[TR] Broken Top / Mt. Thielsen- North Ridge / Standard route 10/22/2005

[PVD]

Climb: Broken Top / Mt. Thielsen-North Ridge / Standard route

 

Date of Climb: 10/22/2005

 

Trip Report:

Last weekend, I headed where the sun was shining – Central Oregon – to squeeze in a couple of climbs before the winter storms.

I climbed Broken Top on Saturday, and Mt. Thielsen on Sunday.

The weather was July-like, and surprisingly I had both peaks to myself. It was a beautiful fall weekend in the mountains.

 

Broken Top – NW Ridge

 

I backpacked the trail along Fall Creek to Green Lakes Friday afternoon, intending to climb Broken Top before dark. This is a beautiful and easy approach; the trail gains less than 1500 feet over four miles and passes several waterfalls and cool lava flows before arriving at the scenic lakes basin between Broken Top and South Sister. The weather was perfect – 75 degrees, sunny, slight breeze. I passed only a couple of parties on the usually crowded trail.

I tossed my overnight gear at a campsite, found the Broken Top way trail between the two lakes and headed steeply through open forest, then scree, to the Northwest Ridge. About halfway up -- around 5 p.m. -- I decided to postpone my summit bid to Saturday, as this was my first trip up Broken Top and I wasn’t sure how long the summit scramble would take. So I returned to my camp, and enjoyed a relaxed evening with the lakes all to myself.

 

Broken Top at sunset:

 

 

 

 

In the morning I headed back up to the ridge, pausing at a spring south of the path to fetch water. The flat area near the spring, about 20 minutes up from the lakes, would make a great campsite.

For those who haven’t climbed the Northwest Ridge, the route is mostly a hike over scree and shattered rock. There were occasional hard patches of snow along the route, and the north sides of the ridge and peak were mostly snow-covered.

At the end of the ridge, I found the area at the base of the short Class 4/5 “crux” coated with downsloping, hard snow. To avoid this exposure, I traversed right about 15 paces and found a fairly easy Class 4 route with good rock and mild exposure. Surmounting the rock band proved easier than I expected.

The crux of my climb turned out to be the ledge traverse to the right below the summit block after the Class 4 step. A couple of hard snow patches made what would otherwise be an easy – though somewhat exposed – stroll a little sketchy. I turned north at the end of this ramp and followed another exposed ledge up to the easy Class 3 summit scramble.

Wow. This summit view is special on a clear day — the best I’ve seen in the Oregon or southern Washington Cascades. All three Sisters, Mt. Washington, Three-Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood – all perfectly lined up. The views of Broken Top’s crater and many pinnacles were just as awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

I relaxed on top for 30 minutes before the relatively easy downclimb. I descended the rock band via the same route, facing out.

I had put off climbing Broken Top for awhile because I’m inexperienced on Class 4/5 terrain, but I found the peak to be a reasonable solo scramble. The mileage is pretty low (about 11-12 miles), and the elevation gain modest (about 3,800 feet). The hike to the lakes is quick, and the summit climb took me a little more than two hours from my camp at the lakes.

 

After crashing Saturday night at my sister’s cabin in La Pine, where I enjoyed a pizza and a six-pack of Lagunitas IPA, I headed 75 miles south Sunday morning to climb Thielsen.

 

Mt. Thielsen – Standard route

 

When I hiked the Mt. Thielsen Trail with my girlfriend three years ago, we stopped short of the intimidating summit spire. At that time, a large group using a fixed rope made me think this was a technical peak that I would not attempt on my own.

Well, many solo climbs later, Mt. Thielsen became little more than a steep hike in my mind.

The experience turned out to be something in between – a very cool scramble that was a bit tougher than expected.

The Mt. Thielsen Trail follows a relatively flat route through open forest for about 3.5 miles before riding a ridge toward the peak. The route steepens considerably at timberline, becoming a climber’s path over scree.

 

View from the ridge:

 

 

I scrambled Class 2 rock over a fairly solid ridge to the right of some really steep scree, then climbed talus that shifted underfoot to a slabby ramp leading to the south (right) side of the summit spire. I figured I could find Class 3 passage to the summit, but my route was solidly 4th Class, including a couple of awkward moves that felt fairly exposed. I found the rock mostly solid and the ledges generous, but this 80-foot scramble is pretty steep and a misstep would not be good.

 

The spire:

 

 

 

Though the weather was again superb, views were partially obscured by a prescribed burn in the area. I couldn’t see many distant Cascade peaks, but the summit views of nearby Howlock Mountain, Tipsoo Peak, Mt. Bailey and Diamond Lake were cool. Howlock looks like a fairly challenging scramble.

After a less-stressful-than-expected downclimb, I noticed a route to the left of the ramp that appeared to offer a lower-angle alternative to reaching the upper ledges and boulders. I didn’t have time to check it out.

 

It was a good weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Helmet

Edited October 27, 2005 by PVD

[John Frieh]

 

Did you see any bolts on the summit pinnacle on Thielsen?

[kurthicks]

I heard about those too. When is someone going to chop them? (insert :boltwar: graemlin here)

[PVD]

Yep, I saw one near the bottom of the route.

[John Frieh]

If I make it that way this weekend I'll chop 'em.

 

Anybody know who bolted this?

[Cobra_Commander]

isn't that like bolting a graham cracker?

[John Frieh]

Thielsen summit pinnacle is as solid as anything at snoqualmie pass (if not more)... it is the remains of a volcanoe plug so mostly andesite (as far as I can tell). Other parts of thielsen are closer to your description.

 

Bottom line: easily protected with larger hexes.

[kurthicks]

If I make it that way this weekend I'll chop 'em.

 

Anybody know who bolted this?

 

I read about it on SP.com, but no reference to who did it. Good rainy/snowy day project.

[Chriznitch]

there are certainly some more difficult variations on the summit pinnacle. I think one of these is the Gill route on the south side.

Bolts on the easy line (scramble) up the back (east side) are unacceptable, especially at the bottom! The whole thing is only 75'

[John Frieh]

Bolts on any route... whether it be 5.2 or 5.14... where good, quality placements for protection exist is unacceptable.

 

FYI Gills route protects with large nuts.

[Kevin_Matlock]

where I enjoyed a pizza and a six-pack of Lagunitas IPA

My kind of trip!

Good job on the climbs.