Schaef

Formatted through article formatter, preview works, but still can't get to post. Video Maps and GPS can be found at: http://botnw.com/ptarmigan-traverse-2016/

Despite inclement weather our team of 5 completed the classic "Traverse of the American Alps" in 3 nights 4 days. See video and GPS: http://botnw.com/ptarmigan-traverse-2016/ [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/wa_map_ptarmigantraverse.jpg[/img] We shuttled cars, leaving 2 at the Suittle River Road Downey Creek Trailhead parking lot on Wednesday Evening. Choosing to stay in a trailer "cabin" near Marblemount. Day 1: Ptarmigan Traverse Day 1 Thursday morning, we got a 7:30am start waiting for the freshly baked Cinnamon Rolls at ... bakery. Fueled with creamy whiskey frosting and espresso we hit the trail at Cascade Pass by 9am. 1:40 to Cascade pass where we took a "substantial break" and chatted with hikers parting ways to the Sahale Arm camp. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_KickingStepsDay1.jpg[/img] The trail from Cascade Pass steepens across talus and snow fields to gain the Cache Glacier where we roped up for the first time. Didn't see any crevasses open, but was good practice to get the team on rope in mellow conditions. Views from the lookout above Cache Col are some of my favorite of the traverse. The cirque to the red ledge, Middle Cascade Glacier and Spider Formidable Col are all visible from here (as improbable as it looks, yes that is actually the route). A short but time consuming drop to Kool Aid Lake has a great position for Camp 1. Day 2: Ptarmigan2016_Day2_LeConteGlacier_Ice Navigating Crevasses and Ice on the LeConte Glacier Planning on a long day 2 to get a jump start on the impending bad weather and chance of thunderstorms moving in we awoke to find ourselves in a cloud. Not the type of weather we wanted for a long day navigating multiple glaciers and passes. A solitary sucker hole in the clouds fooled us in to believing the weather would lift if we kept proceeding. We found the entrance to the Red Ledges snow covered. Steep, but felt more secure than the previous year entrance on crumbly rock. Roping up on the Middle Cascade Glacier at 6,400' we found much better snow conditions than the previous August. I was able to get a good measurement of visibility being last #5 on the rope. Could see 3 out of the 4 team members ahead of me. Reid once again did an amazing job navigating through crevasses in the cloud with help of the GPS Topos map on the iPhone. Reaching the Spider Formidable Col fully snow covered we stayed roped up on the steep decent into the cirque that wraps left around finally descending to the Yang Yang Lakes basin. We got too low once and ended up in cliffy heather terrain. Tried to stay high connecting snowfields before connecting to surprisingly deep Yang Yang Lakes decent trail. Was much faster on snow that the previous year talus crossing. Faced with thicker clouds and soupy air we took an extended lunch break at the Yang Yang Lakes camp at 1pm. Having a frank weather conversation, we decided not to camp but continue on to White Rocks Camp. We didn't want to get caught in worse weather on the LeConte Glacier. Given the difficulty of reversing the route or bailing (bushwacked out the South Cascade Glacier Drainage the previous attempt). The trail from camp south is defined but disappeared in the talus. Spent some time looking for the entrance to the steep goat path in very low visibility. Were able to gain the entrance with out too many false approaches. The steep path is crucial to gaining the ledge to the LeConte snowfield. Had an extra 2,000' climb to two false entrances on the ridge last year. Were glad to have the knowledge of where to find this secret passage and keep our momentum for the day going. The ridge was mostly covered with snow and traveled quickly, fortunately because we were exposed to the wind here and wet clothes were getting increasingly cold. Dropping in to the LeConte snowfields around 7,000 feet for better or worse we still had 150' visibility, but were at least protected from the wind from the LeConte rocky massive above to our right. Made good time crossing the LeConte snowfield. Walked past some amazing snow sculptures formed from rolling snow balls from the higher peaked where the wind wore away the bottoms to form a surreal Stonehenge like rock garden. Roping up at the base of the LeConte Glacier were glad to see a good boot pack on the steep snow entrance. Winding through some of the biggest crevasses of the trip we eventually came to a band of horizontal ice maybe 10' high where Reid placed an ice screw. Not especially technical, were able to easily front point and climbs with one axe. The cost of a fall would be high though with a large open crevasse 30 yards below. Arrived at White Rocks Lake Camp, combining days 2/3 due to poor weather The grade lessened eventually and we were relieved to find ourselves at the rocky band LeConte Col. Traces of bookmarks assured us we had found the correct col to descend and cross into the large flat expanses of the Upper South Cascades Glacier. Disappointed to have no view of the rarely seen south cascades glacier we slogged on over countless ice worms. Stayed roped in but there were no traces of Crevases on the upper glacier. After plunge stepping another steep section we arrived at dusk to the first of the White rocks lake completely frozen over. A short rise to the south east gave us one of our first partial views of the long 14 hour slog. The bottom of the hanging Dome/Dana glacier emerged framed in by the clouds in the dusk light. Found a wind protected camp by the outlet of the large White Rock Lake. Set up tents, had a hot meal and went to sleep in the rain to put an end to day 2/3. Making good use of the hot water bottle in the sleeping bag trick were able to partially dry out some socks, gloves and tights. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_Day2_LeConteGlacier_Ice.jpg[/img] Day 3: Crossing By Dome Peak up the long Dome/Dana Glacier Started from White Rocks camp crossing right across talus and wet foliage along the Dana/Dome cirque drainage. Trail petered out past a waterfall near the den of some creature. Navigated a coular between rock bands to a high perch as the weather cleared to give dramatic views of Dome Peak with partially blue skies! Soaked in the views and layered up the sunscreen for the long gradual climb up the Dana/Dome glacier. Noticed the boot pack to the left towards dome peak (we chose the direct-short variation). A few crevasse high up but mostly a long steady climb back in to the clouds. Tied up and spaced out from the team found myself drifting off daydreaming as we slogged on back up into the clouds. Long decent on snow fields (would be incredible on skis). Traversing left above cliff band in Iswoot ridge to find trail that wraps back under cliffs crossing waterfall to lush lower basin of cub lake wrapped in steep bluffs and cliffs. Started from White Rocks camp crossing right across talus and wet foliage along the Dana/Dome cirque drainage. Trail petered out past a waterfall near the den of some creature. Navigated a coular between rock bands to a high perch as the weather cleared to give dramatic views of Dome Peak with partially blue skies! Soaked in the views and layered up the sunscreen for the long gradual climb up the Dana/Dome glacier. Noticed the boot pack to the left towards dome peak (we chose the direct-short variation). A few crevasse high up but mostly a long steady climb back in to the clouds. Tied up and spaced out from the team found myself drifting off daydreaming as we slogged on back up into the clouds. Long decent on snow fields (would be incredible on skis). Traversing left above cliff band in Itsut ridge to find trail that wraps back under cliffs crossing waterfall to lush lower basin of cub lake wrapped in steep bluffs and cliffs. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_Day3_DomeGlacier3.jpg[/img] Day 4: Bachelor Creek Crossing into well Maintained Downey Creek Trail Departed Cub Lake on tricky footing wrapping the north base of the rocky surroundings. Glacier Peak soon came into view above Cub Lake making me wish I would have brought a polarizing filter to capture the upper white glaciated flanks making them distinguishable from the sky. Short steep switch back trail to a high point descending back down into the Bachelor Creek drainage. Through blowdowns then dense folage and eventually loosing the trail for a creek crossing, short steep alder into tree stand avoiding as much slide alder as possible. Crossing ½ mile stretch of dense wet alder and foliage before finding the Bachelor Creek trail again. Continued down on the east side of the creek crossing multiple tree fall areas taking wide sweeps to refined the trail again. Eventually descending fairly steeply to the Downy Creek junction and camp area. Log crossing from Bachelor creek into Downy Creek Drainage following left contour above downy creek climbing again then traversing what seemed to be endless miles before dropping 1,000 feet in the last mile back to the Downey Creek Trail-head on the Suittle River road and our friend with the car shuttle and cold beers. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_BachelorCreekCrossing.jpg[/img] Gear: 60m 8ml dry rope for 5 people Brought 3 ice screws, used 1 Glacier Travel Crampons with front points, Ice axes, trekking poles

