[TR] North Cascades - Ptarmigan Traverse (with 7 summits) 7/27/2007

[timmy_t]

Trip: North Cascades - Ptarmigan Traverse (with 7 summits)

 

Date: 7/27/2007

 

Trip Report:

My brother and I hiked the Ptarmigan Traverse from July 27 - August 3. En route we climbed Dome Peak, Spire Point, Old Guard, Sentinel Peak, Point 7456 (Le Conte's middle summit), Magic Mountain, and S Mountain ("Hurry Up"). Due to a minor accident on Day 3 we had to abort the last half of our plans as well as some climbing during the traverse, but for what it's worth here's an account of our trip...

 

We had been told that we would have to walk about 14 miles of road, but after breakfast in Darrington we were able to drive within about 8 miles of the Downey Creek trailhead.

 

Being geniuses we packed two farm kids and two Honda Trail 90's in my Big Red Van. This ended up saving us miles of walking down the road with 7-day packs. Cheating? Kiss my ass. It's a road...you walk up it for your own damn traverse.

 

Off we go....

 

The first of the Suiattle River Road washouts (there were several)

 

The trail up to Downey Creek was in great shape, with lots of new boardwalks being built. The way up Bachelor Creek was fine until out of the trees. We just kind of let our feet find the low spot in the brush. Stayed right in bigger timber in the slide area,

 

then up to a ridge and down to lovely Cub Lake for dinner and sunset on Glacier Peak.

 

Next morning we hiked up to Itswoot Ridge, dropped into the basin, traversed underneath the Dome Glacier

 

climbed up a bit of steepening snow, then levelled off and traversed the top of the Dome Glacier.

 

moss campion at the col

 

Once through the col we climbed a bit of steep snow on the top of the Chickamin

 

then crossed the rock ridge and topped out. We were the first party to sign the summit register since August 2006.

 

Kev crossing the summit ridge

 

After spending nearly an hour on top in perfect weather, we dropped back down, passed back through the col, then traversed over the top of the Dome Glacier and dropped down the Dana Glacier to about 6550' to bypass a buttress, then climbed back up the Dana to the base of Spire Point.

 

Had a fun climb while the clouds rolled in

 

on this tiny summit. Two raps and a bit of dowmclimbing later, then through the Spire Col

 

Took this shot a bit below the south side of the col...

 

And this one looking up at the mountain.

 

We dropped down to Itswoot Ridge, where Dome was just peaking throught he clouds, then back down to Cub Lake. The next morning we retraced our steps up to Itswoot, then up and over Spire Col, then down back down the Dana and around the big basin that feeds the Agnes

 

where I scared up a group of baby grouse and a momma from the heather.

 

While crossing the talus just below White Rock Lakes, Kev slipped and, in catching himself, pinned the adze of his ice axe between his left hand and a rock. Lots of blood on the rocks, and even some fun white meat hanging out a little bit. We bandaged the cut and made camp at the lakes, deciding to take it day by day to see how he felt. As it turns out his left hand (of course he's left-handed) wasn't able to take much pressure, so he did the rest of the traverse with a ski pole in the left hand and an axe in the right. This also meant nothing ice tooly (NF Buckner) or too rock-climby (Goode, Logan). We decided to turn the trip into a more relaxing hikey thing.

 

Dome remained in the clouds from White Rock Lakes, but Gunsight was inviting in the sun.

 

After a cold (37 degrees F) night, we watched sunrise on Dome the next morning

 

before heading over the pass above the lakes and onto the head of the South Cascade Glacier.

 

We went up to a col on Sentinel looking for a route up it, didn't find anything we liked, but took this shot looking back. Spire is the high point.

 

German Helmet poking through the clouds

 

Dropped our packs at the Le Conte/Sentinel Col and headed up Old Guard, a pleasant cilmb up a steeper-than-it-looks snow finger, then 300 feet of easy rock

 

to the summit.

 

Descending the snow finger on Old Guard

 

Kev's hand two days later

 

We decided to make camp at the col, so we spent all afternoon and evening relaxing and enjoying the views over the South Cascade Glacier.

 

Sunset over the South Cascade Glacier from camp at the Le Conte/Sentinel Col

 

Next morning I woke up well-rested, but Kev had slept like shit. He said a snafflehound had kept him up all night, and at one point had jumped onto his bivy. He had dreamed of having a gun and scoring a direct hit, watching it splatter against the rock wall......Well, as it turns out my good night of sleep was not for free. While Kev waited up with a rock in his hand, I was being ransacked by this little piece of shit.

