dberdinka

Climb: 6 Days and 6 Routes in The Pasayten Wilderness -Part 1 Date of Climb: 7/28/2004 Trip Report: My best friend, and in 6 weeks - best man, is named Owen. He is as solid a person and climber as I have ever known. We use to climb most weekends together, now that he lives in Colorado, we still plan at least one big trip together each year. Together we’ve carried heavy loads into the Winds, the Sawtooths and the Cascades, climbed spires and descended canyons in the desert southwest, frozen our arses off on a bivi ledge or two. This year the plan was the Bugaboos. We were gonna go for it dude! Do a Grade VI on Howser man… or at least a mess of Grade V’s. But plans can change. Six days of cragging, that was the sum total of my climbing this year by mid-July. Of course breaking my ankle at the end of March had a lot to do with it. It didn’t change the fact that I was out of shape and the few day trips I had done on moderate routes left me hobbled and limping by the time I was headed back to the car. The Bugaboos were not happening, it would be too painful to get all the way in there and have to bail because my body was a POS. We needed a trip with less climbing and more importantly less expectations. As I had managed a fair bit of backpacking with my fiancé in the prior month we settled on a trip to Wall Creek, a remote valley just north of the border that lies below the granitic peaks of Grimface, Matriarch and Macrabe. As it turned out the ankle was healed, the weather was perfect, the wilderness exquisite and the climbing incredible. What follows are photos and notes on what might be the finest trip I’ve ever done. Getting There We left town on the evening of Thurday, July 22nd timing it perfectly with the heatwave that washed through the area. Projected highs in nearby towns were 102 degrees. From Bellingham it’s 234 miles and about 4.5 hours to the Centennial Trailhead. From Highway 3 the last 30.4 miles are on the Ashnola River Road, almost all of it an excellent 2wd gravel road. We pulled into the very obvious trailhead near midnight. Day 1 Friday, July 23rd In the morning we packed up….. Getting into the head of Wall Creek took less than five hours on an excellent trail. Follow the Centennial trail for about 4 miles to the obvious signed fork and take the right hand branch. All blow-down has been removed making for a moderate and enjoyable hike. The meadows are beautiful and pristine. Plans for climbing in the afternoon turned into a chilly swim in a nearby lake, a bit of bouldering and much swatting of mosquitoes. Day 2 Saturday, July 24th Matriarch - South Pillar “Good from far, but far from good!” Actually it’s not that bad, just not the classic one hopes it will be. The 3-pitch direct start is composed of the worst kitty-litter granite choss I’ve climbed. Immediately afterwards the rock becomes much better, in fact excellent, only to deteriorate once again on the final crux moves. With the recommended indirect start the route goes at 5.10b. Be prepared to pull the final roof on mediocre rock with fall potential onto a slab. A recommended line, though not one to center your trip around. We topped out by noon and decide to climb another route rather than eat bugs down in the meadows. We descended a loose gully next to the pillar, grabbed our shoes and hiked over to Grimface. Grimface – Southeast Chimneys Established by Bob Cuthbert and company in 1973 this is an intriguing route that ascends a long series of moderate chimneys on the southeast side of Grimface. In fact of the routes six pitches only one of them is not a chimney and it’s a wide crack! A trickle of water at the base of the route kept us from dieing of dehydration and a large shady cave sprinkled with goat droppings allowed for a long, cool midday siesta before we started the climb. The rock quality is excellent and the chimneying is sustained back-and-foot work. Though generally low-angle, gear is intermittent at best and a fall would have serious consequences. Not the best route for a 5.7 leader. I would however call the route a CLASSIC. There just aren’t many climbs where one can practice such a well-known and interesting technique. The neighboring “Mother of Invention” route looked excellent as well. Either route would make a great finish to the G-M-M traverse for a strong party. To descend we walked down the scenic NW ridge then enjoyed some amazing scree-surfing back into Wall Creek. We must have dropped 1500’ in ten minutes and made it back into camp after a thirteen hour day. Day 3 Sunday, July 25th The Deacon – The Nose Owen starting up Pitch 2 I’ve always been intrigued by the description of The Deacon in the Red Beckey Guide. A friend of mine, Steve Barnett, did the first ascent of the north face in 1973. Unfortunately he can’t remember doing it. Oh well! This is a beautiful formation in a very remote valley. The rock is generally excellent, though a bit vegetated and occasionally loose. The Nose, established by Peter Doorish in 1991, is a very good, albeit serious route that follows a cunning path up one of the only lines of weakness on the face. Maybe even a backcountry classic for the grade. From our camp in Wall Creek we hiked up to col with Ewart creek then traversed meadows and boulder fields to the base of The Nose. The route description in the Beckey Guide is concise but adequate, you won’t have a lot of other options. After starting on the nose for two pitches, the route moves onto the left side of the north face and remains there until almost the summit. It in fact joins the 1973 Barnett-Anderson route on top of the obvious pillar on the north face contrary to what is written in the Beckey Guide. Bring a medium rack to 4”. You will need micro nuts and tiny TCUs to build a good anchor between the 5.10 pitches. The wall is steep, the ledge is small, and the crux is right at the start. Thanks to Owen for leading both crux pitches in style. A brief, very exposed, downclimb into the first notch, followed by one 80’ rappel into the first SE gully, then a quick traverse into the next gully and a lot of scrambling led back to the base of the route in less than an hour. By the time we got back to camp we had been on the go for over twelve hours, our pace had been anything but fast. Day 4 Monday, July 26th Uninspired to slog back up the scree below Grimface, Matriarch and Macrabe we decided to head to the Cathedral Lakes area for the remainder of our trip. It was a very good decision. We found easy travel through meadows and boulder fields on the northwest side of the Deacon , climbing about 1400’ before reaching the top of the expansive ridgeline separating Wall Creek from Cathedral Creek. Owen with Cathedral and Amphitheatre Peaks in the background From here a steep descent led to more beautiful meadows and open forest in the head of Cathedral Creek. Within two hours of leaving camp we entered a strange clearing in the forest. More to follow later.....Part 2 - The Homeland Gear Notes: see report Approach Notes: see report

