Steph_Abegg

A Honda should have no trouble getting up there. The road is pretty good, except for an occasional potholed section. As long as you don't mind getting your car a bit dirty, and bouncing around a bit for 50km of dirt road.... 5.6km and 970m (3200ft) elevation gain from parking lot to Applebee. Takes about 3-3.5 hrs with a heavy pack. It is completely feasable to keep on going to the Pigeon-Howser col, or even down to the East Creek Boulder Camp (since camping is not "officially allowed" at the Pigeon-Howser col). The Pigeon-Howser col is about 2 hrs from Applebee, and the East Creek Boulder Camp is about another hour from there.

Trip: Bugaboos - Beckey Chouinard, Snowpatch Route, Hound's Tooth Date: 8/5/2007 - 8/10/2007 Trip Report: Just got back from 5 days in the Bugaboos with my friend Clint Cummins. Despite some somewhat iffy weather, we managed to climb some stellar routes. Aug 5: Hike in to Applebee. Aug 6-7: Beckey-Chouinard Route on South Howser Tower Aug 8: Hound's Tooth Aug 9: SE Corner (Snowpatch Route) on Snowpatch Spire Aug 10: Hike out I've posted a trip report and a bunch of photos on my webpage: http://sabegg.googlepages.com/bugaboos2 Enjoy! -Steph

I "enjoy" it for the mental challenge, I suppose. The slide alder, Devil's club, willows, huckleberry, and flies of Luna Creek would be a good place to experience N. Cascade bushwacking! For motivation, there's a pack full of nice gear somewhere up that drainage....

Perhaps in late August, after a trip to the Bugaboos....of course, in the end it is weather dependant since it's not worth doing a trip like this in the rain! I was thinking of entering via Access Creek, gaining the Luna-McMillan saddle, dropping down into Luna Basin, climbing the NB of Fury, traversing to Picket Pass, establishing a camp in the S. Pickets, climbing a few routes there, and then exiting via Goodell Creek....

Yeah, that's what's most important. Come out of the mountains able to go back again!

got it, thanks. http://sabegg.googlepages.com/challenger

Trip: Northern Pickets - Wiley Ridge, Challenger, Luna Creek (don't go there!) Date: 7/22/2007 Trip Report: Earlier this year, I started making plans for a grand traverse of the Pickets, starting at the north end (via Wiley Ridge) and finishing at the south end (via Goodell Creek). I posted my plans on Cascade Climbers, and began the search for a partner. Ed and I began the trip on July 22. I would have been surprised if such an involved trip had gone all as planned, but I was not prepared to have to hike out after reaching Luna Basin. So our trip turned into a fun climb of Mt. Challenger followed by a testing struggle through the dense thickets of Luna Creek. The bushwacking down Luna Creek certainly made this trip unique. Fred and Helmy Beckey were perhaps the first to bushwack down Luna Creek on their 10-day traverse from Nooksack River to Diablo Dam in 1940. In Challenge of the North Cascades, he describes their experience: After the worst imaginable struggle with flies, devil's club, willows, and alder on the bottom of the valley flood plain, exhausted by a 3-mile struggle against bush, logs, and marsh, we arrived at the Big Beaver trail around 1:30. Our only remaining food was oatmeal and orange concentrate. We ate the oatmeal dry, without sugar. In other words, quite the character building bushwack. So now there is a full backpack somewhere up the Luna Creek drainage (complete with a brand new Beal Joker and Mega Light tent, ice axe, crampons, sleeping bag, climbing shoes, etc). Ed might want it back, but I'd say anyone up to the challenge of Luna Creek deserves keeping what they find! I posted a full trip report (complete with photos) on my webpage: http://sabegg.googlepages.com/challenger Despite the fact the trip didn't go as planned, getting to climb Challenger and having some stories about bushwacking down Luna Creek was worth it! Already I am making plans to return and complete the traverse, partner and weather dependent of course!

Yep. Couldn't have asked for a better partner for this trip!

You're the first I've heard of anyone trying Kilkelly Creek as an approach. It looks rather steep in that area. How far up Kilkelly Creek did you manage to get?

Thanks! Getting out of my warm sleeping bag to set up the camera can be a bit hard, but it's usually worth it. No better place to get star photos than in the mountains! http://sabegg.googlepages.com/nightphotography 24. I beat my parents to the Valhallas by 6 years.... I plan to return to the Valhallas sometime, since I left a bunch of peaks unclimbed...

Initially I was going to bring 15/day + breakfast and dinner, but at the last minute replaced the power bars with tortillas and peanut butter. I have added tortillas to my list of 10 essentials - you could fill a cookbook with the various combinations of wraps you can make with your rations! Additionally, a stack of tortillas provides a great seat at a rest stop, a comphy pillow, and they efficiently slide down the sides of the pack to fill those annoying voids. I have yet to try their functionality as a glissade pad....

By the time we were traversing to Olympus, I was already planning a return trip to the Valhallas. I think your idea to continue up the S. Fork to the Geri-Freki drainage might be a good alternative to the steep bushwack beside Valkyrie Creek. It looks like the S Fork riverbanks might actually kick back a bit in that next upstream mile (they were getting kind of steep at that point), and there looks like a pretty good line of approach on the east side of the Geri-Freki drainage. I'll have to go back and try it!

