[TR] South Illusion Peak - South Ridge via Rexford Trail 7/7/2008

[G-spotter]

Trip: South Illusion Peak - South Ridge via Rexford Trail

 

Date: 7/7/2008

 

Trip Report:

I have been checking this one out for a few years from Rexford and Slesse areas and finally got to bag it yesterday with Denis, Doug and Chris. Great scramble in a beautiful location. We brought two ropes and a small rack in hopes of ticking North Illusion too but decided on the summit of South that North would be better as an overnight trip; the gear never left the packs.

 

The Nesakwatch Creek road has some large waterbars but we were able to drive all the way to Rexford trailhead:

 

 

There were great views in the morning, although the portion of the trail through the old clearcut was wet with dew and we all got soaked hiking through the bushes.

 

 

We hiked to the col north of North Nesakwatch Spire and then headed north along the ridge crest, easy scrambling to the top of a 2010m bump, with some intruiging trundling opportunities along the way

 

 

From here, it is 3rd class scrambling down into the notch south of South Illusion, with a couple rock sections, a couple heather sections, and some annoying krummholz near the notch that stripped Denis's ice axe and helmet right off his pack:

 

 

Once in the notch, the south ridge of the South Illusion is class 2 with great views back to Rexford and across to Slesse and whatnot.

 

 

We lounged on the summit for a while before headng back. North Illusion's south face looks pretty slabby as seen from South Illusion, maybe a good ski run if you catch the right snow conditions:

 

 

On the way back we reversed our route and made it down to the truck in time to catch the evening laser show on Slesse

 

 

This was an essentially nontechnical gear walk of a day but it was a lot of fun with good companions.

 

Gear Notes:

Trekking poles and/or ice axe are useful.

 

Approach Notes:

Rexford trail is a bit overgrown in the clearcut - if in doubt, look for flagging tape.

[marc_leclerc]

Hey Dru... last time I went up the trail there I saw some cool looking lines on the cliff above the trail. What do you think about climbing putting up a route on that??? It looked pretty fun when I was looking at it.

[G-spotter]

Ya, there are already a number of climbs there.

[marc_leclerc]

Ya, there are already a number of climbs there.

 

Still looks fun.. I dont care if it is an FA or not... I also wouldnt mind trying the South Pillar of Rexford's False Summit.... as long as I can climb that 5.11 crack... if I fall off too much I could always aid it.. but thats not my style

[gertlush]

That north-east face on the N. Nesakwatch spire looks pretty dramatic... must have been worth the trip for the views alone.

[G-spotter]

That north-east face on the N. Nesakwatch spire looks pretty dramatic... must have been worth the trip for the views alone.

 

That was what I wanted to see (that and the backside of the Nesakwatch Notch) but I was disappointed at how much moss and dirt was visible on the cracks and ledges. In the Rexford group it seems the steeper south and west faces are much cleaner than the north and east sides.