off_the_hook

My favorite photos of trips in the Cascades this summer. http://www.stanford.edu/~pantilat/highlights2005.htm

Totally sweet!! NB of Fury looks awesome. Nice job.

kaleetan, snoqualmie, red mountain, and hibox are fun local scrambles

Anyone in good shape want to do DC route on Rainier in a day (night) leaving Paradise around 10 pm Wednesday or Thursday night? PM me if interested.

Climb: Tank Lakes-Necklace Valley Date of Climb: 8/5/2005 Trip Report: Yea, I know this isn't really a climb, but I got some nice photos and it was fun. I had under 24 hours off of work. I finished up Thursday at 1:30 pm and started Friday at 1 pm. I decided to go for a solo trip to Tank Lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness above Necklace Valley. I left the parking lot just after 3:30 pm. The first 5 miles are relatively flat and fast. Then, the 2,600 ft of elevation gain in the next 2.2 miles to the entrance of Necklace Valley went slower. From here, about another half mile of trail takes you to the cabin and Emerald Lake. A little further from here and just as you get to Opal lake, I headed up meadowy forest that lead to rock slabs higher up. 1,000 vertical feet (1.5 miles) of off trail hiking and a traverse over slabs and rocks put you atop a beautiful plateau in which Tank Lakes are nestled. I arrived at my sleeping bag spot at 7 pm on flat slabs beside the lake. The remainder of the evening was nice with some great post-sunset color on the cirrus behind Chimney Rock. I woke up in the morning for sunrise, ascended point 6263 above the lake, enjoyoed the views some more, and set out for the return trip at 8 am. I made it back to the car at 10:30 am jogging the last couple miles so I could go home and shower/eat before a long shift that started at 1 pm. Tank Lakes are a pretty sweet place. Snow is definitely hard to come by in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. All snow melt was finished in the Tank Lakes area and Mount Hinman looked very dry to the east. Chimney Rock looks like a cool climb. Gear Notes: jungle juice Approach Notes: trail to necklace valley rocky, rooty, and eroded from Foss River to the first lake.

