Mt. Redoubt - NE Face

[ryland_moore]

Anyone been up there this summer? Lately? Heading up for Labor Day with 3 others. Thinking of 2 rope teams of two, a couple pickets, 8-10 screws. snow/ice conditions? shrund difficulties? Suggestions on climbing the rock vs. picking the way through maze on the glacier? Mosquitos? Thanks.

[ryland_moore]

Thnaks for the redirect. I'm already getting psyched!

[Dante]

I collected a bunch of info. on this route since I wanted to climb it, but will have to wait until next year. Here it is in its various formats:

 

Also, check: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~berdind/alpine/redoubt/frame.html

 

Considering Mt Spickard via Depot Creek in mid-June. Looks like the north face glacier is straightforward, but worried about rocky, scrambly area at the top.

Any info would be appreciated.

 

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Posts: 58 | From: Seattle WA | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged

 

W

Rope Lead

Member # 487

 

posted 05-07-2001 03:56 PM

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Hi,

I've done the Silver Lake Glacier route and approached it by Depot Creek, in 1999, so here's some beta:

First of all, Beckey's guide says the Depot Creek road is reached 30 miles along the Chilliwack Lake Road. No. It is like 33 miles. My low clearance car was then only able to get about 3/4 mile up the road before it is badly washed out. If you have a high clearance vehicle you can make it maybe another mile.

Like the description says, hike the road and then take the first left fork in it (which is about where you could drive with a high clearance vehicle). However, it doesn't mention another fork which is reached in about 1/2 mile more. Do NOT take the right fork like we did, following what we thought was "intuition" as it stays in the valley bottom. the resulting bushwhacking/stinging nettle/waist deep water/muck/bug infested/swamp wading ass-kicking epic that ensued is something that should never be repeated by anyone in the history of climbing, but I'm sure it will again.

Anyway, take the left fork, which heads 90 degrees left, straight up the hill, then soon reaches a T intersection and old road grade. Turn right and you are on route. In about a mile the road becomes a trail and you leave the logging slash and enter the United States at an obelisk monument. The next 3 miles of trail are a bit vague in places and with lots of downed windfall, but followable, just pay attention.

The waterfall at the end of the canyon is unforgettable! We were there in July of that record snow season, and crossing the base of it was difficult and intimidating, requiring some scrambling over soaking wet rocks, with some exposure, with the base of the falls rampaging right in front of you! There is a fixed line or two. exit left into the brush and talus as soon as you can. just before the waterfall be sure to follow the ribbons in the brush to find the best way through.

The rest of the approach is straightforward.

The col north of Spickard is a spectacular bivi with tremendous views. The glacier is easy climbing but be wary of soft snow avalanches on warm days.

The rock scrambling at the top is nothing to worry about. take a short, 9 mm rope and a couple small to medium pieces of gear. We hit the summit ridge (east ridge) about 400 feet shy of the top (after a tricky bergschrund crossing at the top of the glacier- the snow was deep mushy and awful). The climbing on the ridgecrest was on often very loose and shattered tiles of rock and rather exposed, but with protectable cracks available, all of which combined justified roping up, but the climbing is easy- 4th class at the hardest. It can be downclimbed and running belayed without a problem. the views again are as good as they get.

Have a great trip.

 

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Posts: 331 | From: issaquah, wa usa | Registered: Mar 2001 | IP: Logged

 

mark

Rope Lead

Member # 133

 

posted 05-07-2001 04:45 PM

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I did this route early season (memorial day weekend) a couple of years back. When we did it the ridge was mostly snow with scarry cornices. A few rocks stuck out that we slung for pro (take some doubles). We tread a fine line along the ridge between the cornices and the steep snow face above the bergshrund, until we were able to cross over to the south(?) side and finish via an easy one rope length scramble to the top. You may find similar conditions given the time of year you are climbing it. Hope this helps.

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Posts: 54 | Registered: Nov 2000 | IP: Logged

 

dkemp

Rope Lead

Member # 686

 

posted 05-08-2001 02:03 PM

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Lookin' at the maps whilst knockin' back espressos this morning...

