Tom_Sjolseth

Excellent photos once again, Jason. Thanks for the report.

I know, right? I don't know what to laugh at more.. that they climbed Misch as a daytrip or that he can still throw a fair heater. I've seen the same entry on Buck Mountain's middle summit. Probably the funniest entries I've ever seen in a a summit reg.

I bet, Jason. It looked like there was some steep greenery in there. Reminds me of this photo I took on Crowder. Notice the crampons! Dirt-ponning on Mt. Crowder.

Nice work, Ian. I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Yeah, it wasn't what we came to do either, but we summitted.

It's the lowest point where the summit block comes down and meets the snow on climber's right. You can step off the snow and right onto the notch. There will be a gully that heads down the SW side.. descend the gully about 10 feet and go left on the obvious ledge.

FYI.. there's also a route around back that can be accessed from the lowest notch closest to the snow (climber's right of where the standard route goes). It never gets above 5.4. I stumbled upon this route when we encountered a moat hassle on the standard variation. Never heard of anyone else doing it before. Alternate variation.

Wow, sounds like quite the cluster. Thanks for the entertaining TR.

Thanks for the note, Kascadia! I actually did go through Kindy-Buck Col to get to Mt. Misch. I've enlarged the route map to show more detail. I wanted to go in via Green Mtn, but I only had one vehicle and didn't want to hitchhike at the end of the trip. As it turns out, this was a great way to go.

Burly.

4th time's the charm? NICE shots!

BirdDog, yep, that broken glacier is on the N side of Buckindy. The Goat Creek Glacier (on the E side of Buckindy) is still there, but on its way out.

Thanks for the kind words, Scott! No, that's definitely not mine. @Jason.. indeed, this is an unbelievably rugged area! I would say of all the places I've been in the Cascades, it is second in ruggedness only to the Pickets. I'm guessing that's why hardly anyone gets out there (that and the extreme lack of beta).

Nice work, Leor. As always, impressive!