Despite inclement weather our team of 5 completed the classic "Traverse of the American Alps" in 3 nights 4 days. See video and GPS: http://botnw.com/ptarmigan-traverse-2016/ [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/wa_map_ptarmigantraverse.jpg[/img] We shuttled cars, leaving 2 at the Suittle River Road Downey Creek Trailhead parking lot on Wednesday Evening. Choosing to stay in a trailer "cabin" near Marblemount. Day 1: Ptarmigan Traverse Day 1 Thursday morning, we got a 7:30am start waiting for the freshly baked Cinnamon Rolls at ... bakery. Fueled with creamy whiskey frosting and espresso we hit the trail at Cascade Pass by 9am. 1:40 to Cascade pass where we took a "substantial break" and chatted with hikers parting ways to the Sahale Arm camp. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_KickingStepsDay1.jpg[/img] The trail from Cascade Pass steepens across talus and snow fields to gain the Cache Glacier where we roped up for the first time. Didn't see any crevasses open, but was good practice to get the team on rope in mellow conditions. Views from the lookout above Cache Col are some of my favorite of the traverse. The cirque to the red ledge, Middle Cascade Glacier and Spider Formidable Col are all visible from here (as improbable as it looks, yes that is actually the route). A short but time consuming drop to Kool Aid Lake has a great position for Camp 1. Day 2: Ptarmigan2016_Day2_LeConteGlacier_Ice Navigating Crevasses and Ice on the LeConte Glacier Planning on a long day 2 to get a jump start on the impending bad weather and chance of thunderstorms moving in we awoke to find ourselves in a cloud. Not the type of weather we wanted for a long day navigating multiple glaciers and passes. A solitary sucker hole in the clouds fooled us in to believing the weather would lift if we kept proceeding. We found the entrance to the Red Ledges snow covered. Steep, but felt more secure than the previous year entrance on crumbly rock. Roping up on the Middle Cascade Glacier at 6,400' we found much better snow conditions than the previous August. I was able to get a good measurement of visibility being last #5 on the rope. Could see 3 out of the 4 team members ahead of me. Reid once again did an amazing job navigating through crevasses in the cloud with help of the GPS Topos map on the iPhone. Reaching the Spider Formidable Col fully snow covered we stayed roped up on the steep decent into the cirque that wraps left around finally descending to the Yang Yang Lakes basin. We got too low once and ended up in cliffy heather terrain. Tried to stay high connecting snowfields before connecting to surprisingly deep Yang Yang Lakes decent trail. Was much faster on snow that the previous year talus crossing. Faced with thicker clouds and soupy air we took an extended lunch break at the Yang Yang Lakes camp at 1pm. Having a frank weather conversation, we decided not to camp but continue on to White Rocks Camp. We didn't want to get caught in worse weather on the LeConte Glacier. Given the difficulty of reversing the route or bailing (bushwacked out the South Cascade Glacier Drainage the previous attempt). The trail from camp south is defined but disappeared in the talus. Spent some time looking for the entrance to the steep goat path in very low visibility. Were able to gain the entrance with out too many false approaches. The steep path is crucial to gaining the ledge to the LeConte snowfield. Had an extra 2,000' climb to two false entrances on the ridge last year. Were glad to have the knowledge of where to find this secret passage and keep our momentum for the day going. The ridge was mostly covered with snow and traveled quickly, fortunately because we were exposed to the wind here and wet clothes were getting increasingly cold. Dropping in to the LeConte snowfields around 7,000 feet for better or worse we still had 150' visibility, but were at least protected from the wind from the LeConte rocky massive above to our right. Made good time crossing the LeConte snowfield. Walked past some amazing snow sculptures formed from rolling snow balls from the higher peaked where the wind wore away the bottoms to form a surreal Stonehenge like rock garden. Roping up at the base of the LeConte Glacier were glad to see a good boot pack on the steep snow entrance. Winding through some of the biggest crevasses of the trip we eventually came to a band of horizontal ice maybe 10' high where Reid placed an ice screw. Not especially technical, were able to easily front point and climbs with one axe. The cost of a fall would be high though with a large open crevasse 30 yards below. Arrived at White Rocks Lake Camp, combining days 2/3 due to poor weather The grade lessened eventually and we were relieved to find ourselves at the rocky band LeConte Col. Traces of bookmarks assured us we had found the correct col to descend and cross into the large flat expanses of the Upper South Cascades Glacier. Disappointed to have no view of the rarely seen south cascades glacier we slogged on over countless ice worms. Stayed roped in but there were no traces of Crevases on the upper glacier. After plunge stepping another steep section we arrived at dusk to the first of the White rocks lake completely frozen over. A short rise to the south east gave us one of our first partial views of the long 14 hour slog. The bottom of the hanging Dome/Dana glacier emerged framed in by the clouds in the dusk light. Found a wind protected camp by the outlet of the large White Rock Lake. Set up tents, had a hot meal and went to sleep in the rain to put an end to day 2/3. Making good use of the hot water bottle in the sleeping bag trick were able to partially dry out some socks, gloves and tights. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_Day2_LeConteGlacier_Ice.jpg[/img] Day 3: Crossing By Dome Peak up the long Dome/Dana Glacier Started from White Rocks camp crossing right across talus and wet foliage along the Dana/Dome cirque drainage. Trail petered out past a waterfall near the den of some creature. Navigated a coular between rock bands to a high perch as the weather cleared to give dramatic views of Dome Peak with partially blue skies! Soaked in the views and layered up the sunscreen for the long gradual climb up the Dana/Dome glacier. Noticed the boot pack to the left towards dome peak (we chose the direct-short variation). A few crevasse high up but mostly a long steady climb back in to the clouds. Tied up and spaced out from the team found myself drifting off daydreaming as we slogged on back up into the clouds. Long decent on snow fields (would be incredible on skis). Traversing left above cliff band in Iswoot ridge to find trail that wraps back under cliffs crossing waterfall to lush lower basin of cub lake wrapped in steep bluffs and cliffs. Started from White Rocks camp crossing right across talus and wet foliage along the Dana/Dome cirque drainage. Trail petered out past a waterfall near the den of some creature. Navigated a coular between rock bands to a high perch as the weather cleared to give dramatic views of Dome Peak with partially blue skies! Soaked in the views and layered up the sunscreen for the long gradual climb up the Dana/Dome glacier. Noticed the boot pack to the left towards dome peak (we chose the direct-short variation). A few crevasse high up but mostly a long steady climb back in to the clouds. Tied up and spaced out from the team found myself drifting off daydreaming as we slogged on back up into the clouds. Long decent on snow fields (would be incredible on skis). Traversing left above cliff band in Itsut ridge to find trail that wraps back under cliffs crossing waterfall to lush lower basin of cub lake wrapped in steep bluffs and cliffs. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_Day3_DomeGlacier3.jpg[/img] Day 4: Bachelor Creek Crossing into well Maintained Downey Creek Trail Departed Cub Lake on tricky footing wrapping the north base of the rocky surroundings. Glacier Peak soon came into view above Cub Lake making me wish I would have brought a polarizing filter to capture the upper white glaciated flanks making them distinguishable from the sky. Short steep switch back trail to a high point descending back down into the Bachelor Creek drainage. Through blowdowns then dense folage and eventually loosing the trail for a creek crossing, short steep alder into tree stand avoiding as much slide alder as possible. Crossing ½ mile stretch of dense wet alder and foliage before finding the Bachelor Creek trail again. Continued down on the east side of the creek crossing multiple tree fall areas taking wide sweeps to refined the trail again. Eventually descending fairly steeply to the Downy Creek junction and camp area. Log crossing from Bachelor creek into Downy Creek Drainage following left contour above downy creek climbing again then traversing what seemed to be endless miles before dropping 1,000 feet in the last mile back to the Downey Creek Trail-head on the Suittle River road and our friend with the car shuttle and cold beers. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_BachelorCreekCrossing.jpg[/img] Gear: 60m 8ml dry rope for 5 people Brought 3 ice screws, used 1 Glacier Travel Crampons with front points, Ice axes, trekking poles

