Devin27

Trip: Mount Fernow and Seven Fingered Jack - Phelps Creek trail to the Leroy Creek Basin Date: 7/3/2011 Trip Report: After marching up the conga line of the DC route up Rainier last weekend, we decided to avoid the volcanoes and find some mountain solitude for our 4th of July weekend in the Entiat Range. The team comprised of 5 Boealps members- Ken, Dustin, Jeff, Danika and I; and our canine companion Indy. We began at the Phelps Creek Trailhead after a very long drive on the Chiwawa River Road. The hike along the Phelps Creek Trail to the Leroy Creek turn off featured about 7 or 8 creek crossings and a decent amount of snow. The creeks are moving fast because of the snow melt and several do not have any logs to cross on, so be careful and be prepared to get a little wet. The turn off up Leroy Creek Basin is clearly marked and gains elevation quickly. We reached complete snow cover around the 5,000 ft mark and made camp on a small mound at about 6,400 ft below the approach to Seven Fingered Jack. Our original goal of making the summit of Seven Finger Jack that afternoon was supplanted by relaxing in the sun at camp and getting some sleep for Fernow the next day. An early start brought with it some route finding misadventures. We first went up the col to the climbers left of 7FJ with the hopes of traversing the highline above the cliffs to the main gully up Fernow. Unfortunately the traverse was steep, had a dangerously short run out and dead ended in a steep narrow gully with no way across, so we pulled back and headed down the ridge line from the 7FJ col and descended down to the remnants of the glacier in the valley below. From there the route finding is easy, though you will have to gain back all that elevation and then some. Luckily we had some great steps already put in by a team of 7 just ahead of us, so we made great time getting to the summit block. When we reached the rock scramble, we discovered the group ahead of us was another Boealps group. We ascended the easy rock scramble together and enjoyed the summit of Mount Fernow and the great views. A word of caution, the scrambling is easy class 2/3, but the rock is very loose and several rock falls were caused by climbers as they scrambled the route. The snow was great for glissading down to the valley below Fernow, but not so fun on the 1,500 ft climb back up to the ridgeline. We had wanted to hit 7FJ that day as well, but the extra extra drop into the basin and climb out lead us to split our group as Dustin and Jeff went with the other team to summit 7FJ, while Ken, Danika and I returned to camp with plans to summit in the morning. The other group made the summit of 7FJ and made great time back to camp, however they were not fast enough to save Dustin’s hostess cherry pie, which was eaten; wrapper and all; by a very sneaky pup. A cold night brought hard snow the next morning and made for a quick crampon ascent to the rock of 7FJ. This brought more route finding misadventures as we followed the steps of some lost climbers to the wrong finger twice. If you find yourself climbing anything more difficult than easy class 2, you are in the wrong spot. There were also a large amount of mysterious large animal footprints all around the snow on the traverse to the summit. I would hazard a guess at black bear, given the shape of the prints and number of toes. I have no idea why a bear would be up there but it was too large and had to many toes to be a dog.. We were treated on the summit to stunning views of Glacier, as well as Rainier, Baker and everything in between. Unfortunately, despite an hour spent relaxing on the summit, the hard icy snow that made our ascent quick and easy turned against. This made it impossible to plunge step or glissade safely for most of the steep descent from the summit and forced us to crampon most of the way down. The hike out from camp was uneventful, as the snow had softened up in the afternoon sun. The rapid pace of snow melt was obvious as more and more of the landscape is uncovered. Gear Notes: Crampons, Ice Axe, Trekking poles (great for stream crossings), helmet (loose rock) Approach Notes: Fast creeks and plenty of snow Photos!!!!! I hit my limit, so there a 5 more to be posted tomorrow Crossing one of the small creeks on the Phelpes creek trail Crossing Leroy creek Indy the Mountain Dog Nom Nom Nom Looking up at one of our goals, 7FJ Alpen Glow over the mountains Heading up the ridge to drop into the basin below Fernow Dropping into the first basin with an ice lake below Traversing to the col Watch your step Heading up the gully to Mount Fernow Boealps goes scrambling. We found the another Boealps team Scramble time At the Summit of Mount Fernow Summit Shot Nap time Heading back down. Copper Mountain I believe in the background Jump for it!!!! Glacier in the Alpen glow on our way up 7FJ Up we go More photos to come, including our mystery animal tracks

We were at Camp Muir preparing dinner and ropes for the next days ascent when the ice fall happened. The whole camp was covered in dust from the cloud it caused. I'm still cleaning dust off my gear. Nice photos, great vantage point

How far back is the snow on the road? Tons of road walking?

Snow shoes: I wish I had them late in the days when the snow was getting soft and we were postholing like crazy, but unless they were airdropped they wouldnt have been worth the weight. We might have used them twice the entire 3 days.

so no major issues on the bergschrund? I assume the summit block, which is normally a rock pitch is snow covered and a moderate snow climb

Trip: Eldorado and Kliwatti - The easy way Date: 6/3/2011 Trip Report: My first post on the forum. Boealps Basic Climbing Class Grad Climb. We turned the standard overnight for the Boeing alpine club grad climb into a 3 day so we could hit Kliwatti as well as our original goal of Eldorado. About 30 yards back down the road from the parking lot was the O so fun wet log crossing There is a very distinct boot path leading past a few blowdowns, but nothing that gave us any trouble. Our first crossing of the boulder field was quick and painless. Snow still covered most of the boulders and ice bridges were soild. There is a very nice waterfall right before the ridge for water fill up. Hop over the ridge around 6200 ft for the rough creek basin and the glacier assent. We couldnt tell where the glacier began, so we roped up here and continued up Rough Creek Basin and the glacier. The weather was overcast and it was early in the day, so snow was firm and crampons were not needed. No open crevasses the we could see, though small slides and rockfall were pretty common off the right ridge. We hit the Eldorado Plateu after gaining 5,500 ft in 7 hours and set up camp on the ridge. The clouds were starting to clear and turned into a beautiful night for star gazing. Milky way Stars over Forbidden Peak We slept in a bit and woke up around 6am for our hike over to Kliwatti. The snow on the glacier for the walk over was fantastic. Crampons were needed and held great with no posting. This would not last for the walk back, but first we have finish the climb. There is almost no elevation change to get over to the peak, which was nice after the gain yesterday. After some contemplation of the route, we climbed up the couluier and ascended the summit ridge to the top of Kilwatti. The top was still well covered in snow as you can see, but we found the summit register and signed in. This peak isnt climbed much and the register was pretty empty. Our trip leader had no trouble finding his entry from 2007. The walk back to our camp was long and miserable. The nice hard ice had now melted in the cloudless sun to become a wet mushy mix. After much thigh deep postholing, we made it back to camp and made an early night. Stars over Eldorado On Sunday we made a 4am start so we could watch the sunrise and be back down in town for lunch. We watched sun come into the vallery as we climbed the last 1700ft of the summit ridge to the top of Eldorado. The ascent up the knife edge ridge was intense, but there was a nice frozen boot path. The top is full of cornices, so be cautious. We couldnt have picked a better weekend for this trip. You could see everything from the summit, Rainier, the Olympics, Baker, Glacier, it was fantastic. The hike back down was uneventful except the hot weekend had turned the boulderfield into a dangerous mix of rocks and unstable snow bridges. Overall it was a fantastic weekend in the North Cascades. Cant wait to get back out there again. Devin Gear Notes: Glacier travel gear, ice axe, crampons (for cold morning ice), pickets for the Eldorado summit Approach Notes: Good bootpath and no major obstructions. Log crossing is in good shape.