yellowdog

Is the SW couloir on South Early Winter Spire still "in" ie does it still have a good amount of snow in it? Planning on going there next week Friday. Any beta is appreciated. Thanks.

I've been to Mildred Lakes and Flapjack Lakes to do Cruiser. Did Mildred last year over 4 July weekend. VERY LIMITED camp sites around lakes. LOTS of BUGS. Trail is good from road to the creeks above the small headwall. Large avalanche damage area after that makes finding the trail (and crossing for that matter) difficult. NO trail from camp area to Cruiser and the rest of the ridge. You have to do some serious bushwhacking and crawling on your knees. We left our camp by the lake at 0700. Joined the Cruiser route about 7 hours later. Just as hard to get down. In contrast, did Cruiser in early September last year car to car via Flapjack. This was with the extra 1.5 miles both ways due to the culvert work (we had to park on the road 1.5 miles from the Staircase entrance). Car to car was 0500 to 2100 (9 pm for you non-military types). We summited Cruiser via Flapjack earlier than we did via Mildred by two hours. My suggestion is Flapjack. Much easier trail (no bushwhacking) and there is plenty of room around Flapjack to camp. I think you need a reservation as they limit the number of campers. I think you have to pay a fee also. No fee for Mildred since it is outside the park. If you are going in the immediate future I think you will find more snow and a tougher time on the Mildred side. The trail to Mildred Lakes has two headwalls. The second is similar to the Lake Constance trail (but not maintained or marked). The bottom line is that the trail to Mildred is shorter but much steeper and there is no trail at all from the lake so you are almost certainly going to spend two nights up there just for one peak. For the same time (two nights) you could carry more (if so inclined) and almost certainly get more climbs in. Besides the trail from Flapjack to Staircase is so good you could do all 8 miles with headlamps easy.

Mostly kept them on for practice - get used to walking and climbing in them again. We could see down into the basin below where at least route 1 for Pershing is. Could not see Mt Ben or any of the Pershing summits.

Thanks for the beta. I wanted to go yesterday (Sat) but my partner whimped out. He needs perfect weather and a view. I did the Ellinor - Washington traverse last weekend. Excellent snow conditions with occaisional white out. That is what yesterday probably would have been like. I was thinking route 5 or 6. This mountain strikes me as a good early season climb. It looks like bushwacking hell once most of the snow is gone.

Anyone climbed Pershing within the last few years? Which route, how long and how hard for route finding? Thanks.

We stayed up on the ridge. You can't really follow the crest. The book essentially tells you drop way down below the tree line and bushwack. Might as well go all the way back to the road. What we did was: summit Ellinor, drop down a steep chute into a basin, traverse to a large rock band, climb up towards the crest (the rock band could be downclimbed or rapped-but we just went up until we could walk off), traverse until join Washington route near the top of the final steep gully. We were in crampons the whole time, even on the summit. Not sure how long these snow conditions will last. Did this same route last year in June with some snow. Much more fun in winter like conditions.

Did the Ellinor-Washington Traverse on Saturday. Saw nobody. There was a tent at the foot of the gully on Ellinor, but we went by it at about 0630. Solid snow on both mountains. No weak layers. Some old avalanche debris near the top of the gully on Ellinor and in the bowl above the gully. Lots of old avalanch debris below the last gully on Washington. Snow starts about a quarter mile below the gully on Ellinor. Substantial amount of snow on Washington route all the way down to the creek and some big patches in the woods all the way to the road. Snow covers almost all of the rock leading to the summit block on Washington, in fact the highest point was snow. We were in crampons from the start of the gully on Ellinor all the way to the creek on the Washington descent. Even on the summit. 5 hours summit to summit, 9 hours total. In the clouds, ice crystals and mist about half the time. We got lucky and it cleared a little bit (sea of clouds view) on both summits although we could not see Pershing and only caught occaisional views of the lake. Either peak is still a good alpine climb.

If I wanted to get both Deception and Mystery in one trip, which would be the best way in: Royal Basin or via Dosewallips? I understand the road to the Dose traihead is still washed out adding 5.5 miles to the hike in and out if you go that way. Appreciate any advice from those who have been in there. Thanks.

Has anyone been up Shuksan via the Sulfide route lately?

Looking for partner(s) who live nearby. Just retired Navy located in Silverdale. Mostly interested in alpine. Olympics and Cascades. Have 14 years experience including Aconcagua (summit), 3 Denali trips (1 West Rib and 2 West But - no summit - weather and luck), and Waddington (summit). Lots of waterfall ice climbing experience in Banff area. Email if you live reasonably close by and want to climb regularly.