Flying_Ned

Road now clear to Branch Creek, .01 below the upper trailhead.

The road is now clear to Washington. Snow blocks the upper Ellinor road above a small slide for 150'. It's clear until the turn at Branch Creek below the parking area.

Was up there two days ago. The lower lake is clear of snow. The East Fork (VSM) has patchy snow in avy tracks, becoming more continuous beyond the first bridge. Not sure if there is bare ground yet at Lena Forks.

We shwacked up there thirty years ago and found sections of trail (cut logs) high above and along the creek. For the most part we linked game trails with the path least resistance until tree line. We ended up climbing eastward to avoid slide alder around 3500' toward the pass leading to Wildcat, then followed the ridge line west. Bivied in lovely country below the saddle over Hungry creek before dropping down to complete circuit. Heavy brush, as I recall. When in doubt, stay high, I would say.

The road is clear 0.2mi beyond the lower TH, just short of hogback trail to the upper parking area. Snow on the trail begins near the large rock above the junction with lower trail.

A bridge log now spans the Dosewallips at the east end of the campground at the ranger station. This provides access to the remnant trail up into the Basin and Wildcat Lake areas.

Trip: Mt. Rainier - Late August Emmons Incognito Date: 8/18/2009 Trip Report: D and I grabbed the Aug 18th weather window and headed out for the Emmons, unaware of the buzz of activity at Camp Schurman that day. Having only descended this route previously, I thought it a good choice for his 1st and my 10th ascent. We left White River Tuesday morning, playing tag with a team of French speaking climbers up the trail to the Inter Glacier, which now is a bowling alley of softball sized debris raining down from the cliffs. The snow chute (climber’s right) is melted out, and the safest route up the lower 3rd of the glacier (this day) looks to stay right, up dirty ice, then traverses left across the shotgun zone where falling rocks have little momentum and you can find a snow corridor. D’s old crampons were giving him trouble, forcing several stops, and we fell behind the French team as we futzed with gear out on the ice. Glacier Basin Inter Glacier After an hour and a half of glacier travel and a few minutes of hammering on D’s crampon with my old X-15, we crossed over Camp Curtis and onto the Emmons, arriving as the last team at Schurman for the evening. We had two days left to get up and out, and decided to spend the next day repairing the crampon and practicing two-man extractions. A pleasant lazy day awaited us. Little Tahoma from Camp Curtis Not long after dark, headlamps began flashing around camp as two guided and four independent parties began to assemble. Next to us, two occupied park service tents remained silent. Clear skies, no moon, the early morning air thick and warm. We slept until 8am. The Route in Twilight Wednesday morning the camp was empty, save for the few people hovering around the hut and the gentlemen in the tents near us. Friendly conversation brought us over to meet climbing ranger, Dave Gottlieb, who had just celebrated his 42nd birthday, and Mike Gauthier, who accompanied the group remaining at camp on their previous days’ ascent. Here we also met Mike Heavey, West Seattleite and Superior Court Judge, Politico James Sheehan, Maria Cantwell, our US Senator and important park advocate, Andy Miller, the Benton County prosecutor, and friends. A more open and welcoming group could not be found so high on the mountain, and I particularly enjoyed recalling days where Gator and I had previously crossed paths along with some political small talk with Jim and Mike. Though vacationing incognito with friends, Sen. Cantwell was gracious and funny, offering a salty remark about Jim’s array of campaign tee-shirts. Her friend, Nancy, looked to me like an Iron Man veteran. Pretty trim group. Derrick, Maria, Me and Jim After a late breakfast that group headed for home, and Judge Heavey made sure we paid for our invasion by helping them mule packs up the crumbling shit pile to the top of the prow. The trail from Steamboat Prow past Camp Curtis and Mt. Ruth avoids the Inter Glacier, and they were anxious to begin the dusty walk down to Glacier Basin. Two backcountry carpenters had been choppered in along with several barrels of cement and supplies earlier in the week, and the assembled groups bid farewell, with Gator staying on with Gottlieb and the carpenters for another day. Nancy and Maria descend the Prow D and I spent our day eating and hydrating, chit-chatting and watching parties high on the mountain through binoculars. The carpenters (I apologize for forgetting their names) worked all day, removing past mistakes, carefully mortaring native stone and weaving rebar into an arch over the hut. These guys care about quality and worked hard and skillfully, ferrying water from the dripping glacier in 5 