geosean

Trip: Mount Rainier - Curtis Ridge Trip Date: 05/29/2023 Trip Report: We failed utterly, this is a conditions report. We went in at the tail end of the Memorial Day weekend hoping to climb Curtis Ridge but the route was super melted out so we ended up doing the Emmons instead. After two attempts over the years my realization is that this is an earlier season snow route. I believe I will try again someday in April or even March. We were suspicious after hearing that lots of people were turning back from Liberty so we decided at least to get to 10,300' at the do or die rappel point. From here you get an excellent view of the whole route. We bailed, crossing the Winthrop glacier at 8600' to Schurman. The lower two traverses appear to be largely rock, it's hard to tell because I haven't actually done the route but the exit gullies appear to be mostly rock as well. Gear Notes: Between five of us we carried 2 30M ropes, two small racks, glacier gear, two tools each. Approach Notes: Piece of cake once the road is open to the trailhead. Usually May 25th.

Wow. Good perseverance I guess. I can't believe you went for the summit, that's mental toughness. Thanks for the really geat write up and magnificent annotated photos.

Looks like a great trip! Glad it all worked out after the long wait.

Thanks for all the hard work @olyclimber. I love the TR search function.

I want some!!!

Trip: Baker - Easton Glacier Trip Date: 01/29/2023 Team @geosean @Albuquerque Fred Trip Report: Me and Fred have decided we need to get into bigger mountains, so to get ready for cold weather we decided on doing some winter volcanoes, Baker being the easiest nearby. The weather seemed perfect if somewhat cold, and @thedylan offered to give us a tow with his snowmobile so the trip was a go! On Saturday morning Dylan (really his wife Ellie drove) towed us from the snow line to the summer trailhead where we started skinning. We skinned up the groomed, that's right groomed! Track up the Easton Glacier drainage to about 4400 ft where we broke left and headed to Park Butte. We ditched our stuff at the lookout then went for a look around for a couple of hours. We had a pleasant but very chilly evening hanging out in the lookout drinking and chatting. After a very leisurely wake up of 5:00 a.m. and an extremely slow leisurely time getting out of the lookout we were finally on our way in the bitter cold. Fortunately the sun came up pretty soon and because it's mid winter it was shining right on us immediately. The sun the previous two days made for really gross icy crust over soft powder that would have made for tough skinning if it wasn't for all the snowmobile tracks everywhere. Somewhat ironically they basically broke the trail for us. Eventually we got high enough that the crust gave way to rime and hard wind packed sastrugi. We eventually put ski crampons on but not for very long and then at about the crater we switched to crampons and left our skis behind. The Roman Wall was extremely firm, but probably would have been okay if not a little hair raising. All the way to here the predicted wind had really not materialized and we'd been skinning in the sun so it was almost pleasant despite being in the single digits. But once we hit the summit plateau the wind started blasting and the temperature dropped hugely. So we spent all of maybe 10 minutes on the summit and turned right around again. The whole way up we have been thinking how crappy the ski down was going to be since the conditions were very variable with the only constant being firm. But actually everything ended up being pretty decent if you like hard icy skiing, which at 9,000 ft in the winter is more than you dare ask for. The way out down the groomed snowmobile highway also went shockingly well. As long as you don't mind a lot of traffic. It's definitely not your normal wilderness experience but I can't complain. We went into this trip hoping to learn something about how to deal with cold weather like the rest of the world experiences most of the time and all I really learned is to try to keep my nose covered, man was it red and sore on Monday. Approach: Sunset over the Twins: Nearing the summit: Fred skiing: Gear Notes: Glacier stuff, ski stuff, camping stuff, whiskey. Approach Notes: Snowmobile, it would be an easy skin.

Thanks for the report, I've always wanted to do this trip and never made it a priority. Some day.

Did this fix the security certificate issues with the site? I used to never be able to post links to cc on Facebook or even access it directly through the address bar. I've noticed it is fixed now. Either way keep up the good work!

This sounds cool. Nice work. Now I need to go do something so I can write a report!

