Tom_Sjolseth

Trip: Dakobed Range - Luahna, Chalangin, Tenpeak (8/8-11, 2013) Date: 8/8/2013 Trip Report: August 8-11, 2013 Originally this trip was supposed to end at Trinity via High Pass and Buck Creek Pass, but intense electrical storms had us changing our itinerary. This is essentially a repeat of a trip Birddog and I did in August of 2011, but this time we kept on the N side of the range instead of the S. We wound up traversing the Richardson, Pilz, and Butterfly Glaciers. The descent down Thunder Creek was made more pleasant thanks to very recent work by a trail crew w/ horses. Those must be some cowboys to get horses up there! My hat is off. We started from and ended at White River TH. We ascended Clark via the Klenke/Sjolseth cross-country Y-Basin route, passing within 400' of the summit. We then continued on traversing the N side of the crest, climbing Luahna and Chalangin Peak along the way. We had one particularly sweet high camp at ~7900' on the Napeequa/Thunder divide above the Butterfly Glacier. Lightning was intense here, and we nearly got struck with several bolts cracking right on top of us. We dropped back onto the S side via a key ramp from the upper Butterfly, before climbing Tenpeak, then setting up another camp in upper Thunder Basin (gorgeous). We dropped back down to the White River trail via the climber's path in Thunder Creek. Good routefinding required here to keep the trail.. Highlights: -40+ goats in one herd (pictured somewhere below) -Perseid Meteor Shower -Almost getting hit by lightning (more than once) -Two all-night thunderstorms w/ hail, high winds, and lots o lightning -Stupendous views -Saw nobody the entire trip Anyway, enough with the boring words, here are some photos...