Trip: Buckindy Range - Solo Traverse Date: 8/19/2012 Trip Report: Four magnificent days alone traversing the Kindy Creek Cirque with summits of Sonny Boy (6,971'), Long Gone (7,000'+), Bruseth (7,220'), Misch (7,435'), Buckindy (7,320'), Mutchler AKA 'Snowqueen' (7,160'), and Snowking (7,433')... Route Map. Day 1 Lacking any partners, I decided to head out for my annual North Cascades solo traverse this past Wednesday. Four days in the heart of the North Cascades seemed like just what the doctor ordered. Due to my sister’s 40th birthday celebration on Sunday, I needed to be back by Saturday night. I felt that four days was sufficient time to complete this trip. In the end, it turns out I was barely right. The jump-off point for this outing would be road 1570 off the Cascade River Road. I left my vehicle at the alpine hour of about 8AM and started hiking. There was a huge log across Kindy Creek, which made things nice and easy. Had the log not been there, the trip might have been over before it even started. Immediately on the other side of the creek I scrambled steeply upward to gain the ridge dividing Sonny Boy and Kindy Creeks. About 200’ above the creek I intersected an old 4WD trail that can be seen on the USGS map. This old 4WD trail heads further up Kindy Creek, but not along the ridge top, and probably ends in a sea of brush somewhere. Going on the ridgetop was tough with 5 days of food and gear (I packed an extra day of supplies just in case). There were downed trees everywhere strewing the forest floor. There were very few signs of human presence and no boot path to speak of, although I did see a couple of pieces of faded flagging tape higher up on the ridge. My goal on this day was to bivy on the summit of Sonny Boy, but upon arrival at the summit block, there appeared to be few good places to camp. I enjoyed the impressive views laid out before me and read Iron and Hotpantz’ register entry from 2010, as they were finishing their Sonny Ptarmigan Traverse. From the summit I continued on, hoping to find a better camp somewhere down the ridgeline. The ridge is littered with Krumholtz trees growing very close together, making travelling through them with a heavy, cumbersome pack a nightmare. I had already ascended about 7500' (with ups and downs) from my vehicle, and I was getting pretty tired. It was a blazing hot day and I must have drank 3 gallons of water along the way. Before long, I came upon a suitable campsite right on the ridge crest on a flat slab of rock with great views. I had filled up my Drom Bag with 6 liters of water along the way, so the lack of running water here wasn’t a problem. I settled in for the night and reflected on a full day 1, and contemplated the next leg of my journey. I was excited to see the fabled Buckindy Range up close and personal. Day 2 Day 2 dawned clear once again. Upon waking, I realized that my air mattress was now flat. I was not looking forward to sleeping 2 (possibly 3) more nights on a flat air mattress. I had just recently switched back to using an air mattress from a “hardman pad” for reasons of comfort, but now I might reconsider because I can’t seem to go more than a couple of nights without putting a hole in one! I did have a 60m rope along with me to use for ground insulation - not exactly "light and fast", but it'll work. Today’s itinerary was to continue traversing towards Buckindy, climbing Bruseth along the way, and hopefully camp at the 7000’ col below Buckindy. This was an ambitious itinerary! Again, the Krumholtz trees really slowed me down and took a lot of energy to negotiate with a heavy pack. To avoid the Krumholtz trees, I found myself doing minor ups and downs (up to 150’ at a time) below the ridge. These ups and downs were a bit frustrating, but I knew this trip wouldn’t be easy, so I managed to take it all in stride. On the way to the col below Pt 7103, I summited Long Gone Peak without realizing it (it’s not marked as such on the USGS), so I didn’t look for a summit register. Long Gone Peak was first climbed by a group of Trail Blazers according to Beckey (my Dad informs me it was he and Cliff Lawson - My Dad, George Kinert, Cliff Lawson, and Milt Tangaard also planted the lake with fish on a day trip in September of 1964). Those guys were tough! It took me a little less than three hours to reach the 6600’ col below Pt 7103 – much longer than I had anticipated. I immediately dropped my pack and ran over to Bruseth and back in about an hour and twenty minutes. Unfortunately I left my camera in my backpack because the views of S Cascade Lake and the Ptarmigan Traverse peaks are impressive from here! I read somewhere that there is an old rusty tin can for a summit register, with only a handful of entries in it dating back to the 70s, so I was excited to read through it. