Josh Lewis

You access this route through Leavenworth.

I would have loved to go... except for this: http://www.nwac.us/forecast/avalanche/current/zone/3/ Here is a trip I was with late last year going here: http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/587004/not-the-wright-mountain-an-avalanche-tale.html Although I could settle for something with less avalanche danger. Right now is the time to avoid the higher peaks, perhaps one of the worst times of the year to go to the mountains. If you are stilling going out to a lower peak or even overnight trip I would love to join, I just don't want to encounter avalanches.

Sounds good to me. That would be greatly appreciated!

I have a whole week off from today until April 4th. I am wanting to climb Mount Stuart the Sherpa Glacier Route, although I could settle for the Cascadian Couloir. This route looked like very much fun. Here's some route info: http://www.summitpost.org/route/164046/sherpa-glacier.html My email address is joshlewis4@gmail.com

I have this Friday as a half day at school, then I have all this weekend, next week and next weekend off and am very much wanting to get out as much as possible although Monday and Tuesday I might be climbing with a friend, but would love to have some overnight scrables or glacier trips. Mount Stuart is on my to do list as well as Cadet and some other peaks. Let me know if anyone is interested. If I end up on a multpiple overnight trip, even better!

Nice trip report! Who am I kidding, I gotta come back here next chance I get! Seems like a fun trip. I hope to make mine an overnighter and summit Sherman Peak.

I'm assuming your in good shape, as long as you can use an ice axe decently as well as crampons, sure I would love to join! Although the downside is I would need to figure out getting a ride down south, which might be possible. PM me if your interested in me joining. Also you gotta let me know when you want to climb it.

If I did not have mofa I would love to go, but my first aid class is important, perhaps another weekend if your willing to have me tag along.

Note: I do not plan on doing the Nisq. Ice Fall this year, but am asking for advise for someone else. He wants to do it with one ice axe and one ice tool, is that enough or is it better to have two ice tools? Just thought someone here might know whats best for this route.

Trip: A Mountain I have not Forgotten - Date: 3/14/2010 Trip Report: This trip took place March 14, 2010 on Sunday, the people who came were me and Collin (Rokisgud). I have been up the Perry Creek trail many times when I was younger, when I first started getting a taste of what real adventure was like. Those were the days I once said, but now I still live in those grand days, after all, I am never finished! Most of the photos were taken by Rokisgud. Setting up the trip at first was a bit tricky, I wanted to call Gimpilator for some information on Mount Forgotten but when I was about to call, one of my brothers (not Michael aka Jimbopo) did not let me proceed and said I had to get mom's permission. My mom was not home that night as she is not a lot of nights, and when I called there was no answer... as usual, and I left a message hoping she would call back which there was no call back, or atleast not that night. So then I ask my brother "can I atleast ride my bike to her?", then he grumpily tells me "no!" and I leave the room and am outraged by this point because it seems unfair that not only could I not get out this time, but it seemed very possible that this could happen again! And because my mom is not home very often these days it would take some advance planning. I decided on Mount Forgotten rather than Mount Dickerman because even though I knew we had a 99% of making the summit of Mount Dickerman, Forgotten had a decent chance although even though I knew there was still a good chance we would not summit, making it most of the way would be more fun... fortunately I was right. I go down stairs to speak with my land lord and tell him about my situation, fortunately he lets me use his phone which was nice because now I was able to call back Collin to confirm the trip and tell him where we were going. Another misfortune was that I could not print out a map for the place because the printer was in my brothers room and he would probably catch me and know I was trying to go for a hike. Don't worry folks I told my mom and got permission from Michael to go on this trip, and about 100% of the time my mom says its ok to go for a hike. I wake up at 6:02 a.m., or atleast thats what I thought I woke up at, I had forgotten about day lights savings time, and about 1 minute from me waking up Collin knocks on the door. "Blame it!" I thought to myself, I had expected to have a hour to get ready but instead he was there an hour ealier than expected, fortunately Collin was patient while I hurried around the house packing my gear and having a speedy breakfast. I would have packed the night before but I did not want to be caught by my brother packing for the trip. Once again another problem was I did not have a camera for this trip. Part of the reason was related to my Eldorado Peak Trip because the camera went from occupation of my land lord to my brother who would not allow me to see it unless there was a hike, and then it went to my mom, which I did not get to see before this hike so I was once again without, fortunately Collin took plenty of photos. :up: Once we left I was excited for a new adventure, when passing Big Four on the way we stopped and as Collin was taking some photos there appeared to be a avalanche coming down the north face which was an impressive moment, I've heard them in the past on Big Four, but they don't loose there interestingness. It was a nice sunny day to start out with clear skys, when we got to the trailhead we decided to put on gaiters right away because we knew we would be hitting snow very quick (I believe this might be the last time this spring we see low elevation snow that is fresh). We made good pace travelling through the valley above Perry Creek. By the time we got to the water falls it became less obvious where the trail was. Both of our attitudes were "who needs a trail?" because then we decided it was more fun to go strait up the mountain, and besides it was a hassle figuring out were the trail was. There was a bit of dealing with bushes but soon we found the trail again covered in snow. Later it again was hard to stay on the trail due to eventually not really knowing where it acually was. We decided to put our snowshoes on, which did not help that much but what the hey, better little support than non. As we continued upward the slope naturally got steeper and I started to slip with my snow shoes which is when I decided it would be a good idea to take them off. I also ditched my ski polls because I believed they would not be needed anymore, which I was not disappointed in my discission. At one point I sink in a hole which was a bit annoying but atleast was not like Eldorado. It was now time to whip out the ice axe, and the more I went up, the more fun it was becoming. Most people would of been nervous on this slope, but after years of scrambling experience it feels natural to me, and Collin seemed fine with it. As we got near trees I used them for extra support and had to figure out how to slide myself past a few, Collin got stuck until I took his pack and he was able to get though. At the top of the steep section I was now ontop of the ridge, or atleast almost atop, in front of us were cornices all over the ridge, I was amazed to see a 12 foot cornice, perhaps bigger right next to us which at the time I thought we would have to pass to get to the summit of Mount Forgotten. I looked down the cornice ridge and thought it would be more fun to go down the ridge and head over to what appeared to me at the time to be a different summit. Once again I turned down a summit because I would rather choose a more fun adventure. "A fork in the road, I choose the road less traveled by. It has made all the difference." -Robert Frost The summit we were heading for was indeed Mount Forgotten although at the time I was wondering if it was Devils peak because the South Face was so steep looking, but then I did not remember Devil's peak being so far est which had me confused. I had wished I could have broughten a map, or atleast done more research on the place. As we head down the ridge I realized I should have broughten a better pair of gloves, my hands became quite cold quite fast and the gloves I was wearing were thin and hard to put on each time I took them off. After being careful of passing a cornice we had to go downward to get to the next part of the ridge which worried me because it looked steep all around, fortunatly I found a spot that worked although there was a "jump" or mini drop off that I had to do a rock climbing move to get down, because the slope below it was steep and I did not want to fall and then go sliding down the slope. Fortunatly it was not as bad as I at first wondered. Then we started hitting deeper snow. Breaking trail was much easier than it has been in the past, not to say it was easy but in the past this would of been so much harder for me. As we trevaled we could see there was some incoming clouds, the sky had already lost its blueness. Eventually as we kept going I started to become tired of breaking trail so I decided it would be nice to have Collin break trail for a while which was a relief. As we get closer to the summit ridge of Mount Forgotten we see that there is potential for avalanche danger, according to the avy forcast it was at a 3 that day. In the gulleys ahead we could see avalanche debree and I earlier was noticing some slabiness on the slope. The cornice formation was impressive by this point. Collin said he did not like what he was seeing so I decided to offer for us to turn around. He said "would you like to call it?" and I decided it would be the safer thing to do. After all we had fun as it was, and it was not worth the risk heading further up, plus the dark clouds coming in did not look friendly, the sky had a purplish and black look to it which I wondered if we would be rained on the way back. To my amazement the foot prints we made 10 minutes ago were already starting to blow away due to the wind creating a windblown effect. We had to head back up to get my ski polls, plus we knew that this way worked for the way down. After traversing some of the slope I headed back up to get my ski polls, then we went down in good time doing run glassades. Then I got a few sit glassades in. Collin and I had much talk on the way down about our adventures and such. Getting the rest of the way down was decent. I'll admit my legs were pretty soar for a few days, partly because of breaking all that trail (kicking in the snow). Thanks Collin for taking me here and taking the photos. Once again another great trip.

