spotly

I've heard lots of people say there's no crevasse concerns on Sahale but when I did it there was a yawner that required crossing via a thinnish snow bridge or long trip around. I suppose still in the "minimal" range you're looking for though.

Trip: Selkirk Crest - High Traverse - The Beehive to Harrison Lake Date: 7/19/2008 Trip Report: A few of us (Brian, Ted, Bob and me) did the "Selkirk Crest High Traverse" on Saturday. The Beehive was by far the funnest part. From the road about a quarter mile back from the Harrison Lake TH, we bushwhacked through thick brush and found an animal path that cut through a soggy meadow. Part way through the brush we had to cross the Pack River via a convenient set of boulders and a large log - semi-easy crossing. More wet meadow then a slog up a slabby creekbed to the base of the dome. It looked like there were several fun ways to attack it. We opted for a line going up the right hand side where we found solid class 3/4 up to a clump of trees about halfway up. From there, we did a short traverse left to the center of the face then found some sporty 4th with a bit of avoidable 5th. There was no pro to be found but the climbing was easy enough. The granite heated up quickly and I was glad to reach some shade at the top. From the top, we continued westward along the ridge for about 1500 feet vertical in a mile and a half to the main crest, topping out on peak 7374. At this point, the route north consisted of some class 4 downclimbing then fun scrambling past point 7353. From here, we were unable to maintain the ridge so we dropped off on the east side and travered a snow field over to just below point 7167 (The Fin). After a long lunch, Brian and I roped up to climb The Fin. Regaining the ridge involved an extra pitch of low 5th. I topped out with a step up from a car-sized slab that moved slightly from its perch. I let Brian know to avoid it then belayed him up. Brian took the next pitch, a short 4th class and neatly exposed traverse around the west side of the ridge. The next pitch started with a 20 foot walk across a 2 foot wide edge - pretty cool...and puckering. At the end of the walk-across, I placed a .75 cam up high and stepped/swung around a blind corner to the right onto a narrow shelf. Another 25 feet up got me to the top of the pitch where I struggled to find a suitable anchor. Everything was detached blocks but I did manage to find a spot for a hex that looked like it would take take body weight without levering. I yelled down to Brian that I wasn't comfortable with the anchor and couldn't find anything else close by. I decide to downclimb to a bush and bring Brian up to collect the gear and regroup from a more suitable spot. The downclimb kinda frazzled me and I lost all enthusiasm for the last pitch above, which appeared to be more lichen and loose blocks. We bailed off to the east then finished the traverse east of the crest dropping down to Harrison Lake and back to the trailhead. We weren't fast but fast enough to complete the route well within 11 hours including one long lunch break and screwing around on The Fin. After the shakey downclimb off the top of the 3rd pitch, I convinced myself that the Fin was a lichenated pile of crap and not worth finishing. My opinion still holds about the quality of the feature but I'm already scheming to get back and tag the top anyway The traverse on the whole was very enjoyable, particularly the Beehive and the views down both sides of the crest. Gear Notes: Small rack to 3" Approach Notes: Hike Pack River road .25 miles south of the Harrison Lake TH to the clearing on the west side. Bushwhack through the meadow, cros the river, then follow the smooth granite creekbed that goes up to the center of the dome.

The complete traverse would be undoable with said doggy. The next summit west of the Beehive went 4th/low 5th on the ascent and the same on the downclimb of its north ridge. That peak could be bypassed on easy ground by cutting northwest from the ridge between Beehive and Little Harrison lakes though - west of the lakes. The Fin was kinda crappy 5.6-5.7 (crispy lettuce and loose blocks). We wound up off the main crest at one point and had to regain it just south of The Fin with some easy 5.2 climbing. The 2nd pitch of The Fin (1st if we had stayed on the crest) is very exposed and narrow 4th. The last pitch we did (one short of the summit) put me on top of a table with no options for an anchor. Plus I screwed up on my placements and had too much rope drag to move on to look for something else. Wound up downclimbing half the pitch. By then, we'd had enough and bailed to the basin on the east side and traversed over to above Harrison Lake and back to the TH. It's a fun route but not doggy friendly without a cutting out alot of the crest. I have done the low traverse on the east side of the crest before and it is an exceptional off-trail romp through meadows and some good scrambling. The new guide book says only fit and fast parties should attempt the route but we managed it just the same. About 11 hours including a lengthy lunch and gawking from the top of the various bumps along the way. No water on the route but it would be easy to drop a hundred feet off the crest about halfway through and pump from the runoff (still some big patches of snow hanging off the east side).

