Tom_Sjolseth

Climb: Tupshin / Devore-East Face / North Ridge Date of Climb: 9/18/2005 Trip Report: On Sunday, Eric Hoffman and I climbed Tupshin and Devore from Bird Creek Camp. We were fortunate enough to get a boat ride from Manson to Weaver Point from a long time friend of mine, Norm "Beefhide" Burke. This saved us from having to endure the logistical nightmare that is the Lady of the Lake (not to mention shuttles, canoes, etc). Getting a leisurely start on Saturday morning, we arrived at Weaver Point just before noon and began the 2+ hour hike to Bird Creek Camp [~4250'] where we relaxed and talked about our options. Going into this trip we knew there were two feasible camps for Tupshin and Devore: Bird Creek Camp, or 1200' higher up in Lower Bird Creek Basin at 5400'. Ultimately we decided that camping at Bird Creek Camp would be best. For one, we wouldn't have to lug overnight gear up to 5400' (no trail, brushy). Secondly, we could descend W Fork Devore Creek which was, in our opinion, the best descent route off Devore. That night we enjoyed a small fire at camp and polished off a pint of whiskey between us, before turning in. Views to the East from Bird Creek On Sunday, we broke camp and were hiking by 6:20. It was just light enough to see without headlamps. We started up the North side of Bird Creek in forested slopes with light brush and downed timber. We traversed left, under cliffs before crossing the creek and gaining a prominent rib at ~5600'. From here it was fairly open and easy all the way up to the base of Tupshin's E Face at ~7600'. Tupshin's East Face There are several feasible routes on the E Face, but the one that looked best to us began on rightward trending ramps (class 3). Where the two upper ramps merged, we climbed a short pitch of class 4 and went left to a short wall and some low class 5 moves. At the top of the wall we went right on blocky class 4 where we found ourselves atop a gully that dropped down and to the left. From here we could see the final "crux" pitch. Eric belayed me as I led up relatively solid 5.4 rock to the summit notch. From the notch we dropped the rope and climbed easy class 3 to the true summit. We signed the summit register and made 4 raps and downclimbed class 3 to the base of the E face. Total time on route from the base of the E Face was just over 2.5 hours round trip. The view towards Bonanza Peak from the summit of Tupshin Tupshin's summit register From here we traversed South to ~6800' and contoured around the basin between Tupshin and Devore. On the map, this looks ugly, but in reality it was pretty easy. It took us about an hour to contour to just below White Goat Mtn at ~7200' from the base of Tupshin's East Face. From here, we enjoyed views to Bonanza and Dark Peaks, the unnamed lakes below, and Devore's North Ridge which drops precipitously off to its East. The traverse to Devore from Tupshin The North Ridge of Devore is mainly class 2-3 and fairly straightforward, with many rather annoying hidden gullies and just one class 4 pitch (Beckey says two class 4 pitches, but we could only find one). The route stays on or just W of the crest until it encounters a hidden gully very near the summit. At this point, we went down (to the West) and back up a V-shaped gully where we encountered the one pitch of class 4. Within 5 minutes of the class 4 pitch, we were on the summit of Devore. After perusing the summit register, I remarked to Eric how little it's been climbed. We were the 28th party to sign the register, which was put up by the Darrs in July, 1940. The register is in immaculate shape for being 65 years old (in contrast to Tupshin's summit register which, sadly, has deteriorated from exposure to weather). The register is housed in a steel tube stamped with "WyEast Climbers Portland Oregon". Views from the summit were phenomenal, especially to the Cascade Pass area and nearby Bonanza Peak which was capped by a fresh dusting of snow. View from the summit of Devore From the summit, we descended the SE Ridge, which is mainly class 2 with one vertical class 4 step very near the summit. There is a rap sling next to the class 4 step, but we found it best to carefully downclimb it (~25ft). From the base of the step, we descended to a notch at ~7800' and continued down the SE facing basin, avoiding cliffbands before further descending the mainly brush free North side of W Fork Devore Creek. We descended to about 5500' where we encountered some brush, then moved left and found a dried-up watercourse which we took all the way to Devore Creek, about 1.5 miles up stream and 400 vertical feet from Bird Creek Camp. An alternative here would be to cross to the South side of the creek when brush is encountered. Back to camp at 7PM for a 12.5 hour day.

Randy is absolutely correct. I took the same notch he did. The notch depicted in the Summit Routes photo was hard for me to see clearly, and now that I see the close up of the notch that Randy just posted it is definitely NOT the notch I took. Sorry for the confusion.

Storm King revision has been made sometime since 1977.

Indeed, it was me who you saw up by Park Creek Pass, Blackhawk .. it was a pleasure to meet you. As for the high traverse, I noticed Blake said he was in cliffs and such in his TR, but on the map I noticed there were no cliffs where I was intending to go (a level traverse at ~5200'). I assumed (correctly) that Blake was a bit higher up than I intended to be, so I figured it might go. It went (with no cliffs), but I got into a boscage of slide alder and devil's clubs that lasted a fair while. The first bit was misleading, as it was wide-open forest. This is what got me thinking it might go. But as soon as I crossed the first rib, it was all thicket and I had already crossed the point of no return. I didn't have the luxury of seeing the terrain on the way in, as I approached via Thunder Creek. If I had seen the terrain with my own two eyes, I wouldn't have gone that way regardless. I consider it a learning experience. I should have listened to Blake, but the thought of descending to <4000' didn't appeal to me. That evening on the way out, I found the climber's path leading out of the basin below Goode, so I followed it to Park Creek and, soon thereafter, saw the gentleman with the tent and decided to camp there since I didn't have my headlamp with me and I had nearly run out of daylight. So the moral of the story here is that there is no good way to traverse high from Park Creek Pass to the basin below Goode/Storm King unless you're packin some napalm. I think between myself and Blake, we pretty much covered that entire hillside.

more pics....

Catbirdseat .. yes, long time. Here are a couple of photos,,,

Apparently the expedition was filmed by National Geographic and will be appearing sometime in the future on the NG channel. I hope to see some photos sometime by early next week and will ask my Dad if he can post some. All I've seen thus far is a postcard of one of the peaks, and the peak depicted looks amazing.

Don Goodman, Don Beavon and team just completed a successful trip to the India Himalayas which included three first ascents of peaks around 21,000' in the Karakorum region. This was a joint venture including a team of climbers from India. I just want to say congratulations to the entire team and especially my 61 year old father, Dan Sjolseth, who introduced me to hiking/climbing at the young age of 6 years old. This is to you pops .. you deserve it!