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hey there thanks for posting on my favorite mountain. I had a disaster here in 1980 when I fell from the cirque between north and south approx on the long vertical red line on your map. New Year's Day some folk dancing friends from Deming happened by as they were climbing North Sister that day. Saw me floundering 2 years later.....cracked skull, frostbite, lost 5 toes. MIRACLE to be alive. They know me as Sunflower, Not familiar with Green Creek. I lived on the Saxon Rd near Skookum which is where I started my hike up . spent a night @ Nesset cabin who were neighborhood friends .

Trip: Gunn Peak - Uh, south. Standard. Trip Date: 11/26/2023 Trip Report: On 11-26-23 me and @Albuquerque Fred climbed Gunn and Tailgunner peaks. It was grand fun made much easier than is typical for this season due to the long high pressure system that melted and crusted the snow. Not knowing what to expect from the conditions we brought all kinds of gear: rope, pro, axes, crampons, helmets, snowshoes. We didn't use any of the technical stuff, just axes and crampons, and helmets. The trail wasn't as bad as we expected from the reputation, but it was pretty bad. The heavy frost down low made sure the brush was dry at least. We had to use crampons to manage the log crossing at Barclay Creek. Snow began at 4300', then we broke out into the open and thanked the crust for making the walking easier. Another party in days past broke some trail that helped a bit. Yada yada yada, we donned crampons at the base of the "hidden ledge", not so hidden and definitely more of a gully than a ledge. There was some ice and since 2 climbing for a short distance. The upper snowfield was easy. The ridge crossover at 6100' was the make or break when we got our first look at the traverse ledge on the north side. I was pleased to see that the previous part left us some steps and a bit of a trough. It was a piece of cake actually, though heady. This was what we brought the pro for. You descend, then a really thin snow ledge with exposure, then ascend again. It would protect very well as the belayer is at a notch and there are several great cracks at the low point, then trees at the top on the far side. Then an easy walk to the summit. It had been very warm in the sun all day and it was positively balmy on the summit, T-shirts and lady bugs (not a euphemism). The descent was about the same, crust plodding, then up Tailgunner. Then down, down, down. Headlamps for 15 minutes. Given a high snow level to make the trail tolerable, I think this would make a fine all year summit if you bring pro for the north side (or are bold on a steep slope with exposure going both up and down and across). The route: First crux: Second crux: Summit: Frost line stayed in the valley all day: Gear Notes: Carried a lot. Used axe, crampons, helmet. Approach Notes: Trail is ok, not as bad as advertised.

Trip: Twin Sisters Range - Green Creek (Lite) Circuit Trip Date: 08/28/2018 Trip Report: I've really only dabbled in the Twin Sisters area since moving to Bham for school a couple years ago, but what a surprisingly complex, interesting and under-appreciated resource it is, so close to town. The recently cleared air got me giddy, and after being unable to find a partner for any adventures further afield I set my sights closer to home. The Green Creek Circuit looked like a great way to familiarize myself with lesser-traveled corners of the range, and it was. Definitely gained a new appreciation for this area. I crossed the Middle Fork and began hiking the Elbow Lake trail in the deep blue, pre-dawn glow graciously accompanied by the feeling that some apex predator was eyeing me from the bushes which tends to happen while hiking solo in unfamiliar places. The "bushwack" into the cirque has apparently really cleaned up since previous TRs I've read; I've had harder times following trails to popular crags in Squamish. There's solid tread the whole way and the route is generously marked with blue reflective diamonds, perhaps excessively so, but it eased any worries I had about potentially having to hike this section in the dark. Some of the ancient cedars and firs in this area are really impressive. The Green Creek cirque is gorgeous. It wouldn't even be unreasonable for the highly motivated boulderer to haul some pads out here - there's some great looking boulders and lines. I couldn't have felt any further way from Bham or other familiar places up the Nooksack. Truly wild zone, that is until I had to pick up someone's pile of plastic food wrappers that were clearly too heavy to pack out. Seriously? I started up Green Creek Arete as the sun poked over Mt. Baker and began to fill the valley. Solid, clean rock, nice exposure, great scrambling. I haven't felt that relaxed and in tune with the mountains in a while. As I topped out, smoke began to fill the air and Kulshan was temporarily obscured - bleh. It slowly cleared, though, and crossing slabs and tarns en route to the Sisters Glacier was another unexpected scenic highlight of the trip. Easy travel, great views and lots of peaks ahead. The moat crossing to S Twin NE Ridge was easy, and the ridge was a lot shorter than I expected. On top around 10, I started to relax and slow my pace down with all the daylight still in front of me. As I scooted down the south face gullies, I was eyeing Skookum with a little apprehension. I didn't bring a rope, and the Jaws Tooth downclimb didn't sound very up my alley, so I was looking at climbing directly up to the Jaws Tooth notch and finishing up Skookum. It looked like a large moat to steep choss - which, in hindsight after climbing other things on this traverse, I'm sure it wasn't, but I also became more worried about sketchy looking conditions crossing the Hayden Col, Little Sister Col and dropping back on the glacier, and ended up passing Skookum by. I know I probably missed out on the best climbing of the whole outing, but that was my call in the moment. I'll be back. A common theme of the Sisters area appears to be things looking much steeper/chossier/more difficult than they really are from a distance. Despite being totally melted out, the Hayden Col was casual, so I scrambled over to a summit I thought to be Ribbon Point, but was actually the one just to the north of it. Either way, cool spot. The talus crossings weren't nearly as bad as I'd heard they might be without snow, though my bruised tailbone might think differently. Slower going, but reasonable. Not wanting to miss out on any more good climbing, I eyed up my line on Little Sister's NW face and settled on the rightmost of the two ribs on the left side of the face. Surprisingly good 5.4ish up and sometimes left of a little corner system, stepping left onto a beautiful, highly featured and varnished slab to bypass a small bulge, leading to class 3 up the rib to the summit. Stellar! selfies are hard with an slr! stoked on top of little sister route up little sister with the easy-ish access to green ck glacier marked I dropped my pack at the notch just above the Green Creek Glacier, sussed it out and found passage via a collapsed snow bridge. All around, the schrund was huge, and I decided to go with the devil I knew and hop across here, as opposed to traversing Little Sister and Cinderella and potentially not being able to get back down to the glacier. This I think was a good call, the normal col where people drop onto the glacier was severely melted out with a large looking moat. The hike down the glacier, into the valley and out was calm and tranquil. The smoke had fully cleared, I don't think I've ever had as good of a view of Lincoln and Colfax as this. Grassy benches without a trace of human travel, bright orange rock contrasting with Baker's white, and the jagged cirque and glacier at my back. 15 hours car to car, for what little peakbagging I actually accomplished I'd say this is a modest time that could be significantly improved with less lollygagging, summit naps, routefinding snafus and blueberry pit stops. But I like all those things. Gear Notes: axe and pons, sense of adventure Approach Notes: now equipped for the masses