Tom_Sjolseth

Summary: I spent 5 days in the Chilliwacks with Don & Sheila B., Don D., Roy M., and Mike C. Highlights were 77 year-old Roy M. and 71 year-old Don D. making the summits of SE and NW Mox Peaks (AKA Twin Spires). Together, we became the 23rd ascent party on SE Mox (no telling how many folks climbed NW Mox to date because the summit register is soggy, fragile, and until Mike C. dries it out, unreadable). The comraderie, the views, and the magnificent position of these peaks all contributed to making this trip one of the finer outings I have ever had the pleasure of being on. No trip report here, hopefully you'll just enjoy the photos. The Depot Creek headwall as seen from the approach.. McMillan Spires to Challenger (background) from 7200' on the Redoubt Glacier.. Bear Mtn, Shuksan, and Mt. Baker as seen from the south side route on Redoubt.. The view down the NE Face to the top of the ice apron from the summit of Redoubt.. Mike C. lost in a sea of clouds atop Mt. Redoubt.. Don B. climbing through the cannonhole on the way to Redoubt's summit.. Bear Mountain and Lake as seen from the south side of Redoubt.. NW Mox and the Ridge of Gendarmes as seen from the Redoubt Glacier.. The 'Col of the Wild'.. The glacier at the head of Perry Creek and between NW and SE Mox Peaks.. Roy begins the summit pitches on SE Mox.. Point 8251' on the Ridge of Gendarmes taken from SE Mox.. Yours truly leading the initial slab pitches on NW Mox.. Mt. Redoubt and the Redoubt Glacier taken from the North Ridge of NW Mox.. The 'Col of the Wild' as seen from the North Ridge of NW Mox Peak.. Mike C. climbing high above Ouzel Lake on NW Mox.. Mike C. on the North Ridge of NW Mox.. Roy M. and Don D. on the North Ridge of NW Mox - Spickard in the background.. Don D. smiles in preparation for the evening hailstorm on the North Ridge of NW Mox.. The Ridge of Gendarmes - Luna Peak at background center.. SE Mox as seen from NW Mox.. Peering over the Ridge of Gendarmes from NW Mox - Genesis Peak framed in the notch, Mt. Prophet at background right.. Evening glow over Mt. Redoubt.. The views from 7200' camp - Cosho, Logan, Buckner, Snowfield, Eldorado and a peeking Glacier Pk in the background.. The view of Pt 7747, Pt 7523, and the Pickets from 7200' camp on Redoubt Glacier - Mt. Challenger at background right.. Mike C. attempts to dry things out after getting slammed by a hailstorm the evening before.. Special thanks to Don B. for all the help in making this trip happen. Thanks also to Sheila for being so patient (not to mention the moral support).

INTENSE. Nice write-up, Mike. I always enjoy your TRs.

I'm at 90 as of Tuesday. I've pretty much been going nonstop since I saw you guys on Dome.

FUZZY TELEPHOTO TAKEN AUGUST 12th: When I soloed the route on July 15th, there were plenty of easy options to transition from glacier to rock. I imagine it's a little trickier now, but not impossible.

Nice work, guys! It was good to meet you two on Itswoot Ridge.

This past week on Dome Peak I heard some loud "screaming" while topping out just above the avi swath. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was bad juju, so picked up the pace since I was solo. Last night I spoke with none other than Mr Klenke who returned from the same area. He reportedly spotted a cougar in the exact same place I heard these screams. They have a pissed off sound to them.

BTT - Price lowered.

Looks like a nice trip! Sweet photos.

Mountaingear.com has the Moonstone Nemesis Pac-Lite Gore-Tex jacket for $120 (Reg $240). I own one and it's an incredibly lightweight do-it-all jacket that has served me well. They also have other nice stuff on sale, but this was the best deal I saw. http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/produc...item/111738/N/0

Everestgear.com has Edelweiss ropes on sale right now. I picked up a pair of 8.5 x 60m Sharps for $139.95 each.

I have one pair of new, in the wrapper, MSR Denali Ascent Snowshoes I'm selling. $135. tsjolseth AT hotmail DOT com

Yes, that's Goode and Storm King in the foreground. But... one summit to the left of Goode, in the background, is Bonanza , and just to the right of Glacier Peak is what I first thought was the Clark-Luahna massif, but now I think it might be the Spire Point or Sentinel/Old Guard area. Directly in front of Glacier is Dome Peak. Where's Klenke?!