Climb: Challenger, Luna, Whatcom-Northern Pickets Hannegan to Ross Lake Date of Climb: 7/28/2005 Trip Report: Short Story: Started at Hannegan Pass Sunday night and ended at Big Beaver Landing Ross Lake Thursday afternoon, basically crossing the park. We entered the Pickets via climbing Whatcom Peak. We climbed Challenger/Luna and traversed the Luna Cirque. Amazing scenery and adventure! See more pictures in my gallery here Long Story: The partnership of last weeks Eldorado Ice Cap trip continued into the Northern Pickets. The car shuttle took awhile to set-up, but in retrospect I think it was worth it. After we finished work on Sunday, we set out finally arriving at the Hannegan trailhead at 10 pm. We made it to Hannegan Pass under a beautiful star-filled sky with headlamps at 11:30 pm. Day 1: An early wake up to climb Hannegan Peak for some views. It was nice with a great display of wildflowers up there. We got back to camp and were off down to the Chilliwack River at 8 am. The trail here was great and nicely downhill so we made great time to the cable car. The cable car wasn’t really needed, but we did it anyways for fun. Brush Creek is aptly named right now as there is copious brush to deal with. A small section of washed out trail is easy to navigate through. Finally at Whatcom Pass, we continued up the steep trail to Tapto/Middle Lakes. We first surveyed Middle Lakes, but decided that Tapto fit the bill. A glorious afternoon of exploring around the lakes and alp slopes above concluded with a great sunset. Day 2: Sunrise provided awesome reflections in the lakes, but we knew we had a long day ahead so we packed up and left at 7:30 am. Whatcom Arm and Peak took longer than planned, but we finally made the summit and continued down the ridge to meet the snow. The snow patch from Whatcom to Perfect Pass was one spot that allowed for quick progress. From Perfect Pass down to the glacier, we had to downclimb some slabs that were manageable. Once on the Challenger Glacier, we made good progress once again traversing the Challenger Glacier with few crevasses on the route (although many gaping ones above and below) finally arriving at the eastern shoulder of the mountain. The walk from here to the summit block was straightforward with no bergshrund problem. The 40 foot rock block was a fun bit of rock climbing. From the summit, we made it to the rocks at the foot of the mountain in a half hour. It was nice to have sun here for another few hours to rest and dry things out. Day 3: Departing at 8:30 am. We traversed the eastern section of the Challenger Glacier and then entered Luna Cirque. At first the going was fast traversing heather and wildflower meadows with stupendous views all around. Then there were innumerable streams to cross, loose boulder fields, more loose boulder fields, mega-flies (with stinging bites) and then the mucky glacier above Lousy Lake, another aptly named feature. Refusing to descend all the way to Lousy, we found a reasonable route up a stream in the moraine which put us near Luna Lake. Luna Lake to Luna high pass was a fun route with boulder fields, granite slabs, heather, and finally snowfields, arriving at the pass just before 5 pm. Day 4: We knew Luna Peak was one objective we would wake up for. I got up at 4:45 and set out at 5 am. I reached the summit at 5:30 as the colors of the sky were advancing from the east. The next two hours on the summit of Luna seemed like they past in a flash - a truly amazing morning. I was happy to have cell phone reception at the summit to organize a boat pick up at Beaver Landing. Quick work back to our camp at Luna High pass, packing up, and we were off at 8:30 am. The traverse from Luna High pass to the gully heading down to Access Creek was awesome with wildflowers and the Southern Pickets always in sight. Once we descended the ridge, the grunt work began. We stopped at the head of the valley to fill up on water, but flies prevented us from resting too long. The bushwhacking thru groves of old-growth slide alder sucked, but I disliked the devils club further down even more. Big Beaver River was a pleasant sight to see and we didn’t even bother looking for a log, instead wading right thru to the other side. Laying on the trail on the other side, we were immediately covered by a swarm of flies. The hand I was using to swat the flies was covered in flies! Suffice to say, we were outta there! The walk down the Big Beaver Trail went by really fast despite the blisters on the bottom of my feet. We made it to the boat dock at 4:15 pm with plenty of time to chill for the water taxi that arrived at 6 pm. The Northern Pickets were a great adventure. It seems like the mountains first want to try and keep you out, and once you’re in, they make it hard to get out! It’s basically impossible to accurately describe the highs and lows of the Northern Pickets, but I think the highs definitely win out once you can start to reflect on the boat dock at Ross Lake! My partner for this trip was totally awesome. While our judgment and skills were tested in the beginning, we prevailed resulting in a stronger partnership and friendship. See more picture in my gallery here Gear Notes: Glaicer gear, a couple quickdraws and slings for short section of rock on Challenger. Shoulda had Jungle Juice. Approach Notes: Trail to Brush creek intersection great. Brush creek brushy (!). Big Beaver trail in good shape.

Yep, I have been there twice. The glacier is gentle and both times (late June and late August) the crevasses were not a problem. Enjoy the beautiful area.

Nice job. Thanks for the beta you left at the ranger station just before we arrived about the Challenger Glacier.

Are the fixed pins on the rock step at Mount Challenger sufficient enough so that carabiners and slings are all that is needed? Would a 30m rope suffice? Any info/tips on the route would be greatly appreciated.

This is probably a shot in the dark, but anyone interested in heading out to the Northern Pickets next week, Monday thru Friday? I have gear, a car, and I can move fast. I am open to ideas, but I'd like to do Challenger and Fury. Drop me a pm if interested.

