[TR] Monte Cristo, Kulshan, Shuksan, Daniels- 8/2/2006

[Mauri]

Climb: Monte Cristo, Kulshan, Shuksan, Daniels-

 

Date of Climb: 8/2/2006

 

Trip Report:

Glaciers, Passes and Summits-Across the North Cascades

late July-mid-August

Full report and images North Cascade Glacier Climate Project

 

For the 23rd year in a row I found myself arriving in the North Cascades in late July to begin several weeks of glacier research. The field team consisted of Erik Budsberg a geology student at WWU, Tom Hammond a network specialist from UW, Ben Pelto my son and myself. Arriving at SeaTac airport at noon, Erik met us and we headed for Monroe and the Safeway for provisions, lots of oatmeal, lipton rice and noodles, bagels and dried fruit. By three we were streamside on the North Fork Skykomish River packing up and waiting for the cool of the evening for the hike to the alpine country. Having woken up 18 hours before, the 2700 foot ascent in three miles on the Blanca Lake Trail, was just what the doctor would never order. Ben and I collapsed in the tent no need for a snooze button. 21 hours after waking up. In the morning we packed up camp, forded Troublesome Creek, which is knee deep and nearly 100 feet across at the exit from Blanca Lake. This lake is something to behold, and you get to do just that as you struggle around it on a obstacle ridden climbers trail. We set up camp at the far end of the lake and after a quick dip, headed uphill to the Columbia Glacier. The glacier is in deep cirque with substantial walls on all sides. The upper basin of the glacier is nearly flat and viewed from a distance the glacier appears much smaller than it is. It is still a mile long. The glacier had better snowcover than the previous three years, but that was not saying much. We spent the next two days probing this snowpack in 130 locations determining that the glacier will lose about a meter of thickness this year. The terminus had retreated 15 meters since last summer. We practiced self- arresting and some steep snow climbing on the second day where good runouts existed in preparation for steep slopes with less than perfect runouts. We also bagged our first pass, Monte Cristo Pass, utilizing a nice snow cave past the crux. The pass was in clouds mostly but one mountain goat showed its traversing skills below us. We patiently awaited until evening for the parting of the surface whiteout to complete our measurements, the laser ranger does not work well in fog.,

In the morning we packed up in light drizzle and hiked out headed north to Mount Shuskan. The forecast was for some showers the following day and then cool but cloudy conditions for several days. Thus, that evening we found ourselves with the backpacks back in place, hiking in the popular trail to Lake Ann below Mount Shuksan. We found that despite the weekend, this is only a popular spot with good weather. That night the shower began and was awfully persistent and hard for 14 hours to qualify as a shower. We sat it out and enjoyed some interesting lighting on Shuskan and the new snow on the face of Shuksan, as evening came and the rain finally ended. The next day was double time and after all the tent time this was not an issue. We ascended to Lower Curtis Glacier at 6 am. It is best to survey the terminus before it gets warm and small ice and rockfall ensues. This glacier has proved to have retreated 151 meters since 1985, and 14 meters in the last year. The terminus ice face is still over 100 feet high indicating the thick vigorous nature of the glacier. The glacier will lose a bit under a meter of thickness this year.

We arrived back at camp by 1:00 pm and were packed and on the trail in 30 minutes. The four mile hike out was quickly accomplished in the pleasantly cool conditions for the middle of the day. We repacked at the trailhead drove one mile up the road to the Artists Point Trailhead for a hike out Ptarmigan Ridge toward Mount Baker. This 5+ mile hike featured a herd of 28 mountains goats, unusually large, but was good motivation for us. We straggled into camp after 12 hours of glacier work and backpacking.

In the morning after the three packages of oatmeal we dropped down onto the Sholes Glacier. Two herds of mountains goats 19 and 14 each were below the glacier, and soon merged into one herd the largest I have ever seen. They stayed in sight for much of the morning as we worked our way across the glacier. We have to measure snow depth every 100 feet along our transects, giving ample time to enjoy the scenery. The goats were spooked out of sight as we descended to the terminus. This glacier is the opposite of the Lower Curtis with the gentlest terminus that you can glissade right down to and off of the glacier.

The following morning, heavy frost, covered our gear in camp, water bottles considerably frozen. Such frosts used to be common place, but this was my first at this time of the year this century. We traversed the Sholes Glacier to the Portals, another high pass bagged, and descended the Portals Glacier onto the Rainbow Glacier draining a saddle on the northeast side of Mount Baker. We then descended the Rainbow to the terminus at 4200’ , some 2000’ below our camp. The glacier has a grand canyon carved into it by a surficial stream. The canyon is up to 100’ deep in places and ends in a Moulin that could easily fit an SUV. Lunch near the terminus was followed by the 2400 foot climb to the top of the glacier broken by measurements every 100 feet allowing us to catch our breath. The snowpack once it is over 3 m deep, is measured by dropping a measuring rope into the crevasses. Thus, we do look demented going from crevasse to crevasse. At the top of the glacier where it joins the Mazama Glacier we could see considerable steam issuing from the Dorr Steamfield, the snowpack here from last winter was 5 meters deep. I had never seen such a plume on the north side of Mount Baker. Dog tired after 10 hours on the trail we traversed the three miles to camp losing and gaining as little elevation as possible. The Rainbow and Sholes Glacier were the only two with decent snowpack in the North Cascades.

