jstluise

Thanks, makes sense now. Forgot to ask...is there any running water above the chimneys?

Great! Thanks! Even though it was a couple weeks ago it at least give me a gauge for what the conditions are. Sounds like it should be pretty good...we'll see how those crevasses look. Good to know the gully is snow free, I heard it can get hairy when there is still snow left over. Last time we were up there the gully was bare and the ascent/descent was not bad at all (besides the obvious loose rock). We'll be heading up to camp at Winnies Slide on Friday, so maybe we'll beat the crowds. Last time up Shuksan we did it all in one day, so it will be nice to take our time and enjoy the views this go around. I didn't follow you here...can you explain? Did you take a different route down? Excellent pictures, btw! I'm excited to actually use my camera on this trip...last time we were in the clouds all day.

We're looking for some route conditions for Fisher Chimneys. Anyone been up there recently? We're thinking about making a trip up there this weekend...I imagine is it pretty bare right now? Any info on the Chimneys, Hell's Highway, and the gully of the summit pyramid would be appreciated. We climbed it mid-August a couple years ago via the Sulphide, we we're looking forward to trying out the Chimneys. Also we had zero views last time because of weather so this weekend should be much better!

Thanks for the report. Sounds like the road should be mostly clear by now. Will call the ranger to see current conditions. The road conditions website still list the road up to Cold Springs (NF 8040) as closed, but that was last updated in February.

Any updates on Cold Springs access? Thinking about making a trip up the south route mid April. Sounds like it should be driveable, pending if the gates are open or not. I'll make a call to the ranger in a couple weeks, but just wanted to see if there has been any new developments since the last post.

Rub it in, why don't you!

I had a Mountain Hardwear G50 softshell jacket for the last few years and it was my go-to everyday jacket for fall thru spring. It has the conduit membrane so it always kept me dry. Anyways, I haven't worn it since the beginning of summer and I must have left it somewhere because I can't find it anywhere! Looks like I need a replacement. Hoping to find something comparable since they don't make the G50 anymore. Any suggestions?

I was up on Little T yesterday and the route looks to be as direct as it gets. I'll pull some pictures off my camera tonight so you can see the route from a different perspective...should be a nice addition to mthorman's GPS data. When are you heading up? Lots of parties heading up yesterday. It was pretty cool seeing the cleaver lit up like a Christmas tree while we were crossing the lower Ingraham Glacier at 3am

I heard on the radio this morning that the climber wasn't wearing a brain bucket, but I couldn't find anything online to back that up. If he wasn't, he's damn lucky. Here is the article about the teen who died near Pilchuck this weekend

I just went through the application for life insurance and, IIRC, I was asked if I did any extreme sports. I said I am into mountaineering, but I wouldn't call it extreme (he brought up activities like SCUBA or sky diving). He didn't seem to make a big deal about it. I was more concerned that by me having a motorcycle endorsement that that would increase my rate. After I was approved I met with the guy again and he said I got the preferred rate and there was no mention of additional costs for anything else. I asked about the motorcycle stuff, and he basically said that as long as I'm not doing anything professionally (or semi-pro?) at the time of signing up (e.g. racing motorcycles), then there isn't any problem. The only time restriction he mentioned was that I have to wait at least two years before I commit suicide. I'll keep that in mind. So from what I understand, at least from my meeting with the agent, is that I'm free and clear to do anything I want, without having to worry about my policy not holding up. I could go and become a mountain guide without issues, since I was not one (or never was one before) at the time of signing up.

Thanks for the info. This won't be until the beginning of July so I'm sure we'll have a little more road to work with.

We managed to get a couple permits for St. Helens for the beginning of July. Thought it might be fun to Adams while we are down that direction. We are coming from the Seattle area, so my question is: If you were to climb St.Helens and Adams, which driving route would you take to get there and which would you climb first? I've been to Cold Spring CG, and we took the route from the north side through Randle. What I don't know about is the route between the climbs, Forest Road 90. Seems to be a well-traveled road. I'm thinking maybe do Adams first, coming down through Randle, then heading over to Helens via FS90, and then back up I5? Any advice would be appreciated! Regardless of what route we choose, it is going to be a lot of driving!

