austineats

Trip: North Cascades - West Ridge, North Twin Date: 3/6/2010 Trip Report: I think we thought with the warm weather and all that we would see more rock and less snow. Think again, above 5000' it is full on winter out there. Snow on the route is good for kicking steps on the north side. The south side above 6000' had very poor snow conditions. Enough to hide all rock features but not stable enough for kicking steps in. At the "headwall" near the summit ridge where Beckey says to go out onto S face the snow makes this option unavailable. We roped for two very short pitches to get over the HW. The summit ridge itself was solid and corniced towards the north. Watch your step there are some serious holes in the rocks. Our ascent from the clear cut took 6 hours. Our descent down the north face took a little over 1/2 hour. Note, I would not recommend down climbing this route under winter conditions. There are however several spots where one may bail of the ridge to the north. These chutes may be viewed from the approach. Gear Notes: We used a 30m, 7mm cord and a few slings for protection. I think taking a few nuts would have been useful. Crampons would have been a time liability, besides the ice was rotten. Skis would have made for an awesome descent. We did pass a 2' crown fracture 1/2 mile long on our descent of the NF. Approach Notes: The road, as usual, is gated. We didn't have our bikes for technical reasons. I really wish we had. The road is in great shape and except for a few steep gravely sections it should be bikable by most anyone. Once the prairie is gained the route is obvious.

Trip: Trapper Mountain - North Face Date: 9/13/2008 Trip Report: This being my first post here, I haven't figured out how to attach photos to this. I loaded them and they are in the Gallery, labeled "Trapper Mountain". My apologies because, of course, every really just wants to see pictures. Trapper Mountain, which should not be confused with Trapper Peak, was off my radar until a few weeks ago when I made a call; my intended partner had other plans, his partner bailed on him the following day and then we wound up doing the route that the bailing partner had proposed. Looking back on the whole thing, I think we were set up. My first edition of Beckey's green guide doesn't list this NF route. My recollection, from looking t a more recent edition rates it as mostly class three with rock to 5.2 or 5.4 something like that. A descent down the standard route (SW ridge) would be implied I guess. Our start from the Cascade Pass lot is late, very late. The ranger at Marblemount isn't keen on giving us a permit at 3pm for the bivy spot at Trapper Lake. Another obvious bivy site would be at Pelton Basin, which has a few campsites about half way to the peak. Better yet is the obvious ridge plateau that one must cross below Pelton Peak. One crosses into Trapper Basin and virtually into Alaska. The land is wild. We saw 6 bears on one day of hiking. After dumping our gear on a rock, which we hoped that bears couldn't climb on to we headed up hill. The first half hour is spent slogging up a steep and loose scree hill. My favorite! The toungue of snow is perfect for hiking up. Low angle except in a few short steps where it only reaches 50 degrees for ~15'. This snow climbs steadily for ~500'. The large, right leaning ramp is obvious and easily traversed. Avoid the first chimney (unless of course the prospect of a frightful, chimney, choss-fest intrigues you). The desired chimney is obvious. Fun, rarely clean scrambling awaits the lucky adventurer. This system gains ~1200' consistently 3rd/4th class with a decent stretch of low 5th in the middle. We roped for 2 pitches and were on the summit within 3 and 1/2 hours or so of leaving the meadow. The summit has fantastic views or Formidable, Boston, Buckner, Ptarmigan Traverse etc. We found a summit register with a bit of looking. We noted 3 other registrants since 1986, hmmm, this is when we started thinking that we'd been set up. Then came the descent... hmm, which way down. We probably spent 10 minutes trying to determine which was the least dangerous direction to head down. The standard route, SW Ridge, was circuitous and loose but got us down to snow on the back side. More bear sightings and route finding got us back to camp by 6 pm. Gear Notes: Helmets! A small set of nuts and a few runners should do it. Maybe one or two pieces to two inches. Crampons and an axe. Approach Notes: Easy trail half way and decent most of the rest. Traverse far west on saddle above Trapper Lake before dropping down to avoid nasty slide alder bushwhack.

We found a sweet camera on the talus below the Tooth. Not to badly chewed by the marmots and still working. Give a shout to identify 206 940 9109. austineats

I had Lasik surgery two years ago and I have never been happier! Don't go the cheap route, they are your eyes after all. I went with the best and most expensive place ($3300 both eyes) and it was worth it. Very professional, all questions answered etc. It is a joy to see in the morning no contact issues, I could go on. just do it. If there is a danger for you (cornea too thin) your doctor will tell you so.