There are a lot of details, but atleast I threw in some photos Gimpilator took.

Trip: Endless Excitement on Eldorado Peak The excitement never ends for me, this adventure was perhaps one of my greatest mountaineering accomplishments I have ever done, but was also one of the hardest single day trips I have ever done. All Photos Taken by Gimpilator This trip took place Saturday March 6, 2010. The members on this trip were me, Michael, Gimpilator, Mark, Mtn. Climber, and Eastking. Our summit team gained a total elevation of about 7,000 feet and 10+ miles of travelling. I've wanted to climb Eldorado for a long time, I've seen many of it's beautiful faces which helped inspire me into going to this place, I considered it for a while though the months of January and February but feared the idea of the summit ridge being one scary cornice. In later February I wanted even more to go but feared the summit ridge even with Mark telling me that it is doable when very snow covered. The turning point came about when I saw a successful trip report, and my thoughts were "I have to do it!". Around the same time Mark asked me about doing it as well as Eastking and Gimpilator which even more had me pressed for going here. The weekend we did Middle Chiwaukum we were worried about avalanche danger, but now everything was looking perfect, except for the weather on Sunday which raised some doubts. Mark wanted to do it as a overnight trip but with the bad weather forecast of Sunday (which they were acually right) it made planning difficult. My weekend was loaded with offers, I had to turn down many trip offers wether it was someone offering me snowboarding or Iron (Mike) offering me to climb Snowking, and for me to turn down Snowking for another trip is saying a lot! Another big issue was getting a ride, at first Gimpilator seemed like he could get one, but later said he could not and Mtn. Climber would be his only ride but had limited space (which I would not be able to go). When came Friday for the first time it looked like I was not going to go, I was bitterly disappointed. Fortunately like me, Michael was a believer of miracles and he asked my mom who almost never lets us use her car for us to go a shorter distance, but lets us use it to go all the way to Eldorado! An explosion of excitement rushes to us and I get packing like a mad dog. The downside was that Michael had to take my mom to the store and such which took forever. I just kept waiting for him to come back for what felt like hours (literally speaking I waited around 2 hours). A tragic event for me was that I could not find the camera, I looked all over the house, I remembered using it a day or two before but it was gone, I suppose I should not have left it in the living room because in my house things disappear until you find it in a location you know you did not put it. We put all of our gear in the car and took off to pick up Mark. From here we drove to the trailhead of Eldorado Peak which was at mile marker 20. Around 11:00 p.m. we went to sleep, which it helped when pretending like nothing exciting would happen in the next few hours. At 2:10 a.m. I woke up to headlamps shining around our car, which Eastking, Gimpilator and Mtn. Climber had arrived to the trailhead and was time to get ready. Once everyone got ready it was now 3 a.m. Fortunatly the river crossing was much easier than I had imagined although a bit slippery crossing on the trees. By this point I was wide awake and pumped for the climb. The trail started off messy and hard to find, every 30 seconds we would loose the trail and sometime either find it or accidently get back on thinking we were on the trail but would really be getting back on. Mark was carrying my heavy jacket in exchange of me carrying the snowshoes he would be using on the trip. Once the trail became more defined it got steeper and now we were setting a good pace, to my amazement all the runs and hikes I been doing paid off, it was not too tiresome for me. It was nice to see the moon starting to rise and the look of Johannesburg looming above us in the dark night sky. Soon we got out of the trees which is when I and Michael put our ski polls in the snow. The snow was glowing a little and there were a few boulders, but for the most part we took a steep snowy way up. I took the lead and kicked in some steps and used my ice axe as if it were an ice tool. This part for me was acually quite fun (unlike the way down) and soon we reached a part were there was ice steep rock, so I used a few of my rock climbing techniques to get past this part and the rest of the group took a different way. Soon we got into a snowfield, the snow had an interesting thing to it, when someone dropped a wrapper, even though it was not very sloped, to my amazement it slid down the mountain. By now the morning light came about making the place more and more beautiful. When the sun rose, it was very classic, it came over Sahale Mountain, and Jburg was just glowing. Because the sun rose, we had to get our snowshoes on and such to prevent sinking. Going to the ridge alone would be a day adventure in itself, we had to figure which way would work best. Michael and me headed up the farther up side which turned out to be a mistake, because the other side of the ridge was loaded with cliffs all around except for this one small spot below which was the cross over part. We went down the ridge to meet up with the rest of the group and was also near the cross over point. Mtn. Climber was tired out from the hike we had already done, plus the section to get down to the Eldorado glacier seemed steep which getting back up could be trouble for him. So he decided to call it a day, Eastking honorably joined him in the decision, Mtn. Climber said he would be able to get down just fine, but Eastking wanted to make sure he got down safely. Gimpilator seemed as though he was going to go with them, I could tell Mark was pressed for the summit irrelevant to what they decided, in a pinch you could say we were two separate teams that joined together, Me, Michael and Mark, and the other group being Eastking, Mtn. Climber, and Gimpilator. Gimpilator decided to go with for the summit bid. When we got to the bottom of the ridge we decided it was better to rope up early on a flat spot then later when it would be harder. We stashed out crampons away to save weight (we though it extremely unlikely that we would use them with all this snow). Mark led the