JayB Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 V. Kramar mentions this wall in his guidebook and makes it sound pretty sweet, e.g. "Though not technically in the Icicle, Toketie Wall is a remote hidden jewel, offering 1000 feet of steep crack systems rising out of Toketie Lake. Toketie Buttress has several moderate multipitch routes. The hefty approach will insure your solitude on these cliffs." Looks like the hefty approach checks in at about 4 miles, with 5000 feet elevation gain along the way. I've looked all over for more information and asked around but either no one knows anything or no one is telling. Anyone have any first or second hand information about the place or photos? I can't imagine anyone worrying about this place getting overrun, as even if the word got out that there was a mini-Yosemite up there the approach will keep visitation to a minimum. Also, anyone taken the C.B. route up the lower half of the Bridge Creek Wall and /or the last two pitches of the East Face route to the top of the upper wall? Looks like you could string the two together for a sweet 5 pitch 5.9. I noticed the B.C.W. on the way back from Colchuck this weekend and it looked pretty sweet. :
erik Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 jayb take a toke wall is in the brown becky book e fast of bridge creek is an awesome route. i dont know about linking the two...the topo is quite misgiving. is the cb route the one on the left side of the drawing?? then you could prolly link them. the last pitches of e face are short. best rock and routes in the icicle!!!
JayB Posted February 25, 2003 Author Posted February 25, 2003 Hey - it is in the brown book. I looked through that sucker a couple of times but obviously not thoroughly enough. There's just enough info in there to make it worth taking the pain and hoofing it in there to take a look this summer. Someone's gotta have a picture though.... Thanks for the info on BCW Erik. Any OW or other nastiness on the two upper pitches of the BCW? Thanks,
fredrogers Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 Jay- I may have some snaps of the the Wall from when we went past it on the way into the Mole. I'll try and dig them out and PM them to you. Looks sweet- a much better objective than the Mole. Also ask Captn. Cavedude- I know he's climbed there. The approach is a hands-down bitch. Even if you find the right trail.
allison Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 Exited the Enchantments via Toketie Lk and its approach last August. It was absolutely heinous. Really, really nasty sheehot. Rocks not big enough to hold your weight covered in ash, very slippery. Very steep trail through dead burnt snags. The vibrations of our footfall caused about a half dozen of these trees to fall like matchsticks right behind me (I was in the back), it was absolutely terrifying. I had a nice light load, and am not a wimp about crappy trails, and that approach SUCKS. If your trip planning allows it, take the Temple Cyn approach from Nada Lake. It is way fun and good. Beckey lies about that approach. Wish I had it in me to climb big things like the Toketie Wall, 'cuz it looked awesome. Absolutely so.
Jake Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 The cliff is pretty big and cool looking - I'll try to post some pics if I can find them. I haven't climbed it, but hiked up there a few years ago in the fall to look at it and the approach is definitely a grunt. I went up snow creek until I got to toketie creek and then followed that drainage up trying to keep high on the hills to avoid the rocks, steep bushy crap, and burned trees. I don't remember exactly how long the round trip (we stopped at the lake - the wall is on the other side of it and would probably take another 20+ ? min to get to), but I am guessing it was was probably around 6hrs. It might be a shorter trip if mother nature doesn't decide to snow on you like she did to us. It might be cool to hike up there one afternoon and spend the night at the lake and climb the next day. There are a couple towers on the ridge south of the creek that could be fun to check out too.
erik Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 Jake said: There are a couple towers on the ridge south of the creek that could be fun to check out too. think that is the s side of the bong. looks to be some interesting stuff north side of that. someone has been there though. soooo much in that area. none of you should go there ever it is horrid. bad stone everywhere!
JayB Posted February 25, 2003 Author Posted February 25, 2003 Thanks for sharing the info about this area, everyone. Might be a good destination during one of the busier summer weekends. Fred/Jake - thanks for offering to share the photos. I'm sure that there are other folks out there who would like to check them out too.
