Tod

Great idea!! I never thought of bringing my bike on that trail, but it sure seems like a nice trail for it. How far up did you ride?

Your'e probably going to run into some patches of snow up high (maybe not though). The terrain is rough so light hikers maybe a better option.... Let me know how it goes and which route you go up.... Tod

I've got their Alpine Pack. Although I have only used one (the one I have), I've had a chance to try on most of their packs and talk to a few people (that have tested them) about how they work. I would HIGHLY recomend their "Mountain" Series of packs. These are the ones without the frame sheets. What I found and heard from a few people is that the bottom end of the frame sheet on the packs with stiff frame sheets (i.e. Nimbus and Stratus) may have a tendancy to dig into the top part of your butt. I found this to be true for myself. Try out the pack with weight and see what happens. Everybodies back is different and many people don't have this problem. On the other hand, the Mountain Packs do not have this possible problem. The construction on the packs is some of the best I have seen. Very bomber and with lots of quality. I would take a close look at the Inversion. This pack has more options to carry things and becomes the most versatile pack (and now my standard overnight lightweight climbing pack). Personally I would choose this one over the Apline in a heartbeat since it has more options and is only 1 once heavier in the Nimbus version. My only grip with my Alpine Pack is that he zipper for the hood is not long enough. Sometimes it's hard to cram things into the hood. Good luck... Tod

The Carne High Route will not save any time. Because most of the trail is not even there anymore it can take a lot more time to go this route. For example, it takes me about 1.5 hours to get to the Leroy Basin from the car, whereas it took me 6 hours to take the high route back. I could probably do the high route much quicker if I were to be up there again since i know the route now, but it wouldn't get me to Ice Lakes any quicker. Best bet, take the Leroy Creek/Basin trail and then traverese over to the notch accessing Ice Lakes. Probably the fastest way to Ice Lakes from any direction.... Tod

I haven't been up the via Terror creek before but, I have been up via the creek just south of Terror creek that affectionatly (sp?)called "Over and Up" creek. It was many years ago, but at the time there was a decent climbers trail that led up to treeline so that you could traverse north towards the glacier. From the looks of it, this is an approach that deals with terrain that is not as steep as the Barrier route and would seem to require less routefinding and time. The West Ridge of Inspiration does not require much gear. If your comfortable on exposed Class 4 and low 5th, then a fairly light rack will probably do well. As you get part way up, you'll probably want to take a route on the left side of the gulley. This seems less chossy and exposed than the route directly up the gulley (and less technical). When you reach the ridge there is a variation that goes out onto the north face that is Class 3-4. It's hidden, but fairly easy. The route pictured in the Becky guide that is more direct up the final summit block (5.7?) probably will require more gear to carry in on the approach, but is probably more interesting. Regardless, the whole setting on Inspiration is incredible... Tod

Were you up there this weekend. I was up there putzin around and ended up making the traverse on the old Carne Mtn. High Route. I camped in the Leroy Basin/Meadow Saturday night and headed out Sunday afternoon.. I went to go check out Fernow, but was unmotivated and mostly enjoyed the scenery and sun. Tod

Either that or head in via Depot creek from Canada.... Unless you need to access the south side, Depot creek does not have many of the bushwacking troubles... Tod

Once after a a climb of the North Ridge, I did a NE Face decent. It wasn't all that bad. Mostly scree and steep heathered benches that lead to a couple of cliffs 100-200 feet above the Boston Glacier. We ended up making two repels into the moat and climbing 15-20 feet back out. It was probably a longer way down than it should have been, but it was interesting being on a face that people rarely seem to set foot on. The worst part of it was climbing back up and over Sharkfin Col with mud dripping/running down from the Col while pulling a few 5.6/5.7 moves through it at 2am. Tod [This message has been edited by Tod (edited 07-17-2001).] [This message has been edited by Tod (edited 07-17-2001).]

I doubt there is much snow at the base of the North Ridge proper. With how soft the snow has been, you probably won't need an ice axe or anything for your feet other than Regular hiking shoes or boots. I believe that when I went up there we were just wearing light hikers and brought rock shoes for the steeper sections. I like the idea of the "guide almighty" rock shoe/hiker in one.... Tod

Alex: Your report of the route not looking so great is not the first I've heard. When I was up there I ran into someone I knew who went to check out the route but him and his friend backed off after the route looked melted out. In reality, you can't really see the route from the col. You have to go one or two soft ridges over on the traverse in order to see the route. It seems that the only danger right now in soft/warm conditions is rockfall from above. Other than the postholing may get a bit cumbersome, the potential for avalanche or other hazards seems very low. Mr. Blister: I watched a few people head down towards the descent route you described, but it seemed a little out of the way so I tried the West Gulley descent that is accessed from the North Ridge. After leaving about 1/2 hour after two parties heading down the standard descent, I was able to beat them down via the West Gulley descent. It's by far much quicker if your ready for a steep but moderate gulley. Tod [This message has been edited by Tod (edited 07-11-2001).]

