zoroastr

schweet! ....nice C2C work.

Oh...OK. Then there definitely *was* at least a third party up there. We saw your slightly older trax leading up the pass and toward Mesatchie, but we followed a set of newer trax up the ridge and out behind Graybeard. They didn't go very far before turning around--that's what was odd. We pushed beyond and into the bowl on the S. side of G.B. b4 heading up. Anyway, we're planning to return to the Colonial Gl. area this Saturday if the weather's nice... cheers...

Thanks, Klenke, for the peak recognition info. Yes, we saw your tracks, and were a bit baffled by their direction--it looked like you started to wander around the back of Graybeard and then doubled back. Anyway, congrats on the summit--nice job. When the sky finally opened up, Monday turned perfect!

Climb: Graybeard-S. Gully - Summit + Circumnavigation Date of Climb: 5/29/2006 Trip Report: Saturday's weather was crap, so a simple conditioning hike in the I-90 Corridor was called for. While punching through a few miles of Cascades Concrete to the top of McClellan's Butte, it occured to Erick Johnson and I that Sunday's promise of a possible decent weather window might be a good opportunity to grab Mesatchie Peak in the North Cascades. By the time we reached Easy Pass the following day, conditions still looked very doubtful--moist, gray, gloomy. It was at this point, we decided to settle for Graybeard. Erick had heard of a nice gully on the back side of the peak, so we made for it... Erick starts up toward the gully... Weather started to improve as we headed up the classic, moderate gully, on perfect, bucket-kicking snow... The top of the gully presented us with a short, low-fifth class rock step, which we chose to abseil on descent. E.J. fixes an anchor near the summit blocks. We admired elusive, still-distant Mesatchie as we descended from the summit and continued our circumnavigation of Graybeard. With perfect weather finally established, we had the entire mountain to ourselves. Although we'd seen some fresh boot tracks on the hike up to Easy Pass, we saw no other evidence of recent summiteers as we headed down and around Glorious Graybeard, surrounded by more Cascade climbables than I thought could possibly exist in one area. The sheer density of rugged, alpine summits in this place is staggering! Endless, stunning vistas, perfect weather, miles of virgin powder, and Blueberry Pop-Tarts....life can be beautiful. Gear Notes: Boots, stick, rope, a few slings... Approach Notes: Familiarity with the approach valley is definitely a plus. You could spend hours trying to pick your way through the remnant, trail-obscuring hardpack. Fortunately, you break out under Graybeard in only a couple of miles.

The big corner between the obvious south side crack and the path to the main gully offers some nice 4th/low-fifth options. Found a really old piton bashed in about halfway up the route. S'fun to sneak up behind the picnicking summiteers on a nice summer afternoon.

yeah...in fact, the picture I added to this T.R. yesterday is of that exact sort of pool...see above. S'funny...on Monday mornings, I usually start looking for new places to check for the next weekend, but I can't seem to shake the idea of getting right back into that same area--so many climbables so conveniently near to one another. Oh well, big weekend coming up...

Trick for making modest crevasses look big: stand at one end, while your buddies walk around the other end.... About the skis: I've never owned any--can't ski to save my life. I really enjoy hiking, though, and since this was my first trek into the area, things never got boring. In fact, I can't wait to get back in there and line up P.B.'s Stump, Pinnacle, and Pyramid--a great 3-peak traverse.

No postholing whatsoever. In fact, with the exception of the soft stuff on the face of Snowfield, snow conditions couild not have been better--classic "Cascades Concrete" on the lower approach, and the glaciers were in fine shape for travelling. No one in our party brought snowshoes. BTW: the third member of our party was one of Erick's friends, a very technically capable and strong climber named Jesse, who led most of the way and whose alpine skillset was grossly under-utilized on this little jaunt.

