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[TR] fun Challenger Traverse!- Eiley/Wiley - Challenger Glacier - Easy Ridge 6/21/2005


dkemp

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Climb: fun Challenger Traverse!-Eiley/Wiley - Challenger Glacier - Easy Ridge

 

Date of Climb: 6/21/2005

 

Trip Report:

Yesterday we completed a fun Challenger Traverse. In via Eiley/Wiley Ridge, across the Challenger Glacier, and out Easy Ridge - yow! my feet are smokin'!

 

The group was me, Carla, Laurie and Katie. Wow those women are stout hikers - couldn't ask for a stronger or more fun team.

 

Day 1 - Hiked Big Beaver trail, got the tarp set up at Luna Camp just as the thunderstorm started

Day 2 - Bushwhacked up onto Eiley/Wiley Ridge - camped at east end (near Point 5927) with views right down the Valley of the Big Beavers

Day 3 - Hiked the length of Eiley/Wiley Ridge with sunshine and big views of Luna Cirque all day. A perfect day of alpine pedestrian activity. Camped at what I call Challenger Vista (Point 7374). This is surely one of the finest camps in the NCNP. Had to nip in the bud some premature food lust.

Day 4 - Climbed nearly to Challenger summit - coulda hit it with a rock - but declined the summit due to sketched out leader (me) - maybe on another day. Traversed Challenger Glacier to camp at Perfect Pass, where food lust was now permitted.

Day 5 - Went down and around the Imperfect Impasse. Mistakes were made. Here the needle on my Epic Potentiometer climbed into the red zone. Improvised a camp after successfully completing the crossing at 9:00pm.

Day 6 - Climbed up onto then hiked the length of Easy Ridge, then down and waded the Chilliwack. Camped at Copper Creek site, enjoyed some tarp time.

Day 7 - Hiked over Hannegan Pass with much cotton clothes on our mind. Chicken Parmesean at Milanos.

 

Its difficult to express in words how much I love the North Cascades and travelling through that country with friends. What the heck, I'll try:

 

Running away from an aggressive grouse, drops hanging from a rain-laden tiger lily, pondering the details of the grand Luna Cirque, the emotion of just missing a prized summit, navigating a crevassed glacier in near-whiteout, meeting a friendly party in the mountains, barely avoiding an uncomfortable night, long day of hiking with rain squishing in our boots, waking to the sounds of laughter from the other tent, and prolonging the hike out by examining paint brush and columbine and waterfalls and Ruth Creek.

 

Sincerely,

Doxey

 

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

rain tarp, trekking poles, ice axes, rope - didnt use crampons

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Hey Doxey,

 

It was fun meeting you and the ladies Friday evening at Perfect Pass. Can't thank you all enough for doing all the work of kicking the steps across the glacier. They helped us a bunch to make a direct ascent to the summit. I will post a TR of our small adventure soon.

 

-Peter, Marek, Jake

 

Trip Report and pics can be found here:

Mt Challenger 6/23-26/05

Edited by peterclimb
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Photos by my friend Carla.

 

Tres amigas - (l-r) Katie, Carla, Laurie. Carla assisted the Bushwhacker glacier climbing course I taught last year, and Katie and Laurie are graduates of that course.

 

lunagirls.jpg

 

Katie watches me wring out my socks - yuck! wringingsocks2.jpg

 

Composite pano of Luna cirque

lunacirquepano2.jpg

 

Descending Challenger summit area. Near-whiteout with a chilly wind and garbage snow made it not as friendly as I had expected.

 

descendingchallenger.jpg

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