gallon buckets. Camp Schurman Throughout the afternoon the camp gradually filled with returning summit parties. Late in the day only two small teams remained out, and the camp was entertained by Helmstadter’s ski descent done in fine style. Bravo. He continued on down the Emmons toward Camp Curtis without a break, and we awaited the final groups containing a pair of Polish natives and a local father-son team as they worked cautiously down in the softening snow. Since we were hiking out the following day, D and I decided to rise early and hit the sack about 7pm. Shortly thereafter I wandered over to the hut and spent a few hours with Dave and Gator, enjoying some popcorn and conversation, reminiscing about Alaskan adventures 25 years and 30 lbs ago. Gottlieb is a hoot, and I must say that he has it about right—approaching his job first as a climber/guide, rather than a bureaucrat. The Gauthier/Gottlieb ethic seems to me the perfect fit for Rainier, and spending a little time with these guys was one of the highlights of our trip. D and I rose at 11:30 and promptly received the spotlight treatment from hut. By 12:30am we were off, trudging up the ramp past Emmons Flats, to a short icy step and onto the corridor, where soft, slushy snow kept the pace a little slow. At about 11,000’ the winds began to pick up, which was thematic for the day as we fought gusty high winds in clear weather all the way to the summit. The route is a boulevard right now, and passes by some remarkable crevasses. But it’s still in great shape with very little true exposure. After rounding a corner at about 13,000’ the long traverse to the north saddle comes into view. Gottlieb had earlier put up a more direct line near hear, which climbs straight up WSW before traversing N under an ice fall. We debated, but ultimately chose to battle the high winds on the more established trail and continued on to the saddle. We reached the crater rim after 8 blustery hours, the wind at hurricane force, ropes flying, unable to even set up a tripod. A group of four was marching back to the DC across the crater, and we moved down to Register Rock to find a wind break. No such luck, and D signed us in as “Team Gimp.” After about an hour of watching the dirt fly, we packed up and headed back down. D’s knee was acting up, so we moved slowly, enjoying a spirited and beautiful descent. Crampons borrowed from the ranger hut alleviated any equipment concerns, and we stopped frequently to take in the views and linger on the mountain. No others were on route that day. Sunrise The Corner The Saddle Traverse Derrick on the descent Dave met us as we returned to camp, but refused to part with any of his hidden stash of beer. After being full that morning, the camp was eerily empty of tents except ours, and we lounged around for a few hours before packing up. Ascending the prow, we engaged in our most ridiculous moment of the entire trip, as D jumped up the trail only to get off route, warn me not to follow, then proceed to litter the route up with rockfall. Confused and tired, I poked around a bit but could not confirm the obvious route we had danced up the previous day, so I returned to the hut, tail between my legs, and asked for beta. Gottlieb happily complied, and needlessly walked me up the entire route as I huffed under my heavy pack with tired legs. D waited on top, feeling stupid himself for getting onto some sketchy crumbling face. We thanked Dave again and made off down the ridge for Glacier Basin. The hike out was lovely in the waning light, and we watched clouds move into the valleys to the north as we scrambled over the ridge. We met a party coming up to Camp Curtis who warned us of route finding problems in the scree fields beyond Ruth and being unable to find a stream crossing, but we found no such difficulties, finally getting back to the car after dark, tired, happy, and ready to crack one open. Gear Notes: Pickets (2), Screws (2), 3rd tool Approach Notes: The lower Inter Glacier is a low/mid angle dirty ice sheet with steady rock fall that is generally confined to a corridor on the right. We chose to ascend inside this fall line on the right and cross it higher up. The glacier could be approached on the far left, but rogue rocks in that area come at high speed. The trail from Glacier Basin crosses the creek and climbs steeply to the ridge to the south, then follows the trail past Camp Curtis to the top of the Prow. One 15’ class 3 scramble is negotiated along the way.

I was on Washington and Ellinor on Memorial Day and did the low backside traverse. There is still a ton of soft snow in Lake Ellinor Basin, but the timbered slopes are pretty clear. Snow shoes might help in some sections. The south side roads are completely open, and there is no problem getting into Jefferson lake, so you may get close, if not all the way to the creek. Be prepared for deep postholing and snow on the summit ridge. You'll definately avoid the brushy approach schwack.