So you're kinda sitting at this nice bivi spot. About were a reasonably fit, reasonably proficent weekend warrior can get in a day. There is this steep f&*king snow slope perched above a huge shrund at the top of a very steep glacier. You look at your piddly boots, your one axe, hopefully your crampons. A little butterfly of fear develops in your stomach. You look at the rock ridge. A chossy, steep pillar blocks the way, looks maybe 5.8? But the gear sucks or is at least quite a bit bigger than anything you brought. Behind it is a mandatory stretch of snowy arete followed by another steep wall of broken rock. Time to medicate and sleep on it.......

I never got a reel and stuck a package of freeze-dried ick in the pack instead. Regardless, we were laying on a rock by the edge of Upper Cathedral Lake sunbathing when a bumblebee starting trying to pollinate our ears. Being a bug it had a rather small brain and couldn't quite figure out that we weren't a flower (actually I'm thinking my buddy might be ) So he grabs my hat and makes a rather pathetic display of slowly beating this thing to death, it put up a good fight for 20 seconds or so. He casually flicks it's dismembered carcass into the lake and we go back to baking in the sun. Within a minute the loud CLAP of a large fish hitting the surface breaks the silence. Bumble bee gone! Pretty cool, shoulda stuck a hook in it.

It is a very enjoyable route on nice blocky, solid rock. We scored free lift passes several years ago by cutting coupons out of the local free paper. Might check it out first before dropping $ 20+.

in most cases a "sausagefest". Should one female be present call it a "gaggle"

Evidently the bridge across the river at the start of the trail is washed out. In Late June it was declared "IMPASSABLE!". Probably could get across one way or another now, just one more thing to think about....