Trip: Mt. Shuksan - Sulphide Glacier Date: 8/18/2013 Trip Report: After some car-2-car suggestions from you guys here at CC (thanks!), the two of us decided to head up Shuksan. Planned on Saturday, but the weather forecast pegged Sunday as the better day so we postponed a day. Left Seattle on Saturday and made it to the Shannon Ridge trail head at around 8p. Almost full parking lot. Partly cloudy, but soon turned clear with the moon bright in the sky. Organized some gear and were in the tent by the car at around 9p. Woke up at 2:30a and took our time getting ready. Overcast now. After some hot breakfast and coffee, we were on the trail by 3:45a. Shortly into the approach, it began to sprinkle on us. Great. The already dewy vegetation made for a soggy approach to the notch. Visibility was also low. The approach from the car up to the notch was easy, with no problems following the route. We made good time, getting onto the glacier at about 6:00a. Filtered some water and strapped on the crampons. Since the visibility was low, we relied on the GPS and following along the west side of the glacier. Wasn't too bad. A few crevasses but nothing we couldn't navigate. Still drizzly and a light wind. We went unroped the entire glacier. We made it to the base of the Summit Pyramid at around 9:00a. It was finally getting light out and the rain was letting up. Still foggy, though a couple times the fog gave us a window to the snow-free gully and the scramble up the top. Two other parties were on their way up (roped), and one party was just getting back down. We stashed our crampons and trekking poles and started the scramble. We put our harness on, just in case we needed them. Didn't anticipate it, though. Our route up the gully was basically just find the path of least resistance and avoiding being underneath the parties above. Didn't want to get in their way either. They stayed mostly to the climber's left, and we managed to stay to the right. The scramble up the gully was a blast! Holds were plentiful and solid. Not a lot of exposure; I'd rate it a class 3 (some people maybe a low class 4). We hit the summit at 10:00a. Nothing to see up there, unfortunately. After a quick bite, we made our way back down. We planned to rappel since we brought a rope. Why not? Started down-climbing and found it to be fast and easy, so we didn't stop at any of the rappel stations. The scramble down was just as fun as going up! Back on the glacier, we made our way back down. A couple of breaks in the fog gave us a view of the glacier, so we could see a more direct line down. Still some navigating through. We made it back to the car at 2:15p. 10hrs 30min car2car. Probably could have shaved an hour off if it wasn't for the low visibility and having to navigate the glacier. Still, I was happy with our time. Total mileage according to the GPS data was 15 miles round trip. Even with the crappy weather and low visibility, we had a great time! We will definitely be back when we can actually get a look at the scenery! Sorry, no pictures, but here is some GPS data: Download .gpx data! Gear Notes: We brought along a minimal glacier rack and a 30 meter glacier rope. Neither were used. The ice axes stayed on the packs all day, too. -Crampons -Helmet -Trekking Poles Approach Notes: Soggy. But no route finding issues.

Great! Thanks for the beta...Should be a good time!

Isn't a backcountry permit only required for camping within the nat'l park? Or is it some sort of day use wilderness permit? So many passes/permits...all I have is my NW forest pass and figured that would be good for me at the parking lot.

Yeah you're right, better safe than sorry.

Well, with all this talk about the summit pyramid, I think we'll just leave the rope and glacier gear at home and go super-light. I'm not really concerned about running the glacier unroped this time of year.

As opposed to going up the central gully? I think I would feel more comfortable staying in the gully, but I guess we can take a look when we get up there. How did you finish the pyramid, DPS? And did you bring a rope to rap off, or just downclimb? Thanks everyone, good beta here.

Sounds like we shouldn't have any problems. We'll have some daylight by the time we get up to that point, like you say. Do you recall how many hours your climb was?

Well that is good to know, thanks. I mapped it out best I could and it seems like it would only be about 12-13 miles roundtrip, but a trip report over at summit posts mentioned it was 15 miles and took them 16 hours...maybe they were just slow. (http://www.summitpost.org/shuksan-in-a-day/734236)

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I think we are going to shoot for Shuksan (Sulphide Glacier) on Saturday, with Eldorado being our second choice. One thing I am concerned about is the approach to Sulphide, as it seems like there may be some route-finding issues, especially when we take off from the car in the dark. Any beta on this? From the most recent Cascade River Road report, you can get to the Eldorado trailhead. We'll save Sahale for when the road opens back up, since there are many other options for us. And I'm adding all the other suggestions to my list!

Awesome! Thanks! Maybe I'll give them a call in a couple days for another report (if the website doesn't change). But, now you have me looking at Eldorado as an option.

Black Peak would be out, too, because of the Highway 20 closure...but I'll add it to the list! I'll check out Sulphide Glacier! Thanks!

If I understand correctly, it said it was closed at the park boundary. I'm assuming that means at the very beginning of the road? http://www.nps.gov/noca/parknews/cascade-river-road-wash-out.htm

Was planning on heading up to Sahale this Saturday, but road closures changed that plan. Can anyone recommend something similar to Sahale (class 3-4 at the most) that can be done in a full day? We were planning on getting the drive out of the way on Friday after work so we would have a good start and pretty much all day to complete the climb. We haven't ventured up into the N. Cascades except for Baker, so here I am