[TR] Pickets, some south, mostly north - Goodell to Big Beaver (abandoned Goodell enchainment attempt) 07/07/2024

[JonParker]

Trip: Pickets, some south, mostly north - Goodell to Big Beaver (abandoned Goodell enchainment attempt)

Trip Date: 07/07/2024

Trip Report:

 

Last weekend was a good time to get high and try to stay high. I set out with hopes of essentially enchaining the Goodell creek watershed. The idea formed gradually over the past few years as I noticed bits of beta here and there. The key pieces of the puzzle for me were a) seano’s solo ropeless descent to the NW from W fury, and b) that descending S from N Despair is apparently not difficult  

 

With this and other reports here and on Steph Abegg’s site I felt like I knew enough to attempt to solo with a bike drop at Thornton lakes TH, and entry at Goodell TH. The plan was to go up to O-H Col, on to Outrigger, to East then West Furies, down towards Pickell pass (visiting Swiss and Spectre along the way). Then Crowder, Pioneer, N Despair, hopefully find a good descent to its south, then regain the ridge and circle back for S despair, then back out Thornton lakes. Since I’d already climbed Triumph and didn’t want to pack a #4 all that way, it wasn’t on the list. But an enchainment including it would be more aesthetic.

I would have enjoyed company but doubted I’d find anyone with the interest and time. At some point I deluded myself into thinking I could do it in 4 days. This wasn’t wildly off the mark but planning on 5 days would have been smarter. Long story short I didn’t complete the loop, and likely won’t repeat the part that I visited just for the sake of a loop. I haven’t seen anyone describe this exact variation of a pickets excursion. Still think it’s a cool idea, hope someone tries it out.

It was at W Fury (just after being inspired by the fresh Mongo ridge entry from the day before) that I decided to instead bail East. This was partly due to falling behind schedule, but what sealed the deal was a cresting wave of snow guarding entry to the chute dropping off the N side of W fury, just east of the summit block. Maybe if I had a belay, but it looked too spooky to engage solo, quite a bit of exposure there. I had wanted to go early to make sure the snow arete on N despair was in good shape, and the bypass gully west of Crowder, in case the NE ridge looked too sketchy. But it seems I was just a little too early.

Back to the beginning, various notes In chronological order - day1: There is currently no bushwhacking on the path of least resistance to Terror creek. The creek looked tricky but wasn’t. There is dry ground at the bivy spot. There was still a good amount of snow in crescent creek basin, but a little hard to say if it was friend or foe. The post holing wasn’t the stuff of nightmares, but was fairly bad. I must have tweaked my knee at some point because it started registering some displeasure quite loudly as the afternoon led to evening. This was my first concern for the loop plan, but ended up being problematic but manageable throughout the trip.

Gully to O-H col was in good shape. It was getting late by the time I got there (theme of the trip). I grabbed my rock shoes and carried them as I wandered around the choss Ikea to get up Ottohorn. The rock scar has the one fun bit of climbing on the route and I guess maybe low 5th due to exposure, but it’s quite easy, didn’t need the shoes. Returned to the Col and had to take much care not to have my mat, bag, or bivy blow off the mountain in that wind tunnel. Not a very comfy place to stay. 

Day 2 -  Moving slowly on the skiers left of the snow. Feeling the weight of the pack, the exposure, and the slippery dirtiness underfoot. Reached the snow and saw that I could skip the rap, though that could quickly change given the relentless heat. Maybe no longer true as of this writing. Finding my way from the upper Mustard area to the ridge leading to Frenzel camp was surprisingly complex. I encountered a lot of steep, exposed snow with uncertain stages of moat development. I had to stay cautious here. Abeggs photos were eventually helpful but it took a while to reconcile what I was seeing because of my earlier season snow conditions. Had coffee at Frenzel camp, filled up water and headed down. Did one rap at the bottom of that steep section. I started to notice bootpack going in my direction of travel. I’m guessing just one day ahead of me? [edit: turned out to be Kyle and co] Later at Abegg’s “30 ft rap” section (going the other direction) I found the rock looking a little less brittle just around to the right (east) side. Heavy pack clouds my guess, but maybe 5.5-5.6. Not easy with a pack. Outrigger turned out to be more of a mountain than it looks on the map. Descending towards Fury wasn’t too bad, but again surprisingly long.

I saw two figures coming down East Fury. Later on I realized it was likely these guys. I tried taking the ridge up towards East Fury (Abegg quotes someone claiming this can be done) but ended up cliffed out and reversing half of that and rejoining the boot pack on the glacier. I was lucky to have lots of tracks to follow all the way from here to W fury, and beyond Luna. Must have a relatively busy time in this zone.