Trip: Pickets Traverse - Goodell Creek to Access Creek (7/7-13, 2013) Date: 7/7/2013 Trip Report: Absurd photo dump below... I recently reconnected with an old friend of mine from high school thanks to Facebook. Our lives had taken different courses and it had been nearly twenty years since we last saw each other. For some reason or another, Matt and I soon got to talking about mountains. We agreed it would be neat to connect on a trip into the hills this summer, so we started making plans. Matt had done some hiking, mainly around the Olympics, but had never done any climbing or mountaineering. He had never worn crampons, never carried an ice axe, and never climbed on steep snow. Despite all that, Matt is athletic and told me he likes scrambling, and is interested in getting into mountaineering. So with that, I made a few suggestions, and naturally the Pickets came up. After sharing some photos of past trips into the Pickets, Matt was on board. Being that I had never hiked with Matt and didn’t know where he was at in terms of skill, confidence, and ability to suffer, I decided to not go into this trip with any major goals other than a starting point and an ending point. I had never been to Picket Pass, so that was one goal I set for the trip, but other than that, it didn’t matter if we summited a single peak, this was about us having fun and enjoying some time in the mountains. In the end, despite our lack of goals, we wound up summiting several peaks and traversing a great deal of rugged terrain on our six day traverse of the Pickets from Terror Creek to Access Creek. Day 1 We left Seattle early in order to get to the Marblemount Ranger Station ahead of the pack to secure a permit. We arrived in the ranger station parking lot at 6:50AM where we encountered one gentleman getting ready to climb the NE Buttress route on Goode. After talking to him for a few minutes and giving him some beta on the route, a group of about 12 pulled up. Good thing we came in early! Getting a permit turned out to not be a problem, and after securing it we headed straight for the Ross Dam TH to drop off Matt’s car. From there, we drove back together in my rig to the Goodell Creek TH where we would begin our trip. Having been up Terror Creek into Crescent Creek Basin a few times, the approach was straightforward (but tedious). Our heavy packs weighed us down, but we took it slow and made sure to stop periodically to tape up Matt’s feet. Matt wasn’t used to carrying heavy packs up steep approaches and he had a new pair of boots, so taping was a necessity to ensure he could manage the duration of the trip. We crossed Terror Creek where Matt had a brief encounter with the water. The usual log crossing was underwater due to high runoff, and we were forced to cross on a much smaller, much bouncier log just upstream. Matt’s pack caught a tree branch as he approached the shore and he fell into the creek, luckily close to shore where the water was shallow. He managed to only get his boots wet, so we sat by the shore for an hour or so to give them time to dry out. Luckily they were new boots and their waterproofing was in good shape and it only took a short time to dry them out. The hike up the Barrier was as usual – steep, dry, and brushy. Matt had never seen forest this steep and was perplexed that there was any sort of climbing path through it. Matt did great though, and before long we were cruising on flatter terrain towards Barrier Camp. We eventually settled down for the night at ~5500’ in the basin below the Chopping Block. Day 2 We awoke on Day 2 to sunny skies. Matt and I both felt strong, so we decided to go over and check out the NE Ridge of the Chopping Block. Matt had never done any roped climbing before, and was eager to give it a shot despite the fact that the NE Ridge appeared impossibly steep to him from below. We dropped our packs at the col and headed up to the start of the ridge a mere five minute walk away. I led off right and gained a series of benches that headed back left onto the crest where it steepened. From here, it was three very enjoyable, solid pitches of moderate climbing to the summit. Matt did well on the climb and thoroughly enjoyed himself aside from a slight bout with the sewing machine leg. After taking summit shots and enjoying the views for a couple of hours, we descended the SE route and traversed a bench back to our packs. From there, we continued on into Crescent Creek Basin where we would camp for night 2. Crescent Creek Basin Camp was partly covered in snow, and there was barely room to squeeze the two of us in. Without digging snow, we couldn’t set up a tent, so we bivi’d out as we had done the night before. While sitting around camp, I looked up to the ridge and noticed two guys at the Degenhardt – Terror Col. I knew this had to be Chad and Jens on their complete SN Pickets traverse attempt. Matt wasn’t interested in heading up to chat, so I told him I’d be back in a couple of hours and headed up there myself. It was great to hang out with Chad and Jens for a while and talk about their trip so far. They had already climbed three Mac Spires, Inspiration, Pyramid, and Degenhardt and they were now preparing to continue on towards the North where they would finish on Challenger (along the crest the whole way) and hike out Eiley Wiley Ridge and Big Beaver back to Ross Lake. When you think about it, that’s mind-blowing! After hanging with Chad and Jens for a couple of hours, I headed back down to camp where Matt was fast asleep. Day 3 Day 3 