Despite inclement weather our team of 5 completed the classic “Traverse of the American Alps” in 3 nights 4 days. See video and GPS: http://botnw.com/ptarmigan-traverse-2016/ [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/wa_map_ptarmigantraverse.jpg[/img] We shuttled cars, leaving 2 at the Suittle River Road Downey Creek Trailhead parking lot on Wednesday Evening. Choosing to stay in a trailer “cabin” near Marblemount. Day 1: Ptarmigan Traverse Day 1 Thursday morning, we got a 7:30am start waiting for the freshly baked Cinnamon Rolls at … bakery. Fueled with creamy whiskey frosting and espresso we hit the trail at Cascade Pass by 9am. 1:40 to Cascade pass where we took a “substantial break” and chatted with hikers parting ways to the Sahale Arm camp. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_KickingStepsDay1.jpg[/img] The trail from Cascade Pass steepens across talus and snow fields to gain the Cache Glacier where we roped up for the first time. Didn’t see any crevasses open, but was good practice to get the team on rope in mellow conditions. Views from the lookout above Cache Col are some of my favorite of the traverse. The cirque to the red ledge, Middle Cascade Glacier and Spider Formidable Col are all visible from here (as improbable as it looks, yes that is actually the route). A short but time consuming drop to Kool Aid Lake has a great position for Camp 1. Day 2: Ptarmigan2016_Day2_LeConteGlacier_Ice Navigating Crevasses and Ice on the LeConte Glacier Planning on a long day 2 to get a jump start on the impending bad weather and chance of thunderstorms moving in we awoke to find ourselves in a cloud. Not the type of weather we wanted for a long day navigating multiple glaciers and passes. A solitary sucker hole in the clouds fooled us in to believing the weather would lift if we kept proceeding. We found the entrance to the Red Ledges snow covered. Steep, but felt more secure than the previous year entrance on crumbly rock. Roping up on the Middle Cascade Glacier at 6,400’ we found much better snow conditions than the previous August. I was able to get a good measurement of visibility being last #5 on the rope. Could see 3 out of the 4 team members ahead of me. Reid once again did an amazing job navigating through crevasses in the cloud with help of the GPS Topos map on the iPhone. Reaching the Spider Formidable Col fully snow covered we stayed roped up on the steep decent into the cirque that wraps left around finally descending to the Yang Yang Lakes basin. We got too low once and ended up in cliffy heather terrain. Tried to stay high connecting snowfields before connecting to surprisingly deep Yang Yang Lakes decent trail. Was much faster on snow that the previous year talus crossing. Faced with thicker clouds and soupy air we took an extended lunch break at the Yang Yang Lakes camp at 1pm. Having a frank weather conversation, we decided not to camp but continue on to White Rocks Camp. We didn’t want to get caught in worse weather on the LeConte Glacier. Given the difficulty of reversing the route or bailing (bushwacked out the South Cascade Glacier Drainage the previous attempt). The trail from camp south is defined but disappeared in the talus. Spent some time looking for the entrance to the steep goat path in very low visibility. Were able to gain the entrance with out too many false approaches. The steep path is crucial to gaining the ledge to the LeConte snowfield. Had an extra 2,000’ climb to two false entrances on the ridge last year. Were glad to have the knowledge of where to find this secret passage and keep our momentum for the day going. The ridge was mostly covered with snow and traveled quickly, fortunately because we were exposed to the wind here and wet clothes were getting increasingly cold. Dropping in to the LeConte snowfields around 7,000 feet for better or worse we still had 150’ visibility, but were at least protected from the wind from the LeConte rocky massive above to our right. Made good time crossing the LeConte snowfield. Walked past some amazing snow sculptures formed from rolling snow balls from the higher peaked where the wind wore away the bottoms to form a surreal Stonehenge like rock garden. Roping up at the base of the LeConte Glacier were glad to see a good boot pack on the steep snow entrance. Winding through some of the biggest crevasses of the trip we eventually came to a band of horizontal ice maybe 10’ high where Reid placed an ice screw. Not especially technical, were able to easily front point and climbs with one axe. The cost of a fall would be high though with a large open crevasse 30 yards below. Arrived at White Rocks Lake Camp, combining days 2/3 due to poor weather The grade lessened eventually and we were relieved to find ourselves at the rocky band LeConte Col. Traces of bookmarks assured us we had found the correct col to descend and cross into the large flat expanses of the Upper South Cascades Glacier. Disappointed to have no view of the rarely seen south cascades glacier we slogged on over countless ice worms. Stayed roped in but there were no traces of Crevases on the upper glacier. After plunge stepping another steep section we arrived at dusk to the first of the White rocks lake completely frozen over. A short rise to the south east gave us one of our first partial views of the long 14 hour slog. The bottom of the hanging Dome/Dana glacier emerged framed in by the clouds in the dusk light. Found a wind protected camp by the outlet of the large White Rock Lake. Set up tents, had a hot meal and went to sleep in the rain to put an end to day 2/3. Making good use of the hot water bottle in the sleeping bag trick were able to partially dry out some socks, gloves and tights. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_Day2_LeConteGlacier_Ice.jpg[/img] Day 3: Crossing By Dome Peak up the long Dome/Dana Glacier Started from White Rocks camp crossing right across talus and wet foliage along the Dana/Dome cirque drainage. Trail petered out past a waterfall near the den of some creature. Navigated a coular between rock bands to a high perch as the weather cleared to give dramatic views of Dome Peak with partially blue skies! Soaked in the views and layered up the sunscreen for the long gradual climb up the Dana/Dome glacier. Noticed the boot pack to the left towards dome peak (we chose the direct-short variation). A few crevasse high up but mostly a long steady climb back in to the clouds. Tied up and spaced out from the team found myself drifting off daydreaming as we slogged on back up into the clouds. Long decent on snow fields (would be incredible on skis). Traversing left above cliff band in Iswoot ridge to find trail that wraps back under cliffs crossing waterfall to lush lower basin of cub lake wrapped in steep bluffs and cliffs. Started from White Rocks camp crossing right across talus and wet foliage along the Dana/Dome cirque drainage. Trail petered out past a waterfall near the den of some creature. Navigated a coular between rock bands to a high perch as the weather cleared to give dramatic views of Dome Peak with partially blue skies! Soaked in the views and layered up the sunscreen for the long gradual climb up the Dana/Dome glacier. Noticed the boot pack to the left towards dome peak (we chose the direct-short variation). A few crevasse high up but mostly a long steady climb back in to the clouds. Tied up and spaced out from the team found myself drifting off daydreaming as we slogged on back up into the clouds. Long decent on snow fields (would be incredible on skis). Traversing left above cliff band in Itsut ridge to find trail that wraps back under cliffs crossing waterfall to lush lower basin of cub lake wrapped in steep bluffs and cliffs. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_Day3_DomeGlacier3.jpg[/img] Day 4: Bachelor Creek Crossing into well Maintained Downey Creek Trail Departed Cub Lake on tricky footing wrapping the north base of the rocky surroundings. Glacier Peak soon came into view above Cub Lake making me wish I would have brought a polarizing filter to capture the upper white glaciated flanks making them distinguishable from the sky. Short steep switch back trail to a high point descending back down into the Bachelor Creek drainage. Through blowdowns then dense folage and eventually loosing the trail for a creek crossing, short steep alder into tree stand avoiding as much slide alder as possible. Crossing ½ mile stretch of dense wet alder and foliage before finding the Bachelor Creek trail again. Continued down on the east side of the creek crossing multiple tree fall areas taking wide sweeps to refined the trail again. Eventually descending fairly steeply to the Downy Creek junction and camp area. Log crossing from Bachelor creek into Downy Creek Drainage following left contour above downy creek climbing again then traversing what seemed to be endless miles before dropping 1,000 feet in the last mile back to the Downey Creek Trail-head on the Suittle River road and our friend with the car shuttle and cold beers. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_BachelorCreekCrossing.jpg[/img] Gear: 60m 8ml dry rope for 5 people Brought 3 ice screws, used 1 Glacier Travel Crampons with front points, Ice axes, trekking poles