Hi nuhights! 1) Yes, plenty of snow and running water in the basin S of Mesahchie. 2) Yes, crossed the col between Thieves Pk and Kimtah at 7800'+ (I erroneously said Cosho in the TR .. will change that). The going from here to Cosho's summit is easy. 3) Yes, we traversed between 7000-7400. We never really dropped or gained much more than 35 feet at a time, except to cross the Grotesque Gendarmes. When you approach the Gendarmes at ~7350', you will see a relatively deep chasm below. This chasm hides the ledge mentioned in Goldman. Goldman's ledge can be found at ~7000'. Another option would be to cross to the buttress directly in front of you, downclimb it ~100', find a gulley to your right, and descend it ~150' to where it drops away to slabs and a 75' drop. Look to your right around the corner at the top of the 75' drop (bottom of the gulley) and you will see a class 3 corner-bypass into the next basin on black rock. Either way works just fine. I prefer the latter option because you save about 100'.

Those are some of the best photos I've ever seen.

Sorry for not being clear... We didn't traverse the ridge crest proper, rather we traversed between 7000-7400'. The traverse we did does not require rope (we didn't even have one). It goes at class 4 at the hardest. Traversing the ridge crest would be one hell of a feat. Lots of little gendarmes and spires to keep you busy for days. Still, this was a very satisfying trip that doesn't get done very much. It makes it even sweeter that the "old" man was along.

Ragged Ridge Traverse – July 22-24, 2006 18 years after climbing Mesahchie Peak with my Dad as a young boy, he and I decided it was time to visit the rest of the ridge. After going back and forth about which route we should take (North side traverse, South side Traverse), we decided on a traverse of the South Side from Easy Pass. Having mutual goals of climbing the "Top 100", our priority was to bag necessary peaks along the way, and we figured the South Side traverse was the easiest (and fastest) way to do this. We arrived at the Easy Pass TH at 9:30AM. Hiking up to the pass was made pleasant by overcast skies and a relative absence of bugs. We met two young guys coming down the trail who wished us well with the flies. Luckily they wouldn't be bad until coming out on day 3. From the pass, we traversed West at ~6800-7000’ contouring towards the basin at 6800’ below Mesahchie. We arrived at camp at 2PM enjoying views to Arriva, Logan, Goode, and the Cascade Pass Peaks. When the temps dropped, the mosquitos came out in voracious swarms, and we decided it was a good time to head inside the tent. The cloudcover made staying in the tent bearable, and we even caught a few drops of afternoon drizzle... but only a few. The next morning, we left camp at 5AM and headed over towards Kimtah. I’ve heard reports that the terrain here is heinous. I even read a thread on this site where someone said the South Side traverse "doesn't make any sense". I can tell you that it makes a lot of sense if your goal is to climb two or more peaks along the ridge. The South side traverse is faster than the approach from Fisher Creek, it's easier to access the peaks, and the terrain is pretty moderate. Marmot paths make the side-hilling bearable and there’s always a class 2-3 ledge that cuts through cliffbands. We never once got cliffed out and generally stayed on the same contour throughout the traverse (aside from the Grotesque Gendarmes). The Grotesque Gendarmes look pretty ugly when you first get to them, but there are at least 2 easy ways through them, as we would find out on the return. Goldman mentions a ledge system that cuts through the Gendarmes between 7000-7400’. We didn’t find this ledge on the way over, but we did find a class 3 buttress that we descended to a system of class 3 gullies. Overall I think we dropped around 250’ down to the bottom of these adjacent gullies, to where we could drop no more (without a rappel). I then looked around the corner to the right and, true to form, there was a class 3 ledge that took us to easy terrain on the other side. Problem solved! From the Gendarmes, we crossed another main gully before we began our ascent of Kimtah. The second main gulley after the Grotesque Gendarmes is the one we used to ascend Kimtah. This gulley nearly topped us out on Kimtah’s East Ridge where we found a nice little class 4 ridge that allowed us to cross to the next Gulley to the West (the summit Gulley). From there, it was class 2-3 to the summit. We summitted at 10:40AM. A Mountaineers register placed by Mike Torok has replaced the original register. This was strange since both Cosho and Katsuk each still had the original 1968 Roper Register. Anyone know the story on this? From Kimtah, we tried to stay as much on the ridge as possible on our traverse to Cosho. The going here is relatively easy, compared with the rest of the traverse. We were able to follow ledges and gulleys to the pass between Thieves Peak and Kimtah (7800'+). We crossed over the pass, and dropped onto the Glacier on the other side. The Glacier has zero visible cracks at the present time and is easily soloable. We found a much-needed trickle of water coming off some rocks below the summit of Cosho, so we refilled there. There wasn’t much water on the entire traverse. The ascent of Cosho is straightforward from the Glacier. We ascended the Glacier to its highest point on Cosho then climbed the East Ridge/Face to the summit (class 3). We summitted Cosho at 12:30PM, 1.5 hours after leaving Kimtah's summit. The views from Cosho are outstanding. It sits in a prime spot in the range … pretty much smack dab in the middle of it all. The view to the Pickets in their entirety is nice. Unbelievably, only about 25 parties have ever climbed Cosho. The original Roper summit "can" is still there. Roper calls this peak "Ragged End". I personally like Roper's names better for all the peaks, but I use the official names so people know what I'm referring to. The traverse back to camp was easier since we now knew the route. On the way back through the Gendarmes we found the ledge system that Goldman mentions in her book. The West (Cosho) side of the Ledge begins very close to where we popped out on the way over, yet we never saw it at the time. Goldman’s Ledge begins at ~7000’ on the East end. This morning I climbed Katsuk by myself since my Dad had already climbed it. He opted to get some much-deserved rest. The register was an interesting read. There are many well-known NW climbers in there. This was another fantastic trip with the “old” man, and a trip I would highly recommend. The peaks on Ragged Ridge are seldom visited, yet the views are stunning. As for the route itself... From Fisher Creek, there's far more elevation gain (on both the approach and deproach), it takes significantly longer, and, in my opinion, it isn't nearly as aesthetic. We didn't encounter a lick of brush on the traverse, we stayed above the bugs (for the most part), and the going was pretty easy by Cascade standards. If your goal is to climb 2 or more of the peaks on the Ridge, I would recommend this route. I've seen some guides suggest [at least] 5 days for all 4 peaks. I would say all four could be climbed in 3 moderate days via the traverse. First day approach and climb Mesahchie. Second day climb Kimtah and Cosho. Third day climb Katsuk and out. Try doing that approaching from Fisher Creek... Eldorado to Red Mountain as seen from Camp.. Goode to Booker from Kimtah.. Pops pulling the airy traverse.. Kitling, Mesahchie, and Katsuk (foreground) from the summit of Kimtah.. Bonanza to ?Spire Point? from Kimtah.. Panorama of the Pickets, with a peeking Slesse, from Cosho.. Sahale to Torment from Cosho. Vulcan Lake in the foreground.. Red Mountain, and Terror and Sweetpea Lakes from Cosho. Baker to Luna in the background.. Kimtah from Cosho. Golden Horn, The Needles, Tower, Hardy, and Silver Star in the background.. Katsuk's historic summit register..

