mountainsloth

Trip: Mt. Garfield - Infinite Bliss Date: 8/2/2010 Trip Report: Climbed Infinite Bliss on Monday with my friend Chris from Colorado. He had a strong interest in the route and I had wanted to experience this wonderful/atrocious route for myself after hearing too many options on it. Plus it is located in one of my favorite Cascade valleys. We fired off the 23 pitches and 20 some odd rappels in 10.5 hrs by simul-climbing any pitches 5.7 or less leaving only 9 to pitch out. The route is divided in 4 sections: -lower slabs (simul-climb first 8 pitches) -lower headwall (pitched out 3 linking 11 & 12) -upper junky slabs (simul-climbed the next 5) -upper headwall. (Pitched out the last 5 linking 19 & 20) Overall, I had a very good time on route. The only crappy pitches are the the upper junky slabs. The crux pitches were fun and engaging, but a little forced. I guess this is the reason it is a sport climb... that and the millions of bolts. We found the celebrated 10a pitch to be a disappointment, while the 10c pitch and the last pitch (5.9) to be the most fun. Descent was pretty easy to follow if you had a topo and were paying attention on the way up. The slight inversion we experienced on Monday had us being chased by clouds for most of the morning. Lower slabs Chris finishing off the lower slabs Me atop pitch 7 5.5 gully pitch #8 5.10b pitch me leading the crux pitch 5.10a pitch The upper valley below Views near the top looking down the valley Exposure much? 1 more to go! Chris enjoying the views on top Our summit friend finds comfort in color Reflecting on the route as we leave. Thanks to Chris for taking great photos and being a super solid partner. Gear Notes: 30 draws got us through the first 7 pitches simul-climbing, often skipping bolts. Approach Notes: steep trail for 30 mins. look for a cairn on your left 5-10 mins after the obvious washout.

sweet!

wow nice work. thanks for the NW face pics I have been curious what it looks like.

Been dreaming about that buttress for a while... thanks as always for the beautiful photos!

sweet! nice work!

that certainly is a lot of snow around that glacier. Get back there, the NE ridge is a true gem.

great read! thanks!

killer!

cool stuff! goose egg rules!

cool, I always wondered about this one.

killer!

cool!

fury looks like a great route, thanks for sharing!

Solid Josh! You are crushing it this summer! keep it up!

nice job! still one of my favorite alpine rock climbs... also my first. I hope the rope fairy delivers for you! Who ever has the rope, don't forget, Karma is a bitch!

nice looking outing. thanks for sharing.

sweet read and a lovely line

looks like a beautiful line, thanks for the views

sounds like an exciting adventure. thanks for the info on Sunday Cruise. Anyone else think it was that scary?

nice work! I didn't ski the route, but this was my first real climb in Washington and it inspired me to move here.

I think I am going to stop being surprised and amazed... you are ridiculous Dan... I was kind of waiting for you to tackle this.

cool!

wonderful! thanks for the fun TR

nice park

love that tieton rock!