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found. Back at the col, I immediately continued on towards Buckindy as it was getting late in the day. I dropped about 1000’ to 5600’ and contoured along snow slopes to the ridgeline N of rugged Pt 6723. From here, all I could see was a vertical wall dropping hundreds of feet to the basin below. I searched and prodded for a way through, but every option I saw required multiple rappels. At the last minute, I found a series of very steep gullies leading down from a low point in the ridge through Krumholtz trees. At least the trees would provide some anchors in case I needed to do multiple rappels. I descended one of these gullies on slippery duff overlain with hemlock needles.. I did not want to slip here with a 200'+ drop below me. After descending about 100’, I could descend no further without a rappel. I made one 30m rappel onto the slabs below, and carefully picked my way down to the snow from there. Continuing on, I traversed on moderate snow slopes towards Buckindy. I found a neat rock pinnacle at the base of the N Glacier on Buckindy that had a perfect one-man bivy site at its apex. To get to the top of the pinnacle required class 4 climbing, but it was such a neat spot I couldn’t pass it up. The views from here were pretty special. I went to bed early that night, and watched clouds swirl around me until I was completely enshrouded by 10PM. At this point, I decided to put up my Sil Shelter in case it started raining. I switched on my headlamp, but it didn’t come on. That’s odd, I must have left it on and killed the batteries. No fear, I have a backup set of fresh batteries. After replacing the batteries with fresh batteries, I turned on the headlamp again.. no go! My headlamp was dead. So now I had a deflated air mattress and a dead headlamp. Needless to say, putting up the Sil Shelter in the dark was quite the experience. Day 3 Day 3 dawned cloudy. It didn’t rain throughout the night, but I wasn’t sure what the weather had in store for me that day. Today was a big day.. I was to climb Misch, and Buckindy, and traverse all the way to Mutchler Peak and bivy on the summit. I sat around camp for a bit waiting for the clouds to dissipate, but they never really did. Sunbreaks began to appear as the morning wore on, and that gave me enough confidence to leave my shelter and head up. By the late hour of 9:30, I was leaving camp. My plan was to lug all my gear up to the Col below Buckindy, leave it there, then traverse over to Misch and back, climb Buckindy, pick up my gear and continue traversing towards Mutchler. What I should have done was leave all my gear down at camp, climb with a light pack, and come back for the gear later. That way, I would only need to carry my heavy pack on a fairly level traverse (save for the ascent of Mutchler at the end of the day, which I would do regardless), and would only need to backtrack a short distance. But I’s not so smart, and so I brought my pack with me all the way to the col. The N Glacier on Buckindy is really impressive. There are some enormous crevasses, the size of which I was not expecting on a ‘lowly’ 7,200’ peak. Not only that, the glacier is pretty steep.. up to 45 degrees in spots (steeper on the N arete). Luckily the snow was softish and my steps were buckets. I would not want to frontpoint 2000’ with aluminum crampons and a heavy pack. Later in the season (like late August), the character of this climb could change dramatically as soft snow melts down to glacier ice. Upon reaching the col, it was not clear to me which summit was Buckindy. I decided to climb Misch first, figure out which was the true Buckindy summit, then climb Buckindy on the return trip. I passed through the 7000’ col dividing Horse and Kindy Creeks, and continued on a level traverse to the midpoint of the SW Ridge of Misch. Climbing in the loose gully on Misch took careful attention, but it was enjoyable climbing. Clouds were swirling all around me, at times reducing visibility to 25 feet. Being out here all alone on such a remote peak in swirling clouds was a feeling I can’t explain – for a brief moment, I was the only person in the world. Reaching the summit of Misch, I found not one, but two summit registers. One was an old ammo can with the original FA register, the other was a brass Mountaineer’s tube placed by Donn Venema and party in 1987. I was surprised to see quite a few entries in this lonely peak’s register. There were a lot of familiar names, and some not so familiar. I thought about bringing one of the registers down since two registers seems silly, but I didn’t want to be the one who made the decision which one got taken down. I never was able to get totally unobstructed views from the summit of Misch, and I couldn’t see Buckindy very well (due to cloudcover), so I still couldn’t tell which was the true summit. I would have to figure it out once I got