way for a while going up, so far I felt nearly 100% strength almost as if I had not been hiking and I only had a few hours of sleep but felt suprisingly awake. When Mark started to get tired we swapped positions and I became the leader/trail breaker on the glacier. I became tired quite fast, I tell you what there is a tremendous difference between being a follower and being a leader. My head started pounding a bit from a head ache and I became very hungry fast. My snowshoes would ball up, and even my ice axe would ball up which added to the weight so I would every now and then bang my ice axe against my snowshoes. I knew that if I did not try to keep a fast pace we would never make it! Gimpilator said we had a decent chance of us summiting, in my mind I knew better that we would have to make really good time if we were to make it, but I did not admit it out loud because I did not want everyone else discouraged. When Gimpilator said "we might not make it to the summit" I said "well lets get as far as we can" as an encouragment, in my mind even if I knew we would not summit, I would have pressed on to get as far up as possible. We soon got off of Eldorado Glacier onto Inspiration glacier, and at this time of year it looked more like a giant snowfield, sure there were a few far off crevasses but for the most part it was just snow. Once I got to eat a ton of food I felt much better and we headed over to the summit ridge. The summit ridge reminded me a lot of Middle Chiwaukum. As I kept going up at times I would acually forget I was on a mountain, it was a strnge emotion, not sure if it was due to how tired I was feeling or how long I kept doing this. As we went up the ridge I would have to more and more kick in my steps. Gimpilator warned me about north facing ridges that could contain cornices so I tried to stay to the left as much as I could, but there was a problem to going left, it was much icier. The more I went up the more nervous I felt, I would have to kick in my steps more and more, plant my ice axe deeper and deeper, and smack my non ice axe hand harder for it to stick into the slope. It got to the point were it felt like I would slide off the mountain with each step and the fear got to me as we continued on. I acually felt a little irresponsible continueing this climbing, and I took a look at the sun and once again realized at how late in the day it was, if the fun went to far west the slope could freeze over and we could be in a very narly situation. I began to have cramps and by this point I was worried for my safety and wondered if the summit was gonna be unobtainable, above just looked even steeper and steeper. The part of worry was acually applied for a short section, but the turning point was when Gimpilator decided we should all take off our snowshoes. I was cramping up a little, but once I took them off and stached them in the snow, the slope suddenly felt a lot safer. We unroped by this point because there was no glacier. Mark soon took the lead which was a major relief, even though the slope got steeper I now felt much safer and it was much easier for me. In front of us which I could hardly believe was the most famous part of the route, the last 150 or so feet which gives one the feeling of being in the Himalayas. I was less nervous than earlier but the exposure suddenly got worse, we went slightly to the left of the ridge just in case it was a cornice. I plunged in my axe deep because by now I was between two perils, cliffs on both sides but so long as I kicked my steps good, and used my axe well, it was decent but exciting. Soon we were on the summit! We were all very happy, and Gimpilator congradulated us, a few photos were taken as well as enjoying the gorgous view and we had to head down. We only spent a few mintues on the summt because we had a long way down, and turns out it was more eventful than I had imagined. I fell behind from the group because I was very causous on those last feet on the ridge. Once off the danger spot I ran down and caught up. We decided no snowshoes for now because the way down in semi deep snow wasn't too bad. We roped up again and had a decent pace until we got off the ridge and started heading back towards the Eldorado glacier. I was the leader, but by now I was quite tired even though we were going down hill. I stumbled a little, but Gimpilator noticed so I tried to stumble as little as possible by being excited and putting myself in a focusing mind set. We heard an aweful deal of snow and rock fall on the ridge near by us which worried me a little. On the Eldorado Glacier it went uneventful, a while later we got back to our crampons and unroped. Gimpilator decided on a diffrent way of getting back up onto the ridge which I liked although was a little steep. I was looking forward to nice glassades on the other side, but was dissapointed. As we walked down we had to avoid a steep section and go around, and I had a short glassade but it did not feel confortable due to the hardness in the snow. Gimpilator decided it was time to take off his glasses and I did the same, unfortunatly I broke mine when I put them in my pocket. I guess thats what happends when you get 2$ glasses that are make of plastic. A few minutes later one of my upper side strap on my backpack snaps! It was around this time that events started unfolding on the way down. I had to carry in one hand one of the pairs of snowshoes. I kept looking up at the beautiful view, the mountains were glowing nicely (later were pink and blue). The snow conditions just got worse and worse, every step I would plunge though, but I figured it would be too much of a hassile to put on my snowshoes. This made things harder. There was an aweful deal of stopping on the way down, so we all decided to put on our snowshoes to conserve time and energy... or atleast that was what was hoped for. Once I put on mine, helping Mark get his on was a pain, I would have to unfreeze the straps with my fingers until they were numb, then I would have to get everything as tight as possible, on one of the straps I did not put on as well so the whole blamid thing came off! So I had to retie it which last for a while, but later fell off again. Gimpilator came to the scene and helped him put them on and finally they did not fall off, but it gets worse. As we are going down in our snowshoes we are sinking! Not only so, but it was hard snow so you would have to pull your leg completly out, and