off_the_hook Posted May 30, 2005 Posted May 30, 2005 Climb: Silver Star-Silver Star Glacier - Burgundy Col Date of Climb: 5/29/2005 Trip Report: With the weather pattern changing, Bjorn and I decided Silver Star. With its easterly location and nice vantage point, it was a safe bet and a good early season conditioner. We left the Seattle area Saturday afternoon and spent the night at the turnout off highway 20. We brought some lawn chairs, delicious burritos and then enjoyed a warm night under the stars. We woke up around 4:30 am and set out from the parking lot at about 5:05. We cruised up to Burgundy Col, mostly staying to the right of the col on heather benches and then traversing over to avoid loose scree. The snow on Silver Star Glacier was soft with some postholing on the lower slopes, but not too bad. There was also some small avalanche activity off the west peak. From the col at the top of the Silver Star Glacier, thigh deep postholing for a couple hundred feet was quite annoying (a frozen crust with deep soft snow beneath) but it improved near the summit. The small bit of rock scrambling near the very top was enjoyable. Pushing the pace early on allowed us to summit at 8:30 with bluebird skies and great visibility of the range from Glacier to Baker. We enjoyed a half hour on the summit with photos and food leaving just after 9 am. The descent went quick and I arrived at the car about 6 hours after beginning at 11:05. I was glad we finished early, the puffy cumulus clouds we saw as we drove off apparently blossomed into a thunderstorm by afternoon… Silver Star afforded some very nice views thanks to the great weather and visibility. Starting early provided great photography of Liberty Bell and Early Winter’s Spire in the soft morning light from Burgundy col. I thought it was cool that Dome Peak and the immense Chickamin Glacier become visible on this climb from a relatively low elevation. Gear Notes: ice axe Approach Notes: Very little snow remains until after you reach Burgundy col. Quote
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