My memory is hazy but for the B-C....... 60 meter ropes might be nice to ensure getting over the Bergshrund. Seems like it was pretty close to a full length rap. Lots of long pitches as well on route. We left our crampons and axes at the Pigeon-Howser Col. I bashed up my elbow real-good sliding down ice into a talus field. Not good I'd probably do it the same way again and just be very, very careful descending.

Andy Cairnes has posted some other photos of the face around here and also did an FA on it. PM him....

Way to go Layton! I think Jordan wrote once wrote something about if you keep swinging you'll eventually get a hit... or some inspiring metaphor like that.

mmmmmhh...We likes to eats the fishies we do!

Hey all, I'm packing up for a trip that will take us to some alpine lakes. Supposedly the fishing is great. I considering grabbing some hooks and line and do a little fishing Huck Finn style. What the heck do those suckers bite on? Worms, gummi bears, left over tortellini? If I'm not fly fishing am I wasting my time? Any stories are greatly appreciated?

I wouldn't be so sure about that anymore! Looks like my fiance and I might have a new objective on our way to a wedding in Winthrop here in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the detailed beta! Darin

Holy Shit! Next they'll be a pic of John Kerry nailing A5.

So I was full of it. Evidently the road is a little worse than 2wd.

Here is a completely untested idea based on second-hand accounts of access and routes but it might be worth considering..... Evidently there is a class 2-3 route up the south side that blasts straight up from easily accessable 2wd roads. It follows a long slab of granite (ala Darrington's granite sidewalk) to reach alpine slopes on the south side of the peak. An acquantance did this route in an easy day rt. See bivouac.com for details. Anyway bivi high on the south side. In the morning do the descent off of Ratney first then climb the route walk down to your camp and descend. If you went this way you'd be adding an extra 1500' vert to your trip but it might be preferable to the screwed up roads and what sounds like a nasty thrash of an approach.

Snow Field at mid-right above NW Glacier. Anyone done this? Anyone know anyone who's done this?

Tomihoy Peak would be a nice two day trip. Beautiful area, close to home.

Now that you're a "fast" party go do S Face of Ashlu in a day from Squish and give us a report!

I'll just add that the final chimney vs the sweet handcrack is actually really nice too. If you got some extra time do both.

Just read the summit-post beta. Detailed to the point of confusion. Rapping the last pitch is no-big-deal. A little bit of tension-traversing and maybe a bit of down climbing with the brake-hand still on the ropes type stuff. It seems that one should generally avoid "free hanging rappells into the loose-chossy abyss" beta. Just a thought...

I climbed the standard route on Warbonnet two falls ago. It is one of the most memorable and beautiful trips I ever did. The approach is straighforward, the XC part involves a LOT of talus aslong with some nice nice meadows. No bushwacking. Still just a moderate day though to get in there, maybe 6-7 hours. (take the boat to start). I camped at the last of a chain of lakes in the valley below the peak. Granite slabs, larches and meadows abound. Very nice. The climb is very pleasant. Reminiscent of the Beckey Route on Liberty Bell in terms of difficulty and style. First pitch start seemed to hard to find and looking more intimidating that it was. Route is easily rappelled including the last pitch. Little bits of downclimbing between rappels. There is a very nice variation hand crack (5.7) to climbers left of the easy chimney just before the final arete pitch. For kicks I hiked out by circling past Upper Red Fish Lakes. Very beautiful area with essentially no trace of human impact what so ever. I would recommend taking your time and enjoying the wilderness aspect the trip has to offer.

It's great to see history on so many aspects of the sport and individuals. That's an element of NW climbing that has been keenly missing. Keep up the great work! Looking forward to the next "issue".

I'm pretty sure I saw him in the produce section of the Food Pavilion last night, not a soldier around. You sure about that?

ahead in electoral

That would be a long friggin walk from the lake. 4hrs at least. A great climb but maybe not worth that much logging-road hiking.