dawned sunny once again, and we headed towards Himmelhorn-Ottohorn Col where we would then descend the Mustard Glacier and traverse to Picket Pass. I had never been to Picket Pass before and really didn’t do any research on how to get there beforehand, so we were “winging” it. I had been through the Himmel-Otto Col on my way to climb the North Buttress of Terror in 2008, so I knew what to expect there, but getting from the Mustard Glacier to Picket Pass proved to be more involved than I had anticipated. The views along the way were stupendous, and we reached camp early that afternoon and had plenty of time to hang out before hitting the hay. Just after sunset, we saw two headlamps coming off the Himmelhorn down into Himmel-Otto Col. We flashed our headlamps at them and gave them a whoop, and they flashed us back. It was neat to be able to watch Chad and Jens’ progress and know we were watching history. Day 4 Day 4 dawned sunny but breezy, which was OK since the bugs at Picket Pass were pretty thick. Our plan for today was to traverse over Outrigger Peak, and land on the summit of Fury for the night. Again, I didn’t do any research whatsoever on getting to Outrigger from Picket Pass, and it proved to be more involved than I expected. There is one section of knife-edge ridge that we decided to belay, followed by a steep section of rock which we avoided by climbing onto the glacier to the S of Outrigger and climbing its face. Fun climbing here led us to the summit, where we hung out for quite a while. While hanging out on the summit eating lunch, we saw Chad and Jens making their way up from Picket Pass. We waited for them to arrive (which didn’t take long), and we all hiked over to the summit of Fury together. We arrived on the summit of Fury to cloudy, cold conditions. After a group summit shot with Chad and Jens and describing the way Fay and I traversed over to W Fury, they continued on while Matt and I settled in for the night. That evening, the clouds put on a spectacular show for us. These were hands down some of the best summit views I’ve ever had the pleasure to enjoy. Swirling clouds and blowing wind and orange and pink hues and brocken spectres.. it was like sensory overload, and we weren’t complaining. We snapped photos furiously while watching one of the coolest sunsets ever. Matt and I were in awe. Once the sun set, however, things got cold. The wind was blowing at a steady 25-30 and the only shelter we had was an open sil shelter. Not expecting weather that night, we both decided to brave it out and open bivy in our warm sleeping bags – Matt with his 10 degree GoLite bag, and me with my 20 degree Western Mountaineering. About midnight, I heard some rustling below, and asked Matt what was going on. Apparently, his air mattress popped and he was cold. Day 5 By the time morning rolled around, I had a healthy coat of rime ice on my sleeping bag, the wind was still howling steady, and the temperatures were in the upper 20s (windchills much colder). About 5AM, I got up and informed Matt that we needed to get moving to lower ground. I wasn’t sure if precip was moving in, but it felt moist so I didn’t want to stick around to find out. We hurriedly packed everything up and descended the Fury Glacier in a complete whiteout. The Fury glacier has some huge crevasses on it, so it was a bit unnerving navigating them in a whiteout, but we managed to get to the safety of the basin between Fury and the ridge that leads to Luna-Fury Col just as the clouds started to break. Although the clouds broke down low, Fury’s summit remained in a cloud until late that evening. We stopped and napped in the dry basin below Fury, before beginning the traverse along the ridge towards Luna. This ridge is really fun scrambling with gorgeous views, so we were delighted that there was visibility so we could enjoy it. We arrived at Luna Fury Col that evening around 4 where we ran into two climbers traversing from Whatcom Pass to Goodell Creek. After talking to them for a little bit, we scrambled up Luna where we were the first to sign in for the year (same with Fury). Last time I climbed Luna I couldn’t find the register, and now I know why.. it was not in the summit cairn where I usually look. We signed the register, enjoyed the views, and headed back down to camp. Day 6 The plan for Day 6 was to descend Access Creek to Big Beaver and camp at Luna Camp. We made quick work of the descent (thanks to having been in Access Creek before), and before we knew it, we were looking for a way to cross Big Beaver Creek. This was the crux. When I went in with Fay in 2009, there was a huge log jam to cross on. I tried looking for that logjam, but was unable to find it. So we walked upstream within sight of the creek to try and spot another way to cross. We probably traveled about ½ mile upstream before I finally spotted a [barely] adequate log to cross on. After crossing the creek, we battled insanely heavy mosquitoes back to Luna Camp, where we decided it would be best to keep hiking out to Ross Lake rather than sit around and get eaten alive. We made it to Ross Lake by 7PM, and crashed at the Big Beaver Group Site which was unoccupied. Day 7 All we had to do today was catch a boat (which we didn’t have a reservation for) and hike the 500’ back up to the parking lot from the landing. It took us about four hours, but eventually we flagged down a boat. The boat ride back was enjoyable, and gave me time to reflect back on a great trip into one of my favorite places on the planet. Photos:

