Goode NE Buttress TR

[Mike]

We got spanked off Goode last year by weather, so we went back for a rematch last Friday. We boarded the Lady Express at Fields Pt. on Lake Chelan at 9:20am. It turns out that they only take cash at Fields Pt. - NO CREDIT CARDS - and the RT cost is $45. That radically cut in to the amount of money we had to spend at the Stehekin Bakery on our way out.

 

Anyway, we were able to cross N Fork Bridge Creek via a snow bridge, but the snow bridge will be gone in less than two weeks - pretty spotty when we crossed it. We worked our way up through the left side of the cliff bands to reach camp at 5200' - space for four bivi's.

 

We had good snow coverage over the glacier and were able to traverse left, up and back right to reach the toe of the buttress. After the initial 5th class pitches at the toe of the buttress, we did a lot of running belays on the low-angle, pleasant 3/4th class terrain, short roping with two pieces between us.

 

After the 5th class middle section, the buttress remains steep 4th to low-5th class but you can switch back to running belays if you have enough gear. It's steep enough so that we wanted 4 to 6 pieces between climbers and you burn through a small rack pretty fast.

 

We did this as a carry-over and it was fun bivi'ing on the summit, but it was a grunt lugging our overnight packs on the upper buttress. There's space for four bivi's on the summit. We had some snaffle-hound problems, but I'm sure that the park service would frown on packing in rat-traps (next time!)

 

The descent down the SW Couloir to Park Creek and the road took only 5.5 hours, leaving the summit at 5:00 and arriving at the NPS shuttle stop at 10:30. The Stehekin Bakery has "chicken pockets" which really hit the spot.

[sverdina]

Good job! Most likely headed that way this weekend. What did you use for pro?

[Greg_W]

Why did you opt for the ferry? I hear the overland approach isn't too bad.

[Ade]

Overland approach along the PCT from Rainy Pass is fine. Very good trail until you leave the PCT and pretty flat. Only ugly bit is the river crossing and thrash up to the base of the buttress.

 

Watch out for bears. We saw two or three on the hike out last year.

[Greg_W]

That was what I had heard, Ade. Thanks for the confirmation; thinking about hitting that one sometime this summer.

[Figger_Eight]

I did the overland approach a few years ago and remember it being a 'mellow' 13 miles. I'd like to try the ferry next time, just for some variety.

[Stefan]

I have done the hike along Bridge Creek from the NC Highway. I did it in tennis shoes and carried the boots. The only part I did not like was the Bridge Creek stretch--becuase it has direct sun exposure for a good period of time, but done in the morning or evening might be more pleasant. The other thing I liked about the hiking option was not having to slog up a full pack along the route.

[JoshK]

Stefan said:

I have done the hike along Bridge Creek from the NC Highway. I did it in tennis shoes and carried the boots. The only part I did not like was the Bridge Creek stretch--becuase it has direct sun exposure for a good period of time, but done in the morning or evening might be more pleasant. The other thing I liked about the hiking option was not having to slog up a full pack along the route.

 

Stefan, just curious, but did you see many people along the trail from the highway to the turnoff to whatever the name of that other trail is? More importantly, if somebody I knew wanted to ride a bike on that long stretch of trail, do you think they'd get harassed?

[Stefan]

We saw absolutely no one except for a weirdo on the way out. We went in on a Friday in July and came out on a Sunday. A bike would be very fast going towards Goode, and probably a good thing. Might be more of a problem coming out towards the Bridge Creek trailhead due to a slight uphill trend in the trail. But then, you could keep riding to Stehekin and take the boat out with your bike.

 

The one good thing about government budget cuts to the NPS and Forest Service is the lack of patrolling in the backcountry!

[mattp]

If you're a strong climber, you don't have to carry over if you don't want to -- a buddy and I camped at the base of the route and then climbed up and back down to camp by lunch time. Light hiking boots took us to the toe of the buttress, and rock shoes to the top and back. We saw a momma bear and two cubs in that N. Fork creek valley....

[Mike]

Greg_W said:

Why did you opt for the ferry? I hear the overland approach isn't too bad.

 

We were really opting for the lazy descent - dropping down to Park Creek and the road is quick and easy and you can load up on grub at the Stehekin Bakery. Doing the route from Rainy Pass would be fine with a descent down Stormking Col. We'd probably go that way if we do this again.

[Mike]

sverdina said:

Good job! Most likely headed that way this weekend. What did you use for pro?

 

Jason and I went pretty light - set of stoppers, four cams from 3/4" to 2", and a 9mm rope. We'd heard that we needed gear to 2". If we go back we'd probably take three or four more cams and my 9.8mm rope. The other guys had a huge rack, and they were finding good placements for larger cams up to 4".

 

Good luck next weekend. The snow bridge we crossed may be gone by then. If so, you can continue another 1/2 to 1 mile up valley to another snowbridge which looked much more substantial. You might be able to angle up from there to the ridge on the right side of the Goode Glacier - at least it looked like it might go from above although there might be cliff bands we couldn't see.