JasonG

Trip: Bears Breast - SE Mega Slab Date: 9/7/2014 Trip Report: I still haven’t figured out why some climbs grab my attention and keep it, but the SE slab on Bears Breast is one that I’ve had on my list for about ten years. This wasn’t from the typical sources of inspiration- Beckey makes no mention of it (though it is prominently featured in a photo), and I had never even been anywhere close to Bears Breast in person. I heard about the climb through my friend and early climbing mentor Mike, and the description he relayed from Bryan Burdo was intriguing and stuck with me. About a year later, I read Chuck's excellent TR where he referenced the “mythical East slabs of BB mountain” and the hook was set. Fast forward to 2010 and I finally got around to doing some research on the route. Somehow I got Leland Windham’s and Bryan’s emails and started pestering them with questions. They were both very generous with beta and patient with my questions, and detailed the history of the feature as they knew it. Neither were aware of any ascent prior to Leland and Bryan’s 2004 climb (anyone else know of other ascents?), but the nature of the slab makes it difficult to know if parties have come before. The climbing isn’t very technical if you follow the paths of least resistance (sustained 4th, with bits of low-mid fifth to link weaknesses) and Leland and partners didn’t rope up on either ascent in August of 2004 and 2005 (different lines each time). To reach the summit, one traverses north from the top of the slab to the Beckey route. Snow patches cling to the slab into the summer, so usually August or later is the best time for an ascent. I was pretty excited to get a detailed picture of what the climb is like, but it was still four years until I found the time and partners to head in and check it out for myself. Joining me were some of the usual suspects- Sepultura, Trent, and Sparverious. It is a fairly long hike in to the base of the mountain (~12 miles?) past Waptus Lake, so I convinced the gang on a leisurely 2.5 day affair. We did not get off to an auspicious start, however. We (I) plowed through a trail junction just out of the parking lot, and ended up on Polallie ridge trail instead of one along the Waptus River. D’oh! Some cross country travel and a drop of 1000’ had us back on the right trail heading to Waptus Lake. Sorry guys. Waptus Lake is a popular spot, and rightly so. On a clear and still day, Summit Chief and Bears Breast are reflected beautifully in the lake, and it is a glorious destination in its own right for the valley pounding set. At the east end of the lake we wove our way through the tents and stood on the shore and took stock of the route we had hiked so far for. It is quite a sight! I’m not sure if there are many (any?) other mountains around that have a 3000 vf slab of solid rock. The SE mega slab of Bears Breast is about a third higher than Squire Creek wall, for example. Head on, It looked pretty steep for soloing (to a hack like me), but I reminded myself that things usually look steeper and harder than they really are. After a short break, we left the masses behind and walked around the Lake to the junction with the PCT and, shortly thereafter, camp next to the bridge over the Waptus River. I had forgotten how popular the PCT is, and there were a couple other parties at our camp. This wasn’t a bad thing considering that one of the hikers offered to share her excellent fire pit and benches. We helped to gather wood, and a shared a bit of our treasured Hunter. The hiker (a nurse) had some entertaining/disgusting stories that revolved around obese patients and unfortunate tattoos (Wet, Wet, Juicy, Juicy, Hit it Hard??!!). Needless to say, we were outgunned in the story department. We were moving at first light the next day, traveling cross country from camp trying to find the old trail that is reported to go up Shovel Creek to Shovel Lake. We found a trail not far from camp, but thought that it was the old Cascade Crest trail and didn’t stay on it. Mistake! When you find the trail, stay on it, it will take you all the way up to the slab. We eventually rejoined the trail and were soon at the slab, maybe an hour or less from camp? From below the slab is incredibly foreshortened, but still a little steeper than I was expecting. Changing into rock shoes (except sparverious who did it all in approach shoes), we followed one of Leland’s routes (I think?) by starting on a rib on the lower left side of the slab. The sandstone is grippy and well featured, so scrambling went smoothly. Sparverious was in the lead and picked a nice path up and right following natural weaknesses in the slab. Occasional overlaps and blank bits provided bits of trickier climbing, but nothing was ever sustained and no moves felt harder than 5.4-5. But it just kept going and going! Never severe, but always good quality with very little looseness, it was a more fun scramble than I was expecting. Since there isn’t much in the way of ledges, you tend to just keep moving. Climbing unroped we made progress rapidly, but it still took us about two hours to top out on the shoulder. Certainly a lot longer than it looks from below. As you are climbing up the slab you want to aim for the highest right side of it, where it abuts the near vertical cliff descending from the summit. This is where you will find a short gully that descends to another, longer, gulley that will take you up and left towards the North col and the Beckey rte. At the top of the second gully head left on a Class 2 shelf up and left to the actual col, passing underneath the start of the Beckey route. You can leave most of your gear at the col and head up. We followed the beta in this TR from NWhikers and it worked out perfectly, but be mindful of loose rock. A belay ledge collapsed from underneath Trent and Sepultura, raining the lower part of the route with blocks. Thankfully nobody was hurt, but if it would have happened when we were above them, it would have been a completely different story. The collapse spooked us all, and we didn’t linger on the summit, returning to our packs via three single raps on fairly good stations (backed up a chock stone with a nut after Sepultura pulled a pin on rappel). From the notch we were intrigued by Leland’s description of a “fun adventure” descending to Shovel Lake and so off we went to the east and south, descending more clean slabs and snowfields to the treeline. Getting to the lake did involve some ‘schwacking, but it was never too severe, and I think about 2.5 hours after leaving the summit several of the team were taking a well-deserved dip. Below the lake you want to stay on the skiers left side of the outlet stream where you can initially find faint bits of tread, but mostly just rock hop back down to the base of the slab. A little bit below the slab you can find the better tread that will take you almost all the way back to the camp on the PCT (note, there is a great camp on this abandoned trail about halfway between the slab and the PCT, next to Shovel Creek). I think we rolled back into camp about 11 hours after leaving, and we were ready to relax rather than move camp closer to the car (which was the original plan). More sharing of the fire pit with PCT hikers (father/son from Wenatchee), the last of the Hunter, and brilliant stars made for a satisfying bookend to the trip. The hike out the next day was predictably long and somewhat painful, but we did see a bear near the trail that broke up the monotony. Around the fire that last night, we all agreed that many would find the climb a fun and engaging adventure. Sandstone is unique enough around the Cascades that all of us marveled at some of the strange colors, shapes and formations we passed by. Bears Breast only sees about a party a year on average, so you will likely have the mountain to yourself. It is certainly within the reach of the average climber and located in a part of the range most climbers don’t get to- check it out! Gear Notes: Helmets, 60m half rope, light rack to 2", river shoes for crossing Waptus river where bridge is out on trail. Some may want rock shoes for the slab. Don't forget the Hunter! Approach Notes: Waptus River trail to old trail up Shovel Creek

