geosean

Wow, an amazing adventure to be sure!! That looks like a wild area to explore. Thanks for the writeup!

Wow, you make this sound easy! So did you summit Ruth from climber's left of the glacier? Oh yeah, and did you do the "more secure route" or the "more exposed route" up Mineral? Per Crowder and Tabor.

Wow, amazing. I can't say it looks like a classic but it sounds great nonetheless. Thanks for the post! Quite the adventure.

I know right! That's why I'm becoming a mountain runner, I'll run up to the north side of Rainier then scramble Liberty Ridge in dry conditions in August of 2040.

I agree about getting better at ice climbing for late season, but on a snow or ice route you can't just go earlier for more snow because the consolidation effect greatly changes the route. For instance sure you could do the Price Glacier in April but you would be wallowing in deep snow for much of it, then by the time the snow consolidates the cracks are open. But yeah, I could do something like the Price in august if I was a better ice climber.

Haha, you came with credentials!

Hey, I've been thinking a bit about routes that a person should plan to do sooner rather than later in the big scheme of things due to climate change. Basically routes that will get much harder as snow conditions go out. I'm thinking Nooksack Tower, Liberty Ridge, Price Glacier (almost too late already). They don't have to be snow routes but just routes with snow access that is getting difficult. Anybody have any thoughts? For instance, the Price Glacier Right used to be a viable route: Photo from July 22nd this year.

Wow! I thought the fire suppressant was some kind of paint markup line on your photo. Very cool.

This is a rad idea!! but since Washington's better than Oregon I've never done any of these routes. I'm joking, kind of, but seriously keep it up this sounds really cool!

Trip: Bearpaw Mountain and Church Mountain - Uh, whatever Trip Date: 08/19/2023 Trip Report: Looking for an easier day after some hard trips and also breaking in a new partner I settled on the very much discussed but seldom climbed Bearpaw Mountain, with a side of Church on the way out. We quickly hiked up the Church Mountain trail then at the meadow turned up slope and went cross-country crossing over several ridges towards Bearpaw Mountain. The final scramble of Bearpaw is a couple moves of easy class 3 along the ridge, there is a trail from the saddle above Church Lake. The entire area was devoid of humans, very pretty, and lots of fun cross-country rambling, generally very easy. We discovered a surprising and very distinct outcrop of limestone that is very interesting and just rock is not common in the North Cascades. After Bearpaw we decided to take the easiest line and dropped to Whistler Lake, passing several lakes and wandering around the meadows at around 5600 ft. From kidney lakes we ascended to the notch on East Ridge of church mountain and joined the standard scramble route. I haven't done this in many years and summer conditions and it was a bit more complicated than I remembered but still not more than class 3. After the summit we headed down the standard route, over the church lookout, and down the trail to the car. The whole trip took 9 hours over about 13 mi and 6, 000'. It was a great day out in our mountainous backyard (for Bellinghamsters) in an area that I've talked about going to for years but never gotten around to doing. More of a cross-country high route days and actual peaks but very enjoyable! I did this TR on my phone and can't figure out how to put spaces between the photos, it's not actually one vertical panorama. Note: this whole report took me about 10 minutes, so let's see your reports! Gear Notes: Trail shoes. Poles. Approach Notes: Church Mountain trail. Made it to the trailhead in a Pontiac Sunfire, the creek crossing required some driving skill.

And I only ran 5.5 miles the next day.

Hahaha, you guys are hilarious. I remember being in the back while skinning. Great shots Jason!

Nice writeup, thanks for sharing!

In this case it didn't have anything to do with the specific climb but glacier travel in general, we could have easily swung farther around the crevasses and avoided the bridge entirely but we didn't want to do as much traversing. But it was still a bit unnerving. By then on the descent we were pretty over it and just dealt with it, but still good food for thought.

"Maybe this is fun." HAHAHAHA, nice try at positive thinking, I like the effort. Thanks for the post, I've been trying to get in to that area for a few years. It looks amazing. Quite the solo effort, I think I'll take a partner! How was the camp below Crooked Thumb, aside from less than ideal water access?