Climb: Eldorado, Austera, Klawatti-Eldroado Ice Cap Date of Climb: 7/19-20/2005 Trip Report: Short Story: We did the Eldorado Ice Cap traverse to Austera Peak camping at Klawatti Col and climbing Eldorado on the way. I also climbed the southwest buttress of Klawatti Peak. Long Story: We set out from the parking lot at 9am under clear skies which made me want to get up into the alpine as fast as possible! The approach was steep and long, but not too bad the second time around. We made good headway and arrived at the base of the east ridge of Eldorado at 2 pm. Very few crevasses on either the Eldorado Glacier or Inspiration Glacier to this point. We ascended the Eldorado ridge under brilliant blue skies finally topping out at the famous knife edge. Tracks and steps from the previous days ended at the top of the snowridge, but I continued and kicked steps all the way to the rock outcropping on the west side of the snow arête. The views were marvelous and we took time to take photos of the summit ridge and views. After descending Eldorado, we continued on the Inspiration Glacier, traversing at around 7800 feet to Klawatti Col. There were a couple crevasses in one section to navigate thru, which can be bypassed either above or below, but pretty straightforward. Arriving at Klawatti Col at 5:30 pm, we set up camp quickly on the snow as the shade from nearby towers was approaching. With the shade came plummeting temps and a cold wind sending us into the sleeping bags. I came out of the tent for a great sunset with awesome alpenglow on the summit ridge of Eldorado and a full moon rising over Forbidden. We got out of the tent to see the sunrise under clear and cold conditions. The light on Eldorado was great. We set out for Austera-Klawatti col at about 6 am. The frozen snow made for great cramponing conditions. The moat crossing at Austera-Klawatti col was not too bad although we found an easier route on the return trip that was not obvious from the Westside of the col. The walk from the col to the top of Austera was fast and soon we were peering down at the expanse of the totally awesome McAllister Glacier and its twin ice falls. I continued to the true summit of Austera which was a 10 minute excursion thanks to the beta from Klenke on summitpost. We rested on the summit and watched the lighting change. We made it back to camp at 11 am after a leisurely walk across the Klawatti Glacier. From camp, I ascended the southwest buttress of Klawatti. The hardest part was the first 100 feet of getting on to the buttress. Afterwards, the climbing was class 4, then class 3, and finally class 2 for the last couple hundred feet. The roundtrip up Klawatti was less than an hour. Back at camp, we rested in the warm sunshine for a bit and then departed camp just after 1 pm, making it back to the car at 5:20. The view from the top of Austera is well worth the effort to get there - some of the best scenery I have seen in the cascades and endless photography opportunities. Hauling gear up the approach paid off with a fabulous sunrise and sunset. Gear Notes: couple pickets, crampons, ice axes, 30m 8mm rope Approach Notes: trail in good shape, crossing of Cascade River not a problem

Climb: Forbidden Peak-West Ridge Date of Climb: 7/15/2005 Trip Report: Short Story: Climbed the West Ridge of Forbidden in a day with descent of Northeast ledges. Both routes were in good shape. It was nice to be the only party on Forbidden. Long Story: My good friend and I drove out to the Boston Basin trailhead Thursday evening and got a few hours rest before we set out for the West Ridge of Forbidden at 3 am. We knew that weather was coming in Friday, so we abandoned earlier thoughts of doing Torment-Forbidden Traverse. Either way, this was a first time on Forbidden for either of us, so we knew it was going to be fun. Doing an approach we had both never done at night was sure to be interesting. We hit the approach hard with headlamps and made it up to Boston Basin with very little route finding problems. At Boston Basin, we lost the trail to Forbidden somehow, but still cruised up to the West Couloir in good time. The couloir is still snow filled with one moat a little past halfway up that is starting to open, but it’s still straightforward. The snow was soft at the bottom and a little hard towards the top. From the top of the snow, we chose the wrong gully up to the West Ridge which took some time but once on the West Ridge route, we cruised up to the summit, mostly free-climbing, and pitching out the 5.6 pin. We made the summit at 8 am as clouds were beginning to stream in from the northwest. A few photos (obligatory summit pose) and we were off the summit and rapping off the Northeast ledges. We rapped five times with some scrambling to the last ledge before it cliffs out before the Boston Glacier. Here, the ledge traverse to the East begins, at first descending and then ascending to the col along the east ridge. At this point, the descent should have been easy, but we chose another wrong gully and ended up using some more time to work out a wet, cliffy couloir. We finally made it back to Boston Basin and took a nice break in the last sunlight to eat and rest. The descent from here went quickly and we arrived at the car at 12:30 pm, 9.5 hours after beginning, and just as the rain drops began to fall! I can see why the West Ridge of Forbidden is so famous: great solid rock, sheer exposure, and impressive views. With an awesome partner and a nice weather window, the West Ridge was really fun. It was also cool to be the only people on the Forbidden that day. Route finding cost us at least a couple hours on the approach gullies, but we took it in stride and enjoyed the time on the mountain. Next time, route finding will not be an issue when we climb Forbidden and the Torment-Forbidden traverse. Gear Notes: ice axe, small rack, rope brought crampons but didn't use them. Approach Notes: trail muddy in sections, snow soft except in upper West Couloir.