Trip: 9 Days from Silver Creek to Little Beaver - (8/18-26, 2013) - Devil's Tongue, Redoubt, Mox Date: 8/18/2013 Trip Report: The Plan It’s been a while since my Dad and I have taken a trip together into the mountains. As a youngster, trips into the mountains with Dad were frequent, and a formative part of my life. Despite being “retired” now, his schedule is busier than ever. Babysitting grandchildren, managing a game reserve in Botswana, interminable yard/house work, traveling around the globe… free time for Dad has never been at such a premium. As I begin to pursue certain professional endeavors, my availability for climbing trips will also soon be at a premium. With that in mind, we decided an extended trip into the mountains was in order. In coming up with a plan, certain things had to be taken into account. Like, for example, the fact that Dad is 69 years-old now, has an artificial knee, and is collecting Social Security. At a time when most Dads should be going to AARP meetings and getting prostate exams, mine is planning a trip into some of the most remote and rugged terrain the North Cascades has to offer. After going back and forth on destination, we ultimately decided on a trip through the Chilliwacks to try to climb some peaks on the Bulger Top 100 list, a goal of my Dad’s for quite some time. Although only 10 peaks remained for him, many of them could be considered difficult, including the Moxes and Redoubt. Above all else, we expected to share some great times in the North Cascades, a place near and dear to both of us. As the years go on, opportunities to get out together become limited, and with that in mind, we intended to make the most of it. So in the end, we decided on an 11 day traverse from Silver Creek to Little Beaver, with ambitions to climb several peaks along the way. Even if we only accomplished half of what we set out to do on this grand traverse, we would be happy for the opportunity to share some time together in one of our favorite places on earth – the North Cascades. This is the story of our journey. Day 1 We couldn’t reserve the boat heading up lake until 10AM on Sunday the 18th. Being that our day 1 was long, we needed to make good time. The boat driver did a great job of landing us along the shoreline N of Silver Creek, about ¼ mile S of the International Boundary. This is a route that worked out great for Stefan and Greg on their ascent of Devil’s Tongue (in a DAY!) in May of 2009. With 11 days worth of provisions (including rope and climbing gear), we set off up the dry forested ridge at about 11:15 AM. Travel for the first 400’ or so was hampered by tight timber resulting from past logging operations, but the forest soon opened up and easy travel ensued all the way to the ridge top. Unfortunately (for Dad) we hit several wasp nests along the way. Before reaching the ridge, he suffered at least 5 stings while I (in front) missed out on the fun. Water was scarce on the way up, and we were glad to be packing several liters each from the lake. Views along the ridge were supreme, with high green meadows adorning the flanks of Canadian hills one valley to the N. There are some ups and downs along the ridge, but the terrain is pleasant. The mosquitoes (on the other hand) were NOT! Just as Fay Pullen had mentioned in her trip report of Devil’s Tongue from Galene Lakes, the bugs for us were terrible.. some of the worst mosquitoes either of us have ever experienced. By about 5 PM, we were in camp on a flat patch of grass at a 5960’ saddle between points 6545 and 6434. After setting up the tent, I needed to find water. There was no water source and no snow patches nearby. Knowing I would probably have to go as far as the basin below Devil’s Tongue, I grabbed my headlamp and 9 liters of carrying capacity and headed out to climb Devil’s Tongue (and get water). Devil’s Tongue is still a long ways off from camp – much farther than it looks on the map with a lot of up and down and going around pinnacles and such. Along the way, I entered Canada. After paying respects to our neighbors to the North, I continued on, arriving at the summit of Devil’s Tongue at dusk (2.5 hours from camp). Due to a combination of factors, I only took one photo on day 1, a photo of the DT register, with two familiar parties signed in. I arrived back in camp with 9 liters of water at midnight. It took 3 hours to get back, mainly due to having to down climb in the dark. It was a long day for me (~8500’ gain, 5500’ of that was with a 75 pound pack!). Day 2 We awoke late due to light rain in the morning. We were headed down into the brush, and we had hoped to give it time to dry out. By about 10AM, we were moving, descending into Silver Creek. Our goal for today was to find a route up into Silver Lake via an obvious bench between 4400’-4600’. When we reached the bench, it began to rain again. We decided to sit it out rather than get completely soaked in the brush on day 2 of an 11 day trip. After sitting around for about 4 hours, the rain finally let up and the sun came out, drying out the brush fairly fast. We again moved on, but now it was 3PM and routefinding was getting tricky. We kept hitting walls and buttresses and deep clefts that didn’t show on our USGS map. At one point, we made a rappel in the forest. Frustrated, we decided to call it a day early and set up camp in a rocky cleft on a good, flat slab at 4500’. Day 3 Today, we needed to get to a camp on the W end of Silver Lake. We had talked to only a couple of people who had been up the headwall before, and they both said it was brushy. “Godawful” is one adjective used to describe it by a well-known local climber. I would definitely say godawful is an apt descriptor of the route up the Silver Creek headwall. In fact, in terms of tough approaches in the Cascades, I think Silver Creek ranks highly. Other approaches traditionally thought of as difficult (such as the route up the Barrier into Crescent Creek Basin, Access Creek, Eiley/Wiley Ridge, etc.. pale in comparison). Steep forest sprinkled with slick duff laced with dense brush interspersed with class 3-4 rock capped with a smattering of voracious insects just about sums it up. My Dad (who has done some of the most heinous bushwhack lake approaches in the range) said this was the most difficult approach he has ever done. Maybe it’s because we had 11 days worth of gear.. or maybe it’s because we’re soft. Either way, I agree. After passing a few amazing waterfalls, we soon broke out of the brush and came to heavenly open heather slopes high above Silver Creek and Ross Lake. Our moods lightened and we bounced up towards Silver Lake. Our first view of Silver Lake was jaw-dropping. Definitely the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen. I had been eager to get back here ever since my first visit to the lake 10 years prior. Getting around Silver Lake was surprisingly easy, beginning high, then doing a descending traverse to the shore line, completing the last half of the traverse within 12” of the shore. We found an amazingly flat, clean rock slab within 100’ of shore that night for camp. The bugs were very light, and we were finally able to enjoy ourselves. Day 4 Day 4 dawned clear, and we headed up towards the pass between Custer and Spickard. Here, we dropped our packs and continued on towards the summit of Custer. I didn’t remember the traverse to Custer being as crappy as it was, but sure enough – it is! The views to the lake and surrounding peaks