back over there. I carefully made my way down from the summit of Misch and retraced my steps back to the 7000’ col below Buckindy. I had no route beta on Buckindy other than that there is a route from the North. I spied a snow arête leading up to a cliff band, and I decided to check it out. The snow got steep here (to 55 degrees in one spot) and there would be no self-arresting a fall over cliffs looming below me, so I was very careful. The magnificent snow arête led to a wet chimney with a mid-fifth class series of moves in it. I would say it was 5.6 or 5.7. Not really wanting to descend to find another way around, I carefully climbed the step. I was relieved that the rock was solid and trustworthy, and I could avoid the wetness as necessary. Being that I left the rope in my backpack at the col, I would need to down climb this step on the way back down or find another descent route. I was not looking forward to that. From the chimney, more snow climbing above led to the rotten ridge crest, which I traversed over a couple of bumps before arriving at the base of the summit block. I saw a stopper wedged into a crack above me, signifying that some people rope up for this bit. The rock was so loose here though (and not difficult) – I couldn’t imagine that roping up would be any safer. Being that I was alone, this was a moot point. The final short scramble to the summit turned out to be class 3. I was elated to be standing on the summit of Buckindy, a peak that I have been wanting to climb for a long time. Flipping through the summit register, it was obvious this peak hardly gets climbed. I saw a lot of familiar names, and thoroughly enjoyed reading people’s comments. That to me is what summit registers are all about.. reading history and trials and tribulations of those who have come before you. Not just to read some name and a date. Bah! I was the first person to sign the register since 2006. The descent was easier than anticipated and before long, I had negotiated the 5th class downclimb and arrived safely back at my cached gear. I continued to descend the glacier towards Mutchler, hoping to make it reasonably close to the summit that evening. But it was getting late in the day, and I was getting tired, and the more I traversed the tedious snow slopes, the more I rationalized the thought of setting up camp sooner. I figured no matter where I camped, I could get out to the trailhead the next day if I got an early start and moved efficiently. This is exactly what I decided to do, finding a nice bivvy spot on the prominent SW-NE trending ridge halfway between Buckindy and Mutchler. As dusk set in, clouds began to build again until I was completely enveloped by 10PM. This time I had set up my Sil Shelter BEFORE going to sleep, so I didn’t need to worry about any mid-night shenanigans with a non-functioning headlamp. Day 4 I awoke on day 4 to more swirling clouds. I was a bit perturbed that all the great views were getting obstructed by clouds, but there was a silver lining.. the cloud deck was about 6800’, and being on top of a peak in these conditions with the low clouds filling the valleys below makes for some pretty great summit views. Not only that, my skin needed a break from the sun.. I was getting dangerously close to overdosing on vitamin D. I broke camp by 8:30AM, and was on my way again, traversing tedious snow slopes towards Mutchler, Snowking, and eventually the trailhead. I had a long way to go this day. I had no idea about the route over to Mutchler, but I pieced it together as I went along. My routefinding through this section was spot on, and I was able to get up to Mutchler without dropping any elevation at all, finding a key heather ramp on Mutchler’s NE Ridge that took me up on relatively easy ground to the flat summit plateau. I dropped my gear here and made the final 400’ ascent to the true summit of Mutchler. Again, I found no summit register. I spent some time enjoying the low clouds in the valleys and the gorgeous views of the entire N Cascades. The views from Mutchler are some of the finest around. Not spending too much time up here, I headed back down to my gear and continued on traversing to Snowking. The traverse went quickly, and I found myself below the summit of Snowking within 2 hours of leaving Mutchler’s NE Ridge. Rather than ditch my gear below and retrieve it on the return trip, I just kept on trucking all the way up to the summit. Again, no summit register. At 3:10PM, I began the long descent back to the TH. It took me about 20 minutes to get to Cyclone Lake, more than 2000’ below. Soft snow made for quick descending and lots of boot glissading. This was a welcome relief from the tedious traverse I had just endured. The ups and downs beyond Cyclone Lake were a nuisance. Beyond Cyclone Lake, the trail kept getting buried under snow and was very difficult to