Jake Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 Well, I can't find the photos of toketie wall that I thought I had with me. I think they are at my house right now and I won't be back there for a couple weeks. Hopefully someone else has some to show before then - it really is a sweet looking stone. Sorry to get your hopes up.
Cpt.Caveman Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 Danimal and I swapped pitches up Toketie Wall 2 falls ago. It's about 7-8 pitches if you take it all the way from the buttress toe for the '76 route. Expect lichen, dirt and general mountain climbing type of shit. The descent was about 5 minutes down easy slopes on the left side of the wall to the lake. We made our approach after climbing Prusik Peak by passing by the Mole and stuff then after our climb of the wall down the Toketie drainage. III 5.9 Dirt, pro to 3 inches Make sure you trundle some shit while you are up there.
specialed Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 erik said: jayb take a toke wall is in the brown becky book e fast of bridge creek is an awesome route. i dont know about linking the two...the topo is quite misgiving. is the cb route the one on the left side of the drawing?? then you could prolly link them. the last pitches of e face are short. best rock and routes in the icicle!!! Bring goggles.
erik Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 specialed said: erik said: jayb take a toke wall is in the brown becky book e fast of bridge creek is an awesome route. i dont know about linking the two...the topo is quite misgiving. is the cb route the one on the left side of the drawing?? then you could prolly link them. the last pitches of e face are short. best rock and routes in the icicle!!! Bring goggles. you mean you weren't lichen it?
TimL Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 A couple of years ago we passed Toketie Lake and Wall en route to the Mole. The whole area is a pretty cool and seemed to be less visited part of the Enchantments. We approached via the Rat Creek drainage. It seems to approach the area your picking the lesser of 2 evils but the Rat Creek approach was terrible. The approach entailed finding the obvious climbers trail that went steeply thru burnt forrest with plenty of bush whacking. I've heard of a cross country way up over Cannon mtn and I'd guess its longer but easier to go up and over Prussik Pass and descend onto the Edward Mesa and down to Toketie Lake Wall but that will take a fair amount of time.
Cpt.Caveman Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 Yes Tim it does take extra time to go all the way to Prusik and back around or on those other hikes in too. If it's your sole destination it's another one of those pick your poison games I think when we climbed it, we had a 3 day weekend trip and managed the South Face (beckey) route of Prusik after the approach day. The next day was the really easy and nice hike to Toketie , past the lakes you mention and climbed the wall and descending the smoke a thai drainage via headlamp. Certainly we are not the fittest or quickest so someone more gung ho could make eaiser work of it. If you want some adventure you'll probably get what you were looking for on this one. Nice views from 3 musketeers ridge , which is where the wall tops out on...
Crackbolter Posted February 26, 2003 Posted February 26, 2003 Nice westslope cutthroat in the lake too. Nice gear cache spot for the enchantments.
fredrogers Posted February 27, 2003 Posted February 27, 2003 TimL said: A couple of years ago we passed Toketie Lake and Wall en route to the Mole. The whole area is a pretty cool and seemed to be less visited part of the Enchantments. We approached via the Rat Creek drainage. It seems to approach the area your picking the lesser of 2 evils but the Rat Creek approach was terrible. The approach entailed finding the obvious climbers trail that went steeply thru burnt forrest with plenty of bush whacking. I've heard of a cross country way up over Cannon mtn and I'd guess its longer but easier to go up and over Prussik Pass and descend onto the Edward Mesa and down to Toketie Lake Wall but that will take a fair amount of time. Timbo- we came up Toketie Creek- not Rat Creek. And it sucked, hard. JayB- I checked my photos and I don't have any of the wall- I was fighting off the worst leg cramps I've had in my life at that point and I guess I didn't shoot the wall after all. It's a bitch, but go for it- you'll have the place to yourself. The S face of the Mole (or any of the other longer routes) would be easy from the lake and a nice addition. As bad as the approach and deproach sucked, it's kinda cool to look up from the Icicle and scream "never again f&%ker".
