[TR] Ruth-Icy Traverese June 28-29, 2008 - 6/29/2008

[iluka]

Trip: Ruth-Icy Traverese June 28-29, 2008 -

 

Date: 6/29/2008

 

Trip Report:

Brian, Morgan and I headed up to the North Cascades this weekend to do the Ruth-Icy traverse and found great conditions and loads of great views.

 

Contrary to reports from prior weeks, the road to the Hannegan Pass trailhead is now open all the way to the trailhead as the major ruts are gone. There is one very rutted spot just past the Goat Mountain TH but passable in a Subaru, SUV etc. There were several spots with major water running over the road on our way out Sunday, however, raising the possibility of some road damage that may change things from what we found.

 

After a few short sections of snow after the trailhead, the trail is largely snow free until the steep climb starts to Hannegan Pass. Lots of water flowing in all the gulleys, some of which have firm snow in them. The trail was washed out in one or two gulleys but no major problems crossing any of them. Continuous snow is found from the time you start climbing to the pass, all the way to the summit. Boundary camp is still snow-covered. Travel from the pass to the summit of Ruth was easy on soft snow with a firm base. Great views of Shuksan and Baker along the way. Total time from the trailhead to the summit was about 4.5 hours including a few long breaks along the way.

 

 

 

After an hour on the summit taking in the great views, we headed down to set up camp. We followed the ridge that runs to the south off the summit of Ruth and opted to camp on the plateau below and to the right of the ridge (shown below) Plenty of room in there for multiple groups and still have space to themselves. No running water up there yet.

 

 

The evening was calm and warm, with some great views of the surrounding peaks, including Icy in the waning light.

 

 

The next morning, we awoke to nice views of Shuksan in the morning light and the moon over camp.

 

 

 

We left camp at just after 6AM, an hour after a group of 6 from the Mountaineers. T-shirt weather from the time we left camp. Nothing had frozen overnight and we found no need for crampons. From camp, we followed the rocky slope that descends from the plateau. We found a cairn to the left that marked the entry point to the rocky descent. In the photo below, it's the C-shaped band of rock that comes down from just to the right of the low point on the saddle and runs between two patches of snow.. This section was a mix of Class 2 and Class 3 scrambling with lots of loose rock before we got on snow that, with the exception of one short section on dirt and rock, we were able to follow down to the flatter slopes below from where we headed over to the saddle between Ruth and Icy. Travel on the way to the saddle was pretty fast on the soft snow with a firm base.

 

 

 

At the saddle, we roped up. The route stays to the right of the ridge separating the Spillway and Icy Glaciers. We took a gentle rising traverse up the left hand side of the Icy Glacier, cutting in front of the saddle and heading for the shoulder to the right of the summit prominences. There were a few crevasses opening up low down on the glacier but nothing that we could see on the higher route we followed.

 

 

From the shoulder to the base of the summit climb to the Northwest peak took only 5 minutes of unroped travel. The route to the summit follows the gulley shown in the photo below. From the top of the gulley, you head left to the summit of the northwest peak which is just a few feet higher than the northeast peak. The gulley up to the summit was Class 2 at the very bottom but became a mix of Class 3 and 4 the rest of the way with perhaps a short section of very low Class 5.

 

 

We hit the top about 2 hrs, 15 minutes after leaving camp, spending an hour while we waited for the Mountaineers group to come up. Once they were up, we headed back down the gulley. They had set up a handline for their ascent and they kindly let us use if for our descent which we did by descending with a handline (their group opted to rappel off, as did a pair that had climbed the peak the night before). This was nice to have as it's a fairly steep section and a fall would hurt.

 

 

From there, we headed back to camp, returning to camp about 5 hours after we had left in the morning. Packed up, headed back over the summit of Ruth and on down the trail, finding much more water on the trail on our way out than on our way in, thanks to the high temps. Total time from the summit down to the trailhead was about 3 hours, 15 minutes.

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Brought and used: axe, helmet, rope, harness

Brought and did not use: picket, crampons

 

 

 

Approach Notes:

Road is open to Hannegan Pass Trailhead

Trail largely snowfree to base of climb to Hannegan Pass, continuous snow from that point onward

[JoshK]

That's a great looking traverse that I was considering going on. In your opinion, how did the glaciers look for solo travel? I was thinking of going alone and bringing a light rope and harness in case I found something I didn't want to downclimb alone.

 

Also, is there enough terrain between the two peaks to still warrant skis or will I be whining about carrying them for nothing?

 

great climb, and thanks for any beta you can give.

[iluka]

Regarding the glaciers:

 

- The Ruth glacier does not require roped travel. Some groups do it but I think it's unnecesssary. I've been there as late as late August and not seen any crevasses that could get you in trouble.

 

- The Icy glacier: there were some crevasses starting to show lower down. We took an ascending traverse staying to the left side of the glacier near the rock bands and didn't see any crevasses. We passed a group skiing it on our way out and they were not roped. I don't know what this looks like later in the season so crevasses may open up more over time

 

As for the skis:

 

Right now, you'd have a nice descent off the shoulder of Icy down to the saddle between the two peaks and a nice descent off Ruth. Continuous snow on both stretches. You can ski along the saddle between the two.

 

The one stretch where you'll have skis off is on the descent from Ruth down to the saddle. You drop about 1100-1200 feet from Ruth's summit down to the saddle between the two peaks. You can ski snow initially off the top of Ruth, but then have to take the skis off for that Class 2-3 stretch down from the camp spots. Snow after that, except for one short stretch of rock and heather. Aside from those two sections, in current conditions. you could have skis on from Hannegan Pass to the shoulder of Icy and back.

[JoshK]

Sweet, thanks for the info! I've been to the top of Ruth a few times, and I agree, I've never seen any use for a rope.

[BigSteve]

Nice TR of a great route. I did it several years ago with two buddies.

 

Josh, I generally concur with iluka's observations. The Icy Glacier does open up considerably later in the season. I climbed the Ruth Glacier late season (September or August) back in the 1990's, when we encountered a few crevasse issues and were glad to be roped up. I have not roped up on the Ruth in early season.

 

Re skiing, I personally would not schlep skis down the Hell Gully (not my phrase) to ski the few hundred feet on the Icy Glacier. But the Ruth Glacier looks like a great ski, one I've been planning to do.

[pup_on_the_mountain]

Ruth Glacier late season (September or August) back in the 1990's, when we encountered a few crevasse issues and were glad to be roped up.

On Ruth glacier in Oct 2004:

[Joe_Poulton]

I was up there for a little quick hike (on the 28) attempt and ran into a bear on my way out with in the last mile of trail. Did you guys run into the bear also? Since I was going for Summer conditions from Portland and didn't bring my boots the bear was my highlight of a foreshortened trek...

[iluka]

We didn't see or hear about any bear...

 

Black of brown?

[iluka]

Ruth Glacier late season (September or August) back in the 1990's, when we encountered a few crevasse issues and were glad to be roped up.

On Ruth glacier in Oct 2004:

 

I stand corrected regarding the Ruth glacier... early season it's likely not an issue but clearly --- from the looks of that photo -- late season may be a different story.

[Joe_Poulton]

It was atleast 500lbs...but I wasn't able to decifer a hump or a flat back...can't say either way if it were a black bear or grizzly...we saw it roughly 30 feet up from the trail...but passed it through the brush on the down side of the trail. We intially saw it from 60 feet or so and corrected our course as to not draw attention...