AARON1 Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 A friend and I are planning a trip to Stuart and are taking our significant others along. They are non climbers and would not normally partake in a trip like this. So we are planning on hiking in to the South side and staying 3 to 4 days. Him and I plan on leaving the ladies in camp and climbing in the area. My question is do you know of any place we can camp in and around the Mt. Stuart area? Quote
erik Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 SOUNDS LIKE THE INGALLS LK BASIN MIGHT BE THE BET BET FOR THE WHOLE CREW. NICE LAKE AND CAMP SITES. I GUESS YOU COULD CAMP AT THE BASE OF THE W RIDGE BUT WATER WOULD BE AN ISSUE. OR DOWN IN THE INGALLS CREEK DRAINAGE. Quote
iain Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 bring bug repellent. the plastic-melting, gene-mutating stuff. a gallon should be about enough. seriously, it's insane in the ingalls area right now. Quote
chucK Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 Upper Ingalls (just below Stuart Pass, Ingalls creek side) is way cool fairy meadows. Probably buggy though. When we were there (~ 2 weeks ago), down lower in the valley was not buggy, but majorly buggy up higher. Quote
leejams Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 AARON1 said: A. They are non climbers and would not normally partake in a trip like this. Quote
ncascademtns Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 erik said: SOUNDS LIKE THE INGALLS LK BASIN MIGHT BE THE BET BET FOR THE WHOLE CREW. NICE LAKE AND CAMP SITES. I GUESS YOU COULD CAMP AT THE BASE OF THE W RIDGE BUT WATER WOULD BE AN ISSUE. OR DOWN IN THE INGALLS CREEK DRAINAGE. Yes, The basin below Ingalls Lake is a great spot to camp. You can hit the west ridge from there. The drop down from Ingalls Lake is not that much. You can camp just off the trail right on the creek. Quote
Dru Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 i hear trask and lummox have already planned a visit to entertain your bored ladies while you are off climbing Quote
Toast Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 iain said: bring bug repellent. the plastic-melting, gene-mutating stuff. a gallon should be about enough. seriously, it's insane in the ingalls area right now. WORD! The bugs are insane there right now. Your lady friends won't like you very much if you ditch them there. It is pretty there, though. Quote
decrepit Posted August 1, 2003 Posted August 1, 2003 What are conditions like on the West Ridge and descent route now? I'm going next weekend and I don't wanna take boots... Quote
Toast Posted August 1, 2003 Posted August 1, 2003 I did the north ridge last weekend, and I was pretty glad I was in boots... of course, we got a little off route on the descent Quote
slothrop Posted August 1, 2003 Posted August 1, 2003 Tennis shoes and light crampons are good to have. There's a little snow in the Cascadian Couloir, but it's no big deal if you have crampons. Quote
decrepit Posted August 1, 2003 Posted August 1, 2003 Thanks - that's what I need to know. Maybe I'll pull out my old strap-ons... Quote
ncascademtns Posted August 1, 2003 Posted August 1, 2003 decrepit said: What are conditions like on the West Ridge and descent route now? I'm going next weekend and I don't wanna take boots... You'll waste your time taking Rock Shoes on the West Ridge. In my opinion it is mostly class 3. A good Rock Climbing Boot will get you up the ridge and down the south side of the mountain. Quote
pzack Posted August 1, 2003 Posted August 1, 2003 I did the West Ridge last weekend. Tennis shoes worked great. Step-in Crampons stayed in the pack. The hot weather made for some soft snow in the afternoon. Quote
decrepit Posted August 1, 2003 Posted August 1, 2003 Great info! I'm gonna post here more often. ncascademtns said: You'll waste your time taking Rock Shoes on the West Ridge. In my opinion it is mostly class 3. A good Rock Climbing Boot will get you up the ridge and down the south side of the mountain. Yeah, my only worry is that the fun factor may be low on this route. On the other hand, we're a couple of old farts who don't get out enough any more, and we're short of time, so we'll see how it goes. Thanks! Quote
climberchris01 Posted August 1, 2003 Posted August 1, 2003 Any quotes on time to climb the west ridge from longs pass to the summit and back to longs pass (as though we were camping in ingalls basin)? Quote
chucK Posted August 1, 2003 Posted August 1, 2003 You probably wanna take Ingalls Pass to access the West Ridge, then Longs Pass on the way out. Are you planning on camping in upper Ingalls basin or at Ingalls Creek near where the Longs Pass trail is? West Ridge times can vary quite a bit. Depends on how much roped climbing you do and your routefinding decisions. It's easy to get lost up there. The West Ridge sees its share of unplanned bivys, so your time could be 2 days. A somewhat fast time from car to summit is 6 hours. I was just up there a couple of weeks ago and my time from summit to camp at Stuart Pass was 4 hours, partner took 6. Quote
climberchris01 Posted August 2, 2003 Posted August 2, 2003 we were planning on camping in the basin just below the lake to avoid a carry over or retracing our steps back to ingalls pass. Is it advisable to be on the rock at sunrise to avoid this epic that everyone refers to, and how is it finding the cascadian couloir? I've heard there is snow still in, it's hard to believe after it's been so friggin hot here on the west side of the mtns. Quote
chucK Posted August 2, 2003 Posted August 2, 2003 If you camp at upper Ingalls Basin I would think you might as well pop up to the Lake and take Ingalls Pass out, but I could be wrong about that (it is not very far up to Ingalls Lake from there) My advice about the W. Ridge routefinding is try to scope it out well from a good vantage like Ingalls Lake and Pass and make some mental notes about big things that you'll be able to discern when right below them. Follow cairns from the summit to get to Cascadian Couloir. It's just on the other side of the East Peak. If you stay right on the crest initially there's a scramble path you can take that avoids traversing the snowfield directly below the summit. When we were up there 2 weeks ago the snow in the CC was pretty hard (i.e. easier to walk down talus unless you had crampons, unfortunately talus was not an option), though the day before at the same time of day the Stuart Glacier was casual. Probably something to do with the elevation difference. Quote
fleblebleb Posted August 3, 2003 Posted August 3, 2003 Bugs. Bugsbugsbugsbugs bugs. Yech. Don't go without a net. To get into the Cascadian you have a choice between steep, mushy snow and (very) loose scree with pieces of talus that like to fly. Quote
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