The route up from the lake at 5700 to the col at 7400 is a SW facing gully. There are steep S and SW facing slopes leading all the way up to Point 8203.

 

Hmmm.... mid-June... but low snowyear...

 

I'm not exactly a beginner but I dont have confidence in my avalanche avoidance skills. Then again, I'm still alive after seven years of mountaineering. But I fear I have turned around more than one climb due to avalanche hazard when none existed.

 

I'm not asking anyone to sign off on my outing. However, any input would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance for your comments.

 

Just trying to stay alive,

Dox

 

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Posts: 58 | From: Seattle WA | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged

 

W

Rope Lead

Member # 487

 

posted 05-08-2001 02:18 PM

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Doxey-

The gully is 30-40 degrees. At that time of year a good strategy, if you are concerned about the snow, would be to camp in the trees atop the waterfall in the basin below Redoubt, then climb the gully early in the AM. It doesn't get sun until mid morning and should only take you 1-2 hours to climb.

And hey, don't be so hard on yourself- erring on the side of caution, especially with avalanches, will make an old climber out of you someday.

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Posts: 331 | From: issaquah, wa usa | Registered: Mar 2001 | IP: Logged

 

dkemp

Rope Lead

Member # 686

 

posted 05-08-2001 05:07 PM

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Thanks, W. Thats a goal of mine, actually.

-Dox

 

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Posts: 58 | From: Seattle WA | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged

 

wotan of ballard

Rope Lead

Member # 625

 

posted 05-08-2001 07:51 PM

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I was up there last july. we did the last bit to the top via the north ridge(or R edge of glacier) as access to the east ridge was blocked by a schrund. almost no rock scrambling at all but the snow was steep 45-50? for a bit. all depends on the freezing level, clear night, and how early you start if you have a mush avy problem. greta place. trial recently cleared of blowdowns. ditto on W's road description.

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Posts: 57 | From: upper Ballard | Registered: Apr 2001 | IP: Logged

 

Dru

Rope Lead

Member # 353

 

posted 05-09-2001 08:45 AM

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Kevin McLane's "SW BC Select" alpine guide will be out in about 3 weeks with up-to-date road access beta for Depot Creek. Or you can check www.bivouac.com for Depot Creek/ Mount Redoubt access.

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Posts: 5339 | From: the homeland | Registered: Feb 2001 | IP: Logged

 

Tod

Rope Lead

Member # 500

 

posted 05-15-2001 07:16 PM

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I've been up Depot Creek three times and have found the access very fun with a high clearance vehicle. If you try to guess which road to take, it becomes very confusing. But much like "W" said, if you just keep going left you will have no problem.

The only difference I have done compared to what "W" stated is that instead of taking that road/trail that "heads up 90 degrees left, straight up the hill, then soon reaches a T intersection and old road grade", I just stayed left the whole time and ended up on the grade that you come up to and turn right on.

 

Sound confusing? It really isn't, it just looks it when you get there. The only rule to the whole thing is getting on the Depot Creek road from the main road (Chilliwack Lake Road). There are two roads you come across just before the Chilliwack Lake Road crosses Depot Creek. The one closes to Depot Creek ends very quickly, the first one above Depot Creek is the correct one and will become rougher the farther you drive it. I have been able to drive all the way to the last left hand turn (fork in the road)and park. The last fork in the road is VERY hard to see because it is so washed out and overgrown. Keep an open mind and your eyes sharp and you will see it. This is where I have always parked and hike from (up the washed out overgrown trail). You will soon come across the "T intersection", but you are already on the road grade and you continue on.

 

As far as the climb of Spickard. It is fairly straightforward. I was their one moderate snow year on 4th of July. Avalanche conditions were not a concern. The weather had been nice and stabilized the snow. Since it was hot while I was there, there was some blocks here and there sliding off of smooth rock faces above Silver Lake. But that was a couple of days prior to my visit. A rope is needed for the glacier and the moderate scrambling near the top. We ended up doing the climb in a whiteout one year and found it fairly easy with 20-30yd visibility.