Climb: Snowfield Peak - Day Hike-West Ridge? Date of Climb: 5/21/2006 Trip Report: On Saturday, the forecasts for the mountains looked kind of mixed, so Erick Johnson and I just did a quick conditioning hike up Mt. Teneriffe in the I-90 Corridor. Sunday looked better, so we planned a bigger hike. After tromping over a few miles of pretty but primitive trail up onto the Colonial Glacier, we passed under Paul Bunyan's Thumb, Pinnacle, and Pyramid Peaks... Fresh glacial meltwater has the mysterious ability to make even Cytomax taste gr8. The hike started a few minutes before 9am, and at 1pm we stopped at the col between the Colonial and Neve Glaciers, took stock of the situation, looked at the weather and the clock, and decided to press on. I had expressed an interest in shortening the trek, opting for Pyramid or one of the other Colonial-area peaks, but my fellow sloggers would have none of it. I thought they were nuts, they disagreed, we continued. As things turned out, I needn't have worried--we finished in 10 1/2 hours, arriving back at the trailhead at 7:30 p.m. after having crossed both glaciers and topping out on Snowfield. The Colonial GL. was a little broken up, but not bad... Moving fast on easy ground: the lower slopes of Snowfield Peak. We avoided the obvious gully that ran right up the middle of the face on Snowfield, opting for a direct line to the summit. Soft, deep snow on the upper face made for interesting mixed climbing as snow yielded to 4th class rock just below the summit. For the descent, we hopped into the main gully for a quick glissade. Light snow flurries on the summit caused some slight concern, but the march out was dry. Summit of Snowfield: Erick autographs the register, while Jesse surveys the sprawling expanse of the Neve glacier below. All in all, a gr8 day in the hills. Gear Notes: Boots, stick, 'pons [not really needed. Approach Notes: it's kind of a long one, and you'll gain over 8000' for the day, so start fairly early.

Climb: Eldorado-Parade Route Date of Climb: 5/14/2006 Trip Report: Managed to talk Erick Johnson out of doing his hardcore, scary climber routes long enough to resume our much more serious and meaningful enterprise: car-to-car peakbagging sprints! Snagged a perfectly in-shape Eldorado on Sunday. The final arete was in great condition--soft, foot-wide, and with a nice set of buckets, courtesy of a an enormous guided party that had moved through earlier in the day. Brought gear, never used it; a stick and good boots sufficed. We left the car at 9:30 a.m., were on summit at 2:30, back in car just minutes before 5:00 p.m. Gas station chow at Marbelmount, real food in Mt. Vernon, feet up, TV on, beer in hand by 8:30 p.m.--a perfect day in the hills. Forbidden from Eldo. Two previous day trips took in the West and East [direct] ridges. ...and some other shots... ...close to top.... Gear Notes: If you do it now, you'll only need an axe and maybe crampons for psychological comfort. ...oh and the PopTarts were Strawberry Milkshake flavor--a perrenial fave!

Thx for the beta. We were going to use one of the two routes we've used b4: either the main trail or straight up from the mine entrance, keeping well above and to the right of the creek--it's a nasty 'schwack for an hour or so, but puts you on more or less open slopes up to the firn. Will post some snaps if we find our way up....

Ejohnson and I are planning a couple of mini-adventures in the next week: 1. a trip up Whitehorse. 2. a biggish snowshoe trek in the Alpine Lakes area. Since both outings will likely entail a fair amount of trail breaking, any additional pairs of fast legs would be welcome. We've both already done WH in the winter, and found it to be a fun snow ascent. It's more aerobic than technical, but throw your crampons in the pack for the summit bump anyway--no ropes needed. The alternate plan is a 10+ mile shoe up the Denny Creek valley, up and over Melakway Pass, under Roosevelt, and on to Snow Lake and back via a short road section from Alpental--should be pretty. We're going to do both in the next week or so, but we'd like to save Whitehorse for the best weather window. In the interest of full disclosure, we'd like to get both of these done off-lamp, so we're planning to move pretty quickly. Should be a blast!