Nice climb isn't it. Great TR. How was the top 100-200 feet? When I was there it was a little bit of ice. I am wondering how much melted out in a week.... Also, I am curious what your decent was... Tod

Great trip report! I've thought of heading to Slesse for awhile. Good to hear that it's in shape... Tod

I think the difference in the gulley that you went down and the one I went down was this: I probably went down the same initial gulley that you did, the one that is to the west (left) of the 8,900' bench on the north ridge of Maude. About 300'-500' down the gulley there is a split in the gulley. The main gulley goes down to the left, and if you hop over a slight ridge to the right you will find another gulley that takes you down to the bottom very quickly. This gulley on the right isn't necessarily obvious, but it is not hidden... Does that sound familiar to what you went down? Your TR was great and very inspirational. Certainly helped get me out to that location. Thanks... I've often thought about Rainier in a day, I've done a few other peaks such as Glacier in a day (Seattle to Seattle in 24 hours), but I am not sure if I want to rush up to 14,411' like that. Maybe sometime, but no plans at this time.... Tod

With all the talk of the North Face of Mt. Maude and Smoker’s beautiful report, I too had to go check it out. I wanted to get in there for a while and Sunday (7/1) couldn’t have been a better day. Since the trail is short and direct, I chose to forego carrying in the extra weight of bivy gear and went from trailhead to trailhead. I left my vehicle at 5am. The approach was very straightforward. There was huge difference in snow quality between west side of Seven Finger-Maude col and the east side. The east side did not have the firm hard snow that Smoker described. On occasion my crampons would ball up on the traverse, but other than that, not a problem. The traverse to the base of the North Face is great. As long as you are accustomed to steep faces, it is a breeze and by far the shortest/quickest way to the base of the North Face. I could see it getting a little hairy in the month as it melts out, but it the traverse is definitely in shape… The climb up the face is stellar. The last couple hundred feet has some ice, which made for the crux of the climb. With a second tool handy, it was a breeze (though it didn’t seem necessary). I reached the summit 6.5 hours after leaving the car (including a one hour break at the col to play with a VERY friendly marmot). The descent down the gully system to the northwest is certainly the way to go. Very direct, and if the snow is soft enough in the gully (if it’s still there) you can glissade parts of it. It took me 45 minutes to get down the gully and back to the base of the west side. Since the climb didn’t take as long as I was expecting and I was now standing at the base of both Maude and Seven Finger Jack, I took the opportunity to head up and summit Seven Finger Jack in the late afternoon. All in all, the total time from car to car after climbing N Face of Maude and the standard route on Seven Finger Jack was 13 hours. One of the best solo outings in awhile…. Jim, I don’t think you need to make any changes to the route description other than you may want to list it as a 1-2 day ascent instead of 2-day ascent. It is a stellar route and very worthy of your book. Tod

I think one day on the Grand is VERY doable. A few years back a buddy of mine and I set aside three days to do it, but ended up doing it in a lazy day and a half. Unless you get your permits squared away before hand for an overnight trip, you may end up being permited for three regardless.. HOWEVER, if you do it in a day, you don't have to deal with the permit mess. When we were there in 1996(?) the permiting process was worse than Rainier.... Take that into account. A great route for your first time on the Grand is Upper Exum. Very doable in a day if you are fit.... Tod

With all of the testosterone running through this website I am surprised that people would be so against the reintroduction of Grizzlies. Nothing like adding a bit of real wilderness to the North Cascades. Or maybe we should just add a few more roads to make access a bit more civilized.... How about a road up to the base of Fury....? Way to go Canada! To bad the politicians in the US are easily persuaded by money from loggers, ranchers, miners, and outfitters and can't see the Wilderness for what it is, wild beauty that should be preserved. Alright, alright, I’ll get off my soapbox. Just don't throw anything... Tod

Just to keep this string hot and at the top of the list.... Thanks for posting this... Tod

This last weekend June 16-17 there was a group that I ran into in Glacier Basin that was heading for Liberty Ridge. There trip itinerary seemed to be a three day trip Sat-Sun-Mon and they were a party of three (2 guys, 1 gal). Does anybody know or have heard how their climb went? Tod

cmonster, Difference in descriptions can be because of variations in routes. Since we carried over we may have had a different experience than other groups that have not. Groups that have not may have accessed the buttress from the east side via Luna Lake, whereas we accessed the buttressed directly from Challenger on the west side (without dropping down and coming around from Luna Lake). Much like other large ridge/buttress routes, there are many variations that can change the character of the climb. Our route stayed slightly on the west side of the buttress for the first third of the route, I am not sure where others have gone, but we ended up climbing loose gullies that had a mix between 4th class and low 5th. We also had heavy packs on, which can also change the character of the climb (i.e. description of the difficulty). Hope this helps.... Tod

Great report!! Can't wait to see the photos... Tod

My buddy and I carried over the route last year. We came from Whatcom Pass, over Challenger, stayed high along the glacier all the way over to the right (west) base of the buttress. Our experience was that of steep-steep snow gaining the buttress, 4th class climbing, and occasional low 5th. Our packs were not day packs, so you could probably nock the ratings down if you didn't carry over (recommended). There is a loose gulley 1/3 of the way up on the right (west) side so a helmet is highly recomended. Great route to dream about, great route to be on, great route to brag about. Everything is great about that route (except for the approach). Tod