 

For all intense purpose, the only trouble you may run into is finding the climbers trail and figuring out how to get up the alongside the 900' waterfall at the end of Depot Creek. The trick to that is getting up in front of it as close as you can (literally as close as you can) and then heading up and left into the brush and up and up and up....

 

This place will absolutely blow your mind away. Not to many places like it in the Cascades.

 

Tod

 

[This message has been edited by Tod (edited 05-15-2001).]

 

 

 

2002.07.07 Vito GudaitisDepot Creek Trail Access

Depot Creek Road starts about a hundred metres north of the Depot Creek bridge on Chilliwack Lake Road, near the south end of Chilliwack lake. Note that the main road is currently gated at the bridge. To access the Depot Creek Trail, drive or walk southeast on Depot Creek Road for about 3.3 km. At 2.7 km there is a rough stream crossing that should present no problems for any decent 4x4. My Subaru Legacy had no problems anywhere on this road, which is generally rough but not excessively so. Stay left at all branches. At 3.1 km a branch to the right crosses Depot Creek and provides access to Mount No Doubt. At 0.2 km past this branch another branch goes steeply uphill to the left. This is the route to the trail. After a couple hundred metres, this spur tees into another old logging road. The trail is to the right, and vehicle access ends here because the upper road is badly overgrown with Alders and other vegetation. It is about 2 km to the border from here, generally quite flat with a lot of water and muck, and lots of small trees on the old logging road. However, the route is easy to follow and sure beats bushwacking through the swamps below, which is what we did on the way in to the trail. At the border the trail becomes a real hiking trail and is in good shape except for some messy parts around the waterfall.

 

2000.06.29 Paul Kubik

From Jack Bryceland "On June 29, Chilliwack Search & Rescue had a call for an overdue climber. It turned out to be for one of two North Cascades National Park rangers who had got separated on the Depot Creek Trail. The guy out front decided to go for the top and figure out where his buddy was when he got down. The guy at the back couldn't see a reasonable way up the waterfall; so turned back and, next day, reported the first guy as overdue. We caught up with the summiteer as he was walking out. In talking to him, he said that, although the old road to the border is an undriveable mess; the trail from the border to the waterfall has been recently cleared with a chainsaw. He claimed that there was little stepover problems from deadfall."

 

 

 

The North-East face of Mt. Redoubt is reportedly one of the classic routes of the Canadian Cascades. The impressive picture of it in Fairley's guide only adds to the mystique. An approach through old growth forest (and waterfalls) is followed the next day by climbing a 4200' face on steep snow and ice, with a descent which requires circumnavigating the mountain - a very long Grade IV day!

 

In June of 1998, David Persson, Jeremy Frimer and I set off to climb the route, choosing the first weekend as the best time. We knew that fall ascents are often stopped by the seracs of the lower face, and figured that with plenty of spring snow around this danger would be minimized.

 

Driving out from Vancouver went according to plan, and we headed up the Depot Creek road from Chilliwack Lake following the directions given in Beckey's Cascade guide Vol. 3. However, a slight omission in the guide led us to some unnecessary bushwacking. For the record, once you have driven Depot Creek road to the point where an old bridge crosses the creek, continue a short distance on the same bank (don't cross the bridge) until you meet a junction, with the forks heading uphill and straight ahead. This is where most vehicles will be forced to park. Unfortunately, the guide is a bit ambiguous about which fork to take. We went straight ahead and fucked around in beaver dams and regrowing alder for an hour. The correct route is to take the uphill fork, then turn right at the next junction. This road leads right to the border swath and had had its alders chopped down to make an easily walkable trail when we were on it.

 

Once we had found the border, and the trail, it was easy to follow, and climbed through nice old growth on the US side. Eventually we reached the dreaded headwall and waterfalls, which are climbed as per the Beckey guide - follow the trail right up to the base of the falls, look for a hole in the bushes on the left, climb into it, and hand-over-hand it uphill through bushes, mud and boulders for 700 feet to the top of the headwall. At this point you arrive at the cirque below the NE face of Redoubt.

