OlympicMtnBoy

Wow, looks like another classic Olympics trip. Great pics! I love that range for these sort of amazing moderate scrambles!

More pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/matthiesen/MtShuksanFisherChimneysWithMatt?authuser=0&feat=directlink I also thought it was a great climb, all pretty easy-moderate but several different types of climbing made for a very interesting and fun trip. Although doable in a long day the high bivy was well worth hauling some light sleep gear and it was nice to get the summit pyramid at the end of the day with all the crowds already headed down. Here are a couple more pics of the bivy on the ridge. Oh and to add to Matt's gear notes, we did use two tools downclimbing the glacier ice since the rocks on it were kind of like ball bearings under our crampons. I think it would have been easier to downclimb the rock there.

Actually, I think Buckaroo is describing what we did, except after passing that chimney on the right we continues up instead of heading far enough right to the bowl. I still think this route is different from the route DPS is describing (the "standard route" as you don't have to go up the slab past the fixed pins and tatty rope at all, you just sneak around right shortly after the left hand exposed corner. We found this on the way down. We didn't want to rap off crappy twigs, we just kept heading up and tieing them off for pro. ;-)

Hehe, sounds like our trip was a bit more fun than some of your's, that's quite a story Maniac. I think if we hadn't missed the hidden traverse back right it would have been much easier with less brush (basically the path we took down) although the brush has it's own glory in hindsight. ;-) I'm curious how much the line we took up holds snow/ice in winter. A few more pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/104708573545176184583/MtIndexNorthPeakWithJames

Great deal on those tools. If you can find someone willing to ship you the Raveltik "boxer" spike from europe you can replace the bottom spike with one with a pinky trigger and they make pretty good leashless tools as well (for semi-normal shaped tools).

Trip: Mt. Index, North Peak - North Face (NE Rib?) Date: 9/3/2011 Trip Report: Like most climbers who have driven over Stevens Pass I have ogled the inspiring jagged peaks of Mt. Index from the highway ever since I first set my eyes on them. For years I have scraped my way up the classic cracks of the Index Town Walls all the while glancing behind me at the majestic peaks towering above, wondering what might be found there and why it wasn’t climbed more often. Lake many others I had pored over the North Norwegian Buttress topo and imagined myself (then a newbie 5.9 A2 climber) heading up what looked to be a fairly moderate route (jk). I even hiked up the base one spring to check things out where I was promptly turned away by fairly constant falling rock and the ugly looking start. Yet the spark didn’t die. Somehow Beckey’s descriptions including words like “imitate a gorilla” inspired me further after my years of practice in the Olympics. So this labor day weekend with many friends heading off for 3 day trips further afield I decided to stick to my own backyard for a shorter climb and give the North Face of the North Peak a shot. James was game, probably because he had no idea what the climbing was like. He even earned a climbing partner “gold star” by showing up the afternoon before with a cooler full of fresh tuna to grill. We had various evening plans so finally made it to the Lake Serene TH at the alpine start hour of 11:30 AM. No problem, we packed light for a planned bivy and brought some extra water containers to bring up the dry face. Hiking up to the lake was warm but quick so we chilled out and went for a swim and loaded up on water (5.5 liters for myself plus a can of Guiness and a Starbucks double shot, hey you gotta carry the fluid anyways). We started up the nasty talus field and soon found the beginning of the tunnels through the brush to the base of the ridge. We continued up the brushy steps, occasionally cursing and occasionally snagging a salmon berry until we reached the base of the exposed corner pitch and step around left. Here we roped up and easily negotiated the exposed bit and began the real fun (ie: immediately got off route). (I think the sloping ledge behind James was the hidden path back right here) We headed too far up the gully than negotiated some mid-5th slabby face with plenty of tat on it, missing the hidden sledge step back right. No problem, we continued upwards figuring we’d hit the north face bowl anyways. We kept heading up, fighting rope drag through the bushes, avoiding looser rock, and in general realizing it took a lot of energy to imitate a gorilla. We probably would have been better off unroped but every once in a while hit a spot where it was a nice psychological help while pulling on increasingly smaller plants. We followed our ridge and brush patches (the first variation in Beckey’s description) until we eventually topped out on a small pinnacle. We had to rap 40 feet down the other side to a tiny saddle and then regroup. It was after 6:30 and after some reconnaissance we could see that we were just left of the top of the North Face Bowl, still below the “real climbing” on the North Rib and below the rumored bivy sites up there. We didn’t feel like climbing in the dark so decided to make the best of our tiny saddle in the daylight, have some good food and sleep, and continue in the morning. The “best” as it turned out was one vaguely flat spot just big enough for James to curl up in the fetal position in with steep slopes on both sides right at the saddle, and one longer but narrow dirt ledge that sloped fairly steeply towards my feet. I did my best to pile up some branches and the rope to get my feet high enough to be able to sleep. The Guinness really hit the spot and before we went to bed the attitude had changed from “this sucks, we’ll think about continuing in the morning” to “we’re already this far, we might as well go up!”. We woke a little while after the sun and packed up. Now we were faced with a short but crappy looking traverse to some rap anchors on the standard route, then some more ugly looking gully climbing with poor pro. After examining the options (and not having a good mental picture of the route), we opted to continue forging up the vegetated ridge we were on, thinking we’d hit the North Rib farther up. Thus commenced the steepest brush I have ever climbed. If it was rooted we pulled on it, if it had a branch we slung it for pro (sometimes several branches in the classic brush tieback). We flailed upwards in the nasty green streak passing the occaisional 20+ year old crusty sling in a tree, pushing through a loose 5.5 rock constriction, and finally reaching easier ground several pitches up. Once we reached easier ground we quickly realized we had skipped most of the standard North Face Route, staying entirely to the left of the bowl and the North Rib (NE Rib?). We joyfully scrambled over the false summit and on to the true North Peak Summit, pleased to be done with the brush if only for a few moments. We had an early lunch and chilled out on top. No summit register was found. After our brief respite from the brush we headed back down, picking up the correct route on the way down with several double rope rappels back in to the North Face Bowl. We scrambled down a ways, did a few more rappels, then made it back to our rope up point. From here we made a few more long rappels back down angling towards the lake and off the ridge crest which seemed a little shorter and probably the way I would come up if I ever venture this way again. A total of 11 double rope rappels and we were back on the ground, scrambling back down the loose talus to the lake to jump in once again. (the pinnacle and saddle where we bivied) We may have missed most of the “rock” on this climb, but it was still one to remember, even if I don’t go back for a while (maybe when it’s snowy next time). Now I know why gorillas are shaped the way they are. ;-) Gear Notes: Took a single rack to #2 and it was plenty, although we skipped most of the rock pitches so YMMV. Lots of slings for trees and some tat to replace rap anchors if needed. TWO ropes for the rappels. Approach Notes: Hike up to Lake Serene, head up the talus slope to the ridge crest and go up.