Despite inclement weather our team of 5 completed the classic "Traverse of the American Alps" in 3 nights 4 days. See video and GPS: http://botnw.com/ptarmigan-traverse-2016/ [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/wa_map_ptarmigantraverse.jpg[/img] We shuttled cars, leaving 2 at the Suittle River Road Downey Creek Trailhead parking lot on Wednesday Evening. Choosing to stay in a trailer "cabin" near Marblemount. Day 1: Ptarmigan Traverse Day 1 Thursday morning, we got a 7:30am start waiting for the freshly baked Cinnamon Rolls at ... bakery. Fueled with creamy whiskey frosting and espresso we hit the trail at Cascade Pass by 9am. 1:40 to Cascade pass where we took a "substantial break" and chatted with hikers parting ways to the Sahale Arm camp. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_KickingStepsDay1.jpg[/img] The trail from Cascade Pass steepens across talus and snow fields to gain the Cache Glacier where we roped up for the first time. Didn't see any crevasses open, but was good practice to get the team on rope in mellow conditions. Views from the lookout above Cache Col are some of my favorite of the traverse. The cirque to the red ledge, Middle Cascade Glacier and Spider Formidable Col are all visible from here (as improbable as it looks, yes that is actually the route). A short but time consuming drop to Kool Aid Lake has a great position for Camp 1. Day 2: Ptarmigan2016_Day2_LeConteGlacier_Ice Navigating Crevasses and Ice on the LeConte Glacier Planning on a long day 2 to get a jump start on the impending bad weather and chance of thunderstorms moving in we awoke to find ourselves in a cloud. Not the type of weather we wanted for a long day navigating multiple glaciers and passes. A solitary sucker hole in the clouds fooled us in to believing the weather would lift if we kept proceeding. We found the entrance to the Red Ledges snow covered. Steep, but felt more secure than the previous year entrance on crumbly rock. Roping up on the Middle Cascade Glacier at 6,400' we found much better snow conditions than the previous August. I was able to get a good measurement of visibility being last #5 on the rope. Could see 3 out of the 4 team members ahead of me. Reid once again did an amazing job navigating through crevasses in the cloud with help of the GPS Topos map on the iPhone. Reaching the Spider Formidable Col fully snow covered we stayed roped up on the steep decent into the cirque that wraps left around finally descending to the Yang Yang Lakes basin. We got too low once and ended up in cliffy heather terrain. Tried to stay high connecting snowfields before connecting to surprisingly deep Yang Yang Lakes decent trail. Was much faster on snow that the previous year talus crossing. Faced with thicker clouds and soupy air we took an extended lunch break at the Yang Yang Lakes camp at 1pm. Having a frank weather conversation, we decided not to camp but continue on to White Rocks Camp. We didn't want to get caught in worse weather on the LeConte Glacier. Given the difficulty of reversing the route or bailing (bushwacked out the South Cascade Glacier Drainage the previous attempt). The trail from camp south is defined but disappeared in the talus. Spent some time looking for the entrance to the steep goat path in very low visibility. Were able to gain the entrance with out too many false approaches. The steep path is crucial to gaining the ledge to the LeConte snowfield. Had an extra 2,000' climb to two false entrances on the ridge last year. Were glad to have the knowledge of where to find this secret passage and keep our momentum for the day going. The ridge was mostly covered with snow and traveled quickly, fortunately because we were exposed to the wind here and wet clothes were getting increasingly cold. Dropping in to the LeConte snowfields around 7,000 feet for better or worse we still had 150' visibility, but were at least protected from the wind from the LeConte rocky massive above to our right. Made good time crossing the LeConte snowfield. Walked past some amazing snow sculptures formed from rolling snow balls from the higher peaked where the wind wore away the bottoms to form a surreal Stonehenge like rock garden. Roping up at the base of the LeConte Glacier were glad to see a good boot pack on the steep snow entrance. Winding through some of the biggest crevasses of the trip we eventually came to a band of horizontal ice maybe 10' high where Reid placed an ice screw. Not especially technical, were able to easily front point and climbs with one axe. The cost of a fall would be high though with a large open crevasse 30 yards below. Arrived at White Rocks Lake Camp, combining days 2/3 due to poor weather The grade lessened eventually and we were relieved to find ourselves at the rocky band LeConte Col. Traces of bookmarks assured us we had found the correct col to descend and cross into the large flat expanses of the Upper South Cascades Glacier. Disappointed to have no view of the rarely seen south cascades glacier we slogged on over countless ice worms. Stayed roped in but there were no traces of Crevases on the upper glacier. After plunge stepping another steep section we arrived at dusk to the first of the White rocks lake completely frozen over. A short rise to the south east gave us one of our first partial views of the long 14 hour slog. The bottom of the hanging Dome/Dana glacier emerged framed in by the clouds in the dusk light. Found a wind protected camp by the outlet of the large White Rock Lake. Set up tents, had a hot meal and went to sleep in the rain to put an end to day 2/3. Making good use of the hot water bottle in the sleeping bag trick were able to partially dry out some socks, gloves and tights. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_Day2_LeConteGlacier_Ice.jpg[/img] Day 3: Crossing By Dome Peak up the long Dome/Dana Glacier Started from White Rocks camp crossing right across talus and wet foliage along the Dana/Dome cirque drainage. Trail petered out past a waterfall near the den of some creature. Navigated a coular between rock bands to a high perch as the weather cleared to give dramatic views of Dome Peak with partially blue skies! Soaked in the views and layered up the sunscreen for the long gradual climb up the Dana/Dome glacier. Noticed the boot pack to the left towards dome peak (we chose the direct-short variation). A few crevasse high up but mostly a long steady climb back in to the clouds. Tied up and spaced out from the team found myself drifting off daydreaming as we slogged on back up into the clouds. Long decent on snow fields (would be incredible on skis). Traversing left above cliff band in Iswoot ridge to find trail that wraps back under cliffs crossing waterfall to lush lower basin of cub lake wrapped in steep bluffs and cliffs. Started from White Rocks camp crossing right across talus and wet foliage along the Dana/Dome cirque drainage. Trail petered out past a waterfall near the den of some creature. Navigated a coular between rock bands to a high perch as the weather cleared to give dramatic views of Dome Peak with partially blue skies! Soaked in the views and layered up the sunscreen for the long gradual climb up the Dana/Dome glacier. Noticed the boot pack to the left towards dome peak (we chose the direct-short variation). A few crevasse high up but mostly a long steady climb back in to the clouds. Tied up and spaced out from the team found myself drifting off daydreaming as we slogged on back up into the clouds. Long decent on snow fields (would be incredible on skis). Traversing left above cliff band in Itsut ridge to find trail that wraps back under cliffs crossing waterfall to lush lower basin of cub lake wrapped in steep bluffs and cliffs. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_Day3_DomeGlacier3.jpg[/img] Day 4: Bachelor Creek Crossing into well Maintained Downey Creek Trail Departed Cub Lake on tricky footing wrapping the north base of the rocky surroundings. Glacier Peak soon came into view above Cub Lake making me wish I would have brought a polarizing filter to capture the upper white glaciated flanks making them distinguishable from the sky. Short steep switch back trail to a high point descending back down into the Bachelor Creek drainage. Through blowdowns then dense folage and eventually loosing the trail for a creek crossing, short steep alder into tree stand avoiding as much slide alder as possible. Crossing ½ mile stretch of dense wet alder and foliage before finding the Bachelor Creek trail again. Continued down on the east side of the creek crossing multiple tree fall areas taking wide sweeps to refined the trail again. Eventually descending fairly steeply to the Downy Creek junction and camp area. Log crossing from Bachelor creek into Downy Creek Drainage following left contour above downy creek climbing again then traversing what seemed to be endless miles before dropping 1,000 feet in the last mile back to the Downey Creek Trail-head on the Suittle River road and our friend with the car shuttle and cold beers. [img:right]http://botnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ptarmigan2016_BachelorCreekCrossing.jpg[/img] Gear: 60m 8ml dry rope for 5 people Brought 3 ice screws, used 1 Glacier Travel Crampons with front points, Ice axes, trekking poles

