Kyle_Flick

We were up in the Enchantments on Sunday doing a day hike in the Lost World Plateau. There was snow on the rock where we crossed over Cannon mountain (8000'). As we passed by Temple Ridge it looked fairly snow free. Expect pockets of snow in the shadows of your route.

I took my son up there earlier this year, and we had a wonderful time. He could have led several of the pitches. The first and third pitches you probably should lead because the former has a short exposed traverse and the latter is runout (but easy). Otherwise everything is quite reasonable. Enjoy.

Do Serpentine first to get familiar with the terrain. As far as Backbone, it still has loose stuff higher up, even on the Fin so be watchful if there is a party above. Protect the offwidth with a #5 Camalot (move it up or leap frog with another #5).

I've descended both ways off Dragontail, i.e. Aasgard and Colchuck. The Colchuck Glacier descent off of Dragontail will take longer as it isn't as direct. If you choose to descend toward Colchuck Col take an ice ax and crampons as there usually is a steep snow slope up to the saddle that leads to the gully that drops you down to the Colchuck-Dragontail Col. The gully down to the Col will be loose dirt and rock, but the glacier will be firm.

Sorry to read about your travails regarding the approach. I agree the Toketie approach and descent is gruesome. We came up Hook Creek with light packs carrying bivy gear, and while quite a hump it was direct and only took less than half a day. Was there any water to be found on the Plateau? At least you got a climb in for all your trouble.

Last year we climbed the Duolith on the west side next to the start of the south face route of the Mole and found it to be 4th class. We topped out on the north summit (the s. summit climbs an unprotectable arete with questionable means of descent) and did two raps down to the Hook Creek side with a 50m rope. The anchors are good. Enjoy the ambiance of the Mesa, but you'll have to hike down to Mesa Lake for water.

The talus field below the gully is dry. There is only a remnant of dirty snow left just below the gully. It's just dirt, loose rock and wet in places in the gully itself.

We talked to some folks who mentioned a permit could be purchased/obtained from the ranger to access the gate/road. While the gate isn't always locked, it goes without saying fines are meted out if caught in there without a permit. The bike ride in and out is just fine.

While the Glacier Basin area of the approach is stunning, the final approach gully is unsavory. It is free of snow, but loose. After completing the climb we opted for descending the opposite side to the southwest to the valley for the '76 Creek trail. Not recommended. It took six hours to reach our bikes at Monte Cristo. The descent is vaguely described in Becky's alt. approaches to the Spire, but it is more involved than described.

We climbed the route 8/18-19/01 both days in the fog. While route finding thru the vertical bush was unpleasant, we were never far off course. The rock climbing on the upper section of the buttress was more than anticipated. One option is to rap into the gully (which was free of snow but looked wet). There was a new pin and sling to rap from, but we opted for option 2 which was supposed to be a 5.3 chimney on the left of the vertical face. We didn't find it and instead climbed a sketchy, exposed face to the left. With pack and mountain boots, it felt harder than 5.7. The second pitch on the north face of the arete had two short sections: The first comprising a fist crack and the second a dihedral with a mantle (also in the 5.7 range). Once past this section the rock was able to be simul-climbed to the snow. The right side of the snow arete dropped off into the mist into no man's land. There were two major crevasses to cross on the glacier where the ice screw and picket came in handy (I'd recommend a second ice screw for gear so that you can skip traversing to the rock to avoid the first crevasse--it was very hard blue ice trying to bypass the 1st crevasse). We topped out 14 hours after starting. We descended that evening a couple hundred feet and mined out some bivy sites. No water. We spent an hour the next morning trying to figure out the right gully to descend to get to the Johannesburg-Cascade Col. Unfortunately, our efforts were hampered with only about 100 yards of visibility. In retrospect we should have stayed as close to the summit ridge as possible to descend easterly. We thought we were too far north as we saw a north sloping snow slope below us and mistakenly thought it was the Sill Glacier 1000' below. The route description is skimpy and requires visibility. We broke out the map and compass and debated the best course to take. Unfortunately, we selected a different gully which ended up as an extremely dangerous slot canyon filled with loose boulders that spit us out on the south side of the mountain 700' below and 1/2 mile away from the Col. After several near death misses from rockfall, we escaped the gully on ledges to the left and were welcomed with sunny alp slopes filled with succulent blueberries. We hadn't found any water all morning until we traversed around the mountain and were below the Col's snowfield. We sidehilled across the alp slopes occasional picking up a herd path (crampons were helpful for the steeper sections of heather) for about a mile and a half. There is one cliff band that we rapped that dropped us close to the drainage from Gunsight notch. It took us 14 hours to complete the descent from our bivy spot to the car, but if you stay on route I suspect it would take half the time. Kudos to the climbers noted in the summit register, one of which indicated he had soloed the route. Query to those who have done the route: Where was the 5.3 chimney in relation to the pin rap? Are there any rap stations on the descent? In any event your answers will be beta for some other party because I have no intention of repeating that route. Kyle

Staying higher on the snow made for easier transition to the slabs on the other side. One cautionary note: Beware of a very loose boulder 10' below the notch of the ridge crest.

Two weekends ago we crossed it and it was straightforward. You shouldn't have any problems. Have a nice trip.

Some friends of ours did it last year and felt it wasn't too hazardous. My feeling is with the hanging glaciers and the number of avalanches I've heard coming down through there, the less time I spent in the couloir, crossing to get up and onto the buttress, the better.

We were just across the valley from you last weekend on Mt.Triumph and the bugs were fine up high, but down at Thornton Lakes biting flies were nasty. Congrats on your trip. The Southern Pickets look like a must, but getting to the north side of Terror, for instance, looks darn hard.

We did the NE Buttress of Argonaut last year and used a small alpine rack up to 3". The descent is off the east side across the snowfield toward Colchuck. There are rap slings that take you into the NE Gully. You'll want to cross the gully and continue a 2nd rap to the slope below. Then traverse to the Colchuck-Dragontail Col and down Colchuck Glacier. This assumes you've approached the climb from Mountaineers Creek.

There was a 50' stretch of hard ice traversing off the Stuart Glacier entering the gully. I only used insteps and was fortunate to have a partner who had twelve points to cut steps. Watch for rockfall as it's really loose in that area. The gully itself can be climbed on the side off of any snow.

My two cents: You should have left the bolts alone. If you don't like them don't clip them. With all the posturing you've lost sight of that basic premise. I'm with Victor, the rock is the loser in the end.

We were on the north ridge of Stuart doing the Gendarme this weekend and noticed that the Girth Pillar route was intact, although the bivy site platform described was not visible and there appeared to be debris around the base area.

Two weeks ago there was a snow ramp that took you right into the Col. It was loose 3rd to 4th class at most.

We did the N. Ridge of Forbidden last weekend and it's in condition. Sharkfin Col has a snow ramp onto the rock which should last for another week or two before it moats out. We stayed on the ridge as much as possible. Other than two snowslopes on the ridge the rock is dry. We avoided the second snow slope by traversing on the east side of the ridge which made for interesting climbing on suspect rock. It's long but fun simul climbing for nearly 3/4s of a mile with only a 1000' of elevation gain. The ambiance is tough to beat anywhere in the Cascades. The descent from the top down the east ledges is the way to go.

What is the status of the bolt(s) on top of the Flagpole up Crystal Creek/next to Pennant Peak?