7Fj/Maude, Gothic basin, or ?

[AnthonyL]

Off for summer. Want to get into the north cascades as my wife has been sick a heck for the last two years, so she still hasn't really experienced anything there yet! She is just learning glacier travel, so we have to stick to non-glaciated routes. She can't carry much in her backpack due to her illness, so we also are probably only limited to scrambles unless the rack is rather small. 

Right now I'm thinking we should go do seven finger Jack and mount Maude.  Would gothic basin be a fun as it looks for some peak bagging given our limitations? Really just looking to camp high-ish and get some awesome views and enjoy being in the mountains. 

 

Any recommendations for trips that fit this criteria (no glacier travel, scramble, good camping, not too insanely crowded)? Also open to ideas for other areas! I've been obsessively looking at trip reports and guide books for ages now, but I figured his community would have some great ideas.

 

Thanks.

Edited June 26, 2018 by AnthonyL

[JasonG]

Gothic Basin is likely to be pretty busy, but Gothic and Del Campo are fun scrambles.  Likely to be less busy by Maude, which is also a good scramble along with 7FJ.  More effort for those last two.  I would also recommend Twin Lakes and the West ridge of Columbia. 

[genepires]

maybe a little wife illness history is on order before offering some recommendations?   of course we are all adults and capable of making decisions but for some illness, maybe being a days hike from road is a problem?

How about some possible usual day trips that could be done to gauge abilities first?  Maybe something like Mt Pugh or Mt dickerman?   (never been on pugh but based on what I heard about it)  Dickerman would give a good feel for hiking strength with pretty good amounts of vertical hiking and not too crowded IF you start hiking before 8am.  Same for Pilchuck.

 

 

 

 

 

[AnthonyL]

She is just having issues of super tension in her iluopsoas muscles. Thus, any sustained pressure on her back or abdomen outs her in pain. We finally found a backpack that works for her. She has been hiking with as much weight as she will be for camping. Just did dragontail in a car to car with no issue, so I think she's ready to try an overnighter. I'm thinking stuff that would have us camping for a night at first, then move on to a two day trip.

 

Thank you!