from Custer’s summit are amazing. After signing the register, we headed back down to our packs. One interesting thing though.. as we were up on the ridge, we saw a helicopter fly up to Silver Lake from Depot Creek and land pretty much directly where we were camped the night before. One man got out, went to the water, got a sample and hopped back in the chopper. The chopper then flew off to the E towards Hozomeen. See photos below of chopper.. Satisfied, we decided to call it a day and set up camp on a beautiful heather bench amid a grove of larches, about 400’ below the Silver Lake Col. That evening we enjoyed a great sunset over the Chilliwack Lake Valley. Day 5 Today we had planned to climb Spickard, then head to camp at 7200’ on the Redoubt Glacier to set up for the Moxes and Redoubt. That morning, while listening to the forecast on the radio, the weather appeared to be headed south over the course of the next few days. After much discussion, my Dad and I ultimately decided to forgo Spickard and instead climb the more difficult NW Mox that day on the way to Redoubt Camp. Instead of dropping all the way to Ouzel Lake and going back up the other side, we settled on a high traverse under the flanks of Spickard – which worked out quite well. One obstacle – a 35’ glacier ice step – caused us a bit of a problem, but we were able to work through it with a little bit of ingenuity. Soon we found ourselves headed up NW Mox. Along the way we had some excitement when a ~5000# boulder broke free from a gully I was climbing. I was being careful around it because I knew it was barely perched, but only a slight nudge was all it took to send it into motion. It cracked my brand new helmet and left me with some abrasions, but I was able to jump out of the way in time. I understand that these are risks we take while climbing, and they are risks I am willing to accept. In retrospect, despite recognizing the potential threat ahead of time, I should have been even more careful and not touched the boulder at all. Lesson learned.. thankfully only at the expense of a few scratches. The sidewalk in the sky that is the route up NW Mox was every bit as enjoyable as I had remembered it from before. Beautiful views in both directions, relatively solid and fun scrambling, followed by an exciting summit pitch all make this a really great climb. The summit register here is falling apart.. the cap is cracked wide open and the ziplock bag is full of holes. This peak appears to be getting a lot of traffic lately as evidenced by its busy register that was only recently placed. The retreat back to the glacier and our packs was uneventful, and we continued on to camp at 7200’ by maintaining a high traverse. Day 6 Our goal for today was to climb Redoubt. When we awoke, the weather was iffy at best. Clouds swirled all around, and it threatened to rain all morning. Being unsure what the weather was going to do, we hung out around camp for a bit to see if things would improve. Things did improve slightly as the day went on, enough so that we felt OK heading out to climb Redoubt. Routefinding up Mt Redoubt was a bit of a challenge, despite having climbed it before (7 years ago). Near the top I strayed too far right and we wound up on some 5.7ish loose rock. I should have moved one gully left to climb through the cannonhole (we never did climb through the cannonhole). After signing in one of two summit registers (??), I proceeded to leave my ice axe on the summit. Not noticing until I got down and running out of daylight due to our late start, I didn’t have time to go back and get it. The descent back to camp on loose talus was unpleasant.. more so than I remember from last time I climbed it. They say the memory is the first thing to go. That night it rained a little bit. Signs of things to come? Day 7 Today’s goal was to climb SE Mox, but things were damp when we awoke and it was cloudy and breezy. Hanging over our heads was the uncertainty of what the weather would bring in the days to come, and the fact that we were still a minimum of 3 days in from our exit point at Little Beaver. After much discussion, we reluctantly pulled the plug on SE Mox and decided to continue on closer to Whatcom Pass in case the weather completely deteriorated and we had to make a dash for it. The weather continued to be cloudy all day, and by 2PM, it began to drizzle. Traversing some of the loosest talus I’ve ever seen while wet was a challenge to say the least. If ever there were terrain that mandated the use of trekking poles, the area between Redoubt Col and Cave Lake is it! Loose, steep, and wet. Find an adjective that is the exact opposite of fun and you would be completely justified in applying it to this traverse. Luckily, the traversing is short-lived, and we soon found ourselves at Cave Lake. The drizzle began to intensify a bit, so we decided to set up the tent to get out of the rain. Eventually we decided to just camp here at Cave Lake on a beautiful heather bench with great views to Challenger and the Pickets. The rain eventually let up and the sun came out. We were happy to have the intensity of the August sunshine to dry out some of our gear and fuel us with motivation. Day 8 Today dawned clear, much to our surprise! We were up early and off to a camp somewhere around Tapto Lakes, where exactly we didn’t know. The traverse here is especially scenic, with splendid views in all directions. Chilliwack Lake, Mt. Challenger, The Pickets, Bear Mountain, Shuksan.. all the peaks were out and basking in the summer sun. After a brief bout with crappy talus again, we gained the ridge and left it all behind. We would stay on this high ridge all the way to our next camp high above Middle Lakes. As we neared camp, skies began to cloud up again, and the telltale sign of impending weather – lenticular clouds – engulfed nearby peaks. There was no question weather was coming in, and we were happy with our decisions to forgo peaks and accelerate our schedule. We set up camp on a splendid patch of grass on a high ridge at ~6400’ with commanding views of a very close Mt. Challenger and Whatcom Peak. That evening, the clouds continued to build. Listening to the weather forecast, things had gotten considerably worse, and they were predicting an incoming storm with high winds in the Strait and showers in Seattle (w/ rain in Vancouver). Sure enough, it rained hard and steady all night. Day 9 Although we were so close to Redface and Indian Peaks, two goals of ours for this trip, the steady soaking rain and threat of even worsening conditions caused us to cut things short and head out to Little Beaver Landing. The brush on the way down to Whatcom Pass was all wet, and we were completely soaked by the time we hit the pass. We didn’t stop until getting to Ross Lake 18 miles later. Luckily we were able to get one of the pleasure boaters to inform Ross Lake Resort that we were ready to be picked up early. Within 2 hours, the boat arrived and picked us up. The whole trip back to the dam we were engulfed in heavy rain and winds. Despite not accomplishing all of our climbing goals on this traverse, we accomplished the one goal that counted most: spending time together as Father and Son. To me, this beats ticking off peaks on a list. One interesting thing to note: we didn't see a single person the entire trip (except for the guy who got out of the chopper). I hope you enjoy the words and photos. TRIP STATS: UNKNOWN – Will try to figure out later.