Yeah, the road is gated. It also seemed to be very overgrown at the beginning, but when we crossed it later it was better. In the dark on the way out I'm pretty sure we saw some people with motorized transport, but dirt bikes could obviously pass the gate.

Trip: Mount MacFarlane - Trail Trip Date: 11/13/2022 Trip Report: Me and @Albuquerque Fred snowshoed/climbed Mount MacFarlane the other day. I figured I would post something just to fill out the website in this time of crap season. This peak is in SW BC in the Canadian Cascades, only about as far from Bellingham as Heather Meadows. In the summer there is a trail to the summit, but we found it more difficult. We hiked from the TH at 1100' to about 3100' in sneakers, then switched to boots due to some snow. From there on to Pierce Lake at 4500' there was about 4" of snow on the trail, which is in the first the whole way, and as steep as any climber's trail. A bit after the lake we switched to snowshoes for a steep climb up to the NE ridge. We found a fixed rope just after we really needed it, so at least we knew we were on route. It had been cold and shady but still up till now, but as we neared the ridge it got windy, so we stayed just to the north side of the ridge, eventually switching to crampons for the fun of potholing through crust and sugar. The summit was very welcome. I'm not used to this cold crap yet, remember summer? We lounged in the sun on the summit of Burgundy Spire at 8400' just a month ago. I think we didn't all of 5 minutes on top, then turned back. The tough snow conditions made everything slow, we hoofed it down to 4800' where we hit the bootpack to take our first break in hours. While breaking we realized it would be dark soon, so we donned headlamps as well. It was disheartening to realize that we had ~3500' to descend in the dark. Stupid winter. It went fine though and we were thrilled to have extra extra cold ciders at the car. As a bonus the car was still there with all of it's parts. Canada, eh. Technical snowshoeing. Fred and Slesse. Gear Notes: Axe, crampons, snowshoes. Approach Notes: Border crossing. Long steep trail.

I didn't know there were larches anywhere besides Maple Pass!! and maybe the core zone.

Wow, sounds like a really amazing trip. I can't believe how many people will go to the se few places. Somebody tell Instagram for me to stop talking about the Enchantments and Heather/Maple Passes.

Haha, wow, I never expected Seano to back me up on ABP! I love your mountaineering style man, very classy in an oh-my-god-i-cant-believe-he-did-that way.

Are you insane! I mean I like challenging blue collar climbing, but wow. The approach/deproach to ABP was brutal.

Trip: Canadian Border Peak (CBP) - NW Route Trip Date: 10/15/2022 Trip Report: Me and the boys, @Albuquerque Fred and Mike G, were at it again, this time we headed to the Great White North to climb Canadian Border Peak, on a record hot October day. We took Tamihi Creek Road to the drive able end at 2760' and began the hike up the road in the unseasonable heat and thick smoke from fires over in the upper Chilliwack valley. We hiked the road past 8 switchbacks to the distinct and at 5250', then plunged into the brush straight up to the ridge crest at 5700'. The brush wasn't as bad as we expected, but I could see if the blueberries and fireweed were wet it could be unpleasant; about half of it is brushy and the other half is reasonable forest. From the ridge crest we followed the ridge on a heather walk with a short scramble over a knob to the distinct NW shoulder of the peak. From this point the only beta we could find, Beckey, is pretty confusing. Even now rereading it I can't make any sense of his direction. Nonetheless, the route finding is actually very straightforward; go up gullies, trending right into different gullies when necessary, until there is a major buttress to your right and your looking up an intimidatingly steep gully with slabs and a huge dihedral making the left side. We scrambled up this on 3rd and 4th class terrain with loose rubble on top of everything, the rock is mostly sound, just covered in debris. Just below a flat spot in the NW shoulder (your left) you enter a boulder field with precarious rocks, we continued up this where the NW buttress basically merges into the rest of the mountain. Here is the crux pitch, a slab with wandering shallow cracks left of a bulgey off width layback/dihedral. It has been reported at 5.6. We scrambled (soloed) up broken ground about 50' to the right on blocks and good cracks. I call it 5.4 but with lots of holds and variations. Go up about 60', then work left on a slabby ledge into the gully where the crux pitch tops out at another buttress shoulder. From here it's up another gully with a step out to the right. This looked way more intimidating than it was and we weren't sure it would go, but there are ample holds to keep it fourth class. Up from there is an easy boulder field to the summit. We hung out on the summit watching the smoke gradually envelop the nearby peaks until we decided it was better to get down. From the base of the summit boulder field we made one 30m rap to the shoulder at the top of the crux pitch, then another ~20m rap to the boulder field below the crux. From here it was all careful down climbing and staying out of each other's fall line back to the easy heather ridge. On the way out we met lots of friendly dirt bikers that were clearing the brush from the sides of the old road, by now it's probably even more chill than the way up. All in all it wasn't nearly as bad as advertised, glad to have done it, probably won't go back. Incidentally, this climb was way better than American Border Peak. (This is not editorializing on politics or society). 8 hours car to car. 9 miles, about 4500' gain. Fred on approach, it's the one on the left: Mike scrambling slabs with debris: The crux is the dihedral just left of center, we soloed through the light rock to below the crack at center: The major gulley with huge dihedral on climber's left: Gear Notes: 2 30m ropes. Helmets! Approach Notes: The road is all brushed out and easy.