We went up the Bee Hive yesterday as part of a high traverse along the Selkirk Crest (TR later, but this was the funnest part). Staying right we kept it around 4th class till about halfway up where it kicks back quite a bit. We avoided dragging out the rope by traversing left towards the center. Other than a few avoidable 5.0 moves, it stayed 4th to the top. Didn't see any place for pro - exposed but scramblisious. Really fun 1200' of granite but I'd hate to be on it in the heat of the day - even at 8am, it was pretty hot.

Thanks. If I'd have read your post more thoroughly, I would have noticed the date difference.

Just to be clear, the incident in the original post is not related to the incident in the link posted in a reply below it - correct?

If you opt for the east ridge or north face, you can get to the TH below Rock Lake with a car. If you decide to do the west ridge scramble (a few unexposed 5.0ish moves but mostly class 3/4) and you head in via the Cliff Lake TH, expect a rough road and take high clearance though not necessarily 4WD. There's also an interesting looking route on the next Peak over (Elephant) that's a looong ridge run in the 5.6 range. I haven't done it yet but I have admired it from Rock Peak. It would be a brutal day-trip though. Take a look at the 4th class route on Snowshoe Peak too. It's excellent as a day-trip but again, brutally tiring....for us old peoples anyway. Have fun.

I was waiting to see if anyone was gonna throw something at this because I'm not aware of anything that I'd personally consider a good scramble of 5th class ridge run within 50 miles. For that kinda stuff, I'd say that the Idaho Selkirks are about the closest thing. Hoodoo Mountain near Kettle Falls looked promising on its east or south side. We did it from the NE last year and found some stepped scrambling - kind of brushy in spots though. Of course all of that is further than 50 miles. Even though it's closer than the east side of the Cascades, by the time you throw in the drive time on some of those rough roads, you could have gone to the Teanaways or Leavenworth area. The up side is the lack of peoples. By the way, there's some goodish scrambling to be had in the Cabinets as well. Rock Peak has at least one good established route and several other possibilities. I personally like the looks of the north face and the east ridge. Haven't seen anything written about either one. The north face would probably be pretty fun this time of year. Anyhoo, that's my ramble Good luck and share if you you find anything closer.

Not yet. It's on my plan 'B' list and so far all of my plan 'A' trips have gone according to plan.

I've poked around looking for that crag. Next time you drive by it, can you flag a waypoint and send it to me - kidding of course.....but really

Nice job getting out in the drizzle. That traverse is on my plan 'B' list. Looks like a blast. My wife and I were over exploring on Navaho Peak and basins nearby all weekend. The rain gear went on and off a dozen times on Saturday Made for some excellent lighting for pics though. As far as that textured rock and the serpentinite, we ran into a huge sampling: How's this for texture!?

Nice job. Is that bypass on the same ledge where the north side pitch starts - just way right of there? I remember looking over that way and thinking the ledge just ended.

I second Jones Bay. It's close to the climbing and the sites are ok. I'd get there early on a holiday weekend though and maybe have a backup plan. Steamboat Rock will likely be all reserved up at this point but they do get last-minute cancellations so if you don't mind the playground atmosphere, it would make an ok backup...something like plan 'D' or 'Z'

OH NOOOO! I'm comitted to hiking up to Lake Augusta this weekend or I'd join you. Oh well, gotta do things with the honey sometimes too Maybe next time.

FYI: Seems like many more nails on the right side (TH side) than on the left.

Trip: Teanaway Peak - South Ridge Date: 6/28/2008 Trip Report: A few of us headed up the snag Teanaway Peak Saturday. From the TH to the pass between Teanaway and Iron Peak was mostly dry with a small stretch of mud and two small patches of snow. From the pass, we headed counterclockwise till we ran into a steep snowfield. Since the girls weren't prepared for the snow, we stuck to a rock rib past mostly 3rd class loose stuff. A few 4th class moves forced us onto the snow. From the ridge to the summit was more 2nd and 3rd. I think the route would have been easier had we crossed the snow lower down and slogged up the tree-line slope on the other side. The views were terrific - a good spot to scope out conditions of surrounding peaks and plan for future summits. Scramblicious Aid? Yummy Fortune, Ingalls South and Ingalls North Iron Peak from Teanaway Peak summit Teri waiting like this for our return Teanaway Peak and Mt. Stuart from Iron Peak Volcanic Neck from Iron Peak Gear Notes: Ice ax maybe. Approach Notes: Good trail most of the way

Well, we lucked right onto the tunnel without a hitch but I'm hard-pressed to tell you exactly where it's at...anyway, after climbing to the notch behind LJT, scramble into the next gully then look up - this is a pic of what you'll see, scramble up then go behind a large dark flake. Maybe someone with a better memory tell you where that flake's at in this pic but I think you should be able to find it if you're in this general area.

According to the ranger, as of yesterday, the road is clear to the Cathedral Pass TH and the creek crossing is 18 to 20 inches depending on time of day. Still haven't heard about the trail/snow conditions but a friend said a friend of his friend's friend told him that the trail was lots of soggy and deepish snow.

Doable. Some teams do choose to rope up though. My thinking is if I'm not comfortable soloing when no one else is around, then I won't solo. When going alone, I don't rely on someone else being there to bail me out if I get sketched or I'm not sure of the route. Do your homework on the route and conditions then make good judgement calls along the way.

That is nice. Thanks for the shots. I was debating on adding it to my itinerary for a 4 day trip planned for late Sept. I've heard there's a "trail" that takes a body down to the Snow Creek trail from near there. Anyone know what that "trail" is like?

Anyone know what the road and trail conditions are like now?

I agree with you on Creamsicle Buttress. I personally thought it was a bit suck compared to other routes on the rock like Bono, Final Dihedral or Supprehension (short but sweet!). The 5.10 traverse on Downtown seems ok when taking a low line across. A tension traverse works great there too. Looks like you had a great weekend. Wish somebody would head across the water and post some pics of the routes on the Penninsula - hmmm, maybe me. Bono - great route!

Nice TR. Got any more pictures of Edwards Plateau?

Sounds like a character building trip Sorry you didn't get your plan 'A' but at least you got a summit of some sort

Trip: Lions Head Attempt - Date: 6/16/2008 Trip Report: The road to the "easier" approach to the Lions Head is passable. One deadfall to drive around and a steep-sided stream running across in one spot. It's a rough road either way so passenger cars would get banged up even if they made it over the deep trench. Lloyd picked me up at 7:30 and we were on the trail by 10:30. The Summit Post directions to the "easier approach" are spot on but there was one intersection close to the TH that wasn't mentioned - staying right is obvious there since the granite is clearly visible in that direction. Equipped with two cans of bear spray, off we went. The new North Idaho guide book says to follow the old road next to the creek for a mile before taking a trail to the left. Summit Post says to follow the road/trail to the end where it dumps you onto the talus.Things change I guess so....we followed the road/trail for about a quarter mile where it petered out at an overgrown turn-around. From there, an obvious and surprisingly maintained trail heads up the hill to the left. I say maintained only because recent deadfalls had been recently cut from the trail. The trail itself is pretty steep and isn't very well worn so it's easy to lose - more like a moose trail. Anyhoo, we trudged up that beast to 5200' where we ran into deep compact snow. The direction was obvious at this point though - keep heading up, crossing a creek or so along the way. Lloyd laid in a few way points along the way and even without the snow, I can see how this would be very useful on the return to keep from some major bushwhacking - we used them. We hit the talus near the NW side of the cirque, just below West Lions Head. That thing was so much bigger than expected, and steep, at least of the north face. At this point we scoped out the possibilities for gaining the saddle between the West and East summits. It appeared that a steep climb up snow directly south would put us onto a wet but what looked like an eassyish scramble of maybe 50 feet or so. The other option was to follow the guide book directions and circle to the right and climb to the saddle from the south side. We decided to take the direct route and headed up the slope. We stopped at one point to put on crampons and discuss the deep snow on the slabs above the scramble - as I was saying how they didn't look too fun to climb under, a huge section slid off, slamming into the basin and sending big blocks of ice to our left. We stared for a few minutes then quickened our pace through the debris towards "plan C' - a snow finger to the NE Ridge of the East Summit. I need to get some stair stepping in because I was sucking air pretty hard getting through that section. The snow finger was steep (about 50 degrees) but other than a short section above a cliff band, the runout was a long fun slide into the basin. Once we reached the ridge we weaved through the rocks and found a ledge on the east side, which we followed for a few hundred feet till it dead-ended. There were a few spicey moves but mostly an easy scramble. We had a break and assessed the options. We could climb down to the snow and continue circling around to the south side of the saddle or find a route straight up. Since the slabs on the south side were likely to be holding snow and wetness, we started scrambling upwards. It was mostly wet 3rd and 4th class. We got to one loose section with a 10' vertical corner and stalled. The moves looked easy but getting to the corner involved a few feet on a dirty, slanting and very exposed slab with little in the way of hand holds. We decided to retreat...then to try it....then to retreat..then Lloyd made the move onto the slab and his foot slid out from under him. We both laughed then headed back to the ledge, just shy of the summit. The trip out was more direct. We followed the ridge to the NE, finding a way down to the snow on the east side of the cirque. After much plunge stepping and a "crevasse rescue" we found the first waypoint and were back at the TH by 4:15. We should have brought a short just-in-case rope and some webbing. Oh well, a good excuse to get up there again. Cool area with much bigger rock than expected. Pictures don't do it justice. Nearing West Lions Head Creek West Lions Head Climbing to the saddle Change of plan Heading towards NE ridge of East Lions Head East Face of East Lions Head East and West Lions Head from NE ridge Lloyd requires rescue Our Route