Trip: Whine Spire - Gato Negro (IV, 5.10+, 12p) Date: 9/3/2013 Trip Report: Wayne, Lane, Daniel and I climbed Gato Negro on Whine Spire this weekend after failing last year due to weather. I'll skip the details since there have been several TRs in the past on this route. I will say that the climbing is excellent and the route is engaging the whole way through.. all on great rock with only a couple areas of kitty litter. We climbed as two teams of two (Wayne/Lane, Daniel/Myself).. Daniel and I took the left start, while Wayne and Lane took the right start. I believe the left start is the way to go. Wayne led the crux double overhanging corners, while Lane tailed two ropes and brought both Daniel and I up. Other than that, we remained two separate teams of two for the remainder of the climb. I did not find the descent gully to be too bad. It took us a little over an hour to get back to camp from the end of the climb -- 12 hours camp to camp for Daniel and I, about 9.5 hours for Wayne and Lane. Overall, this is a fun route with quick access. Highly recommended! Wayne and Daniel both took photos, but here are mine: Gear Notes: Doubles to #2, singles #3-5 Approach Notes: Quick and easy

Wow. Nice work. Sounds like it's destined to become a classic!

In retrospect Scott, I would put Seahpo Peak in the Top 10 most difficult peaks to climb in Washington by its easiest route.

Sweet victory for Steve. Great TR and photos Jason, thanks for sharing!

Very entertaining TR, nice work. I know Stefan F and Don B climbed Cascade Peak in an early season day trip in conjunction with Johannesburg's E Ridge via the CJ Couloir. There is a class 3-4 route to the summit on the S side. I don't think it sees too many ascents.

Nice work! We were up there around the same time and climbed the S Face of Gunsight on a high traverse from Holden to Stehekin. We saw your footprints to the base of the gully between S and Main. I didn't remember that gully being quite that crappy last time I climbed it (we solo'd it that time), but this time I was happy to protect it.

An amazing-looking adventure. Thanks for writing it up and sharing!

What an amazing accomplishment.. one for the ages around the N Cascades. It was great seeing you guys up there and getting the opportunity to share in the stoke of the moment. I don't know of any other achievement in N Cascades climbing that could rival this.

Thanks mountainsloth, I appreciate that. Scott... Seahpo is a fairly difficult peak to climb by this route, although I do think there is an easier route (technically) up from Baker Lake if you can manage the brush. None of the climbing on the route we climbed was by itself super difficult, but the whole package is a challenge. I personally felt it was more difficult and a lot more serious than Burgundy Spire. RIP Dallas!

Nice work guys!

Thanks all! Hey Norman, I'm curious to know how your trip went. Did you guys wind up going up there??

We saw them a couple of times up there. They were cruising it! Here they are on the summit of E Fury on their way to W for the night. Chad and Jens in high spirits. It was good to hang with them and share in their obvious stoke for the Pickets! What an impressive accomplishment!

Wayne, no problem. I will come up with a map! Geoff, let's get out again this year. Stewart, I'll be in the Pickets all next week.. going from S to N. Let's connect on a trip this year. Bear N Buttress???

Darin.. I would probably not solo the traverse, not because of technical difficulty, but because of loose rock and moat issues. You could get by the moat issues by going later in the season, but the loose rock is a deal breaker for me. The last pitch was steep and loose and didn't look to me like it had ever been climbed.. which is crazy because it looked to be the only feasible way off the traverse (aside from dropping down to the glacier). Norman.. I'd rate the route up Cloudcap mid-5th at the worst. Probably 5.6/5.7. Most of it was 3rd/4th and steep snow. Steve.. I'd love to do that Natal/Indecision/Meulefire traverse. Next up is the Pickets next week.

Jon, I got it. Thanks!