Better to be caught without than with, right Commander? On the same token, I agree with Catbirdseat.

Nice TR, Jeff! zoroastr, if you haven't climbed Buck yet, I highly recommend it. That granite pool flowing into a 1500'+ waterfall has got to be one of the nicest hidden gems in the range.

I've had a similar experience at REI. Customer service is not their forte, it seems.

Sweet! Nice photos. That rock looks SOLID.

Sweet! Thanks.

Good on ya for NE BUTT #2, Blake. I knew you were up there, so I took a photo of you guys on route. You have to look real hard, though

"Dare I say this destruction has rendered Logan an easy 2-day climb?" I wouldn't say it would be EASY, but we just did it in an easy 3 (Sun, Mon, got back an hour ago). We got back to Fisher Camp (at the base of Easy Pass) yesterday around 4PM after a late start on summit day, and had plenty of time to head out to the car, but chose to spend the night anyway. summitseeker: we never even uncoiled our rope so I would say get after the solo mission. ANYBODY LOSE A TAN AND BLACK REI HAT? The avi swath

Hey thanks for all the compliments on the photos! I usually can't even get my camera to focus. Keith, thanks for the history on Lloyd Anderson. I was not aware that he founded REI. It's pretty cool to see these registers not disappear. For me, reading a historic register is a huge part of the overall experience.

When I was on the summit of Cathedral last year, I actually witnessed a helicopter fly in from Canada, land on the other side of Amphitheatre's summit and stay there for a couple of minutes. He then took off and flew back into Canada. The team of 5 that I saw up there also witnessed it. They also met a guy with 3 horses, full saddle bags, and carrying no horse feed prior to meeting up with me. The first thing the guy asked them was, "are you guys Rangers?". Beware the lone cowboy.