Mt Washington Attempt TR

[Off_White]

Well, on Sunday I took a whack at the Great Groove route on the north side of Washington. Late Saturday night I drove in with the usual fumbling about on unfamiliar roads with the added joy of fuel pump relays on my Vanagon that would cut out when bumped, not the best situation for washboard roads. Got up a little late on Sunday, but was hiking by 5:30. After 20 minutes of brush bashing and forest traversing I found myself looking down on the road I should have started from. Hmmm, should've turned right back there. Descended to intersect where I thought the trail would be, and found the orange flagging that declares the past presence of Mountaineers. Heading up the valley wasn't bad, stuff still just coming on with the first leaves. Came out into the big avalanche basin under the NE face, and headed over to the right side to try and follow the guide description. Steep timber and a bit of 4th class brush led up to a rock wall, found a ledge leading left. A little poking about took me up and left some more, brush becoming much thicker, until I popped out at the first major stream and waterfall. I found a decent crossing, then more brush & timber, until I came to the next deep stream/waterfall slot. This one looked much more impassible, so I tried looking about for the "great groove." I went up some really nasty high angle technical brush with a death fall runout, followed by 75 feet of rock. I didn't find the promised "clean, sound rock" but instead dealt with mossy wet slightly downsloped 5.0ish high anxiety scrambling. At this point it became apparent there was no stream crossing ahead, no sign of even an "ok groove," and that things were going to get much steeper before they got better. Contemplating the horrors of becoming a post mortem accident dissection thread on this board gave me a new reason to live, so I decided to retreat while I could still downclimb what I had been up. Ahh well, who can complain about a day out in the mountains in good weather? I basked in the sun for awhile then retraced my route. Towards the very bottom, in the initial timber section, I came upon a rap sling on tree, suggesting that I was not the first to be stumped on this route.

 

Later on, driving around and scoping the face with binoculars suggested that there may be a gnarly cedar/slide alder ledge that traversed from somewhere near where I headed up that could get you into the waterfall slot and hopefully something else would get you out the far side and around to the next stream/waterfall. I think I also spied what could be the groove, currently snow filled, which could either make it a cruise or if hollow and rotten a real horrorshow. The upper portion looked lovely, but all that snow was baking in the sun at least until noon, and looked to be a real candidate for wet surface slides unless you were there early. So class, lessons learned:

 

1: Park at the right spot

 

2: Advance viewing of the wall from farther up the 2401 road recommended.

 

3: Since the upper half looks like the most enjoyable portion, consider taking the easier straight forward brush bash of the NE face to access the upper basin and chute faster and earlier.

 

4: Those charcoal renderings the Olympics Guidebook uses instead of photos? Not worth shit.

[gapertimmy]

quote:

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Originally posted by Off White:

4: Those charcoal renderings the Olympics Guidebook uses instead of photos? Not worth shit.

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amen brutha, i have felt that pain before!

[mvs]

Thanks for saving me Off White!

 

I was just looking at that route in the book, and thinking to go up there. When/If (big If now!) I do, I'll take your advice to heart.

 

--Michael

[mvs]

You know, charcoal renderings are always deceptive. The charcoal drawing of the range from Denny Peak to Bryant in the Cascade Alpine Guide makes a pretty jagged ridge look like a sleepytime hike. These charcoalists see a "stock price" ridge and smirk as they draw a line. They see a jumble of wet/downslab/brush/snow/rock and just color that black.

 

Down with the charcoalists! Limited by the poor detailing abilities of their medium, they have made tens of dollars with their perverse, knowing deception!

 

Thanks,

--Michael

 

ps - the Charcoalist can be recognized by his small hands and WEE BEADY EYES!!

[Off_White]

quote:

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Originally posted by mvs:

I was just looking at that route in the book, and thinking to go up there. When/If (big If now!) I do, I'll take your advice to heart.

 

--Michael

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Soon would be my advice, the slide alder/vine maple/devil's club is just out with the first set of leaves, 3 weeks from now it'll be thick. If its just you solo, NE Face could be fun. If you've got a partner & rope, E Ridge looks good, and that buttress to the right of the Big Creek route is quite nice with good rock.

[Cpt.Caveman]

I call that stuff rubble. Prime reason for me to climbe elsewhere besides these peaks.......

[turn_one]

sounds all too familiar...had a similar experience on the east ridge route saturday

[Fairweather]

Hey now! Don't be dissin' the OMCG. I like those charcoals...they leave you with a little thinking to do "on your own". Who wants a connect-the-dots type trip anyway? Additionally, this book is a handy size unlike the encyclopedia-like "Cascade Alpine Guides". ( Don't get me wrong! Beckey's books are awesome too! )

 

I think Olympic Mountain Climber's Guide is perfect.

 

[ 06-03-2002, 09:57 PM: Message edited by: Fairweather ]

[climberbro16]

What route on the North Side of the mountain has the crashed plain on it? One of my freinds had climbed the route and was thinking about it.

[roboclimber]

The OPCG is only a general reference guide. It can get you pretty close to the objective, but a little detective work never hurts. USGS maps at 1:24,000 scale work well if you have never been somewhere before. Now if you go with someone who has already been to a specific place then that is the best option. A lot of the routes up mountains, I recon'ed on my own. It's fun bushwacking through the devils club and century old blow downs on steep slippery slopes. Not! However it does build character and a knowledge of wilderness terrain. Anyway, a couple of my buddies and I were fumbling around on the Eastern Slopes of Mnt Washington via the Jefferson Pass trail trying to summit. I thought it would be a walk in the park. Just do it kind of thing. I had no map or guide. Stupid! I definitely underestimated the Olympic Range again. The route up there kind of petered out into class 4/5 steep wet moss covered crumbly basalt. I didn't find any apparent safe route and I was wishing I had some charcoal rendition with some verbage for this route, and so in defense of the OPCG any guide is better than no guide.

 

[ 06-05-2002, 04:15 PM: Message edited by: roboclimber ]