Hiking out in the morning we circled the mountain and hiked in that evening to Easton Glacier on the south side of Mount Baker. We were joined by Greg Pierce an artist in residence at the National Park. We camp right near the terminus of the glacier, well below the gaze of the Railroad Grade, this site features a truly glacial wind, keeping all bugs away. The Easton Glacier had been getting steeper each year at the terminus of late, however, last summers retreat was so extensive 30 meters, that the glacier had retreated onto a gentler slope allowing easier access. The lower icefalls also proved easier to navigate through. We traversed the glacier laterally several times measuring changes in glacier thickness. The next morning we ascended the Easton Glacier measuring snowpack first by probing and then in crevasses until we were stopped by a wide sweeping crevasse near the top of the glacier. We then descended finding more crevasses as we descended. After not seeing anyone on the other glaciers, Easton Glacier had plenty of traffic, including a tired party of three after fourteen hours on the trail. They still had crampons on descending the mush, leaving there crampons balled up. The night had been clear, and so was the day and they had wands, unused, and they were still lost on the glacier. They used an interesting rope technique, with 25 feet between them including a good six feet of slack, they would approach a crevasse, give a flick to the rope laying on the snow surface and leap-step across onto there balled up crampons, only twice in our brief observation managing to step on the rope. The snowpack was down about a meter from what is needed for the Easton Glacier to maintain its balance for the year.

On a non-glacier topic we collected beer cans on the way down from the glacier, remember this is a recreation area allowing snowmobiling. What beer do snowmobilers prefer? You can ponder that for a moment, answer at end of report. The glaciers around Cascade Pass Yawning and Cache Col also featured poor snowpack, leading to a continued thinning of these two north facing glaciers. The start of the Ptarmigan Traverse is used to reach these glaciers, and this trail seems less used of late, maybe do the hordes headed for Eldorado and Inspiration Camps.

Our last stop was Mount Daniels. The Cle Elum River was high indicating a the wet spring and decent snowpack that had existed. A swim in the river demonstrated that the current was stronger as well. We waited until 6 pm to hike in, it was still not that cool. The mosquitoes greeted us in number as we reached the first of the lakes along the trail. The rest of the hike to our Cathedral Rock campsite featured few stops do the mosquitoes. We tacked on an extra distance to camp higher, no bugs hopefully, hiking under the rising moon. Morning revealed that the mosquitoes had migrated uphill to this camp which had always been my bug safety camp. Snowpack proved less here than further north and west. The Ice Worm Glacier, the smallest had retreated enough in the last year to expose a new alpine tarn at its terminus. We climbed on some small icebergs in the lake and took probably the first ever swim in this small lake. The Daniels Glacier having retreated 443 meters since 1985, has gotten even steeper and has more melt out crevasses than before. It took considerable effort with probing for crevasses to safely reach the high pass onto Lynch Glacier. We descended Lynch Glacier to the terminus above Pea Soup Lake. This glacier has not retreated in length that much in recent years, but the western third has been separated by a rock rib. Snowpack which should be in excess of 3.5 meters in the upper reaches of the Lynch barely averaged 2 m. After completing the probing and crevasse measurements, we crested the top of the Lynch Glacier up a steep cornice onto the saddle and climbed quickly to the top of the main peak of Daniels, out one and only summit to add to the list of passes and glaciers. On this day we had the mountain to ourselves. We could see from Mount Hood to Mount Baker, the views eastward were as clear as I have ever seen. Foss Glacier on Mount Hinman had another poor year, and is clinging to life, 1/3 of its 1985 area remaining. Mount Daniels after a snowy winter like much of the Cascades, and even a wet spring according to Daryl and Ann Nelson who man the Fish Lake Forest Service Cabin, still managed to lose more than usual to the brutal heat of July. The Mount Daniels Glacier have lost an average of 10 meters of thickness from 2001-2006. Given the 30-40 meters of thickness, this is 25-33% of the glaciers lost in this short period. On the other hand thick glaciers like the Columbia, Lower Curtis, Rainbow, and Easton Glacier only slight less thickness but were twice as thick to begin with.

A quick visit to the glaciers in late September will determine the end of the summer changes, but after more than 2000 snowpack measurements 11 months into the hydrologic year, the glacier gods are not happy.

Snowmobiler beer choice is Coors Light.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Mauri

[Alpinfox]

Awesome report! Thanks for sharing.

 

The Daniels Glacier has retreated 443 meters since 1985.... The Easton Glacier has retreated 290 meters since 1990

 

Wow!