Trip: North Cascades - Ptarmigan Traverse Attempt Date: 8/19/2015 Trip Report: /CacheCol_PtarmiganTraverse2015.jpg[/img]“The dude from Wyoming says hi” these were the best words we heard all day. After a two-and-a-half day journey to the foot of the LeConte Glacier we were greeted by an insurmountable ice cliff on the broken lower glacier blocking our passage to the second half of the route. With limited options for travel we dug into the map contours and determined there was a probable retreat route descending High Log Creek to aptly named “Drop Creek” to the South Fork of the Cascade River trail. The “trail” turned out to be flagged (by whom we aren’t sure) but hadn’t been cleared in years. Tracking game trails and connecting contours to our closely monitored topo maps we battled with our 50 lb packs through brush alder across steep contours, over and under countless blown down trees where any traces of the “trail” would be decimated. At one such junction after passing the Middle Fork of the Cascade River scrambling up on to a wood pecker holed filled tree scanning for any semblance of a cairn, flag, marker, foot print. I looked down to see the first human we had come across in four days. After exchanging details on the trail behind each of us (finally two miles of well-maintained National Park trails) to the trail head. He mentioned almost as an after-thought. To the three mountaineers, “the dude from Wyoming says hi.” My dad had followed our digital bread crumbs on the SPOT gps to track our route deviation. Anticipating our out point was waiting at the trail head to shuttle us back to our dropped car at the intended out put the Suiattle River road. I’m sure when the stinging nettle bites, and sore muscles subside the bushwhack out will recede into distant memory leaving lasting impressions of this improbable alpine passage through some of the most breathtaking alpine scenery I’ve ever encountered. The quest for the section that we were unable to complete, the upper LeConte Glacier, White Rock Lakes will linger in my mind until the route is “in” again next summer… Gear Notes: Ice Axe, 7.8 ml 40 meter rope. Glacier gear, pickett and ice screws (didn't use). 50 lb packs 5 days food, alpine clothing etc. Approach Notes: Cascade Pass trailhead. Great shape but popular, lot nearly full on a Wednesday morning. More detail, maps, photos and video coming at: http://botnw.com/2015/08/24/ptarmigan-traverse-attempt-2015/