Climb: Sahale Peak-Sahale Arm/Glacier Date of Climb: 7/7/2005 Trip Report: With time and weather constrictions, we climbed Sahale Peak on Thursday. Even though I have done this route many times, the setting and reward is still very worthwhile. We had great weather and pleasant temps. I know that my visiting friend, new to the cascades, enjoyed the trip. We set out from Cascade Pass at 9:10 am, summited at just after noon, chilled until 12:50 when a large group approached from the Quien Sabe Glacier, and made it back to the car at 3:20 pm. Sahale Glacier is still a snowfield with generally good conditions for kicking steps. The final summit bloc was straightforward and I was glad we had some time before the large group showed up. Using my previous trips here as a barometer, it seems there is much less snow than usual below Sahale Glacier Camp, but approaching more normal levels above the camp. Gear Notes: ice axe Approach Notes: virtually snow free to sahale glacier camp

Since ya'll like alpenglow, here is another...

Climb: Snowfield Peak-Neve Glacier Date of Climb: 7/1/2005 Trip Report: Short Story: Climbed Snowfield Peak Thursday and Friday. We encountered everything from white-out and rain to crystal clear skies. We did the approach Thursday and summited early Friday morning. The approach and glaciers were in good shape with only a few crevasses open on the Neve Glacier. The views were awesome and the experience memborable. Long Story: It has been nearly 5 years since I last climbed Snowfield Peak. Then, it was my first multi-day mountain climbing trip and travel on an active glacier. I have fond memories of this outing and I thought Snowfield Peak would be the perfect trip for my newbie friend visiting from Dallas, TX. After waffling on the ultimate decision of where to go, we took a weather gamble and set out for the North Cascades. Clear skies in the Seattle area transitioned to a marine layer and even some drizzle on the drive. We set out from the Pyramid Lake trailhead at 9:30 am and fortunately it was dry there and even a sunbreak making for pleasant hiking. The trail to Pyramid Lake and the climber’s path up to the ridge coming off Pyramid Peak were straightforward. Long, steep, and dry; just like I remembered it. As we entered the subalpine, a huge sunbreak opened up and I thought we were set for good weather or at least an improving trend. I thought maybe I could climb some other peaks in the area in addition to Snowfield – actually I intended to – not to be! We continued up the ridge to the foot of Pyramid Peak with some minor routefinding making great time. The traverse over to Colonial Glacier was straightforward as well and mainly snowfree. We roped up on the Colonial and ascended to the col between Colonial and Neve Glaciers. At this time, the clouds started streaming over Paul Bunyan’s Stump with a cold wind picking up. We hurried up to the col, arriving at 2:30 pm. Just after we finished setting up the tent, it started to drizzle. It soon turned into a downpour, and combined with the howling winds, we headed straight for the sleeping bags. The rain stopped in the evening so we cooked Lipton’s Teryaki Noodles to warm up. We were still socked in, depressed, etc., and I was starting to regret choosing the North Cascades. However, I had not lost hope. With no “organized” weather system in the vicinity, I knew there was a possibility the marine layer would descend overnight. We set the alarm for 4:30 am in hopes of this occurring. Soon afterwards it started to rain, sleet, and gust even harder than before. I thought it would be a miracle if it cleared. Well, about 2 am everything became calm and I finally got some real sleep. I woke up at about 4:28 am and instinctively unzipped the rain fly to check conditions. I stuck my head out and I didn’t see a cloud anywhere! I woke Brett up and told him its game time. By the time we got going it was 5:20 am. The tour across Neve Glacier was awesome and we stopped for photos many times. The snow was hard making for great cramponing. Crevasses are starting to open up in two sections, but they were small and easily negotiable. A quick ascent brought us to the scramble high on the flanks of Snowfield. We summited at 7:00 with grand views 360 degree views. My favorite view is to Austera Towers and the McAllister Glaicer. There was still a chilly wind, but it felt nice in the sun and we ate some granola bars and pita bread. A couple thousand feet below, clouds were streaming in from the west and I knew the marine layer would creep up the mountains in a few hours. We left the summit at 7:45 and descended the Neve Glacier. About three quarters of the way down the glacier we descended into a quickly rising marine layer. Blue skies and sun turned into a whiteout. Orientation through the whiteout took some time, but we made it back to camp just after 9 am. The clouds pulled back a little at the col allowing us to eat some oatmeal, pack up, rest a little, and get one last view of Snowfield. With the fog settling in, we cruised down the Colonial Glacier at 11 am where it was still sunny. The hike down the ridge below Pyramid Peak was nice with the sun shining through. We made it back to the car at 3 pm. Overall, this was one of my more memorable trips. The views were stellar, but it was the dramatic fashion in which they appeared that will stick with me. I didn’t get to climb any of the other peaks in the area as I had hoped, but I am very satisfied with how it turned out. My newbie partner got a little taste of everything North Cascades! Gear Notes: Crampons, Ice Axe, 30m rope, Glacier stuff We used everything. Approach Notes: Climbers route can be lost in a few places if you don't pay attention. I was here before so it wasn't bad, but if you find yourself off path, backtrack until you get back on! One real snowpatch on traverse from ridge to colonial glacier.