What a fantastic first experience you gave your son. I'm in my forties, and I still vividly remember my dad leading me up Mt. Washington at 13. Great trip. Couple hints for anyone following this description who are unfamiliar with the route: The base of the Hourglass does lead up to a waterfall obstruction, and the route traverses below this to the right (E) over slippery sloping ground before circling back to lunch rock and the main couloir. You can also avoid the airy knife-edge traverse by locating a narrow slot, or keyhole, just below the top of the couloir. The snow fans out near the top, but by staying high and left, you can find an exit slot to the right where the rock pinches in. The keyhole leads to easy ledges and scree ramps to the summit. Of course there are other avenues to the summit from here, but this is one of the quickest. Bravo DP.

You may want to reconsider doing the Tunnel Creek trail from the Dose side. That's a lot of lost elevation from the divide down past Harrison Lake toward the creek. You'd be better off traversing toward Cunningham Pass from Lake Constance or sticking to the popular approaches via Tunnel Creek.

Ellinor-Washington: Road impassible to vehicles 3.5 mi below lower Ellinor trailhead where Shield Wall comes into view. Patchy snow on road increasing to 5 feet. 5/9/08. Mt. Stone: Hamma Hamma road closed due to washout beyond Lena Creek. Take a dirt bike to get to Putvin. Snow at Whitehorse creek, meadow below first headwall still buried. 5/7/08. Brothers: Snow patches at Lower Lena. Continuous at East Fork Lena Creek. Good year to try the lower route into the Great Basin. 5/4/08. Upper Lena, Lake of the Angels likely to be iced over into July of this year. Lower Lena is ice free. Staircase Road repair contract was let today. Work should begin in a week. Possibly open by Memorial Day.

As I recall, the three main gullies look almost equadistant from the center of the basin when carrying snow and there is another minor gully farther east--does that sound correct to you? We had to surmount a 20'rounded tower to get on route from the narrow saddle. You may have been on the correct route. It's a nice simulclimb in good weather with a few minor decision making challenges--over or around. I, too, was glad for a rope in a few places just for the exposure. Where did you exit the trail? I'm wondering if it's easier getting into the basin climbing steeply from the minor waterfall - 3rd creek south of boulder shelter - or from the boulderfield/scrubby tree shwack south of there?

Truly outstanding TR. Thanks for the great photos. The high traverse from Bear Pass to Camp Pan has been done a few times. Most recently (before you and Douglas), to my knowledge, as a loop from Dodwell-Rixon across the ridge and back down the Humes by a party making the Elwha-Quinault trip. That party crossed over to Meany-Queets-Seattle before dropping into Low Divide. Congrats on a great outing. It makes my bones tired just thinking about day 7.

The key to this trip is chosing your camps. Queet Basin is a must, and you'll find a great camp on a bench above the basin as you traverse west from Bear Pass (N side of Basin). Another great camp is on the Humes moraine next to the creek. Several bivy sites here with scattered plane wreckage. Camp Pan is also very special--just depends on how you're progressing. I think a must is a night on Five Fingers, just below the summit. Lot's of room and unbeatable views at dusk. Glacier Meadows is often buggy, so a trip out from the summit or a final night at Lewis Meadow is a good way to end the trip. I've done this trip twice, once in 6 nights and the other in 7 and both times was very happy not to rush it. It's definately worth savoring this trip and bagging Pulitzer, Queets or Athena along the way.

Norman, you've clearly not been up there in late season. The hourglass can be a pinball alley without snow. To save weight, you can try an inflatable helmet. BTW, North Brother in a couple of weeks, I think.

Yes, you can make an nice loop by descending from the Great Stone Arrow and contouring past all three lakes into lower Elk Basin, returning via the ridge. The lake picture on your NW Hiker post is of the 3rd, or westernmost of the three lakes. The lake route traverses up to the outlet of this lake and climbs to the pass SW of the lake (lower left and just out of your picture). From here you drop into lower Elk Basin and climb through fairly open country toward Fisher Pass.