 

It made swiss cheese of a shirt, and of a sunglass case, and of my visor, and a shell jacket, and it big through the bite valve on my water bladder causing all the water to leak out at night. I spent the rest of the trip with a leaky athletic-taped water hose. Little bastard.

 

After breakfast we decided to go back around and find the ramp on Sentinel that we couldn't see in the clouds the day before. We located it quickly, but in my opinion this is a shit climb. There was one short, delicate class 4 section getting from one ramp to another in which you don't trust any holds; then once around the ramp and onto the SE ridge there is a short class 5 section that is fine going up, but downclimbing was a pain in the neck. We didn't find a single thing we trusted to rap off of.

 

My seal of approval. Still, pretty on top...

 

Downclimbing Sentinel

 

Once off Sentinel we returned to camp. Another party passed below us, the first people we had seen in five days. They were too far below us to talk, so we continued on after lunch

 

Down the Le Conte Glacier, then up the other side toward Le Conte Pass. Before the pass we dropped packs and headed up Le Conte, climbing over scree and talus and heather to the top of Point 7456, the middle summit.

 

Le Conte is in the background. The ridge connecting the two summits looked traversible, but we had had enough so we downclimbed, grabbed packs, and headed down the cilffs and over to Yang Yang Lakes.

 

Saw smoke from a fire on the way down...toward Stehekin?

 

One Yang and Le Conte Mountain

 

The next morning we realized we were tired, and besides it was a sauna even at 8am. Being lazy we decided to skip Spider and Formidable, so we headed up over the col

 

to an impressive view of the south side of Johannesburg. Suddenly we seemed so close to Cascade Pass. We came quickly down the Middle Cascade Glacier, then located a trail at about 6300' and sidehilled around shady snow, talus, and heather

 

with Formidable looming behind us.

 

Time for a quick flex

 

before crossing Red Ledge. We had met one other party at Yang Yang Lakes, and had been told by them that there was a super-sketchy snow bridge leading up to the low side of the ledges. It turned out to be super-unsketchy, and more of a ramp than a bridge. Either way, if it did melt out one could just cross a little lower, climb into the moat, then up to the ledge. A few minutes after crossing the ledge we dropped slightly to reach Kool-Aid Lake and its wonderful f@#%ing horseflies.

 

Took a quick plunge before lunch...

 

a little chilly. Spent the remainder of the day brushing up on our horsefly-killing techniques. Kev liked the fact that when you swat one it writhes on the ground for awhile in seeming agony before dying. There is a morbid satisfaction in this.

 

After seeing goat tracks minus the goat every day, including near the summits of most peaks we'd been on, one loner female finally smelled urine and came to pay us a visit. Here she is in front of Formidable.

 

Another glowy sunset

 

Next morning we headed up to the saddle between Magic and S Mountains. We started with Magic, a nice hike with a good ridge scramble to beautiful views, including this of Trapper Lake. We spent almost an hour on top with no breeze. Headed back down to the saddle, traversed over and up on snow toward S Mountain,

 

then climbed into a chimney we'd seen from camp (obvious on the left, as seen from Kool-Aid). Snow extended steeply about 20 feet into the bottom of it, then shitty loose rock before it met up with the scramble route. A more fun approach, I think.

 

Kev traversed back to the false summit (you can see him in front of Eldorado) for some more photos before we headed back to camp. After lunch we packed and headed up to Cache Col.

 

Kev with Goode behind him, from Cache Col

 

We camped with Reagan and Jeff, who were fresh out of the two bottles of whiskey they had brought for their trip. We were hoping to climb the East Face of Mixup the next day, but it was not to be. We woke up to thick clouds whipping over the col, soaking everything (including the rock). Disappointed, we decided to head down.

 

Two momma goats with two babies had shown up for a healthy dose of morning piss. Kev got stage fright, claiming they were staring at his Johnson (or looking for it?).....

 

The clouds thinned as we dropped down the Cache Glacier. We had originally planned to resupply at Cascade Pass for another week. We were going to go up and over Sahale, over the NF Buckner, then over to Logan and Goode before coming out at Stehekin. Maybe next year.

 

We met our friends Brandon and Kevin at Cascade Pass. We happened to show up just ten minutes after they did, and we settled for a morning beer before heading down with the week's worth of food and fuel they had graciously packed up for us.

 

A wonderful trip with an out-of-focus ending.

 

Gear Notes:

Two pickets (used once); two ice screws (not used); small alpine rack (used once); second tool (helpful); 50m rope (2 raps on Spire); you know the rest

 

Approach Notes:

Shit approach. We used Honda Trail 90's to the Downey Creek trailhead. Have fun up Bachelor Creek -- we didn't.

