Norm Posted June 19, 2003 Posted June 19, 2003 I climbed Challenger via the Eiley/ Weiley a couple of years ago. The bushwhacking is moderate by North Cascades standards. There is a climber’s path through some of the nastier shit if you can find it. The main keys are to leave the trail at beaver pass with the climber’s shelter on your right, and on the way up to the ridge is when in doubt go left. I remember finding Nelson's description useful. Once you’ve gained the ridge, following it is fairly straightforward. We camped at Weiley Lake and it struck me as a preferable spot compared to the standard camp below the route. Quote
Toast Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 Alex said: bleh  Bleh beacuse a.) The Easy Pass route sucks b.) The Eiley/ Weiley route sucks c.) You don't like long alpine routes Quote
Alex Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 Toast said: Alex said: bleh  Bleh beacuse a.) The Easy Pass route sucks b.) The Eiley/ Weiley route sucks c.) You don't like long alpine routes  No, "bleh" because I wrote up a response, then re-read the thread, and realized my response really wasnt needed.  Everyone has their own opinion on why to go one way or another, but I would much rather go up Whatcom Pass than any other way, incl Access Creek or Easy Pass. The approach is straightforward on good trails with water the entire way. I would suggest something similar to jhamaker's fine game plan--->  Day 1: Chilliwack Lake or Hannegan Pass to Whatcom Pass. Very manageable with a very early start. Not that much elevation gain or loss, good trails mostly easy to follow, water on the way, mostly shaded in the forest. Camp.  Day 2: Traverse around Whatcom to Perfect Pass (it only takes a few hours) then climb Challenger (only another few hours). Then back to camp. This is an easy day.  Day 3: Out.  Forrest and Wayne have a good suggestion, though, if you have more than a 3 day weekend. Whatcom Peak looks really cool from all sides, and climbing it would be cool. The Easy Pass approach might be better for this.  If you want to climb Luna, I still think the Whatcom Pass approach is a good one. Instead of camping at the pass, take all yer shit to an hour below Challenger summit, drop it, tag summit, and head over to Luna cirque (not recommended in later season when the snow cover is gone). Then go out Access Creek. Going out Access Creek is much easier than coming in Access Creek.  Just .02 Quote
Toast Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 How about the river ford... is it just a stream crossing or a take-off-yer-boots and wade across the river affair? Â P/S thanks for all the info Quote
Alex Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 The river ford for Whatcom Pass is a cable thingy across the Chilliwack. No wetness. Quote
Alasdair Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 Or an easy river crossing: David Parker crossing chilliwack  Quote
Alasdair Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 Oh and Easy ridge is one of the best areas I have ever been to. It really is easy because there is a big ass trail the whole way up the ridge and once on the ridge the hike is about as good as it gets. Climbing Challenger via easy ridge reqires zero bushwacking and is very enjoyable. Quote
David_Parker Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 Easy ridge is really asthetic and offers fabulous views to either side so I was glad I went that way. I think it would not have been difficult to gain the north (nw?) ridge of Whatcom from Easy Ridge and bagged that. The way down the back of Whatcom looks easy and brings you right to Perfect Pass. You then get in an extra peak and don't even have to mess with the imprfest impasse which btw didn't seem that hard to figure out. Another option would be to skip Easy Ridge, hike to Whatcom Pass and then go over Whatcom Peak from there and down to Perfect pass. Wayne and Alisdair and I feel like we kinda missed out by not bagging Whatcom, especially since all our days were over by about 2:00 pm! I'll give for going out Challanger Arm and down Big Beaver. Ending up at the lake with beer waiting and swimming in the lake was a nice finish! Quote
cj001f Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 fleblebleb said: We got all confused looking for the trail up to the top of Easy Ridge, As in finding the water crossing? Or elsewhere? Some bad beta lead my group astray - we headed to far down the river. The actual crossing's like a mile before the campsite (or was) Quote
Gary_Yngve Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 Yeah, we crossed at the cable car, bushwhacked for a few hours, and then ended up camping back at the campground. The next morning we crossed the river but still couldn't find the trail, so we fought our way straight up Easy Ridge, running into the trail about a hundred feet before the top. Highly not recommended. Quote
iain Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 We found the description of where to cross the river in the Beckey book to be incorrect. The river is best crossed at a spur trail shooting off to the river about 1/4 mile or so before US cabin camp. The river can be forded there (at least, this last weekend) or on a tricky log about 5 feet off the deck. There is a cairn marking the steep (but good) trail up to easy pass. There is zero bushwacking involved (unless the impasse is skirted). Quote
DonnV Posted July 7, 2003 Posted July 7, 2003 iain said: The river is best crossed at a spur trail shooting off to the river about 1/4 mile or so before US cabin camp. Â Not to be too picky, but the spur is probably closer to a mile before US Cabin. We went in last year via the summit of Whatcom Peak and came out Easy Ridge. I had left trail shoes at US Cabin and had to run back to get them after we made the ford. Ran down to US Cabin and hiked back fast and I think it was close to 40 minutes for the round trip. For what it's worth, the loop we did was recommended by Wayne and I'd agree it makes for a great trip in to and back from Perfect Pass. There's a bit of elevation gain to deal with, but Whatcom is a nice summit to bag, PP is about a 5-10 minute run down the snow from there, and the Impasse is pretty easy to figure out on the way out. Quote
Toast Posted July 7, 2003 Posted July 7, 2003 My altimeter clicked 2700 just as the trail down to the river appeared. There's a couple of fallen logs to cross over, and two big ass cairns pointing to the climbers trail. Â Quote
Dustin_B Posted July 7, 2003 Posted July 7, 2003 Toast and I and 3 others were up attempting Challenger this past weekend and we passed a guy coming down just as we gained Easy Ridge (around 6 PM) who had started at the trailhead at 1 AM that morning, summited Challenger, and was returning. I'm sure he would have no problem getting from there to the trailhead in less than 7 hours thus completing Challenger in a day. We were awe struck then, but had even more appreciation for his feat over the following 3 days when we found out the amount and type of terrain he covered in such a short time... I think that is a pretty impressive feat. I wonder who that was? Anyone care to take the credit? Quote
Toast Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 (edited) So, who was that masked man? Edited June 28, 2007 by Toast Quote
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