Gene- It's OK. We (or at least I) don't hate kids. I just question the efficacy of the cell phone spam. I think reader boards over roadways is a better way to get the word out. You really only pay attention when it could matter (i.e. when you are out and about driving or walking), the rest of the time I ignore them.

I'm with you on this. Seems like something you should be able to opt out of/silence. Petty, I know.

I think if commercial outfits are abiding by the typical wilderness regs (party size, mode of transportation, etc.) then they shouldn't need a special permit. Basically I don't see how a human powered, commercial group in the wilderness is any different from a group of unruly climbers hooting and hollering their way up a route, scaring the wildlife, and drinking whiskey. Not that any of us have been known to do that. However, if said commercial groups are using roads for a car commercial on federal land, closing it to traffic, etc. then I would agree with you. I think the USFS has heard loud and clear that they need to narrow and clarify the rule. They overreached, and are getting beat back appropriately.

I guess I should have prefaced my response that I am pretty much against any permits/fees for wilderness areas. So, I don't expect you to agree with me, but thanks for the attempt at clarifying your position.

Interesting on the helis, I don't remember any back in 1998. That would be really annoying. All over the park? There isn't anywhere off limits?

I disagree completely. You think we need more regulation on federal land? For something as benign as taking a photo or shooting some video? What about the guy who just shoots a bit to supplement his gear closet? Or someone like Scurlock who takes photos from the air of wilderness? IMO, it is a completely ridiculous regulation and I hope they don't waste their limited resources attempting to enforce it. There are more than a few roads and trails that need the money for maintenance.

You should set up a tolling system Darin. Now one of the most climbed alpine routes outside of WA pass and da Toof? I better check it out before it gets too polished.

Love it! You have certainly earned the time off, the ID program sounds intense.

Now that is what I need after a long weekend. Thanks for the tip.

Some local cops told me that most of our meth is now cooked in Mexico. If only we could outsource the addiction too.

Thanks for that, I love Glacier! I spent a summer scrambling and rambling around the park when I worked nearby for the USFS, and it remains one of my best summers. My copy of the Edwards guide is well worn.

What sort of glasses are you using to read the TR Mike? i need to learn me some inside jokes

The East ledges are always horrific. Nobody should go down that way, stick to the west ridge.

Legendary, indeed. Thanks for the report! I need to make it to Pickell Pass one of these days. Rad: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/forecast03.php

That's why you carry the #3

Most of the time photos don't display is because of a broken link to a photo hosted outside of this site. It would be nice if everyone uploaded TR images to this site, but that may be too much to ask.

Oh man, that's terrible Scott. As you are painfully aware, such a long haul in there!

We were down in the fog and wind on Observation rock on Monday. I was wondering what it was like up high, thanks for the report! That is an accomplishment this late in the year.

Thanks for the reminder that I need to go back and do that trip again. So scenic!

Damn. That is hard to comprehend, Marc. Thanks for writing it up!

Rad- When you work around bears long enough, you'll find that isn't always the case. Sometimes you catch a bear on a bad day, and that really sucks for both you and them (eventually). I'm not sure why browns/griz tend to have more bad days than black bears, but that has consistently been my experience. Kit- well said!

I'm with you Kit, but it won't bring your ski pole back.

This is kind of like arguing religion.... But, I'm certainly with Pete on this. IMO we have more productive ways to spend money in less controversial areas. Road and trail maintenance immediately comes to mind. Knowing the feds, I sense a lot of money is going to get spent on scoping grizzly reintroduction into the North Cascades with very little to show for it.

I'm always curious when the discussion turns to reintroducing large predators how many people have had a bad experience (charged, mauled, stalked, etc.) with a brown bear/griz/cougar. Seems like perspectives often change after you or a companion have had a close call, esp. one involving serious injuries. Or, maybe others have a different experience? Though I don't support predator eradication efforts, I can understand why they were often hunted to local extinction.