Nice, great pics. Looks like a good summer!

Sounds kinda like my experience. I thought the route was quite fun and not as intimidating as I expected. I though the first pitch or two with the slabby bits and less gear was the scariest (although I hadn't been doing much slab climbing then). Nice job!

The approach up Nada Creek was good and we had a great couple of days exploring the back side of Temple Ridge and the Black Pyramid a couple years ago, exiting via Toketie (which sucked). Permits will be your biggest problem though and I hear they have increased patrols and are including visits to areas off the primary enchantments loop. Hiking up to Yellowjacket Tower and then up Hook Creek wasn't that bad in my opinion, the worst brush only took 20 mins or so and then it was a lot of walking on fallen trees (if you have good balance it can be allright). That would get you to Edwards Plateau near the Mole.

Nice, I watched it again.

Yer less than an hour from North Conway with Cathedral Ledge and Whitehorse. I was there a couple weeks ago for the first time and had a great time, plenty of stuff to keep you busy whether you want steep cracks or more slab. Likely there are routes on Forist as well, lots of old school stuff tucked away in that State but you'll have to find the local beta. The Kancamagus highway had some cool stuff off it as well a bit farther south.

Had a good experience with the Sawyer inline filter bottle in the Sierras this year. My buddy brought one and we shared it to drink out of streams and didn't have to carry much water with us. We pulled the filter out and used it as a gravity filter to fill our water bladders for our summit day. Worked really well, I'm going to get one as my trusty sweetwater finally died this weekend. I also use Aqua Mira but I've developed the ability to taste it pretty easily and I kind of like to taste the "pure" mountain water instead. I use it for backup or for situations where I will only need a liter or two for a day trip or something. I used a steri-pen once, worked fine but I have yet to get over the batteries needed thing.

Sounds like a great trip! Happy birthday John! I haven't don't my Olympics trip this year and this TR is making me miss it.

I spent a good day there a couple of years ago and had a great time. Some of that stuff is pretty long and sustained and kicked my butt but I managed a few of the fun hand cracks, It's well worth a visit but bring your tape and your guns.