follow.. I backtracked dozens of times to find the trail on the other side of a snowpatch. Being so tired, this was getting a bit frustrating. But before long, the snow disappeared, and I had a trail for the first time since leaving my car four days prior. I ran down the trail and soon I was back at the decommissioned logging road, a short 3.5 mile walk from my car. The last 3.5 miles of road walk were a time to reflect on a magnificent trip into some very rugged country. If there is any place in the North Cascades that could rival the Pickets for ruggedness, the Buckindy Range is it. Some of the most challenging and scenic terrain lies in the Kindy Creek Cirque.. and I have now had the pleasure to experience it first-hand. Isn’t life grand? Trip Stats: -~42 miles -~21,000’ gain -7 summits Figuring out exact distances and elevation gain on this trip is tough, these are only rough estimates. There was a lot of up and down and in and out, and a line drawn on the map would not suffice to account for it all. Most of the elevation gain and mileage was done with a full pack and all but the last 6 miles of the trip were cross-country. Photos: Eldorado Peak as seen on the approach. LeConte, Old Guard, and Sentinel and South Cascade Lake. Sonny Boy Ridge. Views from Sonny Boy Ridge. Cold as a mountain stream... ...Smooth as it's name. A unique perspective on Johannesburg. A view of what's ahead. Easy ridge walking here. Looking down into Sonny Boy Creek. I would be here on days 3 and 4. Approaching Sonny Boy summit. Friends S Cascade Lake Basin and the meat of the Ptarmigan Traverse. My shadow on one of the Sonny Boy peaks. Looking back down my approach ridge. The Buckindy group. I would be there on day 3. A sea of peaks. Eldorado to Sahale. A lake. Thunderstorms building. Gunsight, Dome, and Spire Point. Gunsight at background center. Looking E. Dome and Spire Point in the background. Zoomed out. ... Peaks and a lake. Bruseth at left. Another couple of lakes (sorry, lakes are confusing). Snow arch ready for collapse. Approaching the 7000' col below Pt 7103. Bruseth and Pt 7103. Another lake (gasp). And more peaks. Has anyone climbed all these bumps? I bet Roper has. Maybe Goodman too? Long Gone Lake framed by the rock. This snow arches' days are numbered. Still traversing. ... The snow got moderately steep in places. For all you waterfall aficionados. Looking back. Looking over to Mutchler (AKA Snowqueen). Those are Sonny Boy Peaks over there. The steep descent on the North Ridge of Tara Peak. Eventually I'll get there! The steep descent. The one and only rappel on this trip. Thunderstorms building again. The mighty Buckindy. Formidable thunderheads loom. Kindy Creek Valley. Buckindy bathed in evening glow. Sun setting over Mutchler. Bivy for one. Not one sprig of heather was compromised during this bivy. Dusk at the bivy site. Buckindy enshrouded in clouds on the morning of day 3. The N Glacier on Buckindy. Climbing up the glacier N of Buckindy. A little higher. Crevasses on the Buckindy Glacier. The 7000' col below Buckindy. The clouds are lifting. Looking down into one of the many forks of Kindy Creek. Buckindy. My route takes the obvious snow arete. A gothic ambiance. The sun makes a pretty good attempt at burning through. Climbing Mt. Misch in the clouds. A tower on Mt. Misch. Summit register where it belongs.. on the summit. Someone has a sense of humor! Views from the summit of Mt. Misch (AKA "Mt. Margaret Sanger"). Climbing on a portion of the snow arete on Buckindy. Another summit register where it belongs. A cloudy day on Buckindy. Buckindy summit tower. Typical scrambling on Buckindy. Looking down the upper snow arete. I climbed up along side a waterfall at center (right of the detached snow patch). A broken glacier on Buckindy. More glacier. Buckindy Crags from the N. My bivy spot on night 3. Sunset over Mutchler. ... Alpenglow on the clouds. The morning of day 4. Looking back to Buckindy. A lonely ridge. Buckindy escaping the cloud cover. Pt 6680+. Breaking out into the sunshine. Above the cloud deck. Peaks and clouds unite. Zoomed in version. On top of the world. Nearing Mutchler. Buckindy and Glacier Peak. A desolate valley. Mutchler summit. On the way to Snowking from Mutchler. There are some gaping cracks on this glacier. Like this one. Looking back at the traverse from Mutchler. Chaval and co from the summit of Snowking. On the descent from Snowking. The Mutchler Cirque. Mutchler and Buckindy beyond. Skaro, Snowking, Neori, and Found Lakes. Snowprince. Summit self-shot on Snowking. My favorite.. Jacob's Ladder (polemonium pulcherrimum) near the summit of Snowking. Snowprince and Jacob's Ladder. More views on the descent. ... ... Another view of the immense Mutchler Cirque. A little closer to home.. Parting shot of Snowking. Gear Notes: Garden Gloves Approach Notes: Brushy, no trail.