Has anyone been on Jaberwocky Ridge NW of Mt. Stone? I'm wondering if this has ever seen a traverse or asent of the major gendarmes. The view of JR from the west is impressive, with many big walls and narrow chimeys. Any traverse of this ridge looks like an achievement. I spent an evening staring at the ridge from Hagen Lake while on a loop to Mt. Hopper, returning via the ridge. This is an easy cross country tour, which is highly recommended for wildlife viewing and beautiful countryside. My trip started at the Putvin trail around noon, stopping for a late lunch at Lake of the Angels. The route from the low pass straightforward, with one 10' downclimb as you take the path off the north side of the headwall. Once down, a well defined game-boot path traverses scree to the Great Stone arrow (30-45 minutes). There is a good camp here near the rock markings, and remnant snow banks on the north side of the pass. The "easy" walk down to the lake probably exists when covered in snow, but it does take minor focus when the bedrock is exposed and you're tired. There are a few good camps at the lakeshore, and I dug out a sandy bivy on the beach at the little peninsula. Day two: Coffee and a few hours staring at the light on Jaberwocky Ridge. I lingered at the lake all morning as I didn't have far to travel this day. Finally heading west after noon, I backtracked to the park service marker at the south end of the lake, ascended a little hump and dropped into the second Hagen Lake, where two huge elk stood in the meadow on the east shore. Route finding on the traverse is mindless, as obvious game trails take you exactly where you're heading. Rounding a ridge, I traversed slightly upward into the basin containing the third, and smallest of the three lakes. From here, the most obvious way leads up the cirque to low pass SW of the lake (another excellent spot to take in the scenery). Follow game trails down into the lower level of beautiful Elk Basin. I followed a meandering game trail that eventually brought me up the east side to the upper terrace, just below Fisher Pass. This is the spot where Lt. O'Neil's scouts shot eleven elk during the summer of 1890. It was only 3pm, but I set up camp under a large tree near the stream that bisects the upper basin. Bears roamed the eastern slopes of Mt. Hopper, and I had an early dinner while watching them and listing to elk in the basin below me. At 5pm I headed off for the summit of Hopper, which took a little over an hour to walk to the summit. I had stood here exactly 20 years ago when I met a team of Boeing Engineers gleefully using a satellite phone and a ham radio operator to call their buddies from atop a minor peak. Phones in the backcountry seemed like a novelty then. After sunset I returned to camp and a magnificent night sky. The next morning I found an old hand saw blade, worn and rusted with an unual cutting pattern. The teeth matched the old "misery whip" log bucking design. The blade was bent near the handle attachement, clearly discarded by a hunting party or trail crew from decades ago. After packing up the saw blade, I began the trek back along the easy ridge. Again, game trails traverse the ridge on several levels, but always stay on the south side below the crest. This is the easiest travelling, and a climb to the ridgetop generally involves swimming through thick and stunted alpine fir. At an open swale, near the mid-point of the traverse, the headwall above Lake of the Angels comes into view, and Mt. Skokomish is due south. A herd of elk grazed in the meadows just below me, and I could make out a path traversing the shoulder of the ridge ahead of me. From this open spot, avoid the impulse to climb higher and contour at this level through meadow, mixed timber and scree. The route makes a bee line toward the Great Stone Arrow, ascending to a low pass in the trees rather than turning south with the ridge. Easy slopes lead down to the pass above Hagen Lake. From here I retraced the route back to Lake of the Angels and down to the car. I highly recommend this area for a quick weekend tour where you can get off trail, stay high, view lots of wildlife and have some solitude.

The Heather Creek approach is a jungle now in the lower basin. Two years ago we looped through here up to the ridge, then north to Goat Lake and back down to Handy. Travel up the riverbed is not difficult, but the route quickly becomes a quagmire. You might consider this as a winter approach, when the alder is under 6 feet of snow. Otherwise, Del Monte or Deception Creek approaches are much more favorable this time of year.

Thanks for the fine TR. Usually don't see good shots of the E-W buttress, which can be a nightmare in foggy/cloudy conditions. I'm trying to picture the minor hang-up that forced you into the moat. Was that in the rock bands to the north of the upper chute? Thanks again for the great pics.