Thanks, I made the correction

Climb: Trappers Peak-Thornton Lakes Date of Climb: 6/19/2005 Trip Report: My Gallery Trappers Peak is basically a hike, but it affords a stupendous vantage of the Southern Pickets. The "fence" is laid out horizontally making for great photography opportunities. I have a new digital camera and I was eager to test its features in the field. I set out at 8:45 and reached the summit in about 2 hours. However, I was abit too early as the low clouds had still not completely lifted out of the valley. Over the course of the next two hours, my patient (but chilly) waiting on the summit of Trappers Peak paid off. The Pickets were revealed with great clarity and the "cloudplay" made for some nice photographs. I definitely want to get in there and climb some of those mountains! New snow deposits were apparent on the rock faces of the Pickets, but even more so to the south on the Snowfield massif and the Eldorado Area. The setting of Trappers Peak is interesting. On the one hand, civilization is almost directly below in Newhalem, and on the other hand, some the most wild and remote terrain in the lower 48 is just up the valley. All in all, I was very pleased with this hike and the photographs. Gear Notes: camera Approach Notes: Thornton Lakes trail and road in good shape. Virtually no snow to Trappers Peak. Uppermost Thornton Lake partially frozen.

Sweet! Sounds awesome. I am looking forward to the pictures/story.

Climb: Silver Star-Silver Star Glacier - Burgundy Col Date of Climb: 5/29/2005 Trip Report: With the weather pattern changing, Bjorn and I decided Silver Star. With its easterly location and nice vantage point, it was a safe bet and a good early season conditioner. We left the Seattle area Saturday afternoon and spent the night at the turnout off highway 20. We brought some lawn chairs, delicious burritos and then enjoyed a warm night under the stars. We woke up around 4:30 am and set out from the parking lot at about 5:05. We cruised up to Burgundy Col, mostly staying to the right of the col on heather benches and then traversing over to avoid loose scree. The snow on Silver Star Glacier was soft with some postholing on the lower slopes, but not too bad. There was also some small avalanche activity off the west peak. From the col at the top of the Silver Star Glacier, thigh deep postholing for a couple hundred feet was quite annoying (a frozen crust with deep soft snow beneath) but it improved near the summit. The small bit of rock scrambling near the very top was enjoyable. Pushing the pace early on allowed us to summit at 8:30 with bluebird skies and great visibility of the range from Glacier to Baker. We enjoyed a half hour on the summit with photos and food leaving just after 9 am. The descent went quick and I arrived at the car about 6 hours after beginning at 11:05. I was glad we finished early, the puffy cumulus clouds we saw as we drove off apparently blossomed into a thunderstorm by afternoon… Silver Star afforded some very nice views thanks to the great weather and visibility. Starting early provided great photography of Liberty Bell and Early Winter’s Spire in the soft morning light from Burgundy col. I thought it was cool that Dome Peak and the immense Chickamin Glacier become visible on this climb from a relatively low elevation. Gear Notes: ice axe Approach Notes: Very little snow remains until after you reach Burgundy col.