I'm glad you came out relatively unscathed, Sandeep. A big thumbs up for getting out under your own power and your humility in dealing with the aftermath.

Jason.. actually, I've descended Crowder before a different way on this 10 day traverse of the Pickets from Thornton Creek to Big Beaver in 2008. I consider the gully Sean and I descended that time to be the best way down to Pickell Pass. The NE Ridge descent is dangerous in my opinion and difficult to find good anchors. Either way, expect a giant pain in the ass to get from the summit of Crowder to the N Pickets.

I'm sure Steph got some of Mongo.. this is the only one I got. Grade VI! Amazing that you soloed that thing, Wayne.

A larger version of our route map is here (courtesy of Steph Abegg). The other one is too small to see anything. Larger Map

Thanks, Jon! I will stop editing for now while you get it fixed.

Trip: Mystery Ridge to Northern Pickets - Enchainment Date: 8/15/2012 Trip Report: I have no words to describe this once-in-a-lifetime journey into some of the most rugged, scenic, and remote territory in the lower 48 states, so I'm going to leave that to Steph Abegg. This will undoubtedly go down as my single proudest and most memorable mountaineering voyage to date. From valley bottom to high glaciers to alpine meadows and jagged summits, this traverse offers a little bit of everything. To summarize: Steph Abegg and I spent 7 days in the heart of the N Cascades, approaching from Porkbelly Ridge - a name the legendary John Roper coined that describes the steep, brushy ridge separating Bacon and E Fork Bacon Creeks. From there, we traversed Mystery Ridge, Pioneer Ridge, the Northern Picket Range, Easy Ridge, and finished via Mineral Mtn to Hannegan Pass. Over the entire 7 days, we encountered only 4 miles of trail... the rest was entirely cross-country. Along the way, I climbed 8 peaks, and Steph climbed 11! (3 of which I had already climbed [thank goodness]). Peaks climbed were Berdeen, Hagan, Mystery, N Despair, Pioneer Ridge, Crowder, Swiss, Middle Challenger, Whatcom, Easy, and Mineral Mtn. First, a special thanks goes out to my Dad (undoubtedly the world's #1 best) for picking Steph and I up at the Hannegan Pass TH at the culmination of our trip - with a 6-pack of beer. Also, thanks to reknowned aerial photographer and all-around great guy John Scurlock for picking my car up from Bacon Creek and depositing it at Steph's house in Bellingham. Without those two, this trip wouldn't have been able to happen as it did. And finally, thanks to Steph Abegg - one of the strongest people I've ever climbed with, if not THE strongest. And I'm not just saying that. I was continually amazed at how tough she is. I'm not used to being the slowest of the group, but I found myself struggling to keep up on this trip. Carrying heavy packs through this type of terrain takes a special type of person, and she definitely has what it takes. Steph will undoubtedly be along soon with prose, photos, graphs, and flowcharts, but I just cannot put this trip into words. Hopefully my photos will tide you over until she can offer hers. And now, my photos. Steph threatening to pour out my bourbon. Berdeen Peak. Hagan, Berdeen Lake, Shuksan, and Blum. Steph doing what she did a LOT on this trip.. eating. Berdeen Lake at dusk. Clouds whisping over Berdeen Peak. Intricate whisps of clouds dance over us. Morning above Berdeen Lake. I would get to sleep in and enjoy this view while Steph went over and climbed Hagan. A look ahead to the N Pickets. We would be there in three days. Views from Mystery Ridge. Steph enjoying the route on Mystery Ridge. Lonesome Creek Valley. Looking back to Berdeen Peak from Mystery Ridge. Blum and Lonesome Creek. A similar view to the last photo. Looking back towards Berdeen and Bacon Peaks. Scrambling on Mystery Peak. The Picket Range and Mt. Despair from somewhere on Mystery Ridge. Steph on the morning of day 3. Climbing steep snow to escape Camp Misery. Scrambling to get off of Mystery Ridge. Traversing the basin below N Despair at the head of E Fork Bacon Creek. Looking back in that basin. Snow tunnel in that basin. Nearing Mystery Tarn. Mystery Tarn. Mystery Tarn. Playing nature photographer around Mystery Tarn. Steph and Mystery Tarn. Upper Goodell Creek and the heart of the Picket Range. Steph descending heather meadows above Jasper Pass. The view of the Pickets just above Jasper Pass. Descending into Jasper Pass. ... Views from Pioneer Ridge. Mt. Despair from Pioneer Ridge. My shadow and Crescent Creek Wall. Another tarn.. they were everywhere! Gorgeous Mt. Despair. Closer. "Balcony Camp" on Pioneer Ridge. Mt. Despair again. Self-shot. The big smile says it all. From Pioneer Ridge at dusk. Sun sets on Mt. Shuksan. Another shot from Pioneer Ridge at dusk. Mt. Shuksan from Pioneer Ridge. Fields of Lupine greeted us as we ascended Pioneer Ridge. Cliff Lawson Memorial Summit Register placed by my Dad, Mike Swayne, and Jim Nelson in 2003. R.I.P. Cliff, you are missed! Dad's summit entry. Nobody has been here in 9 years? Pioneer vies for the most remote spot in the lower 48 states. Steph dwarfed by Pickets. Gorgeous Wild Lake. Steph descending to Wild Pass. Ascending Mt. Crowder. A maple leaf (Acer Macrophyllum) on Mt. Crowder. Not the strangest sighting we would encounter on this trip (see Christmas wreath). Triumph, Despair, and the wild Goodell Creek Valley. The Pickets from the summit of Mt. Crowder. Steph on the summit of Crowder. Steph beginning the epic descent of Crowder's NE Ridge. Amid an epic descent of the NE Ridge of Mt. Crowder. DO NOT go this way. "Class 3-4" on Mt. Crowder (sorry Steph, couldn't resist). Spectre from Pickell Pass. A smoky haze fills Picket Creek as the sun sets. Photo taken from Pickell Pass. Another shot of the same from Pickell Pass. ... Boot shot from Pickell Pass. Sunset from Pickell Pass. ... Lupine. Lupine and Spectre Peak. Looking up to Phantom Peak. Again. Steph scrambling in the basin below Phantom Peak. Steph traversing the Northern Pickets. Mt. Challenger from the West. Steph in the slot we used to access the Challenger Glacier. W Challenger.. an objective of ours that failed to materialize due to a combination of our meager rack (6 stoppers and 2 slings), poor conditions (rotten snow gully), and Fay's doomful recent TR. Next time I will be better prepared. Looking down at Steph climbing the class 3-4 section. Steph standing atop Middle Challenger. Crags around W Challenger. Steph downclimbing to Perfect Pass. Our first Christmas wreath sighting in the N Cascades. A rarity. Whatcom Peak. We scrambled up and down this in 45 minutes from Perfect Pass. Camp at Perfect Pass. Mt Challenger as seen from Perfect Pass. A hot air balloon? Sunset at Perfect Pass. ... Steph enjoying the color show from Perfect Pass at dusk. Steph taking another photo. Views from Perfect Pass. Looking back up to Perfect Pass on the descent to Easy Ridge. Imperfect Impasse. Pioneer Ridge and Mt. Crowder in the distance. An unbelievable flower show on Easy Ridge. Wow! Whatcom and Challenger from Easy Ridge. Again. Aaaand again. Fields of Lupine on Easy Ridge. I can't get enough. Gorgeous Easy Ridge. Descending to the lake below Easy Ridge on the way to Mineral Mountain. Said lake below Easy Ridge/ ... Gorgeous! Ascending Mineral Mountain from the East. The view North from the summit of Mineral Mountain. Mineral Mountain summit ridge. Much of our traverse can be seen here. Steph reflecting with a logic puzzle on the summit of Mineral Mountain. More flowers. Our final camp on the summit of Mineral Mountain. Trip Stats: -11 peaks (Steph), 8 peaks (Tom) -38,930' gain, 36,720' loss -55.2 miles (all cross-country except for 4 miles) -6 passes (Jasper, Wild, Pickell, Perfect, Chilliwack, Hannegan) -4 ridges (Porkbelly, Mystery, Pioneer, Easy) -6 goats -3 bears -~2200 calories/day (for me - oops!) -~5600' average elevation gain per day (cross-country, most of it with a full pack) -1 magical tarn -1 Christmas wreath -1 trip of a lifetime -7 days Route map: Original route itinerary.

