yngeagle Posted May 15, 2003 Posted May 15, 2003 Myself and another guiding buddy of mine went up to check out Flapjack Lakes and the Sawtooth Ridge area for this summers guided trips. I was very impressed with the area, very serial and majestic. I made it up and through Cruiser Pass. It wasn’t very difficult to get up to the bass of the Needle. I just kicked stepped the whole way up without crampons or ice axe. There was snow just below Flapjack lakes. And from there we used snow shoes up to the bass of Cruiser Pass. It was pretty slow going from the lakes up to the pass, because of a fair amount of snow. Plus, it was our first time there and we had to route find our way up, since there was no trail or even a boot track. It seemed as if we were the first party up in this area this year. I wish we had more time up there, but we wanted to be back in town for our moma’s. I would have loved to have hung out up there and tagged a bunch of summits. If any body plans on going up there anytime soon and go all the way to Cruiser Pass you might enjoy skiing down, the only skiing I got in was on my butt! Johnathan Quote
BigWave Posted May 22, 2003 Posted May 22, 2003 Hey Chappy, be careful with all that praise for the Olympics. Word might get out that there's another range so close to the mindless masses along I-5. With a range where you can feel like youre the first on there other people may want to check it out two. The rock may be shit but the alpine expereinces are teh bomb. After spending some time in the Olympics route finding in the cascades can seem easy.. Someone that lived in the south sound asked me the other day if there was anyhting closer than Granite and Si to train for bigger hills..I don't even think they had heard of Ellinor, Wa, Rose or any ofd the like... Let's keep the freakin secret alright! Quote
joe_retard Posted May 23, 2003 Posted May 23, 2003 Johnathan_K. said: Myself and another guiding buddy of mine went up to check out Flapjack Lakes and the Sawtooth Ridge area for this summers guided trips. I was very impressed with the area, very serial and majestic. I made it up and through Cruiser Pass. It wasn’t very difficult to get up to the bass of the Needle. I just kicked stepped the whole way up without crampons or ice axe. There was snow just below Flapjack lakes. And from there we used snow shoes up to the bass of Cruiser Pass. It was pretty slow going from the lakes up to the pass, because of a fair amount of snow. Plus, it was our first time there and we had to route find our way up, since there was no trail or even a boot track. It seemed as if we were the first party up in this area this year. I wish we had more time up there, but we wanted to be back in town for our moma’s. I would have loved to have hung out up there and tagged a bunch of summits. If any body plans on going up there anytime soon and go all the way to Cruiser Pass you might enjoy skiing down, the only skiing I got in was on my butt! Johnathan Where in the hell is CRUISER Pass? Been up at Flapjack atleast half a dozen times and never heard of it. Joser Quote
Alpinfox Posted May 23, 2003 Posted May 23, 2003 Johnathan_K. said: I was very impressed with the area, very serial and majestic. ... Serial? What do you mean? Quote
eternalX Posted May 23, 2003 Posted May 23, 2003 i think he meant surreal. either that or everything was in a straight line, one after the other. Quote
yngeagle Posted May 28, 2003 Author Posted May 28, 2003 Sorry for the confusion on the pass. I ment needle pass. I was back up there over this past week. I guided a trip up through flapjack-black and white and back through Gladys divide. We were up there for 4.5 days. Black and white lks is still under snow, but the trail is good from big logs camp and also from the flapjack side. I climbed the needle while staying on Gladys divide....enjoyable climb. i was even able to top rope it for the people I was guiding. Anyhow the place is SURREAL. Right now I am thinking about doing a complete ridge traverse of the sawtooth with a buddy. Anybody done it? Johnathan Quote
Norman_Clyde Posted June 3, 2003 Posted June 3, 2003 Sounds like fun to me. Let me know if you need someone else to join you. Quote
slothrop Posted June 3, 2003 Posted June 3, 2003 I've been eyeing that traverse, too. Let me know if you need another. Quote
Skisports Posted June 3, 2003 Posted June 3, 2003 Johnathan_K. said: Sorry for the confusion on the pass. I ment needle pass. I was back up there over this past week. I guided a trip up through flapjack-black and white and back through Gladys divide. We were up there for 4.5 days. Black and white lks is still under snow, but the trail is good from big logs camp and also from the flapjack side. I climbed the needle while staying on Gladys divide....enjoyable climb. i was even able to top rope it for the people I was guiding. Anyhow the place is SURREAL. Right now I am thinking about doing a complete ridge traverse of the sawtooth with a buddy. Anybody done it? Johnathan you say you guided.... what company ? Quote
erik Posted June 3, 2003 Posted June 3, 2003 Skisports said: you say you guided.... what company ? Quote
yngeagle Posted June 4, 2003 Author Posted June 4, 2003 I guide for a small company that is based out of Eatonville. The company is called Tahoma. The programs that we run are like outward bound. We take 14-18 year olds out backpacking and climbing for 10 day trips. Its great work, the kids are great. We will be running a good chunk of our trips this summer in the Sawtooth area. So, if any of you are up there this summer and see us come say hi. The kids would dig it! I will keep in touch with you guys that are looking at doing the traverse, I think it would we a sweet trip! Quote
Careless_Ev Posted July 10, 2003 Posted July 10, 2003 Nice report. Does anyone have recent info on this traverse? Mostly concerned about snow conditions, need of ax, etc. Thanks Quote
bremerton_john Posted September 24, 2003 Posted September 24, 2003 I was in the Sawtooths at the end of August. There is a climber's path along much of the ridge that is easily travelled, prticularly this time of the year as it is dry. Bring water though, as there is none up there. It's a fun place to be, though. I was up there getting info for the Oly climber's guide new edition. Quote
Farrgo Posted September 25, 2003 Posted September 25, 2003 Has anybody tried to get up to cruiser from the other side of Sawtooth ridge, from Mildred Lake? I was up there in August and tried to find the path up to the ridge but decided not because of the bushwacking. Does anybody know of a decent trail taking off from the lake? I was thinking it might be easier (quicker) to head up the less brushy slope toward Lincoln and take the ridge all the way over? Any thoughts? Quote
bremerton_john Posted September 25, 2003 Posted September 25, 2003 That would be the best way to go. It looked the clearest from my perspective on Slab Tower last month. I have 2 friends that gave Cruiser a try from Mildred last year. They spent half the day just trying to find the right notch to get through. The didn't recommend it. Quote
Alpinfox Posted September 26, 2003 Posted September 26, 2003 Alpinfox said: Johnathan_K. said: I was very impressed with the area, very serial and majestic. ... Serial? What do you mean? Wow. May. I don't even remember writing this... Must be the & . Please refrain from reviving old threads; they confuse me. Quote
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