[TR] Ruth Mt - Ruth Glacier 05/20/2018

[Alisse]

Trip: Ruth Mt - Ruth Glacier

Trip Date: 05/20/2018

Trip Report:

A beautiful day on Ruth with grouse seemingly everywhere and waterfalls abound! We had pretty low expectations because of the forecast, but thought if we decided to bail, a few hours in Bellingham would also be fun. Luckily, it only drizzled on us for a short while, the clouds kept the sunshine at bay, and we got some great skiing in!! Where were all the people? Only saw one guy coming out after summitting early, a guided group doing glacier rescue practice, and a pair of skiers who had bailed, passing us on their way out .

Road drive-able and fairly dry (except for one creek running over/through it...) within .2 miles of Hannegan Campground. There's a giant washout that took out the road plus some right before the campground, impressive. Almost no snow there, so we opted for the summer trail...pretty easy going/few blowdowns, it just doesn't gain elevation very quickly. Carried for awhile (4+ miles?) until we got to continuous snow. 

Anyway, we opted for the point 5930 circumnav route and that was OK..Clouds swirled in and out and at one point we were almost completely "in a ping pong ball" but happily it passed through.

A lot of my photos look monochrome/black and white due to the light. Unfortunately I forgot my real camera so hopefully these aren't too pixelated.

Shuksan was gorgeous and all the views were sporadic and interesting with the light coming through clouds. 

I haven't been in that area much, lots to learn and do!

Sweet bivy spot and Icy 

The snow was GREAT for awhile, far exceeding our expectations...then it got grabby and mushy. So it goes!

The slog out was beautiful and the rock in the valley was awesome, but my feet were sick of walking in my ski boots.

Great day with great friends in a beautiful place!! 💚

Gear Notes:
Approach shoes would have been wise

Approach Notes:
Moat-y around the SW side of point 5930

Edited May 22, 2018 by Alisse