Thanks for this excellent report on a seldom-climbed peak .

Thanks for the reply, Buckaroo. I would venture to guess that if you found any class 5 whatsoever, that you gained the top of the Doug's Direct one gully too early (closer to the Triplets than Mix-Up). In no way, shape, or form could any of the Doug's Direct I've taken now three times have had anything more than class 3 (some people might call a move or two class 4). Trekking poles in hand the whole time - not kidding, it's really easy! Next time I'll have to try the rib descent. I'm curious now.

Out of the three times I've summited J-Berg, I have never once needed to downclimb more than class 3 on Doug's Direct. Also, the routefinding is next to trivial and a virtual roadmap can be found somewhere in the archives on this website. FYI. I will have to check to be sure, but I believe it took us ~4 hours to do the Doug's Direct descent the past two times I was up there (I just verified.. it took 4.5 hours to go from the CJ Col to the parking lot the last two times I was up there - the first time, someone in my party had a medical emergency we were taking care of, so it took us like a day). More mileage seems like a small price to pay to avoid getting crushed by falling ice/rock in the CJ (I do not know about the rib variation, because I haven't been on it). This is more crucial in the afternoon when things are warmer, when most people are more likely to be descending. YMMV. Also, I don't think the E Ridge is that bad.. out of the three times descending the E Ridge, I made one single rappel (ie one rappel ever - mainly due to the fact that we wanted to take a more direct line). We didn't use the rope at all on the ascent the one time I ascended it. I can understand people needing to make rappels in there, and I can also understand people roping up for the ascent of the E Ridge because it does get sketchy in spots, but with good routefinding, I think most people will find it manageable, especially those that have climbed in the N Cascades any amount of time. I didn't even think it was really any more loose than any other mountain I've been on in the Cascades (except maybe Prusik or Stuart or similar peaks). I can honestly tell you that there are maybe two areas on the entire E Ridge where I encountered climbing more difficult than class 4.. and it never got harder than 5.0. I'm only offering this advice so that future readers of this TR have more than one opinion. I personally think descending the CJ should not be taken lightly, especially in the afternoon, and especially in later season. As always, take all beta with a grain of salt and YMMV. Congrats to YocumRidge and team on a great climb, and I hope you guys get back up there some day to do that ~1 mile ridge traverse to the true summit.. the views from up there are amazing.

Check out NWHikers.net for a recent TR.