 

 

For anyone who doesn't know what a "moulin" is (I didn't), CLICK HERE

[RideT61]

Depressing.

[Chad_A]

Thank you, Mauri, for posting.

 

Maybe we can find a way to send this to Dubya? Then again, he'd find a way to dispute it and grandfather in a way to make it reasonable.

[pup_on_the_mountain]

Really sad ... .

 

Thanks for posting though .

[philfort]

A few weeks ago I had a view of the western lobe of the Lynch glacier, or what's left of it. It's pretty much completely gone compared to what is shown on the topo map. There was one thick piece of snow left, that looked like it would slide off soon, but 90% was just rock slab.

 

btw, you might want to run a spell/grammar check on your report.

[alpineyeti]

The loss of our precious glaciers seems to be a commen thread this year. After an increadible trip into Mt. Triumph a few weeks ago, we were dissapointed to find very little glacier remaining below the east face of Triumph. For some great photos of how quickly this unnamed glacier is receding, check out the following thread.

 

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/598179/an/0/page/0#598179

 

Sounds like a great trip and interesting research. For those of us that call the Cascades home, we are watching our beloved glacier clad mountains changing overnight.

[JayB]

Does the record indicate that most Norther glaciers achieved a steady-state after the Little Ice Age or if on the whole they've been in a steady retreat since then? Any indications on when alpine glaciers reached their maximum after the end of the last ice age? Just wondering how far down valley the glaciers on Rainier, Hood, etc may have extended when they reached their maximum volumes.

[Mauri]

I will have to look at some 1960's photos I have the same glacier on Triumph and report back what I find.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Mauri

[Mauri]

Most glaciers did not acheive a steady state after the Little Ice Age for any period, all of them retreated from 1880-1945, some than switched into rapid advance after 1950, others kept retreating, so neither group would be in equilibrium, the exceptions would be Neve Glacier, Suiattle Glacier, Columbia Glacier, Sholes Glacier, Entiat Glacier and a few others that neither advanced or retreated much from 1950-1980. Since 1980 all have been retreating. For details on why the difference look at Terminus Response time When you ask about maximum advance are you talking about the largest in the last 10,000 years or the largest including the Fraser glaciation from 22,00-13,000 years ago? I will address your point after your response.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Mauri

[JayB]

Hey - thanks for the response. That's great information about stuff that I've been curious about for a while.

 

I'm thinking of some point after the last of the continental glaciers in North America were well and truly gone - so probably in the last 10,000 years or so.

 

Also - is there anything like a "History of North American Glaciers" that summarizes what's gone on from the time when the continental glaciers were retreating to the present?

 

I'm especially interested in what the chronology of glacial advance/retreat looks like in the Colorado Rockies and other continental ranges where the glaciers are long gone. Any idea when the last of the major glaciers in Colorado dissappeared?

[SmilingWhiteKnuckles]

Thanks for contributing this report, Mauri. It's fascinating especially for those of us who enjoy our high country here, and as always, good to add facts to the speculation and straight up observation.

[Mauri]

There were no substantial advances from 10,000 until 5,000 years ago. That is when the neoglacial began. The neoglacial has featured advances at 3000 years ago and during the LIA that were nearly identically sized. You can see the moraine overlap from these two by Lyman Glacier for example. Take a look at the link noted for the morst comprehensive details on the North Cascades. Colorado is another story. North Cascade Glacier Climate Project

[Mos_Chillin]

Damn. I guessed Bud Light.

 

Thanks for posting your report! Interesting stuff!

[Rad]

Mauri, Thanks for the glacier data. If I die 40 years from now how many glaciers do you think I will have outlived? Which?

 

as always, good to add facts to the speculation and straight up observation.

 

Can you get that message through to our President?

[JayB]

Hey Rad:

 

If you read through this link:

http://www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/globalwarming.html

 

you'll probably have your answer.

 

Fascinating stuff. After reading through some of the material there, I couldn't help but conclude that the that factors driving glacial retreat are quite a bit more complicated, and have a much longer chronology than most of the folks who have been posting to this thread are aware of.

[JayB]

Good link for those interested in the dissapearance of the Colorado Glaciers.

http://glaciers.pdx.edu/gdb/maps/all.php?page=co_glaciers.html

[PaulO]

Off topic (sort of) but when I was coming down the west side of the North/Middle Sister (central OR Cascades) weekend before last I saw runoff like I have never seen (all glacial melt, no recent precip yet then) in the 35 years I have frequented the area. I also heard something I found very strange that I had never experienced before. The quite loud sound of a lot of running water coming from UNDER the glaciers and snow fields in the evening quiet sounded like a raging river. Kinda scary...

[Mauri]

How much runoff would you estimate there was? The sound of running water, in steep terrain like on the Sisters, is most likely due to thinning snow and ice cover over the stream. The stream may have been at the base of the snowpack or within the glacier. You can get pools that drain, but it is rare on the steep cascade peaks to have one of any size.