Trip: Mount Adams - South Ridges South Chutes Date: 5/9/2015 Trip Report: GPS Map: movescount.com/moves/move62012380 Photos of route and Video: http://botnw.com/2015/06/19/climb-and-ski-mount-adams/ Video: The southern slopes of Mount Adams offer a straight-forward summit route and a 6,000 foot vertical ski decent on crevasse-less terrain making this route a spring favorite for back country skiers. Continue up steepening Suksdorf ridge to the false summit on Pikers Peak. Take in views of neighboring volcanoes Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood. Descend slightly across the saddle to the final 600 vertical foot climb to the true summit. This section can be windier and more exposed than the lower south ridges. The Classic Southwest Chutes offer an alternate decent. From the saddle between the Pikers Peak and the true summit drop into the 30 degree slope, 30 feet wide in places to descend 3,000 vertical feet. Traverse hard left into tree lines. Be aware of drainages descending away from the trail head. Traversing in snow following contours or locate the Mount Adams trail to connect with the ascent trail looping back to the trail head. Gear Notes: Skis, Skins, whippets (nice to have) ice axe. Crampons (did't use). Approach Notes: Register at the trail head. From the rustic Timberline camp at Cold Springs Campground ascend trail to the snow line. Once clearing the tree line ascend the Crescent Glacier to Lunch Counter Ledge. This is a common camp spot for a multiple-day ascent. Although strenuous the route has few technical difficulties other than steep snow slopes below the false summit on Pikers Peak, weather and elevation.

