[TR] Darrington, Three O'Clock Rock - Silent Running 5/6/2007

[catbirdseat]

Trip: Darrington, Three O'Clock Rock - Silent Running

 

Date: 5/6/2007

 

Trip Report:

Mark McKillop and I were planning on going to Index today, but it was drizzling outside my door step this morning. Driving up Hwy 522 it looked a bit brighter to the north, so I prevailed on Mark to try Darrington instead.

 

The Clear Creek Road was in pretty good shape, but there were three creeks that I had to cross very slowly and carefully in my Acura. Cars with better clearance would hardly need to slow down. There were two other cars at the trailhead.

 

The trail had a lot of small trees down and many branches littered the path. I threw quite a few of them off the trail, but it's a big project. Most of the trees are less than six inches, so a bow saw would take care of them.

 

There was still a big pile of snow at the base of the North Buttress of Three O'Clock Rock. It made the first pitch somewhat shorter than normal.

 

We had dry conditions up until the fourth pitch where a shower caught Mark right at the crux. Pausing a moment, it dried fast enough that he was able to resume. The rock remained a bit slick whereveer there was the least bit of lichen.

 

The sixth pitch still hasn't had all it's old bolts replaced yet. The red hangers are pretty awful looking. There is a section on this pitch with a rightfacing corner where it seems like it could take gear if it were cleaned up. The bolts are three or four feet out from this corner.

 

Prior to the bonus pitch going in, there wasn't need for much of a rack, but now since most parties are toting a rack, the corner might as well be cleaned up.

 

The seventh pitch was really good, although damp. I had to cheat a bit to get through the crux, but I had fun.

 

Our timing was pretty good, because things got really wet as we rappelled down. Mark lowered me down for the first rap, since there are a lot of trees up there and the other strand we'd been dragging was already in place. It worked pretty well.

 

We cleared a fallen snag on part of the trail and threw more debris off. Hopefully the Mountaineers will hit this section again on National Trails day on the first Saturday in June.

 

Gear Notes:

A dozen draws and a small rack. Used: Purple to Yellow Camalot, Blue to Yellow Aliens, #5 nut.

 

Approach Notes:

Low clearance vehicle not recommended.

[AlpineMonkey]

Sounds like good fun. I've wanted to do a few of those routes for a while. Maybe I'll have to go check them out next week. Thanks for the report.

[catbirdseat]

I forgot to mention that it looks like the road to Exfoliation Dome is snow free, although we didn't go up there. From Three O'clock Rock it appeared that the ledges have quite a bit of snow on them and it looked like the Granite Sidewalk was wet in places.

 

 

[Weekend_Climberz]

Man, you need to clip a brush onto that harness of yours. You should lobby the Mtnr's to put that onto their 20 essentials list

[pup_on_the_mountain]

Climing wet slab sounds spicy.. good job! That place is fun.

 

BTW, is Alpine Lakes the correct forum to put this TR?

[catbirdseat]

Not sure, maybe North Cascades would have been better. Mods feel free to move the thread, if you like.

[mattp]

The Alpine Lakes Wilderness lies entirely south of Highway 2, but there has been plenty of discussion of Index and Baring in that forum. Darrington probably lies outside the "greater Alpine Lakes" region.

 

 

[mattp]

Mark McKillop was asking about the original start for Silent Running, and yesterday I checked it out on rappel. It appears that all of the bolts for what was originally the fist pitch are still there - in their original (slightly aged) state.

 

If you want to chase some old bolts, head up through the bushes to the left of the current start of Silent Running, and scramble right and up some greasy slab to some ancient bolts about 150 feet up and left of that current start. Then climb up, passing three rusty old bolts with one just over a smaller overlap (you start out soon passing one maybe 3 feet wide), and then traverse right to reach the belay for the start of what is now the third pitch.

 

This is not recommended. It is dirtier, scarier, and less direct than the modern start to the climb. It also stays wet longer after a rainstorm.

[catbirdseat]

I just wanted to report that the Everett Mountaineers put a crew of eleven on the Eightmile Trail to Three O'Clock Rock as part of National Trails Day on June 2nd. The work focused on removing downed trees and also some tread work. I haven't been up there to see the work yet myself. Anyone been up there? How's it look?

[ericandlucie]

We climbed the Kone and Tid'Bits (wet in couple of spots). yesterday (06-12-07). The trail was great!

[mattp]

The 1/4" bolts on Silent Running are gone - all except for two museum pieces off to the side at belays.

[catbirdseat]

Right on! Good work!