eventually one of my snowshoes fell off. "Screw it!" I said atlast and took off the other one as well. Now I was even more taking a plunge and would find myself sometimes falling waist deep on one leg, and my foot would be stuck on the inside so I would literally have to dig my leg out. For a while I was telling Gimpilator I was still enjoying the way down but after while I confess eventually I was not, if I were to define this next part of the trip, miserable is the word that came to mind. Gimpilator was worried because of how much time was spent with the stopping or the plunging, and Eastking was waiting at the car and did not want them worried about us. For some reason I could not help but keep on looking at Johannesburg, it was all so beautiful, and wondered if it could look anymore interesting to me. I tried some of the glassade trails going down but my bum would feel numb afterwards and I feared ripping my pants. At one point I found it fast to roll on my side literally like a kid rolling down a hill, than to walk down, but I only did this for a short time. At other times my leg would plunge through as I was going forward and I would get in a very unconfortable position. The way down at this point was horrendous. I eventually made a game out of it, jump, plunge, jump out, jump, plunge, and it just kept going on and on. Another factor is that I was out of food and water, or atleast for the most part, I did have a old hard power bar, but would be very difficult to chew, and I did not have the time to do so, I was normally out of breath so eating was not an option unless it was fast. The snow finally got a little more stable, but we got to a class 4 section which we did not see on the way up. The reason we did not go down the exact way we came up was Gimpilator suggested the other part would be more dangerous now that it was icy. Gimpilator seemed to go down it with little trouble, but for me I felt like this was the crux of the trip for me. When I went part way down I felt like it was a bad idea but it was too late to go back because I had Mark just above me. The rock was very wet and slippery which gave me a scare, any slip could result in a bad injury. Fortunatly I went rock climbing at Index and such so I put my fingers in a crack and my hand in another. The other hole had a tick or atleast looked like a tick and I flicked it off me in a little bit of a panic, unfortunatly I very much needed that hold. I had to throw my ice axe down, snowshoes, and my gloves, then I realized my packpack as well was giving me much difficulty so I threw it down as well and it rolled past Gimpilator nearly rolling off a cliff which worried me. This part wouldn't be nearly as hard if it was either light out, (my headlamp was going dim at times) if the rock was not slippery, or if I was not so tired out by this point. Once I got past this one rock I was good to go down, although I worried about the rest of the team making it down this safely. I realized then why rock climbing is terrible when wet. After this I said "why do I get the feeling we have more troubles" and I spoke too soon and I fell though another deep hole. Then we got to a really wierd but terrible spot, there were snow holes all over which were sloped into rocks, so a fall would hurt a bit. After going though all these holes and stuff that made this section of the mountain tedious we finally reach our ski polls. I was happy by this point, and Gimpilator was generous enough to take one of the pairs of snowshoes I was carrying onto his pack. (I was carrying a pair in my hands because of the broken strap problem) Finding the trail again was a little bit of a hassile, fortunatly Mark found it. Even the woods felt relentless, the going down was forever. Mark told me at one point he was so tired that he thought he saw a tree and instead it was a stump and slammed into it, I don't blame him, I've had things like that happen to me. Even in the woods there was some slipping action, tree crawling over, and other stuff. Another time my ski poll got stuck in a root and almost tripped me again. I must have slipped well over a dozen times, not just because I was tired, but there were many obsticles, it almost felt unreal. Way later we hear a honk in the woods which we wonder if it was Eastking from the parking lot. (we later find it was not him but someone else, I never quite figured that one out because I heard it again at the trailhead) At this point we officially lost the trail and made up our own going through bushes, getting my ice axe caught on stuff, and going through devils club. After this we get to the Northfork Cascade River although we have Gimpilator check his GPS to see if it was the river. Michael by this point took off on the other side and disappeared out of site. Michael yelled for us but the sound of the river drowned the sound. Fortunatly when we finally decided to cross getting our boots soaked cold, I faintly heard him and saw a glow. "Guys, guys, follow me, this is a the trailhead, trust me!" I yelled as I started running for the trailhead. I was very excited, we all were. At the trailhead we figured out who had who's gear and got that all aranged and it was soon back to Michael, Mark, and I. We packed up the tent and went for home. Before we left Michael had me bring him a towel, getting up was so excrutiating, my legs felt like they were done for, I would be going home as a zombie. I'll admit the ride home gave me a bit of a scare. Michael (the driver) was very tired, I stayed awake to keep him awake, but at times I could not help it, and my vision blurred and for some reason the trees looked like a castel, and it frighten me until I refocused my eyes, then without me knowing it I was asleep. Then Michael would ask me a question putting me in a panic and I would answer. Eventually we had to sleep at a parkinglot in Concrete and we left probably 3 or so in the morning and Michael kept complaining about being tired and I was worried but was so tired I could not help but again fall asleep. Soon Mark was dropped off and then we got home safe. I was so happy to Summit Eldorado Peak and make it home Alive! Today the camera was found behind something on my desk at home, unfortunatly my land lord who bought it now has restrictions set up so I have to ask every time to use it, atleast it's found. This was the longest day trips I have ever done, but it was worth it, the excitement in my life, it never ends!

