mvs Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 Theron Welch and I hiked the traverse Monday to Saturday. Everything about it was spectacular, except the car shuttling time. Along the way we climbed Formidable, Old Guard, Spire Point, Dome and oddly enough, Dynaflow Tower (not recommended). Old Guard is an incredible view peak, really the best, because it looks down on the seething mass of Chickamin Glacier and the peaks around it. We camped the first night on heather benches after the "Red Ledge", then Yang-yang, then White Rock Lakes (really beautiful there), then Itswoot Ridge, then Cub Lake. I had worried about getting down Bachelor Creek, but it wasn't bad. Expect slow travel for about an hour, then good trail through a few miles of brush. It's definitely a trip of a lifetime! Quote
Dan_Petersen Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 Michael, we were the party of two that headed out one day earlier. What awesome weather! And no bugs! Couldn't ask for better. Did you guys see the Cub Lake bear? We camped there Thursday night and spotted him on the berry field slope where the trail climbs out of the lake. After a nervous night with all our remaining food hanging well away from camp, we awoke to see him still on the hillside the next morning. My partner Will seemed not too concerned as we marched up the hill banging a pot, but I have bad memories of bears bluff charging in the Yosemite high country, so I was a little less nonchalant. Luckily he was not at all interested in being close to us. It was also amazing to see the bear in the middle of the South Cascade Glacier. I was surprised at how fast he buzzed up the col left of our target gap, and how he negotiated a snow bridge over a crevasse without missing a beat. It's one of those once in a lifetime sights, I suspect. All in all a great trip. Four days is just a little short. Quote
mvs Posted August 26, 2003 Author Posted August 26, 2003 Awesome Dan. Nice to meet you and Will. We didn't see the bear at Cub Lake, but we ate some of his berries for sure. I had an accident with a freeze-dried meal, and slept with chili powder all over my legs. I could have been a tasty morsel! Quote
meganerd Posted August 26, 2003 Posted August 26, 2003 I thought I might as well get in on this as well... Four parties at White Rock Lakes!! That was weird, but a lot of fun though. Also some pointers potential traversers might be concerned about: -Most nerve racking part of traverse was very loose gully between Mixup Arm and Cache Glacier. This might be avoided but was worse than it looked. -Didn't rope up on Cache Glacier. -Cache Col schrund wasn't a problem. Either us left hand snow finger or step onto rock and scramble a little. -Red Ledge is easy. -Middle Cascade Glacier is fairly easy. Stay to the left to avoid crevasses. -This time of year with the snowline/running water line so high, there are lots of decent camps between the standards of Kool Aid, Yang Yang, White Rock, and Itswoot. -The cliffy area just past Yang Yang Lakes is a little weird. Take a right once you reach the big rock slide, staying on heather. You should see a way throught the cliffs above you. Switchback left to cross the rockslide and work your way up through the weakness. -LeConte Glacier looks worse than it is. A way through the crevasses should be found. We found a prow of steep snow that got us through. -The trail from White Rock Lakes to Dana Glacier does seem to go a little low, but takes you where you need to go so don't worry. -Dana Glacier was pretty easy. -Descent from Spire Col was on talus and quite annoying but doable. -Descent down Bachelor Creek was annoying but not terrible. It looked best to stay on the climbers right side of the slide. It looks more open and less brushy. -The rest is a piece of cake. Quote
Der_Wanderer Posted August 28, 2003 Posted August 28, 2003 Yeah, 4 at White Rock! We didn't see anyone else come down Spire Col after our climb of Dome and Dynaflow Tower. I guess there was just a glut that day. Ah well, made for good conversation and the sharing of our bottle! Dome was cool, FYI. It's pretty easy/straightforward to get over there. The last 40 feet are really exposed! Good meetin' ya, Dan and Will! Quote
JoshK Posted August 28, 2003 Posted August 28, 2003 It's too bad the traverse seems to have gotten so popular. I'm really glad we did it early season and had the thing to ourselves now. Quote
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