Complete Jagged Ridge Traverse from Hannegan Pass over Ruth Mountain, Icy Peak, Cloudcap Peak, and Mt. Shuksan... (photo onslaught below) Route Map [video:youtube]L1V0AFbfKos Flying over Cloudcap Peak and Jagged Ridge, February 2012. [video:vimeo]69587251 Nooksack Cirque Avalanche I have long looked at Cloudcap Peak (AKA Seahpo) as a climbing destination, especially after flying over it with John Scurlock and checking it out from the air last winter. Smack dab in the heart of some of the most wild landscape in the North Cascades, Jagged Ridge encompasses everything a Cascades mountaineer could want.. scenic views, rugged terrain, lack of visitation, and sheer beauty. Putting together a team for this objective proved difficult for a long while.. everyone I asked to join me either wasn't interested, wasn't sure, or didn't know enough about it to have the desire. The best time to climb this peak is in mid June before the moat becomes too much of a hassle. Glacial recession over the recent years has given the climb a whole new character than when it was first climbed in the 50s. With the solid high pressure window approaching, I knew now was a good time. So last week as I was determined to get after it, I sent out a flurry of e-mails to the usual suspects in an attempt to get someone to join me on my quest. Not expecting anyone to sign on, I was surprised to have four people respond almost immediately. Usually five people on a climb is too much for me, and in the end, this rule was reinforced. Nevertheless, I had climbed extensively with every member of the team in the past, and I figured we could make it happen. So the adventure began. Don, Sergio, Mike, and Franklin all managed to get Friday off for a 3-day adventure up Seahpo Peak, across Jagged Ridge, and out Mt. Shuksan's White Salmon Glacier to the Mt. Baker Ski Area. We all converged in Marysville at 6AM, and piled into two cars. Less than 3 hours later, we were dropping off a car at the Mt. Baker Ski Area and driving back to Hannegan Pass trailhead. By 10AM we were leaving the trailhead on our way to our first camp below Icy Peak. We made quick work of the trail to a delightfully bug-free (but snow-covered) Hannegan Pass. From here, we ascended Ruth Mountain and hung out on the summit for over an hour enjoying the views and witnessing the ominous cloud swirling and building before our eyes. We dropped down towards Icy Peak on intermittent snow and rock, and climbed back up to a notch below the summit of Icy where we dropped our overnight packs. Don and Mike (who had already summitted Icy) kept going down to camp at the saddle between Icy and Cloudcap, while Franklin, Sergio, and I climbed the final few hundred feet to the summit of Icy. It took us about 25 minutes to reach the summit from there, first crossing steep snow, then finishing on a short section of class 4 rock. Icy is a fun scramble with great views, and we spent about 20 minutes on the summit naming peaks and taking photos. We soon descended to camp and settled in for the night. That night it rained torrentially while lightning flashed and thunder clapped ferociously. It was a bit unnerving being so high up in the alpine in such an intense electrical storm. The next morning we woke up late to give the rock time to dry out. Initially we had planned to leave camp by 5AM to give us ample time for our team of five to summit Cloudcap and get down the ridge far enough to set up a suitable high bivy. Because of the rain, we didn't wind up leaving camp until 9:30 or 10. We found out later that we could have gotten an earlier start, as the rock was bone dry when we got there. The first pitch of rock was guarded by a huge, hollow moat at the top of a steep snow slope above a gaping bergschrund. We set up a belay there and I led off up the meagerly-protectable rock. After some futzing around, I got through the first pitch and belayed Sergio up (who tailed up a second rope). Sergio then belayed the three other followers on the second line while I scoped out the route ahead. The route ahead looked a bit daunting at first, but I was able to find a fairly straightforward route through on a steep, solid arete. This second pitch of rock was guarded by another steep snow finger with an unstable, hollow moat at its apex. My idea was to set a high belay, climb down the snow, set a solid deadman picket before the severely undercut moat in case it collapsed under my weight, and step off onto the rock. After 1.5 hours of five people climbing the first pitch of rock, we were all huddled in the moat. We had a pow wow there, discussing options. At 1.5 hours per pitch, it would take too long to get up the peak. Sergio and Mike absolutely needed to get to work on Monday, so they decided the writing was on the wall for them and they bailed back down, rappelling back down to the snow. We kept the second rope, and they headed back to the trailhead. Now, it was just Don, Franklin and myself continuing on. I got past the second moat problem with a few tense moments, but safely. I belayed Don and Franklin over and we climbed the fun second pitch in good time. We continued to make good time all the way to the summit. At the summit, we found a register in a film canister with a signature John W Roper business card. In the summit register there were three parties signed in since 1992. We were the fourth. As it was getting late in the day, we decided to bivy just below the summit in a magnificent spot in a comfortable (for me) bivy site. We saw an amazing sunset over Mt. Baker, and it looked like the forecasted high pressure weather was setting in as forecasted. We all slept well that night, and got up with the sun to begin the long, uncertain descent to the glacier below. After a lot of downclimbing and ~3 double rope rappels (and a lot of route finding - Franklin was a huge help finding suitable anchors here), we all safely reached the snow. The descent culminated with a double-rope free-hanging rappel over a huge moat. From the snow, we angled up the snow to the base of a 3rd class rock/heather gully that we climbed to the crest of the eastern end of Jagged Ridge. We could see our route from here, and it looked long. As the crow flies, the route consists of ~1.5 miles of scrambling up and down gendarmes and towers shaped like toothpicks. Unfortunately, we aren't crows, so our mileage turned out to be slightly higher! The Jagged Ridge portion of the climb, in my opinion, was an absolute pleasure. Airy, exposed, rugged, scenic, and enjoyable... all suitable adjectives for the climbing that would ensue. Uncertain routefinding made it that much more exciting. Where do we go? Will it go? Why haven't we seen a single rappel sling or sign of human visitation? We felt like Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon! The climbing, for the most part, is fairly straightforward. Many spots were solid with great exposure, other spots were loose with scary exposure. Routefinding was a continual challenge, but overall, we did an exceptional job only finding a couple of dead ends. We bivied at the W end of the ridge again, after running low on time on Sunday. Unfortunately, this meant that Don and Franklin would be no-call no-shows at work on Monday. I had informed my Dad that I might be a day late, and not to worry if I was. I had a hunch the route would take a while, especially with 3 people. Fred says to expect 8-10 hours on the traverse. If everything went perfect and there was no snow on the route (requiring multitudes of crampon off/on transitions and sketchy runouts), then that might be true. It took us more like 12 hours in the conditions we found it. After a restless night of sleeping in tied to the rock (and getting harassed by snafflehounds who gnawed on anything and everything), we got up again with the sun and continued on towards the W end of the traverse. From what we could see, we had one daunting snow crossing left, followed by a steep, loose chimney, followed by an unknown route to the Crystal Glacier. The snow here was some of the steepest I've ever seen (I didn't know snow grew that steep). It came to a knife-edge point at the top of a gully and dropped off at least 2500' on both sides. I soloed through this in the interest of time and to scout ahead for the route while Don and Franklin belayed through. The route immediately above us looked fairly straightforward, but loose. Above that, there was an impossibly steep tower with seemingly nowhere else to go. Would we be able to climb out and get to the relative safety of the glacier on the other side? Would it go? Why haven't we seen any rap slings???!!! Have people really done this traverse before?! At the top of this pitch was one last (unbeknownst to us at the time) pitch to glacier travel and a ticket home. This pitch was alarmingly loose, sparsely protectable, and steep. I made my way VERY carefully through this section, triple protecting every placement I could while being careful with my cumbersome overnight pack with foam pad afixed to its outside. Huge blocks were stacked in a jumble together.. one slight nudge is all it took to dislodge huge hundred pound rocks. I was worried about cutting my lead rope, or having one catch the rope and pull me off my stance (and/or pull out my protection). I have climbed much more difficult rock before, but never something this loose and steep. Needless to say, I was completely relieved to grab the ridge crest, look over to the other side, and see that we were a class 4 downclimb away from reaching the safety of the Crystal Glacier. I belayed Don and Franklin up and we all sat there exhausted, dehydrated, and elated to have our ticket home in hand. The final portion of the climb was a traverse of Mt. Shuksan via the Crystal Glacier. It would have been appealing to climb the summit pyramid at this point to cap a great traverse, but we had all been there before, and we decided it was important to get back within cell phone range quickly so Franklin and Don's loved ones didn't worry. We made our way up to the col at ~8200', then descended to the White Salmon Glacier route and the White Salmon Creek, before bushwhacking our way back to the ski area. I was not happy to relive this bushwhack as I have several times before, but I was so ecstatic at having completed such an awesome Cascades adventure than I couldn't help but have a huge $hit-eating grin on my face the whole time. Indeed, this was one of the best trips of my lifetime, and the good times I had with my climbing partners on this trip will be vivid memories forever in my mind. This traverse had everything a Cascades mountaineer could ask for, and lots of it. I am amazed at the place we live in, and inspired to keep climbing and exploring as long as I can. Thanks to Don and Franklin for such an awesome trip, and thanks to Sergio and Mike for being great sports. Photos:

