[TR] Chair Peak- N.E. Buttress - mini T.R. 8/13/20

[zoroastr]

Climb: Chair Peak-N.E. Buttress - mini T.R.

 

Date of Climb: 8/13/2005

 

Trip Report:

Erick Johnson and I thought we'd try out his quickly healing ankle injury on something easy and short. The N.E. Butt. of Chair Peak fit the bill perfectly: laid-back, not too comitting, comfortable and familiar, like an old pair of shoes or a good friend.

The only surprise on this day was the complete lack of others on the popular route. Sunny skies, gentle breezes, and solitude--does it get any better?

 

Pretty Gem Lake seems to hang suspended above the vast expanse of Snow Lake, statistically the most visited of the Alpine Lakes. Photo taken from the start of the climbing route at the base of the N.E. Buttress...

 

 

 

I hadn't done this route for years, but It seemed perfect for a local, mid-summer day climb. A pitch or two of easy 4-th class rock for starters, followed by a long rope carry over the low-angled heather of the mid-section, and finally, some enjoyable 4th-class ledges terminating in an interesting low 5th-class crux pitch to the final rap station [big tree]. A bit of exposed but realxed heather leads from here to the summit. Descent was accomplished via the first rap gulley to the south of the summit. A snow remnant in the basin near the Thumbtack will provide fresh, cold water for at least a couple more weeks.

 

Erick Johnson, ankle throbbing, sorts out rope high on the Buttress, with Snow Lake in the distance below...

 

 

John Cain looks south into a mid-August haze from a sub-summit of Chair...

 

 

This one's out of focus, but funny. While descending "en rappel," I discovered this curious gnome cowering from my party-inflicted rockfall under an overhang in the rap gulley. Boots by Ringling Brothers...

 

 

Of course, the day started with fresh-baked scones and a bit of "the cup that cheers but does not inebriate." In this case, served in Royal Chelsea fine bone china [England], with flying ducks pattern. The tea: C.T.C Fine Assam, from Upton Tea Importers.

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

I brought:

* stout boots

* small rack to 3".

* shades and sunscreen

* 1 box Chocolate Chip Pop-Tarts.

* 2 bananas

 

Approach Notes:

Trail clear all the way in--enjoy!

Edited August 14, 2005 by zoroastr

[cook]

Thanks for the TR and photos. We were up there sunday, did you notice the huge fly habitat on the summit?

[zoroastr]

Yeah...those things were nasty--the sub-summit turned out to be a much nicer place to hang out. Looking back, it seems that lots of the summits I've visited had large colonies of insects on 'em. Last season, the summit of Forbidden Peak was swarming with lady bugs--weird. Any idea why? Lack of predators, maybe? I dunno.

[cook]

We couldn't figure it out either, the best we could come up with was that someone had left a slab of rancid meat on top.

[gyselinck]

Lots of bugs on summits is common in early spring and late summer. They just use it as a place to congregate.

[thelawgoddess]

tea and scones - yum!

[cook]

zoroastr, did you leave tea and scones on the summit?

[Bug]

What's wrong with bugs?

[spicoli11]

bugs always have the FA

[zoroastr]

I didn't actually leave food on top, but that's a really interesting idea: stashing stuff on summits for other people to find. Earlier in the season when I was doing a conditioning hike along Banana Ridge in the I-90 Corridor, I found a Geocache--you probably have heard of this; it's a fascinationg hobby for people who are into GPS. Anyway, today I hiked up to the top of the little peaklet behind Gem lake to scope out some routes on other low-grade peaks in the area, and I was surprised to find a nice little cairned path up the hill. If you visit Gem Lake anytime soon, don't forget to take the extra 20 minutes to get up that hill--the views really open up and you can see the whole system of approach trails for Roosevelt and other bumps. I'm planning a big loop hike that'll go from the Melakwa lakes, to Roosevelt via Chair Peak Lk., then over to Gem and out to Alpental--low angle, but should be fun.

 

--later