Great climb, one day car-to-car is the best. Who wants to deal with red tape anyway? Way to go!

What a phenomenally awesome adventure and trip report! Thanks for sharing. Its so hard to get any work done in the summer when you know that is out there...

Trip: MT Stuart - Full North Ridge Date: 7/28/2012 Trip Report: Short video of climb http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItxsX0Ae4Bk&feature=player_embedded Chason and I have had our eyes on this route for many years. We have been carefully planning packing and considering approach/descent options hoping to go as “light and fast” as possible while choosing approach and decent routes that we have previously scoped out so that we would feel comfortable finding our way in the dark. Our hope was to finish the entire climb in one day. To give ourselves the best chance we decided to start hiking at midnight. Chason must have gotten the idea from our early start on the DC Rainier (Video) the previous weekend. We drove from Seattle Friday afternoon. Arriving at the trail head by 9:30pm we made final adjustments to our climbing rack and pack. Pulling out sleeping bags and ground pads we slept for a few hours to awake at midnight and begin our adventure. We enjoyed the perfect hiking weather in the dark finding our way up over Stuart Pass, Ingalls lake, red hill and Goat pass. Filled up our camelbacks at the far end of the lake. Enjoyed seeing little creatures skirt across the pre-dawn trail a pine martin, shrews, sleepy songbirds surprised to see people moving around at such an hour. Steep scree fields leading down icy snow field crossings kept us alert and paying careful attention to footing in our trail running shoes. We used a large stick and rock to cut out steps across the steepest snowfields. Otherwise we were able to navigate under the Stuart Glacier on rock bands. Knowing this was going to be a test of endurance we tried to eat a bar or goo pack/Gatorade shot every hour. The base of the lower ridge was pretty straightforward to find. We enjoyed being on the solid rock with good pro. The 5.7 layback at the start was a great warm up. I took off the pack and clipped on to a piece of gear to lead through the 5.8 slot. Chason took the next pitch and chose a crack system to the right of the 5.9+ corner. It ended up being a fun 5.8 pitch avoiding the 4” crack on good rock, but did have some bad rope drag. From here we went up and right to the ridge, found our way around a secret passage on the west side of the ridge with a good dose of exposure. We are wondering if we should have gone left here as many other trip reports start simul-climbing after 3 pitches. There are great belay stances with views over the lower ridge and Ice Glacier. I was able to relax at belays and soak in the sublime alpine ambiance in perfect 65 degree weather with little wind. From a belay stance I witness a giant block cleaving off striking the ice glacier and tumbling down the steep snow. It sounded like a giant angry roar. We climb up two more long pitches of 5.7 cracks eager to find some easier ground where we can simul-climb and make better time. We come up on a band of white rock where the grade lessens and simul-climb for a few pitches down climbing into the notch squeezing by a melting snow patch. From the notch we admire well-established bivy sites and pack our camel backs with soft snow. Down from the top of the notch we descend a couple hundered feet and start climbing up a ramp system. We are able to simul-climb a few hundred feet from here and then pitch out two rope stretching leads to the crest of the ridge. The top of the ridge gives a great view of the classic 5.7 slab cracks with the Great Gendarme above. The exposure here is great on both sides of the ridge. Chason revels in the quality of the rock and outrageous alpine ambience. These pitches are where the highest concentration of memorable rock on the route. Chason links 2 pitches and belays me across the ridge crest traverse. Super positive rock with awesome exposure. I climb up over a ridgy block to discover sheer drop offs on both sides. I down-climb back to the belay and continue left on the edge of a large slab using a right facing corner system to protect it. We are one pitch away from the base of the Gendarme and I grab a few shots with the camera, which I haven’t taken out of my pack very often with the fear that I will drop it. I take the lead on the 5.9-layback first pitch of the Gendarme. I can’t believe anyone would want to climb this far up to rap down to the chossy gully to the right bypassing the best 2 pitches on the route. Despite the climbing being more difficult I take comfort in the obvious route-finding of the pitch. Focusing on the moves and accurate cam placement I can forget that we have hiked many hours and climbed countless pitches to get to this point wearing a 25lb pack. I feel like I am cragging and soon am grabbing the ledge on top of the detached pillar. Chason follows up and leads up the strenuous 5.9 off width which now has 2 fixed #4 cams. Hearing massive blocks roar as the tear off the ice cliff I cling on to the rock and am too gripped to fuss with getting any photos of footage. I just want to get up to the summit. Chason uses the #4 and 3.5 to set up an anchor in the alcove at the top of the pitch. From here there is a 5.5. crack directly above the alcove. The start is an awkward step across into a free hanging hand crack. Solid moves, but an unexpected airy stance after have climbed the Gendarme the climbing isn’t over yet. We navigate another two pitches around the ridge and Chason cliffs out. We rappel down back to a gully and Chason takes the last “technical” 5.8 pitch. We are eager to get to the summit. After this last pitch there is more blocky mixed simu-climbing terrain. We carefully cross some 4th class terrain trying not to dislodge any large blocks. Navigating through the ridgy blocks we simul-climb and place a few pieces of gear in overhanging but solid blocky moves. After a few false summits we crest the exposed ridge and spot the summit just before dark. We shortly savor the summit feeling it is more exposed on three sides than we had anticipated. Witnessing the summit pyramid shadow to the east. We had at least made it up the peak in a day. Deciding not to descend in the oncoming darkness we found a great bivy site a couple hundered feet from the summit. Tired and getting cold we descend to the east a few hundred feet and find a great bivy spot with partial protection from the wind. Very glad to have packed a Feathered Friends double bag we coiled rope set our packs down for ground cover tired and cold we crawled into the “bro-rito.” We enjoyed our dinner of a cheese stick and small sub sandwich never tasted so good. To gain some additional wind protection Chason opened up his emergency blanket. This ended up being a sheet of shiny plastic. We wondered what use it would be in an actual emergency. You would be better off with a garbage bag. It did however provide a bit of wind protection and heat reflection inside the sleeping bag. Sleeping fairly well we woke up at 6 to a beautiful sunrise with views reaching east and south past Rainier into Oregon. What an amazing bivy on top of central Washington. We packed up our gear keeping the rope accessable and started heading down the blocky trail. Navigating past Ulrichs Coulior we crested another ridge by the false summit above the Cascadian. We found a sling around a large rock to rappel down the only snow field remaining on the decent. After another hour and a half we finish the scree section of the Cascadian and relish being bask on flat trail. Pausing to refill our camelbacks in the stream we repack take a last bite of energy bars and head over longs pass. Back to a popular trailhead on a sunny afternoon 37 hours from our departure. Absolutely perfect weather, a committing route with a long approach and decent, with great company made for a trip we will long remember. Gear Notes: 9.4 60m rope Double rack cams fingers to hand size, single 3, 3.5 and 4 (yes we used the big ones on many pitches) 8 single-length draws with double wire carabineers 4 double-length draws with double wire carabineers 2 quad-length draw with double locking carabineers Approach Notes: Left the Ingalls trailhead at 12:20am Got to Ingalls Lake in 2hrs Goat Pass in 4hrs Sun came out (some hard snowfield crossings) Base of route racked up and climbing in 7hrs Base of route to notch 6hrs (kept right on ridgeline for 4 pitches, climbed 2 more 5.7ish before finding simu-climbing terrain. Notch to top of Gendarme 6hrs Enjoyed these pitches, short, steep, great rock and straightforward route finding for a change. We lead these with packs on to save time from hauling. Top of Gendarme to summit 1.5hrs Bivied a couple hundered feet from the summit. Very glad to have packed a Feathered Friends double sleeping bag. Descended the Cascadian couilar - 4hrs from summit to trail. 2hrs trail up over Johns pass back to parking lot. Reached the Summit in 21:04.26 from the car. Bivied 10 and descended back to car in 6.

