[TR] Greenway Mountain- North Ridge 3/10/2004

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Climb: Greenway Mountain-North Ridge

 

Date of Climb: 3/10/2004

 

Trip Report:

Greenway Mountain (a.k.a. Peak 4440) is so inconsequential it barely warrants a TR, but Klenke dared me to. Besides, if one measures alpine fun by adventure a’la Klenke, (i.e. bushwhacking, creative route finding and raw struggle) this one kicks ass. This is an off trail scramble that threads its way along a ridge of cliff bands and clear cuts to the edge of the Cedar River Watershed just above Chester Morse Lake. The peak itself has more than 400’ of prominence and looks out to mountain views to all directions. Unfortunately, evidence of man’s extractive industries scar the nearby hillsides leaving obstacles to the traveler. The area receives little if any traffic as there are no trails and little reason to venture out this way for the average Joe. However, if you’re looking for tranquility, good views and alpine challenge, this is a fun trip. It’s probably best done in winter when snow covers most brush and the devil’s club is dormant.

 

Getting to the peak is pretty straight forward. See the route description that follows. Returning to the road, however, was a different story. Klenke and I opted to drop down the ridge to the Northeast into the main Hall Creek Drainage. There’s an old logging road that traverses the opposite ridge due east. By the looks of the map and distant views we should have had a reasonable descent back down to the Iron Goat from there. Unfortunately, things wouldn’t be so easy.

 

The brush that filled in the clear cut slope was thick and the distance back to the Iron Goat was a lot further than we’d initially thought. It’d be slow going that way. We decided to continue on the road to see if things broke. We came across an abandoned spur that angled down back towards Hall Creek where we’d started. Knowing that the road we were on would traverse the entire ridge back to the next drainage with no certainty that it would be a path out, we opted to investigate. Typical signs of growth retaking the land filled the spur, but it was going in the right direction and descending at a steady pace. The deeper we dropped, however, the more committed we were and the denser the growth became. For a half mile stretch we swam through young alder denser than I’d ever seen. This was my first exposure to BW4.

 

Finally things broke and I’d assumed that we’d found the other end of the road leading back to civilization. That wasn’t the case though. All traces of the road suddenly vanished and we teetered on the edge of cliffy ground. Klenke threaded his way down a thin passage. When it was too late to retreat, we found ourselves amidst a forest of Devil’s Club on steep ground. Fortunately, most of it was dormant. Regardless, you could see little green buds just ready to sprout, and I felt like the guys in Alien looking at the little Alien embryos ready to hatch. We eventually made it back down to safety, but in hindsight, I’d probably opt to return via the ascent path.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Snowshoes... a 100' handline would have come in handy.

 

Approach Notes:

Approach Notes: Park a the main Tressle parking lot at Exit 38. Hike up to the Iron Goat Trail where the easy sport routes are and head East 0.5 miles. From the West side of the Hull Creek tressle (Hall Creek) jump the fence and traverse uphill. Attain ridge and follow it south tagging several minor high points along the way. About 4200' you'll come across an abandoned logging road that intersects the ridge at a viewpoint. Continue following ridgeline southbound to Greenway Mountain.

 

Variations exist on how to return back to the road. Use your own best judgement.

[klenke]

Oh bloody hell!

 

I'm sorry, where would we have used that 100' handline?

[Toast]

Oh, I dunno... maybe on one of those cliffy faces we were lucky enough to have dodged