wrench Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Climb: Ptarmigan Traverse; 7/3 - 7/10/04 Trip Report: Just finished the traverse with my girlfriend this past Saturday. Quick trip/conditions report here: the additional 3 miles of hiking on Cascade Rv Rd was a little harder on us than we expected. (noted that the washouts are nearly fixed -- if it wasn't the gov't at work, I would suggest the road was driveable NOW, but i'd wager it'll be at least another month or two before they finally open it.) With our 8 nights of gear, we were fairly knackered by the time we reached Cache Glacier, so we plopped down and camped on the lower glacier near some rocks with running water. This was our only camp on snow. The rest of the primary campsites are all dry. There were no other parties on the traverse last week at all! We were pretty surprised by this, but then the forecast wasn't exactly perfect. There were no moat/schrund problems anywhere on the route (i.e. Cache col, red ledges, La Conte glacier). There is very little snow coverage below 6,000 feet, and about half coverage above 6. There was also no running water at the high bivy sites yet (Cache Col, below Formidable, below Sentinel). Itswoot Ridge probably had some somewhere, but we bolted straight for Cub Lake b/c weather was nasty up there. We got stuck at the buggy, swampy Yang Yang Lakes for 3 nights due to bad weather. It actually snowed about 4 inches above 6,000 feet Tues night/Wed morning. We got some at Y.Y. but it didn't stick long. Nasty weather that day though -- sleet blowing sideways into the tent. At times wondering if we would ever be able to leave. Finally got some clearing Thursday and moved to White Rock Lakes. La Conte glacier in good shape: some fun bits of crevasse negotiating, but plenty of snow coverage to make easy enough. actually got to pull out the 3rd tool I hauled in to pound in a picket at one point, as we crossed a narrow snow bridge onto a steep 50+ degree slope directly above a crevasse. (note: NE face of Sentinel looks in great shape -- would be fun to do that steep snow/firn climb this time of year.) Alas, no peak bagging for us this trip -- it was all about getting through and staying dry. Had a beautiful Thurs evening/ Fri morning at W.R. Lakes! Absolutely jaw-dropping views here. I would plan on spending 2 nights here just to relax and take in the views if I do the traverse again. Friday we were supposed to meet friends coming in to do Dome at Itswoot Ridge, so we bolted Friday morning. Nasty clouds approaching from the east, turned to whiteout by the time we reached Dome-Spire col. And Friday was forecasted to be nice a week before. We had enough of camping in shit weather, so we said f&*k Itswoot Ridge and Dome, we descended to Cub Lake and hoped to meet friends there. Turns out they had trouble with the shwack up Batchelor Creek and only made it to the 11-mile camp--that's a hell of a day going uphill!! I suppose not as many people are going in possibly b/c of the bridge washout and maybe the brush is not being tamed very often. Anyway, weather was crap again Saturday, so we headed down and ran into them in the middle of the slide debris. Very welcome site, seeing 3 good friends in the middle of the worst part of the descent, after no human contact and lots of bad weather for 7 days! We bushwacked out together and gave Marcus the nickname "Swedish Chef" (from the Muppets) because of his two ski-pole onslaught of the bush and the vegetation flying up in his wake. It poured rain the whole time, we got totally soaked and decided to hump it all the way out instead of camping part way. made it out at 7pm, and after shredding a tire on the way down, stopped at La Hacienda in Arlington and ate some darn tasty Mexican. The ladder down from the Downey Creek bridge is no problem, even with big packs. It's a little bouncy, but pretty strong. If you are concerned, however, it would be easy enough to toss your pack down off the bridge. If you were STILL concerned, you could even easily rap off the bridge. In summary, this was our first time on the Traverse, and it is an amazing route, with stunning views and fun terrain, just wish we had paid more attention to the forecast. I would probably do it a little later in the summer next time, but I would still plan on an entire week. Too beautiful to be rushed! Gear Notes: brought 3 pickets, glacier rope, 4 ice screws and a 3rd tool. Didn't need the ice screws at all this time of year. pickets were nice and the 3rd tool was handy one time. Most important piece of gear was the altimeter though. Several times, a couple in whiteouts, we were able to keep moving just by saying "ok, we just keep traversing at 6100' for a while." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpinfox Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Nice! Thanks for the TR. Pictures? Especially of Sentinel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench Posted July 12, 2004 Author Share Posted July 12, 2004 Nice! Thanks for the TR. Pictures? Especially of Sentinel? Yeah, I got tons of pictures -- I will post a few of the good ones next time I get on my home computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 good job...think me and my iranian amigo saw you and your girl at the beginning as we were coming down from boston. commented on being sans skiis. big fuk'n packs...you seem to have a good natural tolerance for poor weather! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench Posted July 13, 2004 Author Share Posted July 13, 2004 (edited) Here are low-res versions of the images I posted to the gallery. Here's the link to my gallery if you want to see higher-res versions: my gallery Formidable from Koolaid Lake relaxing on the way to the Middle Cascade Glacier. Eldorado and Forbidden peek out from behind south-of-cascade-river-road peaks. La Conte Glacier from Spider-Formidable Col. Old Guard is the peak directly above the glacier, and Sentinel is just to its right. The long, snowy face is the NE Face. La Conte Peak is on the right margin. Gunsight, Sinister, and Dome from White Rock Lakes Bushwacking down Batchelor Creek. Edited July 13, 2004 by wrench Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench Posted July 13, 2004 Author Share Posted July 13, 2004 good job...think me and my iranian amigo saw you and your girl at the beginning as we were coming down from boston. commented on being sans skiis. big fuk'n packs...you seem to have a good natural tolerance for poor weather! Heh. yeah we were glad not to have skis -- we might have ditched them at Koolaid Lake! My report didn't go into the details of the emotional stress and panic we were feeling anytime there was a cloud within view. It wasn't exactly a relaxing trip, most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marylou Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 Thank you for the TR, you are getting me way psyched for my own try at the Traverse in early September. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourteenfour Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 good photos. I need to try the traverse one of these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.