No worries, partner found offline. :-)

Bump. Weather looks good, 15+ years experience, let's climb something . . . and somebody tell all my regular partners to stop having kids ;-).

Hey folks, I just got back from Yosemite (Tuolumne) this week so I'm kind of taking it easy Saturday and hanging out with friends but I'd like to climb on Sunday. I'd love to get out to Squire Creek again (Exaclibur, Engineers Route, etc) but also happy to do something more obscure at Index, Darrington or a nearby peak (Mt. Index?) as long as the drive isn't too far from Seattle (lots of driving lately) and I need to be back sometime Sunday night. Currently leading 5.10+ or so, with rack, car (not 4wd), etc. Would like to share leads, etc. - Stewart

Cool, looks like a fun link up!

Nice Pat, way to make it up and dodge the rocks! We gotta get on something in September!

I don't recall anything weird although a gold OP Link cam or two was handy for the top ~2-3 pitches in the wider flaring cracks.

Cool, how long is the hike in now?

I wonder how much grit and iron bits these will collect the first time you set your rack on the ground or grovel through a dirty pitch? Ever play with a magnet in the dirt as a kid? Just a thought. Gene has a good point too, I'd rather see something to make a super light and easy locking rope end biner, I don't have a problem with my belay biner auto lock. But props for innovation, I'd still love to fondle.

Post back if you find/make a new trail. I would like to get back there and climb again one of these days.

Trip: Squire Creek - Search for the Holy Grail Date: 7/11/2011 Trip Report: Monday weather looked good so Zizzou and I got together to try something fun up Squire Creek. I had only hiked the road once and he had never been in there but Holy Grail looked like such a great route we headed straight for it. The approach was pretty easy to follow and took us just over 2.5 hours with some shenanigans on the slab (easy hike if you have sticky rubber shoes one, done in 2 hrs then). We made a deal that I'd get all the 5.10 leads to Z headed up P1 and then P2 on fun moderate cracks and pockets. Make sure you have a full 60m rope to work with on P2 or you'll have a few feet to simul. P3 had a fun traverse left through the roof and then some reasonably bolted slab. I took a fall on the 10d slab crux but then figured out the smearing sequence and made it through. P4 had some more super fun knobs up to small ledge. P5 was a highlight of the climb. The "eye popping flake" described in Rattle and Slime was not obvious to us from the belay but it was there above us, then there was a fun undercling that reminded me a bit of part of Sagittarius at Index followed by some improbably knob climbing up through very steep overlaps and face with good bolts. Finally you hit fun 5.8 cracks to the end of an amazing 180 ft pitch. P6 was short but also had a fun crack bit with a long reach and some cool traversing and I'm glad to have "permission" to break in the middle and make P7. Up the fun straight in crack that disappears just as the angle eases for the last fun 10c part and a few more bolts. It was getting into the afternoon and Z was tired (as was I) so we opted to skip the last two 5.8 bushy bits and head down. I guess I'll have to climb Excalibur to make the scramble to the summit next time. The raps were easy and fast, right back to my pack and my shoes. Anybody missing a bolt? It's hanging out on a ledge part way up P2. Wonder where it's from? Overall a GREAT route. Many thanks to the FAs for the hard work. This one ought to get climbed a lot more, nice clean granite, well protected cruxes (for slab), reasonable approach! Sorry for the lack of pics of the best parts, Z didn't bring a camera to capture my bad ass leading skillz (and lack of slab technique). Go get your own! Gear Notes: 2 60m ropes, rack to #3 camalot plus extras in thin fingers-thin hands (we had a #4 that got placed twice but not really needed), ~15 draws/slings. Approach Notes: Hike the Squire Creek trail to the second large stream crossing (the first one has a log bridge now). Cross the creek and turn right following the climbers path down to Squire Creek. Cross on the beautiful log, walk a hundred feet upstream and turn right up the dry creek bed. Follow this several hundred yard up till the climbers track heads into the woods on the right. Go uphill on the trodden path till you hit the bivy site. Head up the slabs past the short fixed rope and then work your way left along the base of the wall traversing till you get to the base of the route (more bivy spots).

What, you followin me around now? And climbing slower than our team of 3. :-p Nice job though, way to get up again after the storm! How did you like the revised version of P10 before the giant rivet ladder? Oh and we used a skinny tag line too, then hauled up the haul line, block roll, etc with a mini-traxion. Kind of complicated but it beat the weight and we were not in a hurry. And definitely a good route to flag a ledge on so you can still stand or sit at belays. I'll be in Tuolumne for a month soon if you want to do some slab climbing in the rest of your break. :-)