Worst Approach, Worst Descent

[layton]

All right, I'm sure this has been done. What's the worst approach you've done in the Cascades?

I mentioned the Price Glacier in the dark in the B.C. conditions page.

As for descents, hmmmmmm....I usually erase those from memory, but as for knee-pounding is concerned, I'll give Slesse an nomination.

[fishstick]

Exiting the Northern Waddington range via Crazy Creek (between Twist creek and the Scimitar glacier). It's got the worst slide alder and devils club on the planet, the worst bugs I've ever encountered, two sporting creek crossings and a very real grizzly population. Add exhustion and the need to camp in the middle of a bear trail and you're getting the picture.

GB

Ooops, guess that's the Coast Range...

[ 03-22-2002: Message edited by: fishstick ]

[bobinc]

Worst approach: NE Buttress of Goode, especially considering the weather closed in and we didn't get past the toe of the glacier. On the way down, we almost lost an ice tool in one of the slide alder thickets when the tool loop got yanked off a pack and we didn't notice it until several hundred feet lower. We got lucky and found the hammer, at least.

Worst descent: Johannesburg. Miserably slow to get from the summit area to the SW ridge (or whatever the std up/down route is), then loose, annoying travel to CJ Col. Finally, you get to dodge rocks down the CJ couloir. This climb (NE Buttress) was 13 hrs up and 13 hrs down.

[ScottP]

The approach would have to be the one into the Southern Picketts in the mid 80's. Ran out of water early on and ended up really dry before hitting the spring up high. That and seeing the massive NOLS party camped where we expected solitude made it particularly aggravating.

The descent would have to be down the Stuart Glacier Coulior to get cached gear from the notch after doing the full North Ridge. It was done in early July and was raps and downclimbing snow in rock shoes with no axe. Especially ennervating after having to reverse two failed attempts to gain the ridge crest on the way down and having to hit the glacier before regaining the notch. We then crossed over the glacier and down to Lake Stuart and out, rather than out Mountaineer Creek, which would have been shorter in retrospect.

[AllYouCanEat]

Ascent: Dome Peak with skis in late August.

Descent: I don't know if this would be considered a descent but the drive home after climbing/skiing glacier peak in a day (T-races on the entire way plus two miles of road).

[JERRY_SANCHEZ]

For me it was decending after not able to locate a way to cross the deep dike that we had to cross to climb up Perfect Pass to Mt. Challenger. The 18 miles hike out in one long wet day was so measerable that I hardly remember it. It rain so hard that there was a creek running down the trail. It took 2 weeks to dry everything out.

[jesse_mason]

Worst approach: Sky pilot via marmot creek in the summer.

A little used trail whe fairly's guide came out in 86 was a complete nightmare in july /00.

[Paul_detrick]

The Mole in the icecicle canyon up past Yellowjacket Tower, bad shit, coming down was'nt much better. Paul

[NoBolt]

Slesse. It poured. Looked at mountain, turned around, went home.

[northfork]

Just getting out of Seattle is far worse than any climbing approach.

[TimL]

The Mole through the wrong Toketie Creek Drainage.

[JasonG]

Descent-Coming off of Buckner into Horseshoe basin. Bad slide alder interspersed with cliff bands. A close second would be the descent to Baker Lake from Mount Blum. Steep, brushy, 6000 vertical feet of brutality

[mvs]

quote:

---

Originally posted by JERRY SANCHEZ:

For me it was decending after not able to locate a way to cross the deep dike that we had to cross to climb up Perfect Pass to Mt. Challenger. The 18 miles hike out in one long wet day was so measerable that I hardly remember it. It rain so hard that there was a creek running down the trail. It took 2 weeks to dry everything out.

---

Same thing happened to me! Exactly the same thing...

[dkemp]

Comin' off Sourdough Ridge near Elephant Butte, alongside then crossing Torment Creek, and out via Stetattle Creek - strenuous and unpleasant.

[Stefan]

Worst Descent:Bedayn Coulouir of Goode!!!!!!!!!Bedayn Coulouir of Goode!!!!!!!!!Bedayn Coulouir of Goode!!!!!!!!!Bedayn Coulouir of Goode!!!!!!!!!Bedayn Coulouir of Goode!!!!!!!!!Bedayn Coulouir of Goode!!!!!!!!!Bedayn Coulouir of Goode!!!!!!!!!

We even had ideal weather!

DON'T DO IT! If you want to come down on that side come down the standard up route.

[Stefan]

quote:

---

Originally posted by dkemp:

Comin' off Sourdough Ridge near Elephant Butte, alongside then crossing Torment Creek, and out via Stetattle Creek - strenuous and unpleasant.

---

dkemp: Don't you mean Torrent Creek?

[dkemp]

Torrent Creek is correct, thx. (freudian mistake?)

-Dox

[klenke]

dkemp:

I've been in that Stetattle Creek valley too. Real heinous in there beyond trail's end.

My story is two of us going in via the trail (in an attempt to climb Elephant Butt), losing the trail, finding Torrent Creek, ascending along side it, making way for the highest point on Stetattle Ridge (SE of the Butt), going back along ridge, leaving the ridge too early, and descending back down to the valley trail in the dark in a bushwhack. For those of you who haven't bushwhacked in the dark with a shitty headlamp, you need to try it. You haven't lived until...blah blah blah.

[dkemp]

We enjoyed Stetattle Creek so much we spent an extra night there. A girlfriend of one person in our party called the sheriff (jeez!) and the rangers were at the cars when we arrived next morning. They couldnt believe we had come out that way - asked us twice - "so, you came out Stetattle Creek?"

[klenke]

The guy I was with was fearing we'd need to do an impromptu (unintended) bivy in the middle of nowhere between ridge crest and trail. He probably said this right after we'd come out of a slide-alder downhill traverse (you know what I mean here). However, we decided to press on in the blackout because we knew the trail was down there somewhere. If you miss it, you'll eventually get to the creek. I was in the lead when I stumbled on to the narrow trail. My headlamp was so bad I couldn't tell if it was the trail or not until walking along it for some way.

[dkemp]

Here's to Stetattle Creek!

[klenke]

[rbw1966]

Worst ascent: Cayambe in Ecuador. Pick-up driver got a flat, then his spare went flat too. We had to hike about 5 miles to get to the hut. At 12K-15K.

Worst decent: East Wilman Spire."going straight down that west gully looks a lot easier then the way we came up""yeah, more direct too""lets do it"

6 rapels off manky chockstones, one stuck rope and 5 hours later we are back at the bikes in Monte Cristo.

[freeclimb9]

With the promise of the route ahead, approaches don't usually seem that bad, or at leas the memories fade compared to the deproachs . . . they seem to often devolve to a death march. I've suffered a couple down the Weasel River valley to the Pangnirtung fiord with absurdly heavy packs (I estimate about 120lbs), hurricane-force winds and not enough food. One of the more ass-kicking was over Liberty Cap and back to the White river trailhead in one go. Long day, that one. The worst deproach was off of Mt. Ruwenzori with dysentary. From 12,000' down I was dizzy from dehydration and had bloodied by feet from stumbling over roots in borrowed tennis shoes (mine were stolen just before we left the main road). I lost about 15 lbs in just a few days.

[Crackhead]

The Picket Range. Mt. Inspiration

Fred Beckey agrees in his book "Challenge of the North Cascades."

Steep the whole way. Devil's club. Nettles.

100% pure mountain pain/Joy.