 

Here we made our second mistake. Every reference had said "Contour around the basin on the left" but we tried to head directly across. It turns out that doing so requires 4 unavoidable creek wadings - David fell face first into the only one we thought was jumpable, because it wasn't, and his jump was short of the opposite bank. His gear stayed dry, but he sure didn't.

 

After setting up camp and drying out in the moraine on the other side of the cirque, we called it a night. We were up the next morning at 4AM and took off by 4:30.

 

The approach to the climb was easy. Soon we were roped up and crossing the lower glacier. After weaving through mostly "full" seracs, we traversed over to the legendary "ice apron" for the start of the technical climbing. This provided pleasant lead outs on 55 degree snow due to the time of year, with token pickets for pro.

 

From the top of the ice apron, we traversed a snow crest back to the main face, then ate lunch while discussing options. The possible routes are either:

 

a) make a mixed traverse into the upper, steep snow couloir, or

b) climb "easy rock" to the right of the couloir, avoiding the traverse.

 

We went for Plan B and had a varied time of it, climbing about 8 pitches of rock up to 5.7 (except when David got off-route). This heavy belaying took up valuable time and we topped out on the face at 7:30 PM. By the time we scrambled up to the top we were treated to a nice 8: 15 PM sunset.

 

Our longer than anticipated descent route involved continuning west from the summit in an attempt to descend the west side and then down from the col with "Mad Eagle Peak" to our camp. However, a rock step blocked this route and we were forced to descend a couloir some 2500 feet to the bottom of the south face, then traverse E. around the mountain on glaciers ( apparently a variant on an early ascent route). A better descent would have been to go back to the topout of the NE face and then easily down the standard route to the E. glaciers. With all the traversing we did not make it back to camp until 1:30 AM - a 21 hour day!!!

 

As you might guess, camp was not broken the next day until after noon. By then, D. Persson and his short skis had laid tracks on every snow covered slope within 5 km of camp.The walk out was uneventful and took about 4 hours. There were fresh bear tracks in the mud of the logging road as we headed back to the car.

[Dru]

The route is much harder to start this late in the year compared to in the early summer. I've heard of many parties failing to get on the ice in September.

 

Ps Dante way to lift my TR off of www.bivouac.com with no attribution mate! Where are my royalties I accept

 

[ 08-23-2002, 07:03 PM: Message edited by: Dru ]

[ryland_moore]

Bring this to top.............. I'll settle for any words of wisdom from anyone who has ever done this climb. Like camping in the valley (swamp) or head up to Ouzel Lake?

[mattp]

There was a trip report here not long ago so you should run a search. But here's a couple of points that I can offer:

 

1. The approach road was very overgrown two years ago and I bet it is only more so. Be prepared to walk at least a mile further than the guidebook describes unless you have a hummer and want to scratch it up.

 

2. The trail through the woods has experienced some ad hoc maintenance over the years and is really rather pleasant.

 

3. After you climb the headwall past the much-talked-about waterfall, I do not agree that it is necessary to circle the swamp in the clockwise manner that is generally recommended. We went that way in there, but on the way out we took a more direct line that would be found by crossing the stream as soon as you enter that basis (there were two forks to cross), and then staying right as close as possible below the small ridge that encircles that side of the basin. There are nice campsites on morainal debris right below the route.

 

4. We found the direct approach up the glacier quite doable but it probably would be easier to traverse in from the east if you do end up circling the swamp in the generally recommended manner and camping somewhere below that east lobe of the glacier.

 

5. My buddy didn't like the looks of the schrund below the ice apron, so we didn't do the climb, but I believe that schrund will not present much of a problem. Either climb it directly (it is maybe 40 feet high) or I think you could skirt it on rock to the left.

 

6. The top of the route is not as shown in the guidebook because a whole ice gully is gone and there is some kind of obstacle presented by this. Search old posts.

 

Redoubt is a specacular place. Enjoy.

[Off_White]

Ryland, seems like there was a good thread on this in recent history, Dru had some good beta and he and Lowell discussed the virtues of which way to go when you get to the muck. Tell us stories when you get back.