Glacier Peak via Sitkum 4/26/03

[North_by_Northwest]

Friday at dusk: Arrived at trailhead with the Nabisco Kid and three others. Marched through the dark to Kennedy Hot Spring. Trail was mix of dirt and packed snow (not too much of a problem in tennies).

Camping at Kennedy Hot Spring was on compact snow. Warm temperatures caused a lot of melt under our tent during the night.

 

Saturday before dawn: Left camp and followed trail to top of switchbacks near where the climbers trail begins. Experienced some route finding problems due to differing maps. (Take a sharp left at the top of the switchbacks, cross one stream and start up the old moraine before you cross the second stream to avoid difficulty.)

Found snowshoe and boot tracks following the blazed climbers trail on top of the old moraine. Snow was compact and going was quite easy up to Boulder Basin. At the Basin the tracks took a right and ascended steeper slopes. We continued our slog up the Sitkum in soft snow and under intense sunlight. Noticed ski/snowboard tracks on the slopes to the left of our route. Snow conditions were shitty for slogging: thin crust followed by a few inches of soft, then another crust and a more consolidated layer. Every step had to be stomped twice. Might have presented a serious avalanche hazard on steeper terrain.

Dropped my favorite Nalgene and watched it slide for miles on the crust. This occurence was shitty in that I lost half of my water for the trip and shitty- in that I lost a treasured item.

Dark clouds and intense fog moved in, reducing visibility to 40 feet for most of the morning. Continued to slog under the guidance of map and GPS.

The sky opened near Rabbit Ears and temperatures were uncomfortably warm. Snow was solid and semi-iced over, requiring crampons.

We ditched packs at the saddle above Rabbit Ears and charged for the summit block. Weather was alternating rapidly between intense sun and thick fog.

After investigating the summit block the Nabisco Kid and I began climbing the most promising gully. Conditions in the gully were shitty- : loose melting ice and soft snow. Climbing required kicking crampons until they hit rock and pawing hands and axe up through loose shit. An axe buried to the head was easily pulled out through the above mentioned choss.

The final stretch (30 feet vertical, 100 feet horizontal) required the crossing of two shitty cornices and the ascent of a chute filled with deep soft snow. A fall would have been long and deadly, depositing a climber on the glacier below.

After considering the hazards, the lack of protection and the time (nearly 5 pm) the Nabisco Kid and I chose to leave the last thirty feet for another day.

We met the rest of our party at the saddle where the packs had been ditched and continued down together. The summit was completely obscured by clouds as we descended but the sky opened at Boulder Basin and allowed a nice view of where we had been. The descent took very little time.

Saturday before dusk: scarfed my Tasty Bite and drank some tea before bed.

Late Sunday morning: marched for the trailhead with good weather and good spirits. At the car drank some good spirits with the Nabisco Kid and others before motoring out.

 

-Conditions on the summit block and Kennedy Hot Spring trail have probably improved greatly since the trip described above.

[Norman_Clyde]

I'm confused about your route. Isn't the Rabbit Ears to the north of the Sitkum, across the Scimitar Glacier? I came down the Sitkum once and that's what I remember.

 

One more thing I'm curious about... if you could choose one word to describe the conditions on the route, what would that word be?

[slothrop]

[Charlie]

Norman_Clyde said:

I'm confused about your route. Isn't the Rabbit Ears to the north of the Sitkum, across the Scimitar Glacier? I came down the Sitkum once and that's what I remember.

 

One more thing I'm curious about... if you could choose one word to describe the conditions on the route, what would that word be?

I think you guys climbed the Frostbite Ridge route. I was wondering about that (as you were describing a steep headwall below the summit to me) the other day

 

 

[vegetablebelay]

They wouldn't have been anywhere near Boulder Basin on the Frostbite Ridge route.

[JoshK]

I dont recall any steep headwall to the summit block from the sitkum. As I remember, it is pretty much a low grade walkup all the way to the top.

[Ned_Flanders]

Yeah, you mention climbing a gully after the rabbit ears. On frostbite ridge after the rabbit ears is a 100 feet 3rd class downclimb, then a traverse which leads to the inside of the crater. I dont remember climbing any gully on frostbite ridge.

[North_by_Northwest]

Correction:

The floppy-eared formation I called Rabbit Ears was actually Sitkum Spire.

See:

(Not a photo from my trip, we had a shitload of snow everywhere and no crevasses.)

 

 

 

[JoshK]

ahh yes...shitcum spire.

[alienPDX]

NxNW (or anyone else) - do you have any GPS coordinates from the route, especially for the chute in between the upper & lower lobes of the glacier and for the saddle above Sitkum Spire?

[erik]

JoshK said:

ahh yes...shitcum spire.

 

I THINK THAT IS ON MOUNT TRASK.

 

I HEARD YOU HAD THE FA ON THE BACKSIDE?