Trip: An Awesome Trip up Middle Chiwaukum - Date: 2/28/2010 Trip Report: Getting the trip organized was a hassile! At first we all wanted to do Eldorado Peak, but the avalanche danger looked a bit too high, so then we considered Ruby, but even Ruby seemed a bit dangerous at this time of year. After going back and forth between idea's EastKing stepped in and said "Ok, I'm getting sick of this, I say we go with my original idea of Middle Chiwaukum", which at this point we all agreed because it seemed decently safe sounding and decent. Great call by the way. On this trip the people who came were Gimpilator, EastKing, Michael, Robin, and I. The night before we left was very beautiful with the sunset clouds, and later mood lit clouds that were fast moving. When I set out to go to bed I thought I set my alarm clock because it had the light indicating that I did, perhaps I made a mistake. At 4:32 a.m. my brother rushes in my room telling me we gotta get ready! I was in a panic, I meant to wake up at 4:00 a.m. and now had less than 15 minutes to change my clothes, get all my water, gather all my food and get the rest of my gear together. After rushing to grab everything last second, fortunatly I make it in time without forgeting anything, except for breakfast... fortunatly I had some food later to make up for this. Gimpilator picked us up in Robin's car and we headed for Middle Chiwaukum. After turning off of highway 2 we were a bit worried about the snow on the ground because not only could it potentially be slick, but we would hear scraping on the bottom of the car because it was low clearance. Fortunatly no damage and we got to the turn around ok. The hike started out on the flat road which went 2.5 miles or so in snow. After this we began to head right up the mountain from the summer trailhead. We put on crampons although after a little while one of mine fell off so I put away and stayed with one. Everyone had a good pace going up. Soon we had to start using snow shoes, so I was breaking trail at this part, although Michael broke trail as well for a while. I began to feel a little weak perhaps from not having breakfast, but once the group stopped to eat, I felt much better. After a while I started to get tired and let Gimpilator break trail for us which was a relief. One thing about already doing most of the route is that you know how long each part is, in a sense the knowledge makes the trip feel longer because you anticipate whats ahead. The sun finally had an appearance, unfortunatly my glacier glasses kept fogging up, and I would have troubles with the strap so I would decide to wear none, although then my eyes would hurt and I would have to squint. After a little while Michael was generous and let me use his, Gimpilator had a rigged pair of eye cover ups, which broke about an hour later. Once again the summit comes into view and intimidates me. We originally planned to the pass bypassing the high point saving us effort and time, but we found that it would be dangerous to traverse the slope due to avalanche danger. Gimpilator decided to go up to the high point and see from there, by now we all were questioning wether or not we would make the summit, we almost turned around, although Robin did turn around at this point and waited for us until we got back a long time later. Getting out your ice axe on a step section I realized was a bit worrysome, as I dig into my pack, I almost loose my footing which gives me a bit of a scare. Once I got my ice axe I felt better, although did not like the ice under the snow. Once past the false summit I felt much safer, ditched my ski polls and Gimpilator and me headed for the acual summit. At what appeared to be a pass between the false and real summit we finally saw EastKing catching up. The snow formations up here were very unique, almost unreal seeming. Once EastKing caught up we all headed up for the summit and wondered if Michael was going to because he stopped way behind. Once we got to the big mound we also ditched our snowshoes because it would be much too dangerous to wear up on the ridge, even if it were deep snow. The ridge reminded me of the ridge on Eldorado and had us on our toes. Both sides were steep and at first I was questioning if it were even possible, Gimpilator was leading the way. In a sense it was a good thing it was a ridge because it lowered avalanche danger, from a distance the summit seems dangerous. Another worry was the cornice on the summit, I feared that we might get 15 feet short, but Gimpilator always made sure that his ice axe could hit rock. After we got off the main ridge the last 100 feet was a walk up until we got on the summit! The view was incredible, one of the best I have seen this year (Already this year I have seen some pretty intense mountain views). We took a few photos and then headed down. We acually did not have to down climb the ridge to my amazement. Once we got off the ridge and got to the pass, my tiredness was finally catching up to me. Going back up to the false summit was very tiresome, I had a bit of a pounding headache and was running low on water, glad I had some salts. After the false summit we took off our crampons back to snow shoes, by this point I felt like I could fly down the mountain. The funny part was after putting on some sunscreen, I found my other pair of glasses in my pack! On the way down I had some stumble moments, a few glassades and some nice conversations. There were some tree bombs, which are when trees dump a lot of snow off of them so we had to be careful when below trees. Later as it got dark Eastking had a little trouble because he was very tired, and the stumbling drained him even more so I stayed back with his, although by accident got us both off route at the end, but was ok because we got to the road anyways. I believe he was feeling the same way I was the last time I was here and seeing things. I'll admit on this trip one of the scariest parts for me was when I saw a tree stump in front of me and I thought it was someone creeping up on us. The road walk felt like a long time as they always do on the way down. Once we got to the car I was relieved that everyone made it down safe and we all had a blast! I don't think we could have picked a better peak with the given conditions. Special Thanks to Everyone who came, Robin for the car ride and good conversations (and the cookies), Eastking for choosing the place and being a good member of the group, Michael for helping break trail and letting me use your sun glasses, Gimpilator for driving and navigating the route. We all did good, and am excited for our future trips!