Climb: Colchuck Peak-Colchuck Glacier Date of Climb: 5/26/2005 Trip Report: A nice solo climb - my first outing of the season since coming home for the summer. Left Sammamish at 5:15 and got to Stuart Trailhead at 7:40, got going at 8. Cruised up the trail to Colchuck Lake and continued up to the glacier. Getting here early was essential to limit the amount of postholing. The snow on the glacier was powdery (over a foot deep or more) with a crust that broke through most of the time - postholing gets bad after the sun hits the glacier at about 11 am. I arrived at the summit at 11:40 and took a half hour to enjoy the views. Glissading wasn't possible until the lower snowfields, but I still made good time arriving at the trailhead at 2:45. The snow from last weekend continues to hang onto the rock ledges of Dragontail, Colchuck, and Stuart (almost Himalayan looking) making for very pretty photography scenes. Gear Notes: ice axe skis would have been nice for the glacier descent... Approach Notes: trail in good shape, colchuck lake and lakeshore surroudnings completely melted out.

Where are you located or where can you meet?

Anyone up for alpine on a Thursday that is forecast to be warm with bluebird skies? Black Peak, Silver Star, Whitehorse, Eldo? I have a car and gear. PM me or send an email.

Climb: Mount Baker-Easton Glacier Date of Climb: 7/27/2004 Trip Report: Jessie and I climbed Mount Baker via the Easton Glacier route in under a half day. The appraoch was straightforward. The glacier was quite crevassed and required endrunning at multiple points. The summit view was filtered heavily by the smoke plume drifting in from the fire near Bella Coola, BC. Some of the older tracks that trend to climbers right are now impassable with open or very weak snowbridges. The best route now stays over more left until just before the crater. We did the climb in 9 hours 15 min car to car; 7,500 feet of elevation gain and loss. We started just after 4:45 am and finished up just after 2pm. We spent over a half hour at the summit and a half hour breaking/roping up and we also stopped to look at the crater. We came down the mountain leisurely taking photos of the seracs and giant crevasses so a speed attempt of under 8 hours is very feasible. There was one large party of seven on the Easton other than us, but plenty of climbers on the CD route. I imagine that if the hot weather of recent continues, the route up the Easton will become much more circuitious and involve interesting crevasse crossings. Overall, the Easton is a nice, straightforward route that in late season (mid-season this year) provides the climber with a nice look into a very active glacier. Gear Notes: standard glacier gear Approach Notes: Bridge out from floods forcing crossing of river draining the easton glacier.

Climb: Mt. Shuksan -Fisher Chimney's Date of Climb: 7/24/2004 Trip Report: ChucK and I climbed Shuksan on Saturday. Left the car at 5:35pm and walked in pleasant evening conditions to Lake Ann and continued on to the 5600 bivy spot above the first Chimney arriving just after 8pm. Departed camp at 5 am and summited at 8:45am via the southeast ridge of the summit pyramid to avoid the choss and climber induced rockfall of the central gully. The southeast ridge is solid, enjoyable rock climbing (5.2-5.3) and we actually decended the ridge as well freeclimbing both ways. On Winnie's Slide, traverse to climber's left where the slope is less steep. Upper Curtis and Hells Highway were a breeze. We were the only climbers on the route that morning which was nice. The climb and walk out went by pretty fast. Stopping for lunch, pictures, and to pack up, I made it to the trailhead at 2:45 pm. The route can definitely be done in a day car to car. Fisher Chimney's is a really cool route that gives the climber a good variety of rock, glacier, and route finding in a rugged setting. Gear Notes: crampons, glacier stuff Approach Notes: trail in good shape, one patch of snow at saddle road will be closed July 26-29 between 10am and 4pm

No digital clinometer or protractor but myself and ChucK agreed that on the climber's left side of Winnie's slide the angle was 40 degrees as described by Beckey or perhaps a degree or two over. Hells Highway was more like 35-40 degrees in my opinion.