kinkbmxco

Ah, We did it in a more relaxed three day trip. Day 1- Get permits, stop at Lake Ann for a swim, head up the chimneys and set up camp below winnies slide. Day 2- Summit, break camp, descend the chimneys, set up lower camp at Lake Ann. Day 3- Hike out Have fun!

Was up there on July 4, so this is going to be a little dated. Lake Ann - Perfect for swimming! A very welcoming lake in the heat especially on the way down. Chimney's - Totally bare. Followed beta similar to this for route finding up the chimney's: http://www.onthesharpend.com/2009/10/30/mt-shuksan-fisher-chimneys/. I accidentally took us climbers right up the last gully instead of left so we had to downclimb a bit. Other than that, I think the chimneys were pretty straightforward. Hell's Highway - Not much to say about this, Winnies Slide was steeper, conditions were good when we went up. Picture of us heading up Hells Highway Gully of the Summit Pyramid - We ended up taking the 5.4 variation which turned out to be a clusterfuck (Because everyone else thought this was a good idea too). Seemed like there was A LOT of loose rock in the main gully which we ended using to descend. Did a combination of downclimbing and rappelling. We camped right before Winnies slide. There was a spot ~3 tents. Left camp around 5:00 AM I think. In retrospect would have preferred to leave slightly earlier to beat the crowds. Camp: This is right after Winnies Slide. The crevasses were easy to navigate though I remember making a comment that it could get tricky in a few weeks. On Summit day we ended up descending down to Lake Ann which was a good decision because getting down the chimneys took longer than we thought. (down climbed most of it with a few raps) A few more pictures on my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/34779536@N04/

Sounds brutal. As I read that I was having PTSD from the mosquitoes while hiking to the base of Stuart. Those things were relentless. Doesn't sound as nasty as your experience though.

JEFF! We did it camp to camp (From Ingalls Lake) not car to car.

Did the West Ridge on 6/27. Decided to take an ice axe and crampons to be safe. Ended up not being necessary to have them, though I was happy to have my ice axe. There was still a little patch of snow as you make your way over to Long John Tower. A group that passed us did not have crampons or ice axe. If the snow was harder, probably wouldn't have been very much fun There is still a big snow patch on the way down the Cascadian Couloir. Once again, the snow was soft enough that crampons and ice axe weren't necessary but I was happy to have my axe. (Just depends on comfort level). Here is an picture from over the weekend with some landmarks... hopefully I didn't mess our route up too bad. It is approximate. High Resolution Image

Planning on Stuart West Ridge next weekend and was wondering if anyone has been up lately. I was thinking no on crampons and yes to ice axe for descending the cascadian couloir. Anyone have beta?

Back from a recent trip out to the Enchantments and Leavenworth cragging, and I seem to have left behind my camera. I suspect it was left in one of two locations. 1. Playground Point Crag off Icicle Road near the route "Fathers Day" 2. In a campground off FR 7601. About 2.2 miles down to the left there is a dirt road leading to a few campsites, at the very end of the road I stayed 2 nights and might have forgotten it there. The Camera is a Sony RX100 in a black Sony Case. This is probably a longshot but if found please PM me or shoot me an email at kinkbmxco @ yahoo.com Thanks.