I already have one partner but feel like I should have another partner for this climb, I want to go up this Saturday starting at 2 a.m. if possible and do it in a single day to avoid the bad weather, anyone interested?

Alright, your physical condition is not the problem, you need to know the z-pulley before doing this as well as knowing how to make anchors (which is a part of the z-pulley) as well as knowing how to prusik. Also do you know ice axe arrest and proper crampon use? It's not that we believe you cannot do it, which I believe you and who ever else is coming with you can, but if anything went wrong, it could be serious. Your goal is not impossible for this summer, but is gonna need some effort on your part. I sent you a PM.

If you guys get some crevasse rescue, join me on atleast one hike or scramble or glacier travel trip, then I would be willing to be a partner, if it is crevasse rescue you guys are lacking, I might be able to help you guys or atleast associate you with people willing to teach.

Thats it! Now I have to do Eldorado Peak, I've been drooling about the idea for a while, and am in the best shape of my life! This is the second trip report I've seen of a trip this week.

Nice! Now that is one intense side of Sperry. I'm honored to have one of my photos used for your trip report. I think of K2 when I see Sperry Snow covered from this angle. When I took the photo it was late April, I'll bet it's less snowy now.

I'm interested as well! Although I have not summited the mountain nor stepped foot on it, by the time July comes I plan to have done it atleast once.

So is this canceled?

I love having an alias, but at the same time I like using my real name, if I could be two usernames I would.

I use my real name!

