[TR] Cerise Creek (Keith's Hut)- 3/18/2006

[mattp]

Climb: Cerise Creek (Keith's) Hut

 

Date of Climb: 3/18/2006

 

Trip Report:

I had been talking with a couple of guys from cc.com about going to Cerise Creek for a sampling of what the Coast Mountains have to offer, and Fred sent me an email:

 

WANNA GO TO CERISE CREEK? MIGHT BE AROUND THIS WEEKEND. CALL ME.

 

So I called him, and of course he wasn’t home (he never is). But ‘round about Thursday he re-appeared, and one of my cc.com buddies, weekendclimber, was still "in" so we agreed to leave Friday night. Fred was wheezing, and complaining that the pills weren’t working fast enough.

 

"A hundred twenty bucks!! What are you gonna do? Just take ‘em and maybe you’ll get better in a few days. My doctor told me to stay home in bed. I got bronchitis - hear it? Hwzzz..."

 

So we drove up to Pemberton, and Fred graciously offered to sleep on the floor while weekendclimber and I took the beds in a hotel room. OK Fred. Nighty night -- almost. after a half hour of coughing and hacking up flem, Fred fell asleep and all was quiet.

 

The next morning, we headed for breakfast, and it was pretty slow. Fred was ready to give up on the whole thing and head for the hills but we hung in there. We started skiing at the crack of noon (well maybe 11:00) and made quick(?) time toward the hut.

 

 

Fred could go no more than a couple hundred yards between rests and gasps for air, wheezing all the while. He refused to let us take any of his load, and he kept telling us to go on ahead and allowed as he hoped he wasn’t going to have to sleep in the snow somewhere short of the hut. We, of course, stuck with our partner. It took a while, but I was absolutely amazed watching how Fred could negotiate every tree well and log and sidehill - whatever it was - with careful precision. Never once did he even begin a slip on the icy obstacle course of a trail.

 

 

The hut was crowded, and we staked out the last couple of spots in the loft while at least fifteen poeple set up tents nearby. Just before the "evening rush," we cooked an early dinner, and weekendclimber and I headed out for a ski as dusk was falling. At this time, with a dozen parties trying to cook dinner, the hut had become unbearably crowded and it was a nice time of day to be out.

 

 

We found some powder on the back side of a ridge that would dump us down over some bluffs into the woods for a thrash back to the main access trail, so we could only ski half of it before traversing back around to the crusty slopes above the hut. That evening, a few of us passed some single malt around and I got to re-connect with an old friend I’d never met before. Somebody asked me: “the old guy – is he your father?” I said, “no, he’s just a friend I met on the Internet.” The guy asked “He probably knows a thing or two about these mountains, eh?” "He's probably climbed more mountains around here than anybody alive," I said; "HE's Fred Beckey." The guy replied, a little unsure, "That name sounds familiar."

 

The morning dawned bright and clear. Fred, complaining of back pain and difficulty breathing, said he wanted to ski up onto the glacier, so we ate a leisurely breakfast and headed out. I was struggling with some sticky skins and some iced up bindings, and he helped me on with my skis and then set out in the lead. Unfortunately, he made it no more than a couple hundred yards up the hill before doubling over on his ski poles, complaining that the pain pills weren’t working. He announced that he’ll "trundle" on back down to the car but said we should go on ahead and go skiing.

 

 

Weekendclimber and I headed up the hill for a ski run, but I was a little nervous about leaving Fred to ski all the way out by himself. After all, he had a lung infection, he’d taken some kind of pain killer, and he’s 83 years old. With maybe 25 people having skied out since we skied in and it was already icy, the trail was sure to be a Jamaican bobsled run and all he’d have to do was misstep around a tree well and it’d be a broken hip for the guy. We went up to where I knew we could find an entertaining gully to ski, and called it turn around time. I figured it was still in the sun and wouldn’t be too crusty. It wasn’t.

 

 

Back down the trail, we found Fred slumped over his pack, chewing on a candy bar. "How you doing, Fred?" "I'm OK. Yeah, yeah, I'm Ok... Want some?"