Climb: Mt. Stone Thunderstorms- Date of Climb: 6/11/2006 Trip Report: Six of us managed a friendly outing on Stone last weekend in excellent weather, taking the Putvin Trail to where the trail leaves Boulder Creek and cutting over to the abandoned road leading to the upper trailhead. It's amazing how the forest is reclaiming this road. 15 years ago it was open and sunny. Now the alder has taken hold and evergreens and kinickinick have created what is now essentially a footpath. The route is in familiar condition, with the first snow encountered below the second, smaller headwall. The potholes are starting to melt out, and are inhabited by huge frogs that burrow in the mud when alarmed. At this bench I made a rising traverse and took the first drainage toward St. Peters Gate (there is a flag here, and another blue marker higher in the creekbed). Although there are several options to get beyond this wooded step, none are clean and obvious, and while I took the direct route, the rest of our team traversed the bench toward Lake of the Angels, taking a longer but more gradual line into the upper snowfields. The creeks are short, but snakey, making use of tree limbs and moss-slicked rocked. Snow bridges are melting out now. The group came together at the head of the high snowfield, below the first scramble to the uppermost basin. From here a short snow traverse to the summit block had our group on top after about 6 hours. Material in the register was in surprisingly good shape, and business cards we left on 3-21-92 still survive. At 3pm the weather moved in fast and we encountered light rain and thunder as we navigated back to the snowfields, where we had a series of pleasant glissades down to the potholes. Distant lightening and loud, booming thunder was our constant companion. We arrived back at the cars in heavy rain, and enjoyed a fine pilsner while getting soaked. There we met a party of three who had just completed the traverse from St. Peters Gate to Upper Lena, describing the trip as "brutal." From the summit we could see that Stone Ponds and Scout Lake were still frozen and the traverse is still 90% snow covered. Should ideal in early July. Gear Notes: Axe and the ability to use it. Approach Notes: No worries. Business as usual.

Been long considering a west approach from Trapper Pass (described as North Peak route 3 in the 3rd edition). I'll be going up there to recon the route to the ridge as a soon as the road melts out. Just wondering if anyone has been on North Ridge 3 or dropped into the Great Basin from this approach. Thanks.

The traverse you're asking about is pretty difficult. I solo'd this 2 months ago and was pretty beat up upon reaching the E Fork Quinault at Pyrites Creek. Here's a quick TR. First Day: PM start at NF Quinault, 7 hours of trail to nice camp on the gravel bar at Sixteen Mile. Day Two: Continued on to Low Divide and Martin's Park; lounged around Martins Lakes. Early September freeze overnight. Day Three: Up EARLY and hiked to Christie Col to scout and have breakfast. Steep sidehilling and heavy timber made the approach to Mt. Taylor very difficult and taxing. Gained the talus field on the WSW side of the mountain where 3 couliors lead to the W ridge. Took the Easternmost (approx 1200'), which is closest to the summit (other two appeared to lead to exposed ridge climbing with potential impasses). At the head of the chute a tree helped surmount class 3-4 open book to the ridge where you cross over to the snowfield on the North side. This leads very straightforwardly to the summit. Avoid the moat by traversing East. Continueing East, follow the steepening snowfield on the left (NE) until it falls away and you can cross over to the SW side and descend slabbly and loose rock (I had some trouble here going too low)as you traverse. Fairly easy travel to Bretherton's Pass and Lake Danton once you get off the ridge. This day took me 14 hours, camp to camp, traveling cautiously without a partner over difficult terrain. Day 4: Rested. Took a daytrip to the Muncaster Basin area. Several Bears and Deer up high. Moved Camp in the evening to the head of Pyrites Creek. Day 5: Slept in late and got a noon start decending Pyrites Creek. Took 5 hours on the descent nursing a tweeked knee. Met my ride on the Quinault at the appointed hour and we enjoyed several cold beers before I collapsed for the evening. Day Six: Walked out from Pyrites Creek camp. I would recommend that you get yourself in peak condition for this trip. The offtrail terrain is not easy and routefinding adds a little fatique to the endeavor. Beautiful country with spectacular views all along the way, especially in the Mount Christie area, Muncaster and upper Pyrites.

FYI--several approach variations are flagged up Jeff Creek. Route 7 is easily found from the small lake up through the alder. A Goat carcass litters the worst section this year, but soon you're into the basin that leads up to the ridge. Tread lightly on the the creek moss... The glass on the road is from me have to break a window to retrieve the keys I had just locked in my car.

Sounds like he's avoiding Anderson and climbing out of the Enchanted Valley to Martin's Park and Low Divide via Christie. Also sounds like the plan is to avoid glacier travel. You may want a rope on that section between LaCrosse-White Mtn-Fisher's Notch. I believe it's not an easy traverse, but I'm just piecing that together from old memories of the area. I've not actually done it.

Tried an early May ascent many years ago. Snowshoes, lots of heavy gear, not enough time. It was a long, tiring approach in marginal weather. Went back 2 months later with fewer difficulties. Check Climbergirls post for the best itinerary--though we added a windy summit bivy. The last high camp on the ridge is spectacular and well protected. I would think a winter ascent is free of avalanche worries. Poor snow conditions down low will eat a lot of time, however.