Garbage on the Eliot

[Couloir]

Sweet corn. Not so sweet garbage. Here's a little sample of the 10 lbs. of garbage I took off the glacier yesterday.

 

Some of these tents stakes were pretty bent up. I wonder how long they've been there.

 

 

 

 

[iain]

wow, that's a large bag

[wayne]

shame I see it all over the playground there

[olyclimber]

can i have that tupperware lid?

[Couloir]

can i have that tupperware lid?

 

It's more than a lid. It was a sandwich container full of some unknown pasty white substance. Looked like Cream-o-Wheat. And no, I didn't smell it.

[Couloir]

Just above between the bag and the stakes is a large wad of gum. Flavor undetermined.

[cartomat]

I am glad you pulled that rock outta there.

 

Every time I go up the Elliot I see lots of rocks...

 

...too many in my opinion.

[jlag]

thank you.

[Couloir]

I am glad you pulled that rock outta there.

 

Every time I go up the Elliot I see lots of rocks...

 

...too many in my opinion.

 

I left the rock.

[dinomyte]

Good on ya for doing that Couloir. My bud Kevin and I were up that way Saturday as well checking out the slide damage. Just took a stroll from Cloud Cap over toward Lambertson, stopped to have a bite of lunch and a beer and to watch you folks up on the Glacier.

 

Picked up a few film canisters and wrappers ourselves - nothing near what you found.

 

Were you heading up the Dome to get in some turns?

[Couloir]

My bud Kevin and I were up that way Saturday as well checking out the slide damage. Just took a stroll from Cloud Cap over toward Lambertson...

 

We're running around it in a couple of weeks and was checking out that slide as well. I'm trying to decide how to get around it. You can always go way up and cross the Eliot. But I'm wondering if you can drop down some, do some bushwacking and cross lower down. What with the Ramona Falls TH being out (which is where we usually start) and now this, a 1-day circumnav this year looks to be more challenging. I think we're going to start at Lolo Pass instead. It's the crossing of the Eliot that I'm wondering about now.

 

Were you heading up the Dome to get in some turns?

 

Yep. Pretty good conditions still, although it's melting out really fast.

[markv]

Hey, i was planning to do the circuit in a few weeks (8/6 or so) and was wondering about the slide too. Would you be willing to update us (or me at markvotapek "at" netscape "dot" net) on how you decide to detour and how it turns out?

 

I checked one other site, and nobody had done it yet, but there were 3 different opinions on whether it would be better to climb down, pick your way across, or go up to the glacier ice.

[dinomyte]

My personal opinion is that high would be the way to go. Kevin and I took a low trail down into the gully (below the slide) and it looked like you would have to drop down a LOOOOOONG way to get underneath it.

 

Kevin took this one from above, which I'm sure you saw:

 

I could probably dig out a couple more that we took from below. I'll see if I have one down from below.

[Kevin_Matlock]

Were you heading up the Dome to get in some turns?

 

Yep. Pretty good conditions still, although it's melting out really fast.

 

Were you the group of 2 girls/2 guys we talked to? A boarder said pretty much the same thing.

 

I'm trying to decide how to get around it. You can always go way up and cross the Eliot. But I'm wondering if you can drop down some, do some bushwacking and cross lower down.

I wouldn't go down low; looks way too much of a hassle. When we were scoping it out crossing the elliot still looked like it would be out of the way, but much more doable than down low. Going with the elliot probably would add a couple miles to the loop and 90 mins of some navigation; maybe less. Going low might be quicker, but infinitely more difficult.

[Couloir]

I was up there solo and pretty early. As I was coming down and taking a break picking up the garbage, small groups were just getting up to where I was. I only did one lap cause I had to get back to town. It was worth it though.

 

I think I agree with you on where to cross the Eliot. As I climbed I kept looking back and trying to figure out a good line to head over. We'll be in trail shoes and will have almost 3/4 of the trip under our belt when we arrive there and I want to avoid as much hassle as possible.

 

It's either that or our plan B is the run around the 3 Sisters. Its approximately the same distance with about 3500' elevation gain less.

[dinomyte]

Plan A or B will be great. I've done both loops (though not in a day for gods sake) and they were both great.

 

I think I enjoyed the Sisters Loop more, as there is something wrong with jogging 8 miles to T-line, with a full pack, in a rain so hard that it turned the trail into a flooding stream within minutes.

 

Have a good 'un tho!

[icedancer1]

I wouldn't go down low; looks way too much of a hassle. When we were scoping it out crossing the elliot still looked like it would be out of the way, but much more doable than down low. Going with the elliot probably would add a couple miles to the loop and 90 mins of some navigation; maybe less. Going low might be quicker, but infinitely more difficult.

 

I agree that going HIGH is the way to go . On 6/18, about 2 days after the road was fully open AND prior to the FS posting about the Eliot being impassable at the trail, we climbed Sunshine and skiied Snow Dome and the bowls down to the trail. We scoped it out pretty well, establishing that UP was faster and safer than DOWN. You'd have to drop pretty far and then re-gain elevation. Since you have to get high anyway past the east moraine, for a circumnav, all you cut off is the trailhead.

 

Recommended only for those comfortable on steep, loose rock/dirt (take low gaiters!):

The Eliot crossing can be made by descending steep rock and dirt off the west moraine at ~7200', just above the location where the trail from the east moraine descends to the glacier. From the Timberline Trail, ascend the trail along the west moraine and stay on the morainal ridge to reach this point. Then cross the debris-covered part of the glacier (minimal crevasse danger here, watch for ice) over to the trail. Then up the trail to the large cairn. I think this is a few hundred feet above the Cooper Spur stone shelter. Traverse south a few gullies to gain the Timberline trail. Don't tread on the vegetation!

 

p.s. Any of the garbage picked up look like it was less than a year old and from NY or TX? PM me, unless you've already been asked.

[Couloir]

Great tips Icedancer. Thanks.

 

No, the garbage didn't look like it was from NY or TX. I did think about that though. The think you are right about the garbage being relatively new. However, the tents stakes, as I found many, were bent and embedded pretty solidly in the ice. I had to actually dig some of the out with my axe. I just assumed with the heavy melt we've been having and they being pretty misshapen, that they were old. But that may not be the case.