Climb: Low Mountain-Hemlock Pass Approach Date of Climb: 12/10/2005 Trip Report: Just a few snaps from this morning's hike, a very nice snowshoe trek to the summit of Low Mountain. The minor peak lies along the ridge between Hemlock Pass on the Denny Creek valley side, and Granite Mountain to the West. The ridge walk between Hemlock and Low gets craggy in spots, but we were only forced to abandon the crest once, dropping 30 feet for a couple hundred yards. The crux is a 400 to 500-foot gully up the East flank of Low, pitched no steeper that 40-degrees, that will take you to the very pretty summit. Kaleetan and Chair Peaks from a low point on the Hemlock Pass-Low Mt. connecting ridge. Erick Johnson, friend to all the little animals... The East side of the Denny Creek valley....Chair, Bryant, The Tooth, blah blah blah.... The Low Mt. summit ridge, looking south. Gear Notes: I think I actually brought three of the "Ten Essentials," a personal record. Approach Notes: We tracked a couple of fasties, who unfortunately stopped for lunch just before the climb to Hemlock. Busting trail from here was no problem, though, as the snowpack was old and way consolidated.

Climb: Granite Mt.-Spring is Here! Date of Climb: 12/8/2005 Trip Report: No bIg climb, just a couple of snaps from 2day's romp. Light snowpack on the main ridge made for a blazing ascent. We weren't on the trail until 2 p.m., but still made it back to the car before dark [4:48]. Gear Notes: 1. borrowed pbnj samwich--thx ej. 2. gaitered running shoes. 3. snowshoes - never used. 4. headlamp - ditto. Approach Notes: enjoy the soft, stamped-out trail before it becomes slippery....

Climb: Mailbox Pk. / Granite Lakes Area-Snowshoe Trek Date of Climb: 12/6/2005 Trip Report: Remembered to throw the camera in the pack, along with the Pop-Tarts...) Short road walk from the Mailbox Peak gate to the next--potholes were pretty. Up the road a bit. First light on last weekend's shoe track. Looking West to Tennerife and connecting ridge... Rabbit tracks. On the way down from some unnamed bump, some weather rolled in--looked kewl. Spidey almost got skewered by a pole--close one! Never found the Granite Lakes, but will return soon to get 'em! Gear Notes: Running shoes w/gaiters Cinnamon Roll flavored P. Tarts. MP3's Approach Notes: dry below, with increasing snow up the Granite Creek Road/Trail. You'll need snowshoes to make any meaningful progress after three or four miles.

Yesterday, Ejohnson and I stomped out the loop between Talapus, Pratt, Lower Tuscohatchie, and Melakwa Lakes. Very nice shoeing for this time of year! Trail is bootable all the way to the ridge above Pratt, but you'll be in four to five foot drifts by the time you reach Melakwa, and the Denny Creek side is amazingly loaded [as usual]. A couple hundred feet below Hemlock Pass, we saw the first Denny-side shoe track, and from there you're in a well established, slightly annoying ditch all the way back to the start of the road section back to your car. This loop should definitely be done clockwise, starting from the Granite side. Weather should improve this week, and the route will be a great mid-week outing for anyone seeking solitude--enjoy! stats: 15 miles, including three-miles road section between trailheads. Time: just shy of 8 hours.

Hey, Mag! Glad to hear from you. Actually, you called it: for food I took exactly eight choco' chip P'tarts [a.k.a. "The Staff of Life"... Had two left at the end of the day--they went down a treat with the free rest stop coffee on the way home.