Trip: Winter Ascent up Vesper Peak - Standard Date: 2/7/2010 Trip Report: After an intense Adventure up Middle Chiwaukum, I was trying to decide that night wether I should go to Vesper, my legs were a bit tired, and I did not want this to end up like it did my second round on Jolly Mountain. I knew if I did this that even the next day at school would be a tough one, but at the time I also wanted to appease my friends, I did not want them dissapointed if I bailed, I pondered on this for a while, but for reasons I cannot fully explain I decided "I'll go for it". Fortunatly it was the right choice. When I got home from Chiwaukum around 10 P.M. I had to do a bunch of last second planning to make sure that the trip was solid. So on this trip I once again went with the Pacific Northwest Teenager Climbing Group which had me, Mark, and Collin. Stewie could not make it this trip, but mabe next time. Michael and Eastking were not in favor of this trip, I think Michael thought it would be out right crazy, if I went through with this, I would be gaining more elevation this weekend than if I climbed Mount Rainier. Collin picks up both me and Mark and we go to the sunrise mine trail. The visibility was better than what it would seem like. Morning Star was coming out of the fog and was looking very sharp. On a normal year I would not even consider doing this during the winter due to avalanche danger but the snow fall was just so low that it was doable. We made it speedly though the forest without too much difficulty. To my amazement when we came to the river it was hardly much of one, and was easily crossible, perhaps the opposite of what I expected. View from the Trailhead Looking Towards the River Bottom of Morning Star After crossing the river I was still once again amazed at how melted out the place was, there was no snow until Waltz basin! I took up the lead while treversing the lower part of Morning Star because I was tired from the day before it would be wise to have the slowest guy first. Fortunatly I believe the group agreed that I had a good pace. In the valley I was starting to drip sweat because it acually felt warm, although it was mostly our pace that created that effect. Once in the Waltz Basin we started to encounter snow. We noticed something interesting about the place so Mark yelled out really loud "Echo" which would indeed echo throughout the place. Also we saw a cave on the way up which if we had time later we would explore because it looked rather interesting. The valley had a nice soft mist feeling to it, but still had some views of some of the peaks though the clouds. Collin on the Trail Sperry Above Waltz Basin Looking North Mark and Collin Mist in the Valley Morning Star B&W Morning Star As we head up we let Mark take the lead on the snow, Collin also leaded as well when going up which I am thankful both of you did this. We start nearing the bottom of Headlee Pass but because of all the snow it made it confusing which one was acually the real gulley? There was foot prints that went up one, but something did not look right about it. I'm glad I went with my guy instinct and we headed over for the one on the far left which was the correct one. Good think we did not bring a rope and such because Headlee Pass was acually safer when snowy than it is during the summer, I found it interesting how good of time we were making going up. I was a little worried about avalanche danger but fortunatly it seemed good, although on Morning Star I did hear an avalanche. Before the trip I thought about us doing Morning Star Mountain but thought of Cornice Dangers, glad I did not decide on it. The atmosphere was wonderful, it started to snow all around. Soon we were at the pass. From the pass we treversed below the bottom of Sperry and hurry to avoid the gulley which had some potential for avalanches. There were a few moment were we plunged through the snow, but for the most part getting to Vesper Creek was easily navigatible. Crossing the creek we had to be a little careful because the creek it self looked like you could fall though so we had to go across a strong looking snow bridge. This now was the beginning of the summit ridge which we were eager to make the summit. The fog picked up more the higher we went, the snow also got deeper but not quite deep enough for snow shoes which we brought. I been to this place twice already but in these conditions it was a little hard to nagivate. Some moments it would be like "Don't go to far to the left" or others it was like "stay away from the cornice ridge" which blended in with the fog. As we went up we got above the tree line it started to turn into a white out, completely white all around, kinda like how it was on Rainier, but atleast this time we had decent foot prints that would help on the way down. There was a rock that stood out in the fog that we thought might be the summit and we would go towards it. We would soon find out we were aways from the summit. There were a few iffy spots that we worried about avalanche danger so Collin spent a few mintues digging at the slope to test for avalanches, fortunatly the results were that it was not too bad. As we get almost to the summit I realize we were too far to the North which ended up not being that big of a deal, but I have a photo taken in 2008 that looked just like where we were. Sperry Vesper Traverse The Rock through the Fog Pretty soon we saw the summit which was very close at hand. The last 20 or so feet for me were the most worrysome part of the trip, it was icy snow, and no telling what the cornice below me was. After I crawl over this last snow bend we all obtain the summit. The two summit rocks were visible which we touch, but in front of us, just as I had predicted, was a cornice of snow and beyond it was a huge cliff. The room on the top felt limited so I had to built myself a platform and then have some snacks. Mark on the Summit I decided to put on crampons for the way down which indeed helped me. The Whiteout Atmosphere acually felt quite good, we knew where we were going, but at the same time the place had it's own kind of beauty. Once we got out of the white out and a ways down the ridge we felt better because pretty much all dangers were out of the way. The decent was pretty legit, we made good time heading to Headless Pass which we started to get out of the clouds by this point. /doing down Headless Pass was some of the best glassading I have ever had in my life! Not only was it beautiful, but I just gained so much speed, I did not have to fear going down because I knew that it later leveled out, although I did slow down once or so, but not once did I have to do an ice axe arrest. Huge snow balls were formed as I was going down, it almost seemed as though there was an avalanche all around me from all the snow balls I knocked down, but I knew that it was ok. After the great glassade, we decided we made great time going down, so we went to the bottom of Sperry to go check out the cave. We kept going through areas of rock and snow looking for it but no luck. After a while of looking and no results we headed down to the bottom of the valley. Mark and Collin spotted the cave, so I stayed back and relaxed because I did not feel like going back up, they checked it out and then we all headed down together. Getting back to the car was easier than I had thought it would be, not to say that it was easy but within that weekend I had gained about 9,400 feet of elevation gain, 4,200 or so feet that day, 24 miles of hiking through snow, and had an awesome weekend. Thanks Collin for driving and thanks both of you for kicking in steps and being an awesome team! This weekend will stand out in my mind for a while, among my greatest weekend of the year... so far. Unfortunatly the next day as I predicted it took its toll on me at school which from then I went through some strange times. But the good part was that it was well worth it!

I might be able to hook you up with someone that could be interested. Currently there out ice climbing, so mabe in a week I can tell them.

