zoroastr Posted October 6, 2008 Posted October 6, 2008 (edited) Trip: Chiwawa Mt. - Lyman Glacier - Day Trip Date: 10/6/2008 Trip Report: Yesterday's weather forecast held enough promise to justify a return to the Chiwawa Valley and the kidney-jarring ordeal of the approach road to Trinity. Naturally, as soon as we hit the Spider Meadows, all thoughts of potholes, blow-downs and axle-high mud were instantly banished, and we knew we'd made the right call. The colors were amazing! EJohnson had done this trek a couple of summers ago and couldn't shut up about it, so I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. If anything, his ravings were an understatement; the place is spectacular. Here are a few snaps taken during the course of our one-day trek. Entering the Meadows... Spider Meadows, taken from the trail that links them with the glaciers above... I believe this is Mt. Maude. The shot was taken from the toe of the Spider Glacier. Nick, slogging the lower slopes of the Spider GL. EJohnson crossing a v-e-r-y receded Lyman Glacier. This is a crappy shot, but it shows our route. To gain the upper slopes, we pushed for the obvious snow finger and followed it to a point just below the bergschrund, visible here... Some random prettiness... EJohnson near the 'schrund. The finger was nothing but ice--very different from what Erick found on his last trip to the spot. The upper slopes of the Lyman. Because the terminal slopes of the glacier took us across a nasty fall line above the main 'schrund, we decided to hop into this moat where glacier meets rock, and simply follow it as far as we could. In this shot, EJohnson is seen emerging from the moat's exit point, a very narrow squeeze tunnel. Nick at the moat exit, demonstrating the downside to bringing along the Ten Essentials--he'll learn... Out of the moat and making good time to the main ridge... Gaining the ridge, with Fortress in the distance... Topping out after a bit of scrambling along the ridge. Heading down into the the adjacent valley via the opposite side of the peak, we were treated to a brief respite from the weather while still high on the Chiwawa summit ridge. Below the clouds and heading for the valley floor, we lost a thousand feet of vert in minutes with a boot-ski of the upper slopes and their half-foot of fresh dump. Parting shot of the ridge seperating the two valleys: our approach via the Phelps Creek / Spider Meadows, and our return to Trinity, using the valley shown here. We started the hike at around 10:00 AM, but needed lamps for the last hour. A great day in the hills! Gear Notes: We brought light day packs, aluminum 'pons, slope pokers, and Nick's wife's to-die-for cookies! Approach Notes: Approach road resembles the lunar surface; trail is still snow-free to Spider Meadows, light dusting higher up. Half foot of fresh on the peaks. Edited October 8, 2008 by zoroastr Quote
PickleJuice Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen! I can only imagine that it was even more amazing in person. Quote
jbyers Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 You people really need to stop posting TR's of gorgeous places and amazing climbs, or I'm going to drop out of school and blame it on everyone at CascadeClimbers.... So how do you get there if I'm going to be in the area this weekend? Quote
olymand Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 Amazing trip. We were up there in July with lots of sun. Amazing how different it looks in fall. You guys made amazing time. We did a high camp above spider meadows and it still took most of a day to make it over to Chiwawa and back. Quote
dbconlin Posted October 24, 2008 Posted October 24, 2008 Thanks for sharing - I have done the spider gap area twice, once as a day-hike and another as a backpack where we continued on to Lyman lakes and points further, then circled around on the PCT re-route near Glacier Pk and down Jack Cr (?) drainage - highly recommended backpack with gorgeous scenery. But I have never been there in fall and that is extra-spectacular! Those colors are amazing! Quote
wayne Posted October 24, 2008 Posted October 24, 2008 Oh yea, now I remember why I climb, Back when I used to climb, it now seems, Thanks Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.