I just love these long travering trips that bring you into areas no one hardly gets back into. Next destination is the Pickets. But my month of June spent in Red Rocks, Yosemite, and Colorado climbing some big routes was great fun too! http://sabegg.googlepages.com/juneclimbingcalendar

I take a Canon 30D (digital) with a 17-85mm lens. A slightly heavy setup, but worth it to me!

Trip: Valhallas -> Mt. Olympus --> Bailey Range --> High Divide Date: 7/5/2007-7/12/2007 Trip Report: My friend Douglas and I just completed a 77-mile, 8-day traverse through the most rugged and beautiful parts of the Olympic Mountains. We began with a 2-day bushwack up the South Fork of the Hoh River and up the steep ridge just north of Valkyrie Creek, which brought us to a range of peaks to the southwest of Mount Olympus known as the Valhallas. This area is probably only accessed by a couple parties a year. The Valhallas appear like mineature Bugaboos, although the climbing is a bit crumblier (although still plenty fun!). After a day of climbing in the Valhallas (a day of rain – our only day of poor weather the entire trip - prevented more peak-bagging), we traversed over to Olympus via the rarely travelled Hubert Glacier. We crossed over the summit, and headed for Bear Pass at the south end of the Bailey Range. Two days of traversing the Bailey Range brought us to the High Divide. On the eighth day of our adventure we hiked out the North Fork of the Hoh River (on a trail!). I posted some photos and a more detailed description on my climbing webpage: http://sabegg.googlepages.com/valhallas Enjoy! Approach Notes: prepare for a physical challenge!!

Depending on interest, there are 3 options: (1) Northern Pickets Traverse (Challenger, Luna, Fury, Crooked Thumb, etc), 5-7 days depending on how many peaks we climb, weather, route-finding, approach/de-approach, etc. (I've read some trip reports for up to 8 days on the traverse.) (2) Southern Pickets Traverse (McMillan Spires, Terror, Inspiration, Blob, etc), 5-7 days maybe, but would be more if we climb every peak (VI, 5.10+)... (3) Complete Pickets Traverse (must dos: Mt. Challenger, North buttress of Fury, North buttress of Terror, Inspiration Peak, West McMillan Spire), ~7-10 days maybe (7 days possible, but 10 days more ideal since this trip is too sweet to rush)... I would love to do the entire traverse. A great trip report (by Aidan Haley, Theron Welch, and Michael Stanton): http://www.mountainwerks.org/cma/2004/pickets/index.html The north buttresses of Fury and Terror look pretty sweet! Should be an amazing traverse! A group of 2 or 4 is fine with me. I would prefer to do the traverse in July, since I'm heading to the Bugaboos in August. There is a chance I might have a week in late August, but July is better for me. Email me (sabegg@gmail.com) or leave me a message if you are serious about it.

Hi. I'm looking for a partner (or partners) to do a traverse of the Pickets this summer, preferably in July. The traverse is long and strenuous, perhaps in the most rugged part of the North Cascades, and has several peaks to climb along the way. It would be nice to get together a group of 4 capable climbers for this trip. The Southern Pickets from near Mt. Triumph (photo by Gregg Brickner) Challenger and the Northern Picket area from Easy Ridge (photo by Steph Abegg in July 2005). Depending on interest, there are 3 options: (1) Northern Pickets Traverse (Challenger, Luna, Fury, Crooked Thumb, etc), 5-7 days depending on how many peaks we climb, weather, route-finding, approach/de-approach, etc. (I've read some trip reports for up to 8 days on the traverse.) (2) Southern Pickets Traverse (McMillan Spires, Terror, Inspiration, Blob, etc), 5-7 days maybe, but would be more if we climb every peak (VI, 5.10+)... (3) Complete Pickets Traverse (must dos: Mt. Challenger, North buttress of Fury, North buttress of Terror, Inspiration Peak, West McMillan Spire), ~7-10 days maybe (7 days possible, but 10 days more ideal since this trip is too sweet to rush)... I would love to do the entire traverse. A great trip report (by Aidan Haley, Theron Welch, and Michael Stanton): http://www.mountainwerks.org/cma/2004/pickets/index.html The north buttresses of Fury and Terror look pretty sweet! Should be an amazing traverse! A little about me in case you might be interested in spending several days in my company. I'm 24, but because of my parents' love for the mountains, I started mountaineering, backpacking, and climbing at an early age; I have done extended trips in the Alps, the Sierras, the Rockies, the Olympics, and the North Cascades. I am strong, determined, and always bring at least 1 (usually 2) cameras on my trips. I like oatmeal and peanut M&Ms. If you are interested in doing a Pickets traverse this summer, and like me are looking for an available and capable and experienced partner, please email me at sabegg@gmail.com. Happy Climbing!

Hey, So, as one of the 2 "hot Canadian girls" I thought I could add to the discussion. No offence taken, Gary, by your comment. I just found it a bit amusing that almost half of the follow up comments weren't even about climbing, when the Bugaboos is one of the most spectacular places to climb! This place is a climbing paradise for an alpine climber. Last summer was my first time there, and I will certainly be going back, with my sights on South Howser and Snowpatch, weather permitting.... Coming from a North Cascades background, I was not used to the crowds of the Bugaboos. Even though we woke up at 3am, there were still several parties lined up at the base of the NE ridge by the time we got there, before 7am! Even though we had to wait 3 hours to get on the route, we were blessed with great weather and great company. I remember chatting with you (Gary) about our favorite North Cascades climbs - hope you managed to climb a few more during the dry spell following the week in the Bugaboos. Happy Climbing!