[TR] Columbia Peak - WestRidge 9/27/2008

[iluka]

Trip: Columbia Peak - WestRidge

 

Date: 9/27/2008

 

Trip Report:

With the forecasts for Saturday improving, Jack, Scott and I headed out to climb Columbia Peak as an overnight trip.

 

 

We opted to take our bikes for the ride to Monte Cristo and it was well worth it even with the road washouts and other spots we had to get off the bike. There's a big washout about 3/4 mile from Barlow Pass but there is both a detour up and through the woods as well as an easily followed path through the washout. The bridge at the crossing of the South Fork of the Sauk is still gone but two large logs cross the river and are easily crossed even with bikes on the shoulder. There is a pink-flagged route to one of the logs but either one is fine to cross.

 

 

Beyond the washed out bridge, there a few short rocky sections where the riding was hard and we got off the bikes but each was less than 20-30 meters and the last two miles into Monte Cristo was smooth sailing. Once in Monte Cristo, we locked up our bikes (there's actually a rack) and headed up the Silver Lake Trail. The trail all the way up to Poodle Dog Pass and then onto the saddle above Twin Lakes is in good condition with no route finding issues. About a 1/4 or so from the saddle above Twin lakes, you can drop down into and then traverse a rocky basin and then gain the start of the west ridge. We opted to bypass that and continue onto the saddle because we were planning to camp at Twin Lakes for the night and wanted to cache our gear. We arrived at the saddle about 3 hours after leaving Monte Cristo with a few good breaks thrown in.

 

After lunch, we went right up the ridge from the saddle on an easily followed climbers trail. In the initial section, it gets lost here and there in some trees and bushes but is easy to pick up again. We largely stuck to the ridge proper. Whether you take our route or broke off and cut across the basin on the north side of the ridge earlier, you aim for a steeper heather-filled slope and take that up on an easily followed boot path (yellow-line in the photo below).

 

 

Once at the top of that, you drop off to the right of the ridge a bit and then traverse those slopes for a few tenths of a mile before regaining the ridge (the bottom yellow line in the photo below). Once back up on the ridge, you eventually come to a dark buttress at around 6300 feet. We headed left around here (yellow arrow in photo below), across some snow (no crampons or axe needed), then got onto talus and climbed that back up to the ridge. Other than the snow in here, the route was entirely snow free.

 

 

Back on the ridge, we headed up another few hundred feet and encountered the biggest obstacle of the route, a bit of a shelf that marks the entrance to the first of the two gullies you climb. We found a spot to get on top of this that required a few Class 3-4 moves but no significant exposure. Once above that, we climbed up the first gully, staying largely to the left side. Lots of good foot and handholds but also plenty of loose rocks and lots of small rocks on top of slabs that were easy to slip on. At the top of this gully, there is a rock band that appears to block the way to the upper gully but there is a gap in the band (a short, gully that angles up to the right behind a large block) that puts you up in the upper gulley.

 

Once in this gully, it was straightforward movement up to the base of the summit block. There is a rock finger in the gully that we stayed to the right of on the way up, but it was easier going on the other side when we came down. Neither of these gulllies looked like they would be much fun if there was snow still covering them and both would be best avoided if wet. From the base of the summit block, we headed around to the left on a narrow shelf to the east side of the peak where we scrambled a short, loose Class 3 section up to the top. The narrow shelf was snow free but would be something to avoid if there was snow or ice as there is a lot of exposure. We arrived on the summit 2 hours after leaving the saddle above Twin Lakes.

 

We spent an hour on top taking in the great views all around and waiting for a pair of other climbers to clear out of the gullies below us (the second photo below).

 

 

 

We then headed down ourselves, going slowly through the gullies. The only real problem on the descent was downclimbing the shelves we had to surmount on the way up but this didn't prove too difficult with spotting from Scott.

 

 

We were back at the saddle a little under 2 hours after leaving the summit and then headed down to a great camp spot on a grassy bench overlooking the lake. After a lazy start, we headed out the next morning, arriving back at Monte Cristo about 2.5 hours after leaving the lake.

 

This trip is doable in a day with light packs and bikes for the road to and from Monte Cristo but was quite nice as an overnighter

 

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Helmet

Axe and crampons were not needed on this trip but might be useful earlier in the season with more snow on the route

 

Approach Notes:

Taking bikes is well worth it even with the road washouts

[mvs]

Nice pictures, brings back good mem'ries...

[Layback]

Love those MLH climbs. Thanks for sharing.