Several parties turned back when they saw the exposed ice. We did briefly talk to some guys meeting that description about 3 miles from the car. We got high 5's as we ran by, trying hard to not stop and walk until we were out of sight.

Trip: Glacier Peak - Cool Glacier Trip Date: 09/03/2022 Trip Report: Me and @MGraw and figuratively everyone else did Glacier Peak over the long weekend. To avoid most of the crowds we did it on Saturday as a run. We started at 4:50am, summited at 12:30, and hit the TH again at about 6:45 for a c2c of just under 14 hours. We thought that was pretty good but it's 2.4 times the FKT. More importantly for those interested... The conditions update!: The trail has ample water sources everywhere until about .5 miles past glacier gap, then none except on the ice of the glacier if you want to hunt for it. The trail is in excellent shape, recently brushed and re-graded to White Pass. The Cool Glacier has a tough entry with some blue ice walking through a serac field. It's low tech (no overhead hazard, you're on top of the seracs). But not really protectable and probably best avoided if you've never walked on solid ice. Several parties turned abck at the look of it. We found it very doable in runners and aluminum crampons. After that there are some bridges, but it's grade 1 glacier wlaking. Personally I thought the boot pack was kind of unnecessary sketchy, crossing very close to exposed ends of cracks where, from a different angle, you could see it was overhung. We took the far climbers left edge of the glacier immediately next to the rocks of the east ridge of Disappointment Peak. It was quite safe. The whole route is really pretty with great meadows, straightforward route finding, and a nice summit. A good time was had by all. Now my legs hurt. The boot pack goes from the farthest point of rocks about halfway from Mike's head to the ridgeline angling up left: Gear Notes: Aluminum crampons and axes, sneakers, Salomon advanced skin 12 packs. Approach Notes: Good water access all over, great trail, beautiful.

Haha, I saw 'The Triad' and was like: who goes there... Oh yeah, Jason. Thanks for the report, I've wanted to go there for years.