At the summit of East fury I realized it was too late to continue, I had no realistic chance of getting to Pickell pass before dark, especially if I wanted to climb Swiss and Spectre. It still seemed not impossible to catch up the next day. So I decided to rest and enjoy the absolutely exquisite location. Unlike the O-H Col this time and place was totally calm. 

(zoom in for 2 climbers descending between rock bands)

Day 3 - another slower start than intended. The climbing along the way to W fury is generally shitty though not terrible, and occasionally fun. I was glad when it was over and worried that I had already burned a little over 2 hours. I was entertained to see more love in the summit register for W fury in the past few years than in the before times. Choss must be getting sexy. In my haste I skipped reading the poems packed in there, which I now regret. I backtracked to find the chute mentioned by seano. Surveying it for a bit, I realized I was now on plan B. I labored over back to East Fury, somehow taking longer than on the way to West despite no raps. Carrying the 4 day pack back and forth was futile but I don’t regret keeping the dream alive for a few hours longer.

From East I followed boot pack down the glacier, over shoulders, eventually to ledges cut by steams, and a brief uphill to the ridge leading to Luna. As it was plan B I had not as much beta here, and I was pleasantly surprised. Amazing views on both sides, and fun hiking. Also a little bit subtle. I cliffed out again a couple times, just when I wasn’t paying much attention to the gpx I was glad to have.

At Luna Col dismounting my backpack from its perch felt like liberation. In the warm evening I carried almost nothing up Luna. I was vaguely under the impression that it’s a choss pile, which is not untrue. But it’s the good kind, very easy on the feet. No steep dirt gullies or loose chunky talus. And another surprise that I was surprised to have - the narrow ridge traverse between false and true summits was just super fun. I don’t know how I wasn’t aware of this one. After melting face for a bit gazing at Fury, into the cirque, and the S pickets I returned to my burden and continued descending. At a dry knoll the mosquitos formed an personal exoskeleton and motivated me further down. I plunged down snow that was still soft in the warmth of the late evening, then a little bit of ice (worms everywhere) then another gully (where a small stream disappeared underground and reemerged lower down), finally finding flat ground in the sandy bottom east of Luna after dark. 
 

I processed the past few days then. The character of the environment continually changing with elevation is always one of the most attractive things about alpine trips. That aspect was far from new. But the intensity of it was so much here. To be up on Fury and witnessing its elemental austerity give way to water and flowers and choruses of more waters, and so on, really got me. I think it was the impression that In the many faceted character there is also a unity. It’s all just there doing its thing, indifferent to us visitors, and doing it perfectly.

(scale isn’t obvious here, and the photo is tilted about 15 degrees. This is where I elected to not find out)

Day 4 - some talus and stuff and then a little jungle, but not much alder to contend with if you stick to the easiest path, which is sometimes faint and easy to lose. More schwacky then the approach to Terror creek but far from the worst. As I’m getting lower in elevation the thermal gradient is amazingly sharp near streams. It briefly feels relieving to pop out on a trail again, but the reality of banging out a bunch of miles on fumes in high heat sets in. I’m hoping to get to the dock early enough to maximize my chance of hitching a ride across the lake, and from there hopefully back to the Goodell TH. With perfect luck that’s exactly what happens. I find 2 climbers waiting for their boat scheduled just a half hour after I reached the dock. Veterans of the pickets both, I enjoy hearing of their 6 day outing and pickets traverses 30 years ago. I quote directly regarding the approach to Terror creek: “if there was a trail back then, we didn’t know about it”.

Epilogue: I am so hungry, and my feet look like they’ve been mugged.

 

 

Gear Notes:
Whippet, rap line. Shoes, slings, nuts carried but unused.

Approach Notes:
Goodell

Edited July 23 by JonParker
Typo

[tanstaafl]

Finding my way from the upper Mustard area to the ridge leading to Frenzel camp was surprisingly complex.

I feel like you could sub in any two place names in the above statement and it would describe every Pickets experience I've ever had! 

Glad we could be of assistance in your exit; and thanks for the stellar write up and photos; I'm always impressed by how much detail you all remember and put into these reports.  Before we even got back to Big Beaver I was already asking Gordy, "How long did it take us to get from Luna camp to Luna col again?"  

[Mo 8501]

Very inspiring line and objective you chose! Thanks for the pics and shout out, loved reading your report and connecting some dots for all the tracks we saw. We have more copies of the poem if you wanna read it! 

awesome trip and write up!! 

[JonParker]

Yeah I’d love to see the poem

[olyclimber]

A fine adventure!

[tanstaafl]

23 hours ago, JonParker said:

Yeah I’d love to see the poem

Me too!  Really liked the Dōgen poem.

[Surgeon]

This is so rad!