We climbed the full ridge on Saturday. Saw some massive blocks falling onto the ice cliff glacier and heard even larger ones cleaving while we were on the gendarme. Sounded like a terrifying place to be. Glad you had a great/safe climb!

Route clarification. Looks like the route we climbed was Route 2 on the South Brother not Midnight Couloir. Climbed directly up broad open meadow (two large boulders at base of snowfield). This is the crappy bushwhacking section. Break through the ridge on the north side short section of 5.4 to 4th class mixed with heather ramps until you connect with the upper snowfield, follow to summit blocks (some 4th-5th class).

Trip: Mt. Forgotten - Standard Date: 9/10/2011 Trip Report: Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/user/bryanschaeffer#p/a/u/0/SCvi2tE8TUg I got an early start and enjoyed cool morning temps on the lower Perry Creek Trail (now starts at the same parking lot at Dickerman, south side). A few views of Big 4 opened up over the first mile. This temporary trail briefly connects to the forest road and to the new trailhead in less than a couple of miles. You could hear the rushing of waterfalls as the morning sun crested over the ridge keeping me relatively cool while the grade steepened. The hidden waterfall is a gem, and there are a few stream crossings to dip your hat in. The upper meadows had a few bugs, but were spectacular. The meadows area a great turnaround objective if you aren't considering climbing the peak. Look for a short steep bit of trail near the ridge line leading to Mt Forgotten. From here there are some steep exposed and brushy spots as you traverse right around the mountain until cresting to an obvious partially snow-filled gully which connects to the obvious trail to the summit. Beautiful hike in great condition! Car-to-Summit 2:53 Car-to-Car 5:22 Approx 14 miles round trip 5,000ft total elevation gain Gear Notes: Brought ice axe ski poles running shoes and yak trax. Didn't need any snow stuff. Approach Notes: Trailhead is now at south side of Dickerman parking lot.

Thanks for the photo reference. The image you provided is much clearer to interpret than the line drawing in the guide book.

Sort of. We bypassed a wet corner (Beck Route) and went up to the right on heather ramps and climbed up and left to gain the upper dihedral. Adds a few steeper pitches. The Becky route mostly skirts steeper routes via heather ledges.