[Billygoat]

Top Notch TR

 

[kevbone]

That is the best TR I have seen yet......great job and great pictures.

[ZimZam]

Nice stuff. Great pics too.

[pamczak]

Awesome TR, guys!!! Congrats!

[Sol]

looks like a great trip kevin, great photos. Even us married men still get out eh? how did you fight off the magentic pull of the gunsight range, you were so close!

 

Sol and Ginnie Jo

[olyclimber]

Awesome TR! You broke a bunch of Moses's commandments, but good for you. The summit poses are friggen world class. Someone has got to put together a montage of all the hilarious ideas people have had for getting up washed up roads (the trailbikes, riding a bicycle with a huge pack, etc).

 

Thanks, great TR, great pictures!

[John Frieh]

Nice TR! Going south -> north is a little harder IMO but with the road washout you guys didn't have much option.

 

Bachelor Creek is teh suck but I always tell myself at least it isn't the approach to Bear

 

You have 2 Honda Trail 90s!?!?! You should sell me one! Or both! Those are awesome bikes!

[plexus]

One of the better TRs I've read. I am deeply jealous, it looked like a wonderful time and despite thick clouds, you had a really good weather window.

 

How is Kev's hand doing now?

[Whatcomboy]

Nice TR. Your writing is very entertaining.

[Rad]

That red van is a pimpin ride. Needs a custom paintjob of eagles and lakes, though. I know a place in Darrington...

[timmy_t]

You have 2 Honda Trail 90s!?!?! You should sell me one! Or both! Those are awesome bikes!

 

Neither bike was ours. One belonged to the farm kids in the second photo (I work for their dad); the second belonged to the friend in the blue jacket in the second-to-last photo. My dumb ass didn't find out about the washout until two days before we were supposed to leave. It's good to have good friends.

[timmy_t]

How is Kev's hand doing now?

 

Kev's hand is doing okay; it'll be fine. If there had been any tendon issues we would have bailed right away, but it was more a matter of soreness. And gaping-wound-ness that needed to be sewed-up-ness. He went to a bluegrass festival outside of Portland this past weekend and had the hippies in the medic tent do some free tender loving care on it ("Hey man, just sprinkle this weed on it, and shit...").

[klenke]

Question about the washed out road:

I heard (a while back) that you had to hump through the brush to get past the big wash out. Is this not the case? Can you get all the way (to the Green Mtn Road junction) w/o having to do any 'schwacking? Perhaps an impromptu trail been blazed through the brush at the wash out. Thanks in advance.

[AllYouCanEat]

Awesome!!! I am so jealous.

[Alpinfox]

How is Kev's hand doing now?

 

He went to a bluegrass festival outside of Portland this past weekend and had the hippies in the medic tent do some free tender loving care on it ("Hey man, just sprinkle this weed on it, and shit...").

 

HA! I was at that festival too. In addition to dispensing free TLC, the hippie medics were giving out ear plugs which was nice.

 

Great TR.

[svilar]

Funny TR. I'm going to pack my alpine snafflehound trap and cook that little fu#@!@# for dinner next week.

[wayne]

Tugs on the tr. Way to jump obs.

Those kids could easily start an access buisiness!

[Pro Mountain Sports]

yea, great TR and trip and pics. your phlox may be moss campion. beautiful!

[timmy_t]

your phlox may be moss campion. beautiful!

 

Yep, you're right. I'm changing it so that now everybody will think I knew what I was talking about from the beginning. You're the Moss Champion.

[timmy_t]

Question about the washed out road:

I heard (a while back) that you had to hump through the brush to get past the big wash out. Is this not the case? Can you get all the way (to the Green Mtn Road junction) w/o having to do any 'schwacking? Perhaps an impromptu trail been blazed through the brush at the wash out. Thanks in advance.

 

No 'schwacking until a ways up Bachelor Creek. There are a couple of sections where an impromptu trail goes into the woods right next to the road for a hundred feet, but that's it. You would have to be a complete idiot to get lost. To our credit, we only got lost twice (no, not really). The road goes all the way to where it is washed out just below the bridge at the Downey Creek Campground (see photo) where the trailhead is, something like mile 19.5, although I think our odometers said it was more. Incidentally, some dude who must have been 70 who was camped at the trailhead with some friends rode his ten-speed bike down this ramp.

 

[To_The_Top]

:tup:

[Kevin_Matlock]

Looks like a nice trip.

 

Too bad your brother died clearly due to your lack of belaying ability. **SPLAT**

[Pandora]

Wow, it looks like you had a little bit of everything on this trip. Thank you for the writeup and photos, they're awesome.

[lancegranite]

Great reading!