goatboy Posted August 14, 2007 Posted August 14, 2007 Trip: Soggy Bugaboos - Pigeon, Crescent Spire Date: 8/6/2007 Trip Report: I recently enjoyed my second trip to the Bugaboos, with my wife (TeeWa) and partner in crime Robes. The trip was great, though hard. Draggin the pack 3000' up the big hill was only the beginning. That part was okay, because it was expected... What wasn't expected was what local guidebook author Marc Piche called "undoubtedly the worst week of weather the entire summer." We got rain....and wind.....and more rain.....and lightning......and that was the first of three bad weather days, over which the temps dropped, visibility plummetted (like our spirits) and rain turned to sleet, then hail, then outright SNOW, plastering the peaks in verglas and ice.... It was silly. But before all THAT hit the fan, we climbed the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire, known as the world's best 5.4 -- for a reason! That thing is impeccable, and amazing, and super fun, despite the high winds (or because of the high winds) that made it more exciting than 5.4 usually is. It was a highlight for me. The next day the weather deteriorated and we decided to climb closer to home, on Crescent Spire. We climbed the McTech Arete, a lovely route which Robes dragged us up in rain and graupel. It was full value for 5.10- and featured alpine-style cragging with splitter cracks, steep-dump-truck handjams, roofs, and fixed belays/rap anchors. We rapped off in the rain and wandered back to camp for a 10 PM dinner (after our crack of noon start). The next three days got worse and worse and after lots of coffee, gummy bears (which Canadians call "jub jubs") and many hands of tent-bound poker... ...we limped out Friday AM, cutting things short by a day. We originally were headed for WA Pass, but realizing the time and our energy levels, ended up making a marathon drive the long way from the Bugaboos to Wenatchee, and climbed at the Pearly Gates in Leavenworth before finally arriving home not too late Saturday night... Summary: Fabulous place, great company, fun times, but pretty cold, wet weather...on the other hand, I have a friend who has been to the Bugs 6 times and only managed to climb a handful of things (due to similarly bad weather) so I guess we were lucky (?) Gear Notes: Lots of feathers and fats Approach Notes: Road washouts are now in pretty good shape -- lots of 2WD cars in the lot! Quote
clintcummins Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Nice - thanks for sharing. Hey, Steph and I were there at Applebee the same week. I'm trying to understand the chronology - did you do: 8/6 Pigeon 8/7 McTech 8/8-10 in tent 8/10 hike out in am ? We found the weather pattern on 8/8 was night/morning OK, but rain starting by 3pm or so. So on 8/9 we got up early and climbed Snowpatch, on top at 1pm and back in camp well before the rains started. Quote
goatboy Posted August 15, 2007 Author Posted August 15, 2007 Yeah, sorry about the non-chronological report -- that's how my brain seems to work sometimes... It went like this: 8/6 - hike in 8/7 - Pigeon 8/8 - Crescent 8/9 - Pretty cold day with intermittent rain 8/10 - Rather nasty, lightning storm that night 8/11 - Dumping, snowing, hike out.... It was great, but the weather sure coulda been better. You folks made the most of your trip! I think you actually spoke to my buddy Robes (and me) as you were descending the B-S Col -- did you make a joke about a speed record? Quote
clintcummins Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Cool, thanks for the sequence. It was great, but the weather sure coulda been better. Yeah, the clouds were not too inspiring for jumping onto long routes. You folks made the most of your trip! I think you actually spoke to my buddy Robes (and me) as you were descending the B-S Col -- did you make a joke about a speed record? Yes, I think we might have set a new record for slowness on the B-C without actually bivvying. :-) (Bivvying was not an option due to cold conditions and lack of warm gear with us). We were basically lucky that the weather did not get any worse on the 2 days we were out on Howser and Snowpatch. Quote
goatboy Posted August 16, 2007 Author Posted August 16, 2007 Two goofy YouTube Videos from the Pigeon Spire climb - not sure how to directly link so I'll just paste now and mess with the links later... Quote
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