[TR] Mt Anderson attempt- 5/29/2004

[Blakej]

Climb: Mt Anderson attempt-

 

Date of Climb: 5/29/2004

 

Trip Report:

Bremertonjohn, rollo and I linked up for a attempt at Mt Anderson over the Memorial day weekend. With a steadily worsening forcast we pushed off toward the dosi river at about 4pm and began our approach with what felt like an excessively long MTB section down the closed section of the dosi road. Rain and mist were a constant for the weekend and we quickly found our packs absorbing the extra weight as we made our way down through the trail. The first six miles of trail flew by with great views of the swelling river and awesome rapids I only wish I had the skill to run. Then came our fist challenge. All foot bridges above the high dosi bridge are out and with the river flowing strong we managed a nasty traverse over the river though a new log jam that covered us in sap which I'm still attempting to clean off. Shortly after headlamps were broken out and we continued our push hoping to get within striking distance of the mountain for a morning summit attempt. Our plans were nearly foiled when john took a 10ft vertical fall off the trail to what should have been river but turned out the be a small rocky area threatening to fracture his grape. Walking away from that with nothing but a few scraps and a missing waterbottle we were happy to find camp only a few hundred meters up the trail. Morning brought nothing but more rain and I think we were all look out the tend windows unwilling to suggest getting moving. We finally roused ourselves around 1100 and made way to a higher camp at the shelter approx 1000ft below the anderson glacier to wait out the rain. We were dry but lacking entertainment as we forgot booze book and cards and crashed out early. Waking at around 600am with rain still pouring down and unwilling to let the weekend go without atleast making some kind of an attempt we kickstepped our way up to the terminal moraine of the anderson glacier only to find lousy visibility, rain and some nasty wind wipping down the mountain. Retreating back to the hut we decided to call it a wrap and headed out without delay except for a flat the had me hiking my bike out as I watched ben(only one with a spare)disappear around a bend and then johns attempt to catch him which ended all the way at the bottom.(nothing suck more than hiking a bike and pack down hill)Ben sacraficed and brought his spare back up hill to me and we made our way to good eats and fat tire brew. All in all a disappointment but a nice trek in a new area well worth my weekend.

 

Gear Notes:

never going into the olympics again without rainy day entertainment.

 

Approach Notes:

trails in great condition except for the foot bridges on the upper trail.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Sounds like a classic Olympics attempt, hehehe.

 

I went up to do the west arete of Constance last summer and my partner blew the sidewall out of his bike tire about 1.5 mi up that road. So we did the rest of the hike up and then back out in the dark swapping the good bike back and forth. I found it worked better to balance the pack on the handlebars of the bike than trying to hike with it on, and wheeling the bike. It still sucks though, never think to bring a whole spare tire. ;-)

[dkemp]

Dang! Well be sure to put it on your list for another time. I climbed it in sunshine many years ago - we could see the Kingdome from the summit! Its a nice climb actually, and more wildflowers above Anderson Pass than I've ever seen anywhere.

 

Seems like they just replaced the high bridge a couple years ago. Its too high be damaged by a flood, right? What could have happened to it?

[johndavidjr]

I guess flypaper pass is the normal route but has anybody done either of the supposedly class 2 routes to the east? Are the ratings on these sandbagged like certain others in Oly Mt Guidebook??

[Blakej]

dkemp the high bridge is indead too high to be wiped out by flood and is intact the bridges I was refering to were the small log foot bridges above it.

[PONCHO&LEFTY]

I have not, but a friend of mine twice failed to find them. He finally climbed it via flypaper.

[bremerton_john]

The original high bridge I think got hit by a large falling tree. It was apparently a substantial steel structure as well, and had a major sag in the middle after being damaged. There was no sign of it when we crossed over the new bridge last weekend.

[bremerton_john]

...Our plans were nearly foiled when john took a 10ft vertical fall off the trail to what should have been river but turned out the be a small rocky area threatening to fracture his grape.

 

Josh, you know I was only doing my best Gerald Ford impression.

[Lazyboy]

The original high bridge was wood that grew weak over the years. It was replaced in 1998 by a steel bridge and then the record snows of the winter of 1998-1999 led to its demise. Could be a tree fell on it also but I don't know. The present bridge I think was just put in last year or the year before.

[dkemp]

Re class 2 routes, yeah me and my pals came down that way. We climbed up via flypaper pass/eel glacier to summit, then hiked down via class 2 routes on the, uh, south side (I dont have my maps with me here.) We did this simply to make a loop 'cause we like loops.

 

Yeah, it goes but if I remember right it had some class 3, using-your-hands type stuff. If I remember right I would not have called it class 2.

Dox

[johndavidjr]

Thank you dkemp. (Routes are on S & E sides) I'm suspecting the Oly mt guidebook sandbags practically everything --- based on my one trip up Deception "class 2" route.

Edited June 5, 2004 by johndavidjr

[bremerton_john]

Keep in mind when you bash the ratings in the Oly Climber's Guide that most of the route descriptions were written back in the late sixties and early seventies. While there are arguably a number of sandbagged ratings, I will say this: in some cases, though certainly not all, routes change over time, particularly the ones that involve bushwacks. Places that once were clearcut are now jungles. Also, there are places where the snow and/or glaciers have receded so much that the route has substantially changed. Case in point, the peak concerning the title of this thread. The snow finger up to Flypaper Pass has changed dramatically over the last 30 years. It is melted out in the summer and the climbing is decidedly more difficult.

 

The guidebook committee is presently going through and revising as many of the route descriptions as they have time for. The next edition will be out late next year I believe.

 

More than once members of the committee (of which I'm one) have solicited input from climbers on this website for route description updates. If you have new info worth sharing, please help out. A couple people have contributed a great deal and I believe the new edition will reflect that. However, there are indeed quite a few peaks/routes that deserve help, particularly those that aren't climbed often.

[olyclimber]

Also keep in mind that the current edition was written when men were men.

 

Hey bremerton_john, can you post a list of peaks you guys need help with?

[bremerton_john]

Sure. I'd be more than happy to list some of the peaks in need of help. Give me a couple of days to confer with the committee members and I'll start a new thread.

 

-John