Climb: Chiwawa Mountain-Fortress-Chiwawa Saddle Date of Climb: 10/23/2005 Trip Report: Sorry for the big pics... Yesterday, in an act of shameless peakbagging, I headed up into the Buck Creek area to hike up Chiwawa Mountain. A week earlier, I was at a certain well-known purveyor of used climbing stuff located in Ballard, and I'd picked up some used boots and a pack, and wanted to try 'em out on a longish day trip. The climb went well, and took exactly 8 hours, 15 minutes. The area's gorgeous, and earlier trips this season took in Fortress and Red Mountains. Last week EJohnson and I visited Red Mountain. Here's a shot of Chiwawa from the Red approach trail--same path I used for yesterday's solo climb of Chiwawa. Ejohnson on the S. ridge of Red, just above the old mine entrace. Yesterday, the summit of Chiwawa was shrouded in mist for my summit bid. In fact, there was a low ceiling all day. Close to the summit, the fog suckered me into a short pitch of exposed, 4th-class rock on the very edge of the basin-side ridge. No big deal, except for the wet lichen that covered the rock. Of course, once I neared the summit I could see easier ground to the left. Actually, the whole route can be kept to a 2nd-class scree hike, with occasional bits of 3rd--alot like to final climb up West Mcmillan Spire in the Pickets. in an effort to confirm my position in the fog, I walked along the narrow, flat summit ridge until it started to fall away in a series of towers--this was definitely the top. The overcast was stable, and actually kinda kewl, since you could always look down the approach valley and see Trinity in the sunshine. Can you pick out the trail down the valley? Fall colors on the pretty but interminable hike out. Stats for the trip: aprox. 20 miles and 6000 ft. gain. Gear Notes: Boots and an axe. Approach Notes: Trail clear, route lightly snow-covered toward the top, summit ridge has 2', consolidated snowpack.

Enjoyable T.R., and gr8 pics--Thanx!

Whoah...that really IS EJohnson's 'wich--I recognize the bag, and I remember him lamenting its loss on our climb [see t.r.]. E.J.--where the f*** are you? Are you getting out? I've done some interesting low-angle stuff since our last climb [Kyes, Chiwawa, etc]. Mail me.

Nice job! I was on Chiwawa on Monday too, but came up from the other side. I took the Red Mountain trail from Trinity and crossed the head of the valley. I was aiming for Fortress, but got distracted by a very aesthetic line on Chiwawa I picked out from the approach trail--a short section of 35-degree solid ice led to some steepish heather onto the main ridge and then a terrific scramble to the top. The thing that astounded me was that even though I completely disregarded routefinding details from some other descriptions, including Klenke's very thorough Summitpost account of his "East Route" on Fortress, I actually found occaisional fresh boot tracks along the totally unmarked and arbitrary path I picked around the head of the valley! Beautiful area. If the weather holds, I'm going back this weekend to grab Fortress, this time with my camera which, in my 3 a.m. stupor, I neglected to toss in my car on the way out the door. Thanks for the T.R.

Awesome laid-back trip. Some of the Olympic T.R.'s have inspired me to start mapping some trips there...thx! Not sure I understand where the Ranger is coming from regarding summit registers being intrusive. The relative environmental impact of the presence of that single canister is nothing to the harm caused by the tailpipe exhaust emited by the same guy's car on his way to the forest--I'm assuming he didn't walk to the approach trail from his home. And this is just one of the damaging effects of our culture of consumption. Sorry to use your T.R. as a platform for a mini-rant, but these sorts of glaringly misplaced priorities have always struck me as a bit bizarre...you know, like SUV owners beefing about people leaving a rap sling on a horn that only climbers see anyway...weird.

Strong work....congrats! That's the one ridge route I've left to do on Forbidden, but it sounds like this season's out. Thanks for the beta.

Chesterboo... Yes, I remember chatting with your party briefly on the West Mac approach. Erick and I were just starting and you were just finishing. That was a great climb, but a long day. Erick ended up with an ankle injury on the hike out. He's over it now. Anyway, I can forward you the beta Erick sent me when I was preparing for Ruth/Icy--it's got half a dozen or so of his edited snaps with a topo and some descriptive comments. just send me mail and I'll reply with the stuff. John Cain zoroastr@pioneernet.net a-jocain@microsoft.com

hmmm...odd the things some readers choose to focus on...oh well, on my next trip, despite withering heat, I'll make sure I'm wearing at least three insulating layers and bib overalls...that ought to please the censors...