Trip: Middle Chiwaukum - North Ridge Date: 2/6/2010 Trip Report: EastKing has been wanting to do this trip for a long time, I myself was very interested because of how much elevation gain to the top which is 5,500 feet. The members who came on this trip were me, Michael, EastKing, BadDog, Mtn.Cimber, Likestothruhike, and TwoFortyJeff. I was worried on how it was going to work out because my friend Mark wanted me to go with him on Vesper, but fortunatly it was the next day that he wanted to due to SAT's on a Saturday that occupied him! TwoFortyJeff picks me up from my house and we meet up in Monroe. From here BadDog drives us the rest of the way which is very much appreciated! The road was a little snowy but good enough for most cars to drive along. The "trailhead" or should I say the starting spot had snow right away. Ironically on the East side it was cloudy while on the west side it was cear that day. We had to walk a few miles along a mostly flat snow covered road to get to the base of our mountain. BadDog did not have Holly come along and she said she feels naked without her dogs. We took off our snowshoes pretty quick and swapped to crampons, as we were heading up we stopped and had to sing happy birthday to one of the people in our party. The heading up was decent until later when the snow began to get deep, at this point everyone but me had snow shoes on. I had troubles putting them on because one of the straps came off and I could not figure out how to get it back on. "Blazes" I thought to myself and found it in vain me trying to get them on. After putting a big effort to go up one of the members of our group offered to help me out which I am appreciative of. As he helps me put them on we both were unsure how it worked, but I figured it out which was a relief, snow shoes make it a lot easier. A little later Michael and me got in a little conflict with my glove situation, I had forgotten my gloves for the trip, so Michael let me borrow his mittens. I got them snow covered because I did not bring ski polls which made my arms sink as I went up. My brother got annoyed because I was supposed to not get my hands snowy, but it was innevitable. I then raised my arms above my head to I would not get them snow covered, but then I would fall on my face which was even worse so I made a choice "blame it, if I'm gonna have to not get my gloves snowy, then I might as well take them off" which I did, the downside was my hands getting cold. Jeff helped break trail for us which was greatly appreciate, although there were a few cases were me and other members helped, but Jeff was the main one. Later when my arms turn red from cold I finally decide to put on my sweat shirt and the mittens. Pretty soon we came up along a gentle ridge, except for the side which was cliffs. As we went up the excitement of getting to the top was getting to me, the weather was getting better, I put on my glacier glasses for style and to protect my eyes, things looked more orange with them. The thing about mountaineering as I went up I realize more and more how much it becomes a part of me, it's not just something you do, to some it becomes a way of life. Later what appears to be a mountain comes out of the clouds, I was just in awe because it looked as though Mount Everest itself was coming out of the clouds. I just kept staring at it as we went up for the top part of the ridge. We start to question wether we would summit, BadDog said that the thing that looked like Everest was the summit, "no way" were my thoughts, because not only did it look so far, and so big, but I knew that we would never make it! At about 3 p.m. which was our turn around time most of the group stops and rests, but we see something above that looks like what we believed to be the summit. I took the lead and stayed to the right to avoid the cornice on the ridge. The snow became wind blown, more powdery, thinner, and eventually a powder covered icy slope which started to fill me with worry. I acually let EastKing go ahead so that I would not be the one saying "I don't feel comfortable with this" but to my amazement he kept going. He says he was filled with an incredible feeling which I don't blame him, the fear for me had me distracted, but I continued as well. Getting my Ice Axe in was getting more difficult and I knew it would be too difficult to get crampons on, so I was still in my snow shoes. What I really did not like was what was below us which it looked like if you slipped, you would have to catch your self on a slippery slope and it got steeper way below. I will admit, the feeling was incredible, and so was the beauty as we near the top, it was acually to dangerous for me to take photos as we were heading up, but I tell you what, it was like Hidden Lake Peaks quality view in my opinion, so many mountains could be seen, we were above the clouds. When I reached the top of what we went up I was glad, but EastKing soon told me it was not the top, and that the top was what I feared it might be. Atleast we made it to a high point estimated 7,200 feet high. The wind was blowing making it cold, and hard to swap to crampons for the decent, my hands were numb at one point so what I do is beat them together so I can move them again. EastKing decided to go down in snowshoes while Michael and me swapped. Atleast going down was not as worrysome, although I took it nice and slow to be safe. The rest of the group was not there when I got back (I later found out because they were getting cold). Michael was behind me and it was at this point I started to worry because not only was bad weather heading in, it was getting dark, I was very tired, but also the group was falling apart, for a while I was by myself. Getting down was more dramatic for me than the way up. I was pushing myself to catch up with EastKing, but stuff would happen like my snowshoe falling off, or just plain out having a hard time going down. I felt a bit hungry, but time was precious because any moment of stopping could put me a lot further from the rest of the group. I finally caught back up to Eastking as well as Michael catching up to us, but it was a struggle for me to keep up on the way down. I would have times were I would be slipping down the slope, fall on my bottom and then get snow up my back making it literally numb. Another time my foot falls into a snow hole and I fall first face downward and have to pull myself upward to free my leg. I started to become really exhausted by this point and literally started to hallucinate, I would sometimes think I would see them and find out I was not, other times I would think I was hearing voices, as it went on I realized what was going on an thought "I'm hallucinating, I just know I am", sometimes I would think I hear animals behind me, and others it would be other stuff. There were some other things we well that went on in my head. I finally catch up to EastKing and we take off our snowshoes, unfortunatly somehwere from here EastKing lost his which he finds out later. I once again fall behind having troubles keeping up. Normally when conditions are dry I can fly down the mountain, but not when everything is all slippery. A lot of times I would find myself sinking in the snow, it wasn't like it was powder, but it was barly soft enough for me to sink, but it would still feel hard, so a lot of times it would be hurting my shins and it did not feel pleasant. At one point I came off trail and had to yell for EastKing and could faintly hear him which helped me refind the trail. After a while I finally caught up to him, the bad news was he had found out that he lost one of his snowshoes. I wanted to do something but we both were worn out, and we knew it would create problems to go back up, and perhaps be a hazard so this was another reason for him to want to return. We caught up to the rest of the group, put on crampons which helped very much and headed for the road. Once we got to the road it was much easier from here on, although it felt constant as a lot of mountains do on the way down, I knew on the way up the road that the way down would feel like forever. Once we got to the car I was relieved, BadDog and Jeff took me home. This was another fun adventure, I hope to return here. In this trip report even though to some it may have seemed lengthy, I felt as though some of what was said here was summarized because it felt like a tremendous amount of time being there, the feeling, the emotions I had, and how I felt physically. The Next day was the beginning of a new Adventure which was Vesper Peak. My Adventures never stop here, as for me I am never finished! You can also view EastKing's Trip Report Here: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7981180