Great TR on a wild place. I hope to get in there one of these days soon.

Nice work, Pat! Scott, Aaron Scott and Dan Helmstadter both soloed and skied Lincoln last year within days of each other. Still, impressive.

DPS.. that N Buttress has been climbed and goes at 5.9. There are a few trip reports on cc.com (Marcus & Darin and Eric L & Mike L's TRs come to mind). Ivan - the approach was slightly easier with snow cover.. the talus traverse was covered, so that made things a little bit better. PS.. nice drawing in the summit register, I missed that last time. Was that courtesy of you or Layton?

A nice-looking route in a neat area. One of my favorite mountains. Thanks for the splendid photos and reporting!

Trip: Nooksack Tower - NE Face (Beckey/Schmidtke) Date: 6/10/2013 Trip Report: Lunger and I conspired this weekend to do some climbing in the Nooksack Cirque. Our grand plans of high alpine shenanigans only partly materialized, but we had a great time effecting our plan B and wound up on the summit of Nooksack Tower. We set up camp on a tiny dry patch of ground at ~6k above the glacier. After setting up the shelter which we nicknamed "The Concorde", we lounged around and enjoyed the views of the Price Glacier Cirque. We soon engaged in some fairly interesting discussions, covering topics ranging from cigarette boats to tacos. Conditions on route were a bit spicy with plenty of snow still on the face. A lot different experience than my previous trip up Nooksack Tower in July 2009. Thanks to lunger for signing up on such short notice and for teaching me the ways of the light and fast Jedi. Here are some photos: