Return traverse along Eiely/Wiley ridge. Crossing the steep heather in howling wind and rain with heavy packs was the hairiest part of the trip. Routefinding was difficult and there are many places where a slip would lead to an unpleasant tumble. a rainbow awaited us at the end of the ridge. The Eiley schwack back downhill was vastly different than going up, as everything was wet. If you can do this bushwhack dry, it is highly recommended. I know it sounds obvious, but it was such a vastly difference experience. A roaring fire at Beaver Pass dried us out just in time for more rain and simultaneous air mattress failures. Day 5 - the long walk out back to Big Beaver for the boat ride home. 9 hours out. We encountered four parties headed in to Luna on our way out. FYI, National Park trail crews were out working the Big Beaver trail as we were out there. They have done a fantastic job clearing brush all the way to Beaver Pass. They haven’t touched Little Beaver yet, and didn’t last year either when we were there, so it’s likely still an overgrown mess. Many thanks to their hard work. A true cascade experience in BIG mountains. Gear Notes: 5 nuts, runners, pickets, glacier gear Approach Notes: Early season - Whatcom Glacier Late season - Eiley Wiley

Is an old school III+/IV and new school IV+ It's hard to give any climb in the lower 48's a grade of V with the hardest moves being 5.7 and mostly 4th class. Maybe in Canada or Alaska but....

Grades don't apply to J'Berg!

i agree with Jason. Having recently done both Stuart and J'Berg again I wouldn't draw a strong comparison other than they are both big Cascades peaks.

I feel like the complete north ridge of Stuart is easier due to the lack of sketchiness. Jburg is just a sketchier adventure than a lot of things in the Cascades.

I recommend if you do get a PFD, it be yellow in color. Most other colors tend to look dark in the water and are hard to spot.