[TR] Twin Sisters Range - Green Creek Circuit 08/19/2021

[Kyle M]

Trip: Twin Sisters Range - Green Creek Circuit

Trip Date: 08/19/2021

Trip Report:

 

@thedylan and @jenny.abegg and I did the classic Green Creek Circuit. It was a super fun day! I'm mostly posting to share details about the late season conditions, since this seemed more like an early summer thing.

 

https://climberkyle.com/2021/08/19/green-creek-circuit/

We took advantage of some beta that some nice people had put in a log bridge about 1/4 mile downstream from the usual river crossing. There also is a Tyrolean if that suits you more. I will include a photo of where the bridge is. Hopefully this becomes a regular bridge!

My track for where the bridge and according trails are. The trail to the bridge leaves the road with flagging.

Trail is in surprisingly good shape, follow the climber's trail into the Green Creek Cirque. The Arete was awesome and then we found running water beneath the Sisters Glacier.

The NE Ridge of South Twin was very enjoyable and the clouds shuffling by were beautiful.

All the chossy descents were pretty darn chossy with no snow. We kicked off some pretty big slides and had to be careful. I definitely understand how snow would make this more enjoyable, but it is still manageable.

Jaw's Tooth to Skookum was absolutely stunning! The 5.6 crux layback on Jaw's Tooth felt pretty real in approach shoes, but Jenny of course soloed it in style. I definitely enjoyed a rope.

The crux 5.6 layback. So good!

Jenny on Skookum Peak. Wow!

With the clouds on Skookum.

Note that a 30m rope is barely enough for the rap off Jaw's Tooth.

We entered the clouds as we climbed up Little Sister and did the left arete. Maybe there is a better way to start it, because we started with about 100 ft of unprotectable face climbing that felt much harder than 5.4, with small downward sloping holds. Then it returned to excellent rock up the long climb to the summit.

We did most of the ridge traverse to Cinderella before just bailing to the scree and then ascending the easy west ridge of Cinderella. From the summit, we just dropped to the north down slabs towards the edge of the Green Creek glacier.

We had no issues with the glaciers on either sides: super easy to cross, no moat problems, no crampons even used. It looked like you could get on the Green Creek Glacier in a myriad of spots.

Overall, this was a super fun day! The circuit definitely goes just fine late season, but it is probably a little slower with the chossy descents and you have to be careful with the loose rock. But if you are impatient like me, go for it!

 

Gear Notes:
Approach shoes, 30m half rope, small to medium cams, tricams and nuts (not really used), slings, crampons and ice ax (not used), helmet

Approach Notes:
See the map above for where the log bridge was placed. The river maybe could have been forded, but it would be a little scary.

Edited August 21, 2021 by Kyle M

[Otto]

Mighty fine photos there, Kyle. Alpine ridge climbing on Skookum looks great! Where do you find these obscure things? Thank for posting. 

[mountainsloth]

Wow! That’s a big day! Gorgeous photos, esp. the last one of Jenny on the ridge!

[Kyle M]

@Otto Dylan told me about this route since he had done it a few years ago. I believe Darin was the first to really publicize this official "circuit": 

 

[JasonG]

Thanks for the reminder to return!

[kmfoerster]

Your photos keep getting better and better. The circuit really is a fun outing and the rock in the sisters can be a dream to climb.

[thedylan]

So beautiful!

I started a separate thread on the bolts I noticed on Little Sister: