SPS

BTW, there is logging going on on this road currently so it is in exceptional shape.

I was one of the cars that turned around at Scatter Creek last weekend (Honda Civic). Saw a few Subarus and SUVs go by fine. The water looked to be about 2.5 feet deep with a pretty steep incline on the far side. In general, the road on the way in is in pretty poor shape almost all the way through but is certainly passable until that point.

You can drive to the end of the Teanaway Road no problem. From last weekend nearby, snow was at 4800 feet.

Many thanks for the post. I had been thinking about going in there a couple of weeks ago but hadn't seen much on the route. The post inspired me to give it a try last weekend. My pictures are here: It took us a bit of time to find our way out of lower Horseshoe Basin but we eventually found our way up. Some pictures of the route we followed out of the basin are included in the picture set.

No no no no no no no. The route may still be in, but the approach is BRUTAL without snow on it. Think slide alder. Think Devil's Club . Think steep slopes. The two or so miles took several hours and was the most unpleasant crap I've ever gone through in the Cascades. Make sure the approach is totally snow covered when you go in. Perhaps there was a better way but...

All, My climbing partner Pat and I posted a trip report of the NE ridge back in 2006 and we asked for pictures of the glacier given how receded it is. Below are what we saw posted. Any others out there? Sean P.S. Forgive me if the pictures don't come out right.

ummm...keep in mind that the slab you would climb in the summer is in the middle of that picture below and looks like it *might* have snow on it! Great summer climb though! Tiny bit of glacier. Some straight up (but loose) face climbing and then the craziest slab and open book. you'll probably see. Look at the view from Dickerman and see the tongue of that glacier coming over the mountaintop and forming the slab. Do it! http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/40462404

I'm interested as to whether other folks who've been on this route have pictures from past years. If so, could you post and say what time of year it was? I'd like to see what it looked like 2, 5, 10 years ago. Sean

More pictures from Pat and my mini-epic can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanpatricksullivan/sets/72157594267737929/ I'm particularly fond of the one at 3 in the morning of Pat looking like he's knocking on heaven's door. You've never met a man so bound and determined to risk all to get to work the next day. He's an inspiration to us all. I must say, I felt like I was socked in the gut when I came over the ridge and saw that almost gone glacier. You could feel somehow that it was much different very recently. The 1975 picture confirms how much it's changed. Outside of the piece that calved off and rumbled down the approach route, while we we climbing we could hear pieces rolling down the other side all day. I can't imagine it will be more than 5-10 years before the only evidence of the glacier is the polished rock it once rested on. Pretty sad stuff. On the bright side, leave all that glacier gear at home! Forget about those pesky 'schrund problems! This is a really beautiful climb. Get on it.

I went up the Easton last Friday/Saturday (6/23 to 6/24). Had to park about a 7 minute walk from the trailhead due to snow. Melting out quickly. We went directly up the stream to get onto the Railroad grade, avoiding the trail, on the way up. This worked fine. One the way down, we used the trail which was getting easier to follow. However, there are a couple sections of large deadfall. Overall, I found going up the river to get to the RR easier. The route is in great condition. The little piece of teh headwall this route touches is still snow covered so no ice to worry about yet. Crevasses are mostly covered over and easily avoidable. Our only problem was not heading down from the summit until 11 whereupon we were sinking up to our knees in snow. Should have been on the way down two hours earlier than that. Also, as always, I'd recommend going Fri/Sat or some other variation on Sat/Sun as the number of people coming in on Saturday was as staggering as ever. You can see pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanpatricksullivan/

Could you comment on how long the trip took from trailhead to summit to trailhead? I thinking about going out there next week but need to be back in town by 7 and am looking for some sense of how long it takes this time of year. I see Goldman listing it as 9 hours. Sean

I was up there last weekend (7/9, 7/10). From Boulder Pass, the route leading up to the notch is aobut 50% snow free. Once of the glacier, the route description says stay left of the large crevasse. It looked to us like that crevasse went all the way across the glacier although you may be able to pick your way through it although you will cross bridges. We went right toward the false summit. Required going down through some fallen bridges and short (5 feet) ice sections but was doable. That said, I imagine that particular route will be gone in a couple weeks. Once in the flat spot by the false summit, the route description says go south over a ridge and traverse to gully to true summit. I'm assuming that in a normal snow year this would be on snow. This year it's on crappy rock. Two options we could see. 1) Climb up some crappy rock to the false summit and hope there is a route over to the true summit. 2) Drop down 200-300 feet on snow and then go up one of several snow gullies to get back toward the summit block. Overall, it's doable but the Walrus glacier will require route finding. Sean starbucker@backpacker.com

All, NPS report is pretty accurate. We were climbing the NR, sticking to the ridge, not the snow climb listed in Nelson, and were at the 7900' level (by the first snow patch before the large buttress) when Brian took a leader fall. The distance he fell was probably considerably less than 40 feet. I would put it at about 12-15 vertical feet. However, as a gully was stretching out underneath him, the fall and tumble were exaggerated. It's an important point because even a short fall can have disastrous consequences as in this case. Brian had open, compound fractures in both legs. Chris, who did an exceptional job of treating Brian's injuries, hauled Brian on his back while I z-pulleyed the two of them back up to the ridge. It took all the strength we could muster, something to think about given that Brian is only about 140 lbs. Once getting Brian set up and comfortable on the ridge, Chris and I descended back to the Boston Glacier and returned to Boston Basin whereupon we were able to get a cell phone call in. The time was 7pm. They had a helicopter in to spot Brian by 8pm (incredibly quick, highly professional response by NPS to whom we owe many, many thanks) and had a radio lowered to him by 8:30 to check his status and tell him the plan. Given the late hour, extraction at that point was unfortunately not an option. Rescue climbers were inserted the next day (approximately 26 hours after the accident) and transported Brian via helicopter to Harborview. Pain medication that Chris had in his first aid kit helped make what must have been an awful night less awful, something for people going to remote locations to consider. Brian is doing exceptionally well, but as the earlier message states, will be in a wheelchair for some time. Thanks to all on the list for their thoughts and concern. Sean

We went to the West Ridge on Monday/Tuesday. As noted, there is a schrund halfway up the couloir. We stepped over onto the rock where it separated. The snow stepover is undercut by two feet and will be gone in a matter of days. It's questionable now. After going onto the rock you can move up a little and climb up back onto the snow. However, the block you step onto has a visible crack in it and could go. We saw several dramatic releases on J-Berg and Forbidden on a fairly cool day. There might be other options for getting back up onto the snow.