 

 

We enjoyed a leisurely ski back to the car, and I continued to marvel at how Fred cautiously picked his way down the trail. While I was slipping and sliding every which way and more than once ended up wrapped around a tree on the side of the trail, Fred carefully side stepped where he needed to and avoided even the possibility of a slip. The guy’s eyesite is starting to fail and he has difficulty reading a map unless the light is perfect, but he could read every wrinkle in the trail and navigate the luge run with the precision of a watchmaker.

 

We drove home, leaving a little too early so as to get mired in some of the Whistler skier traffic but never-the-less we arrived back in Seattle at a reasonable hour. Fred spoke of his upcoming climbing trips to the Canadian Rockies next week, the American southwest the week after, and (maybe) the Cascades the week after that before he goes on an expedition to China next month.

 

At the border, the customs officer seemed a little interested in the fact that we were three people aged 30, 50 and 80. He asked where we were from, kept looking at Fred, and took some time to run our passport numbers through the computer before letting us proceed. Meanwhile, he wanted to know if any of us had ever been to Canada before. After the guy cleared us and I ran over one of his orange cones, Fred asked: "why do they have to ask so many dumb questions?"

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Get your napkins and condiments at Burger King.

 

Approach Notes:

cell phone needed for the drive.

[Weekend_Climberz]

And a couple more to make Double_E a little more jealous...

 

Panorama looking North (left) to East (right). Note the lack of clouds

 

MattP shredding some first tracks in the chute with some tele turns.

 

Fred packing in the picnic area of the world famous Pamela's Cook Shack. Known for their "All Day Breakfast", because it takes all day for them to get it to you

[dalius]

I went touring up there once years ago and loved it. The terrain there is outstanding.

 

I don't really know anything about the hut though. What's the situation inside the hut? Pretty cramped? Wooden bunks? Do you need some sort of reservation or is it first come/first served? I've been telling some friends about the valley and want to organize a weekend up there, but want to get the lowdown on the hut before I go further with the plans.

 

This is the hut at the base of the Anniversary Glacier, correct?

 

Glad everyone was OK!

[mattp]

The hut is near the bottom of the Anniversary Glacier, next to some small tarns at 5500 feet. It is a very nice hut, but it is often crowded - and not just on weekends. It is first-come-first-served and you can usually sleep inside even if it is packed, but it is frustrating trying to cook or hang out inside at dinner time when everybody is fighting for counter space and running back and forth cooking and getting snow to melt at the same time. The preferred sleeping area is in the loft upstairs - on a wood floor; no mattresses are provided. There is no cooking stove or lantern. For payment, donations are requested. more information

 

There are several creek drainages in the Duffy Lake area which offer excellent skiing at all levels of difficulty, both for day and overnight trips. There is another popular hut in Marriot Basin, accross the Duffy Lake road.

 

The Pemberton area has at least a dozen huts that are open to the public, but most require a full day or more approach unless you take a helicopter.

[catbirdseat]

Tell Fred that he should go on Zithromax (azithromycin)for that bronchitis. It's related to erythromycin but has typically fewer gastroinstinal side effects and you only have to take one pill a day. Often only three days of treatment will do the trick.

[Weekend_Climberz]

Yeah, but how much does it cost. That's what he seemed most concerned about.

[dalius]

Thanks Matt. I definetely have to get up there.

 

How come Canadians have built so many huts and we haven't got squat? Must be the socialist attitude. We have so much to learn...

[catbirdseat]

Yeah, but how much does it cost. That's what he seemed most concerned about.

Sorry to say, but it is expensive unless you get generic. Price varies a lot.

 

http://www.zithromax-us.us/

$108 for 6 - 250 mg brand name tablets

http://aclepsa.com/zithromax.shtml?ref=bowfrommi

$27 for 6 - 250 mg generic tablets

[Double_E]

And a couple more to make Double_E a little more jealous...

 

Well the desired effect has been achieved. Am kinda bummed I didn't go. sounds like a great time guys. Still thinking of going again later in springtime maybe?

 

We had a great time on Jim Hill mountain tho. Killer weather, almost no wind to speak of.... and some of the best freakin powder of my whole LIFE!!!! Here's a trip report from someone who wasn't with our party but was on mountain at same time....

 

http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0603;action=display;num=1142891124

 

I went with Jersan, Mjolner, and their GFs.

[olyclimber]

Nice TR Matt!