Silver Star

[Uncle_Tricky]

Went up the peak yesterday with a couple folks. The crux was hitching a ride back to the car.

 

We approached by way of Burgundy col. No snow until the basin, but the gully had just enough kick-step friendly snow to cover up most of the loose stuff.

 

Nearing the top of Silver Star Glacier. Snow was walking friendly:

 

Snagtooth Ridge from Silver Star Peak:

 

Although we left the car at the approach to the wine spires, instead of descending our approach, we decided it would be fun to loop down to the highway via Silver Star Glacier and Silver Star Creek and hitch back to the car.

 

Here we are descending Silver Star Glacier. You can see our tracks traversing in from the right below east faces of the Wine Spires. The vertical tracks are where we slid down the glacier on our butts.

 

 

Looking back up at our descent route. Right of the big rock hump in the left center of the picture, you can see a 6-8 foot avalanche crown. It slid down to the glacier polished slabs beneath.

 

We looked down at that and instead decided to go descend the broad snow gully at the far left center of the picture. On the top right are the Wine Spires, Burgundy being the farthest right, the Chianti, Pernod and Chablis.

 

Looking back up at the East side of Vasiliki Ridge. Some comical postholing (up to chest deep) once we got down into the snow covered flats below the glacier, but only for an hour or so. Then there was some steep mixed postholing/bushwhacking for a while. High quality. I'm sure there's a better way to go down than we did, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

 

Back at the road, we figured it was best for only one of us to try and get a ride. We took turns trying to thumb a ride back to the car. Meanwhile the other two of us lounged and dozed in the sun in the woods next to the creek.

 

Finally - after more than an hour and probably 60 cars - I got a ride 5 miles up to where we'd left the car. Yeah, I had an ice ax. Maybe some poeple don't want to pick up a hitchhiker with and ax. But sheeeiit, can't a brother get a ride these days?

 

Anyway, it was a nice day to be out tromping around out in the mountains.

[Szyjakowski]

man, for having such an early road opening it still looks kinda snowy for rock scrambling...i wonder how much snow came down this latter part of spring?

[goatboy]

Hey there Tricky,

 

Nice work! I like the way you made it a thru-hike instead of doing the obvious (descending Burgundy Col directly to the car). Sounds like you maintained high spirits throughout.

 

The photos are great -- especially the shot of Snagtooth Ridge.

 

How wet were the wine spires? I bet the North Face of Burgundy was pretty snowy . . . . (at the risk of stating the obvious).

 

Nice work!