Gary_Yngve Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 Climb: Ruby Mountain-south side Date of Climb: 8/28/2004 Trip Report: Kam Leung, Matt Peters, Chris Cass, and I hiked up Ruby Mountain on Saturday, with, as Matt put it, a 30% chance of an out-of-the-world sunrise. About 2/3 the way up, it started raining on us. With both the rain and the wet brush, we got pretty soaked. We had glorious views from the summit and were surprised to see that we were only the 5th party this year (one of them was a busload of Mounties). Hi to J[im?] Nelson, Ian Mackay, and Jerry Chang! Did I mention it was windy up there? It rained more during the night. So much for letting our boots have a chance to dry out. Chris survived the night in his GhettoMid (cardboard-box vestibule sold separately). Dawn came, and we were still in clouds. Grrrr. But an hour later, the views arrived in fine style. A marine layer filled the valley beneath us, and clouds were whisping around all the peaks to the south. Clouds would rise up the ridge and past us, occasionally obscuring everything. Unfortunately the other directions (Pickets, Jack, Hozemeen, etc.) were completely enveloped, but we really weren't complaining. Kam is a TAY nutcase, so he had to bring his sticks. He put up with this sort of thing (plus all the vert) to get in his August turns. Approach Notes: We approached via Panther Creek, enduring a brutal 600 ft climb and loss that we knew we'd have to repeat on the way out. The bridge crossing Panther Creek is out, but there's a log crossing there that's straightforward. 6300 uphill feet later and probably 12 miles in, we reached the summit. There's an abandoned trail all the way to the top, but it's a little overgrown in places and obscured by the occasional downed tree. Keep an eye out for pink surveyor tape and cairns. And whatever you do, don't follow the temptation to barge on without the trail -- it's with searching for it again. Some beta for locating the start of the abandoned trail near 4th of July pass: Coming from Panther Creek, you'll encounter a short bridge and then 200 feet later, a long bridge. About 50 feet after the long bridge, look for a faint trail on the right. About 200 feet down the trail, you'll see a wooden sign saying that it's abandoned and no longer maintained. Quote
Dru Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 holy fuck you are the second coming of distel32! Quote
Alpinfox Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 Just take some and stare at the pretty clouds.... Puffy little clouds.... Clouds.... Quote
Dru Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 i do kinda like this one. if it was in the gallery i'd give it a 10. "What were the skies like when you were young?" "They went on forever. When I, when we lived in Arizona the skies always had little fluffy clouds in them. And they were long and clear and there were lots of stars at night. And when it would rain they would all turn . . . they were beautiful, the most beautiful skies as a matter of fact. The sunsets were purple and red and yellow and... on fire. And the clouds would catch the colors everywhere. That's unique, 'cause I used to look at them all the time. You don't see that anymore. You might still see it in the desert." Quote
johndavidjr Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 Photos quite a testament. the one with peak and relatively big glaciers-- what is peak? It's now set as my temporary background-- thanks. Quote
Gary_Yngve Posted August 31, 2004 Author Posted August 31, 2004 With Matt in the foreground on the right? That's Snowfield Peak. Quote
JoshK Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 I know it's not PC to critisize, but hauling your skis up Ruby mountain for that shit is pretty dumb. Quote
Gary_Yngve Posted August 31, 2004 Author Posted August 31, 2004 JoshK, Kam wanted to do something stupid for his August turns -- not head up from Paradise like everyone else on TAY.com. Quote
philfort Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 Wow, hauling skis up Ruby in August really is stupid (in a good way - don't mean to offend). It's so stupid it's almost smart. I know someone who hauled skis up Ruth in spring when there was snow on it, and I think it is namelessly mentioned in his turns-all-year profile as one of "two or three truly awful ski outings". Looks like it was worth it for the pictures though. Quote
Jake Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 Eyed Ruby from Ross Lake all week a couple weeks ago and wondered how many people had wanted to suffer enough to climb it this year. Thanks for answering my question. Quote
JoshK Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 JoshK, Kam wanted to do something stupid for his August turns -- not head up from Paradise like everyone else on TAY.com. My stupid referred more to hauling a bunch of weight up for a few hundred feet of lousy turns. Sorry, but I just don't get the TAY thing. Skiing, at least to me, is about having fun, not having to do something to hit a schedule or whatever. Ironically, Paradise would at least afford one a reasonbly lengthy run, rather than a small snow patch. Quote
Gary_Yngve Posted September 1, 2004 Author Posted September 1, 2004 I don't see how trying to enchain some rediculous amount of peaks into a single day (when an overnight would be more comfortable and more scenic) is any less "stupid" than being a TAY dude. Whatever floats your dinghy. Quote
Dru Posted September 1, 2004 Posted September 1, 2004 Skouldering If you want to take this trend to the max there is a pile of slush outside the ice rink Quote
Ursa_Eagle Posted September 1, 2004 Posted September 1, 2004 Oh yeah! That's snowfield peak! I was wondering what that was, thinking it would be a fun climb. Turns out it's a mountain I climbed earlier this summer. And yes, it was a fun climb. Quote
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