I've been up Depot Creek three times and have found the access very fun with a high clearance vehicle. If you try to guess which road to take, it becomes very confusing. But much like "W" said, if you just keep going left you will have no problem. The only difference I have done compared to what "W" stated is that instead of taking that road/trail that "heads up 90 degrees left, straight up the hill, then soon reaches a T intersection and old road grade", I just stayed left the whole time and ended up on the grade that you come up to and turn right on. Sound confusing? It really isn't, it just looks it when you get there. The only rule to the whole thing is getting on the Depot Creek road from the main road (Chilliwack Lake Road). There are two roads you come across just before the Chilliwack Lake Road crosses Depot Creek. The one closes to Depot Creek ends very quickly, the first one above Depot Creek is the correct one and will become rougher the farther you drive it. I have been able to drive all the way to the last left hand turn (fork in the road)and park. The last fork in the road is VERY hard to see because it is so washed out and overgrown. Keep an open mind and your eyes sharp and you will see it. This is where I have always parked and hike from (up the washed out overgrown trail). You will soon come across the "T intersection", but you are already on the road grade and you continue on. As far as the climb of Spickard. It is fairly straightforward. I was their one moderate snow year on 4th of July. Avalanche conditions were not a concern. The weather had been nice and stabilized the snow. Since it was hot while I was there, there was some blocks here and there sliding off of smooth rock faces above Silver Lake. But that was a couple of days prior to my visit. A rope is needed for the glacier and the moderate scrambling near the top. We ended up doing the climb in a whiteout one year and found it fairly easy with 20-30yd visibility. For all intense purpose, the only trouble you may run into is finding the climbers trail and figuring out how to get up the alongside the 900' waterfall at the end of Depot Creek. The trick to that is getting up in front of it as close as you can (literally as close as you can) and then heading up and left into the brush and up and up and up.... This place will absolutely blow your mind away. Not to many places like it in the Cascades. Tod [This message has been edited by Tod (edited 05-15-2001).]

I heard that there is some decent bouldering and leading on some cliffs on the beach. I didn't note where the locations was. I am heading down for a week on Sunday and bringing my shoes and chalk bag. I will try and let you know what's good when I get back on 5/12. Tod

Descending the Kautz is pretty straight forward. If whiteout is a problem then of course you want to take great care in making sure you go down the ice chute rather than the icefall. If exposure is not a problem and you don't mind a longer route then Kautz is pretty fun. Since Camp Hazard is one of Rainier's highest camps (11,400')and the route is generally pretty long, I would recomend doing it in 3 days. It's much more enjoyable that way. Also, often times you can get meltwater at Hazard off the rocks below the icefall, just make sure you keep your head safe since there is a lot of ice and rock coming down where the water is usually flowing. Tod

I would be cautious about going up the Kautz as your first route up Rainier, particular if it the first time for the whole group. I’ve done the route a few times, I don’t think it’s really all that steep in the ice chute, I’ve even boarded down it once, but when I took some people up the route that weren’t used to steep faces on big mountains they really were uncomfortable with the whole situation. The people that were uncomfortable had been up the Emmons route before so they weren’t completely green, it was just steeper and bigger than they bargained for. If you’re considering doing Liberty Ridge for your first route up Rainier (I wouldn’t recommend that), then the ice chute on the Kautz probably won’t be that big of deal. Check conditions before you go (find out how icy the chute is) and be flexible (a route change at the last minute might be necessary if it’s reported to be icy). I’ve been up the Emmons many times (I’ve lost count, 5?), I have never had to deal with crowds. The most number of people I’ve had climbing around my party was somewhere around 10-15. No lines, no aggravation, no traffic. They don’t issue enough permits for the Emmons/Winthrop camps to allow any crowds. DC on the other hand, you are guaranteed crowds. From my experience and every report I have heard, you will run into a lot of “climbers”. If I remember correctly, the NPS will issue up to 250 permits (including RMI) for Camp Muir. That doesn’t include Ingraham Flats or some the alpine zone camps below Camp Muir. Most reports are something of the nature “You’re pissed at the group in front of you because they are slow. The group behind you is pissed because you are slow. There is little to no room to pass groups on DC, and if you do pull over, you have to wait until there is a gap in the endless stream of headlamps before you can start up again.” Other peoples reports may not be so dramatic, but if your looking to climb without dealing with a 100+ people on the route, DC is not the place to be. I’ve even run into crowds in December on DC. My recommendation is for Emmons. It is beautiful not as beautiful as DC, but I personally like the hike in. It is fairly crowd free, particularly if you camp at Emmons Flats. I don’t know why people complain about Emmons being a long slog compared to DC, it’s only a half-mile longer and only a 1000’ more vertical than DC (and you do the extra vertical on trail). The trail actually makes it easier since you get to climb the first 2500’ on the trail. If you’re looking for more excitement, then wait till July or August before you go up. The open crevasses and bergschrund (there are quite a few big ones then) will give you plenty of excitement. Tod