Bronco

Looks like the following Cross Country zones are now closed due to the Sourdough Fire. Hope you didn't have the Pickets on your agenda this August or September. Cross-country Zones Sourdough Davis Peak Terror Basin Elephant Butte Luna Challenger Prophet Tapto Lakes Middle Lakes Bear Mountain Depot Spickard

also HWY 20 closed both directions at Diablo due to the Sourdough Fire https://wsdot.com/travel/real-time/mountainpasses/North-Cascade-Hwy

I agree the climb wasn't too bad, we just sandbagged ourselves that it'd be an easy day that ended up being longer and harder than we assumed.

Looks like Terror Basin Cross Country zone is closed to all users along with some of the trailheads along Cascade River: https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/conditions.htm Also a new fire started over the weekend above the Diablo Dam. Might check in with the Marblemount Ranger Station if you have a trip planned.

Trip: Robinson Mountain - Pasayten - SE Ridge Trip Date: 07/29/2023 Trip Report: Juan and I hadn’t gotten out much lately but decided to attempt an overnight attempt of Robinson Mountain. This is the route description we had from WTA.org: Turn right (northeast) on the unmarked Beauty Creek Trail and follow it for 1.5 miles, as it climbs somewhat steeply up the Beauty Creek valley, staying northwest of the creek. Just after crossing a major tributary of Beauty Creek, elevation 5260 feet, turn left (northwest) onto a climber’s trail that works up the steep meadow, then shallows into a secondary valley before steepening to reach a tarn, elevation 6750 feet. From the tarn, it is a climber’s route, initially up the scree slope to the north and then 1.2 miles along the ridge over the false summits with a short class 2-3 knife edge climb shortly before the true summit. Sounded pretty easy to us. We left the trailhead at 8:30 am in relatively cool temps and were soon at the turn off for the Beauty Creek climber’s path at 2.8 miles from the Robinson Creek trailhead. Some blowdown down low but the trail is in good shape for a climber’s trail. Where the official trail ends in a meadow, we turned up the fall line. We concluded the part of the route description for the Beauty Creek Trail that says “it climbs somewhat steeply” is accurate, it’s pretty steep but at least it was hot and dusty. View of Silver Star from the left turn up the hill to the tarn. At this point we encountered an ancient looking solo climber descending. He disclosed there is a really friendly marmot at the tarn where he had camped for 3 days. He then went on to say the marmot really loved his urine. And then went on further to say how he really enjoyed his time with the marmot and the marmot would probably not be as friendly with us as he was with him. We stared at him awkwardly and thanked him for this somewhat unsettling beta. Arriving at the 6,750’ tarn a little more than 4 hours after leaving the trailhead, we set up camp and took a rest in the shade. Juan, (who turned 60! this year), decided we should go ahead and attempt the summit that afternoon instead of hanging around staring at the scree slope of doom. Juan at the top of the initial scree slope. Around 3:00 we shouldered our packs and slogged up the scree to the SE ridge. The route description at this point says: then 1.2 miles along the ridge over the false summits with a short class 2-3 knife edge climb shortly before the true summit. We were both a little surprised to find out our expectation of a nice Sound of Music ridge walk with occasional class 2-3 was not to be found. The ridge is mostly class 2-3 with a fair amount of route finding. At a couple of points I was certain we were climbing the summit only to see another one behind it, sometimes appearing faaarrrrrr behind. We each later admitted to being close to pulling the plug on this attempt. After 3 hours from leaving the tarn, and passing several false summits, we reached the actual summit. Summit Block Summit Selfie Great light for photos this evening We realized we didn’t have a ton of daylight left and still needed some dinner. We quickly downclimbed and scree surfed back to camp by 8:00 pm, briefly stopping to chat with another solo climber who I accidentally dislodged a good sized rock above on the scree slope of doom that he successfully dodged. He was planning to bivy on the ridge and we wished him a good evening. Dinner was devoured quickly and two tired, middle aged/old guys promptly went to bed at 9:00, no sign of the overly friendly marmot. The hike out on Sunday had a lazy pace, stopping to eat berries and Juan attempting to make friends with a small rattlesnake next to the trail that I wanted no part of. We never did see a marmot at the tarn and suspect the old guy may have abducted it for continued companionship. We stopped for a quick meal at the Mazama Public house, Smoked Tri-Tip and Frites (steak and jo-jo's) hit the spot before a long drive home. Gear Notes: Helmets Approach Notes: Snakes, dust and heat

Can you elaborate on this? Tighty whiteys, thong or boxers? No mas pantelones?

Things like this make me never want to climb Nooksack. It seems like everyone who climbs it has one of these close calls.

I think the bypass route is a lot easier to figure out from below and avoid the cliffs. We stayed pretty close to the Impasse and managed to stay on class 3-4 and a bit of brush. We were there on Labor Day weekend so no snow to deal with.

We looked at the Impasse and decided to bypass lower. Took about an hour. I don't think we lost any time over digging out climbing gear, setting up an anchor, rapping in, climbing out the other side and re-packing gear. YMMV

That has to be one of my favorite TR's on here, so funny!

Awesome, thanks for the TR!

How about S. Ridge of Black Peak?

Looks like an awesome outing, thanks for posting the TR!

Climbers Path Turnoff (1,600 ft) : 45:28 / 06:30 Heather Bench [top of hill climb] (5,200 ft) : 1:50:30 / 07:35 That's 3,600' in 65 minutes. 🤢

I thought it was nice that entry into National Parks was free on MLK but the road to Paradise was still closed.

Not sure how I missed this great TR either. You did a nice job of planning for contingencies, don't worry about the SAR call, it happens. Pretty badass effort!

I'm submitting the opening bid on Eldorado and the Pickets. These would look great in my office!

Am I the only one who is confused by this? What else is there?

Can't say I climb 'em like I used to but still getting out. Where's your TRs?

Can't make this one, maybe see you in January!

I clicked the donate tab and:

Washington State Department of Transportation North Central Region – 2830 Euclid Ave. Wenatchee, WA 98801– 509-667-3000 TRAVEL ADVISORY Nov. 8, 2022 Contacts: Lauren Loebsack, communications, 509-860-0000 North Cascades Highway to remain closed for winter WINTHROP – With nearly 30 inches of snowfall over the weekend, SR 20 North Cascades Highway will remain closed for the winter between Ross Lake Dam trailhead (milepost 134) and Early Winters gate (milepost 178). The route was closed between milepost 134 and 171 for potential avalanche danger on Thursday, Nov. 3. Throughout the weekend, the North Cascades and the area surrounding the eastern slopes were repeatedly hit with snow and rain. Though the immediate avalanche danger is now low, conditions are likely to change. Maintaining the closure now will allow crews to focus time and resources on the communities east of the mountain passes that have received up to 2 feet of snow in places. A snow berm has been built at the Early Winters gate at milepost 178 while crews focus on clearing routes on the east side of the mountain passes. Depending on resources and conditions, the road may be reopened to Silver Star gate for sno park access prior to the holidays. Spring clearing work is typically assessed in March and the seasonal reopening can be as late as June, depending on conditions. Updates on the spring clearing work will be shared in the North Cascades newsletter, the real time travel map, and on Twitter at @WSDOT_East.

Missed this the first time around. Mad respect for Kim putting up with your shenanigans!