Trip: Good and Storm King - NE Butt, SW Route Trip Date: 08/19/2022 Trip Report: Me, @MGraw and Dave did the NE buttress on Goode Mountain and the SW route on Storm King over four days from August 19 to 22. BTW, that’s “gud”, not “gu·dee”, I don’t know what mountain some of you are climbing. Its named for Richard U Goode of the USGS, and the mountain is pronounced like the name. I’m just writing a quick report to get the info out there. We used beta from Steph Abegg, Climber Kyle, and occasionally Fred Beckey and it went great, so I wont post too much of that. The route finding was generally very straight forward the whole trip. We started out at the permit line. It was waaaay better than in years past, but still long. Then we cheated and drove to the Bridge Creek Trailhead for the hike in. I used trail runners to the junction with North Fork Bridge Creek Trail to save my feet 20 mile of hiking in approach shoes… worth it! Trail after Grizzly Creek (short): The creek crossing of North Fork Bridge Creek was easy but cold, then straight up from there per Kyle worked amazing. Literally NO brush to get out of the valley bottom. Wow. Approach From North Fork, just go up: We took the wrong buttress up the last portion of the approach and missed the two established bivy spots. The “5400’” bivy at 5500’ or so was occupied, but I looked down and saw the 5700’ site from above. We made a new spot on a slab and gravel at 5970 on a different rib. For next time, you have to scramble up the obviously easiest rib two or three left of the prow that the path leads you up to. This was our only real route finding hiccup on the trip with somewhat minimal research. All of Goode is amazingly complicated sounding, but is really just follow your instinct from North Fork Bridge Creek to the summit. It took us 8.5 hours car to camp I think. Just up from camp: The next morning we walked like 100’ up to the glacier were we easily walked on on low angle firm snow. We had only snow the whole way, no proper ice. The glacier was pretty easy to navigate from there, one big zig zag to get above the cracks at 6700’. The feared moat was just a couple of steps down on blocks to 3rd class rock. We got lucky hear I guess. I think this wat at 6730’. On route: We scrambled a 3rd class ramp to near the crest, then started simul climbing. Mike lead out and lead a 1200’ simul pitch to a 5th class step where Dave took over. Dave missed a move to the right of the ridge and lead up a tough 5.7 spot with no pro (except our now fixed nut above the difficulty). Stout lead in hiking boots dude! Me and Mike followed in approach shoes, wondering the whole way why he didn’t move off the ridge crest, it was aesthetic though. As much as its tempting to lead the crest, any time it gets tough you can break off. The climbing was great the whole way, never hard (except that one spot) but interesting always, all the way to the summit. I clipped my last sling to the summit rap station to finish my simul block. It was hazy so we didn’t stay too long. 3 raps to some shenanigans to the notch (I’m not sure if there is a good way to do the last rap, but it involved a quick belay for us from the bottom of the rap). Then 2 more raps in the gulley. Skiers right side of the gulley was much better than down the gut, not bad at all. Soon we were in camp on an awesome slab amongst heather at 7600’ just left of the rib. I highly recommend this spot, the slab was perfect for victory lounging. 10ish hours this day. Camp: Brief shower in the evening: The next day we traversed to Storm King and followed the standard beta to the notch. Scree slog, up the gulley to the right of the one with the obvious horn. The one with the horn had a rope that appeared to be fixed for a rap. I’m not sure why you would do this unless you just didn’t want to carry it out. Please don’t do this, it’s just trash now that no one want to take out. Descend your ascent route and take everything home with you. I really hope there was some extenuating circumstance here, but I can’t think of what. We scramble traversed the obvious ledge from the notch for 200’ – 300’ horizontal then scrambled up 3rd -4th class to the summit. The beta here was complicated but the route very simple. Ledge: Reversing the traverse to Storm King, Goode behind: Then down, down, down. There is a path from the little 7440’ knob just SW of Goode leading down the rib to the valley bottom, it comes in and out, but just stick on the crest next to the creek. We hiked out to Park Creek Camp for about 9 hours on the move. Up very early the next morning to beat the heat for 6ish hours to cover the 15 miles to the car and beer that was still as cold as the Rockies! Wow! An amazing trip with way more down time than I am used to. Glad I had good friends to share it with! A classic for sure, though not enough brush for it to be truly a Cascade classic in my book. Nor enough loose rock. OK, so not so quick a report, but it was a really great trip. Gear Notes: 2 30m rope, aluminum snow gear, approach shoes, single rack 0 metolius to #2 C4, like 15 slings Approach Notes: Long but easy. The trail was brushed out except for a little bit after Grizzly Creek.

Wow, excellent! What was your total time camp to camp?

Cool, thanks for posting. I've wanted to go out that way but never made the effort, nice work.

Wow, Mongo Ridge is getting crowded! Amazing work!!!

Simply amazing. Thanks for the great write up!

Wow, nice. I was supposed to do this in 2020, haven't planned a revenge trip yet. Awaiting a full TR. Thanks for the great beta photo.