Smoker Posted March 1, 2003 Posted March 1, 2003 The approach up the climbers "trail" into Tokatie is fun, but can be by-passed. While it is further to travel, consult your topo, it is less work to travel up the snow lakes trail to where it crosses the creek. then make an ascending traverse back towards the outlet of tokati. Dont ascend to quickly and look for old blazes, maybe even a cairn or 2 still standing. You will be goin cross bush
allison Posted March 2, 2003 Posted March 2, 2003 Cpt.Caveman said: We made our approach after climbing Prusik Peak by passing by the Mole and stuff then after our climb of the wall down the Toketie drainage. I'm wondering how the Mole got between Prusik Peak and Toketie Wall. You have to get on top of Edward Mesa to be over by the Mole, and that is not right by Toketie Wall. Also curious as to if anyone has been to Ed Mesa via the drainage slumping to the E of said mesa, unnamed and has no named creek. It appears to be the way up, both from the road and from the top. Please respond or PM. Otherwise I will be forced to endure the heinous bushwhack.
ScottP Posted March 2, 2003 Posted March 2, 2003 allison said: Cpt.Caveman said: We made our approach after climbing Prusik Peak by passing by the Mole and stuff then after our climb of the wall down the Toketie drainage. I'm wondering how the Mole got between Prusik Peak and Toketie Wall. You have to get on top of Edward Mesa to be over by the Mole, and that is not right by Toketie Wall. Also curious as to if anyone has been to Ed Mesa via the drainage slumping to the E of said mesa, unnamed and has no named creek. It appears to be the way up, both from the road and from the top. Please respond or PM. Otherwise I will be forced to endure the heinous bushwhack. If you're travelling from Prusik Pass to the Snow Lake trail via Toketie Lake and Toketie Creek, technically you would pass the Mole as you go over Toketie Pass: At Prusik Pass, looking NE, the Mole is in front of you. At the confluence of Toketie and Snow Creeks, looking NE, the Mole is behind you.
Cpt.Caveman Posted March 3, 2003 Posted March 3, 2003 allison said: Cpt.Caveman said: We made our approach after climbing Prusik Peak by passing by the Mole and stuff then after our climb of the wall down the Toketie drainage. I'm wondering how the Mole got between Prusik Peak and Toketie Wall. You have to get on top of Edward Mesa to be over by the Mole, and that is not right by Toketie Wall. Listen to Mullet Man scottp. I passed by your stupid lake and climbed the wall so I think I know where things are located. Get back on the short bus. Some people can never kick the head up ass syndrome. Are you one of those?
slaphappy Posted March 3, 2003 Posted March 3, 2003 Also curious as to if anyone has been to Ed Mesa via the drainage slumping to the E of said mesa, unnamed and has no named creek. It appears to be the way up, both from the road and from the top. Please respond or PM. Otherwise I will be forced to endure the heinous bushwhack. Have you really been up there and looked at it from the top, or just sittin on your ass staring at a map? I've been to the Eastern edge of the mesa and am pretty damn sure it cliffs out. If your goal is the mesa or The Hook Creek Crags, why anyone would hike up there any other way than Hook Creek is beyond me.
allison Posted March 3, 2003 Posted March 3, 2003 Looks like you are the one on the short bus if you took that detour!
slaphappy Posted March 3, 2003 Posted March 3, 2003 allison- it seems to me you have no idea what your talking about, have you even hiked through the area?
allison Posted March 3, 2003 Posted March 3, 2003 Yes, I have, I spent five days back in that area last August, and I still do not consider the Mole to be between Prusik and Toketie. It's not miles and miles out of the way, but it is not on the way unless you detour. We entered via Temple Cyn/Nada Pass and exited via Toketie Lk/Ck.
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