[TR] Diobsud Buttes - Standard 04/16/2020

[JasonG]

Trip: Diobsud Buttes - Standard

Trip Date: 04/16/2020

Trip Report:

How has it been 8 months since I posed a TR??!!  Can I blame COVID?  You may think that I am now 300lbs, into gaming, and sitting on my basement couch.  Oh no!  I'm just the same old punter, a bit older and a bit slower, but definitely still in love with the alpine..... So, since the weather has turned and I've caught up on my image editing, I'll turn the clock back and start putting out some TRs over the next couple months.  I know you all can't just live on powder and face shots......

April 2020.  Public lands were shut for the most part, but dispersed recreation on USFS lands allowed as long as you don't use trails or trailheads. Not a problem in the Skagit!  But, in order to be good citizens, @Trent and I agreed to meet at the trailhead rather than carpool.  This will come back to haunt us later that day.  We drove in tandem up the excellent Diobsud Creek Road to about 2200' were we were stopped by snow.  Not a soul around.  Perfect.  We walked up the road for a bit until it was time to leave for the off-trail fun at about 2600'.  Less perfect. 

Soon (in hindsight) the brush was left behind and we emerged into the glorious alpine to great views and a chance to use our snowshoes.  You know you're in for a good time when you put those on.  Steve didn't have a chance to use his sunglasses, however, as they were at home.  D'oh!

After a bit of clumping up the ridge we reached a false summit (previous highpoint for us a few years ago) and a view towards the Buttes.  It looked steep, but at least the snow was quite soft at this point in the day:

We couldn't bear the thought of failing a second time at the same spot, so we continued clumping.  Down, down, down, then up, up, up.

Did I mention that Steve didn't have sunglasses?  It was bright for him, I'm sure.  We got to the summit of the the SE Butte (5850') and it looked like an easy stroll over to the higher, NW Butte (5893') and so we headed that way without delay:

But, uhhhhhhhh, this is as far as we got.  Just in front of Steve is a really steep gash in the ridge with a huge cornice off to the right and a death gully to cliff on the left.  It probably would have gone without a rope if we were desperate, but we weren't. And so we settled for some whiskey, chocolate, and a nap in the sun on the lower summit.  Soon enough it was time to descend into the slush and shenanigans.

But the Buttes weren't done with us!  We got back to our vehicles in good time and sat there drinking beers, eating chips and generally enjoying being outside in good company after weeks of being locked down.  We were in no rush.  But the sun sank lower and we reluctantly got into our rigs for the drive down.  Only to find the gate at the bottom of the road LOCKED!

What??!!  Were we in trouble???  We thought we had followed all the rules, but it was a pandemic so we couldn't be sure. @Trent and I moved the rigs back up from the gate (not the greatest neighborhood up there) and walked down to where I could barely get a call out to my wife.   Needless to say, social distancing was the first casualty, since our kids are small and the whole family came up to rescue us (waaaaay past their bedtime).  I was pretty sure I was going to be the next casualty.

But, I survived, and so did @Trent.  We got our vehicles out the next day, somewhat legally (story best told around the fire with whiskey).  And, most importantly, nobody got COVID.  The end. 

Maybe we'll be back for the higher Butte.  Maybe.

 

 

 

Gear Notes:
Sigh....Snowshoes

Approach Notes:
Diobsud Creek Road to ~2600'. Leave road and head straight up ridge towards peak. Depending on snow depth, expect shenanigans. Spring is best after snow settles and a hard freeze.

[genepires]

SNOWSHOES?  I thought you were allergic to slowshoes.

looks fun.  how is that area in summer?

 

[JasonG]

3 hours ago, genepires said:

I thought you were allergic to slowshoes.

They have great drugs these days.

[Bronco]

Awesome, look forward to the story about the gate.  

[JasonG]

13 hours ago, genepires said:

how is that area in summer?

I bet brushy and annoying.  Seems like a spring type destination given that it is under 6k with no trail?

[Matt_Alford]

Fantastic TR!

 

[mountainsloth]

Classic shoulder season scrambles. Nice one. I always wondered what these buttes looked like. Thanks for sharing as usual. 

[Carbonj]

On 11/20/2020 at 8:17 AM, JasonG said:

They have great drugs these days.

What no angle grinder, bolt cutters, or 6ft pipe?That's what all the tweekers carry from burlington when they go for a hike. Great photos as usual.Keep the TR's coming.

[JasonG]

11 hours ago, Carbonj said:

What no angle grinder, bolt cutters, or 6ft pipe?

Yeah, we debated the standard upriver treatment for that gate,  but settled for semi-legal guile.  No gates/locks were harmed in the vehicle extraction!

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Good one, ya gotta have a locked gate adventure every now and the .