[TR] Tupshin / Devore- East Face / North Ridge 9/1

[Tom_Sjolseth]

Climb: Tupshin / Devore-East Face / North Ridge

 

Date of Climb: 9/18/2005

 

Trip Report:

On Sunday, Eric Hoffman and I climbed Tupshin and Devore from Bird Creek Camp.

 

We were fortunate enough to get a boat ride from Manson to Weaver Point from a long time friend of mine, Norm "Beefhide" Burke. This saved us from having to endure the logistical nightmare that is the Lady of the Lake (not to mention shuttles, canoes, etc). Getting a leisurely start on Saturday morning, we arrived at Weaver Point just before noon and began the 2+ hour hike to Bird Creek Camp [~4250'] where we relaxed and talked about our options.

 

Going into this trip we knew there were two feasible camps for Tupshin and Devore: Bird Creek Camp, or 1200' higher up in Lower Bird Creek Basin at 5400'. Ultimately we decided that camping at Bird Creek Camp would be best. For one, we wouldn't have to lug overnight gear up to 5400' (no trail, brushy). Secondly, we could descend W Fork Devore Creek which was, in our opinion, the best descent route off Devore.

 

That night we enjoyed a small fire at camp and polished off a pint of whiskey between us, before turning in.

 

Views to the East from Bird Creek

 

On Sunday, we broke camp and were hiking by 6:20. It was just light enough to see without headlamps. We started up the North side of Bird Creek in forested slopes with light brush and downed timber. We traversed left, under cliffs before crossing the creek and gaining a prominent rib at ~5600'. From here it was fairly open and easy all the way up to the base of Tupshin's E Face at ~7600'.

 

Tupshin's East Face

 

There are several feasible routes on the E Face, but the one that looked best to us began on rightward trending ramps (class 3). Where the two upper ramps merged, we climbed a short pitch of class 4 and went left to a short wall and some low class 5 moves. At the top of the wall we went right on blocky class 4 where we found ourselves atop a gully that dropped down and to the left. From here we could see the final "crux" pitch. Eric belayed me as I led up relatively solid 5.4 rock to the summit notch. From the notch we dropped the rope and climbed easy class 3 to the true summit. We signed the summit register and made 4 raps and downclimbed class 3 to the base of the E face. Total time on route from the base of the E Face was just over 2.5 hours round trip.

 

The view towards Bonanza Peak from the summit of Tupshin

 

 

 

Tupshin's summit register

 

From here we traversed South to ~6800' and contoured around the basin between Tupshin and Devore. On the map, this looks ugly, but in reality it was pretty easy. It took us about an hour to contour to just below White Goat Mtn at ~7200' from the base of Tupshin's East Face. From here, we enjoyed views to Bonanza and Dark Peaks, the unnamed lakes below, and Devore's North Ridge which drops precipitously off to its East.

 

The traverse to Devore from Tupshin

 

The North Ridge of Devore is mainly class 2-3 and fairly straightforward, with many rather annoying hidden gullies and just one class 4 pitch (Beckey says two class 4 pitches, but we could only find one). The route stays on or just W of the crest until it encounters a hidden gully very near the summit. At this point, we went down (to the West) and back up a V-shaped gully where we encountered the one pitch of class 4. Within 5 minutes of the class 4 pitch, we were on the summit of Devore. After perusing the summit register, I remarked to Eric how little it's been climbed. We were the 28th party to sign the register, which was put up by the Darrs in July, 1940. The register is in immaculate shape for being 65 years old (in contrast to Tupshin's summit register which, sadly, has deteriorated from exposure to weather). The register is housed in a steel tube stamped with "WyEast Climbers Portland Oregon". Views from the summit were phenomenal, especially to the Cascade Pass area and nearby Bonanza Peak which was capped by a fresh dusting of snow.

 

View from the summit of Devore

 

From the summit, we descended the SE Ridge, which is mainly class 2 with one vertical class 4 step very near the summit. There is a rap sling next to the class 4 step, but we found it best to carefully downclimb it (~25ft). From the base of the step, we descended to a notch at ~7800' and continued down the SE facing basin, avoiding cliffbands before further descending the mainly brush free North side of W Fork Devore Creek. We descended to about 5500' where we encountered some brush, then moved left and found a dried-up watercourse which we took all the way to Devore Creek, about 1.5 miles up stream and 400 vertical feet from Bird Creek Camp. An alternative here would be to cross to the South side of the creek when brush is encountered.

 

Back to camp at 7PM for a 12.5 hour day.

[philfort]

I always had the feeling that Tupshin was an out-of-the-way rarely-climbed peak... what is this, the 3rd or 4th TR from that peak this summer?

 

Nice pics

[klenke]

Good job, guys! 12.5 hours round trip. So it was easier than the 13 hours we spent two weekends ago on Puzzle-Castle-Flora-Enigma!

 

Incidentally, that first picture features Puzzle Peak (far left), Enigma Peak (center), and Riddle Peaks (right).

 

Oh yeah, that third picture: I can't quite read that writing. What does it say?

[Tom_Sjolseth]

T-D felt harder to me than P-C-F-E. On P-C-F-E it was about a 7200' day, but I wasn't carrying any rope, harness, biners, or runners so my pack was fairly light. On T-D, it was about a 5700' day, but I was carrying about 12 pounds of extra gear. That and we did a lot of traversing on steep scree. Another way to put it: I wasn't sore at all after P-C-F-E, but I am today.

 

The third picture says, "WyEast Climbers Portland Oregon No 8".

 

Of particular note, Philfort, is that Devore seems to be climbed even less than its more difficult neighbor, Tupshin Peak. According to the summit register Devore was not climbed at all between 2002-2004.

[magellan]

Great work! Rarely climbed, indeed. How is the rock in that area? Just from reading it seems many of the peaks nearby are loose. Hardhats?

[Tom_Sjolseth]

The rock on Tupshin and Devore is rather loose in the gullies, but relatively solid on the more difficult pitches -- in other words, pretty standard Cascade stuff. In my opinion, the quality of the rock is comparable to that of Reynolds, Copper, Fernow, Storm King, Spickard, Austera, etc. I would definitely recommend hard hats.

[summitseeker]

Awesome! Congrats to you and Eric on a great ascent. Thanks for the TR, and some new ideas of how to combine these peaks. I've linked to your TR from my website as well. --Scott