[TR] The Castle - East Face 2/5/2009

[Le Piston]

Trip: The Castle - East Face

 

Date: 2/5/2009

 

Trip Report:

This isn't a burly winter route, but was a nice solo day trip since my regular climbing partner had to work. I had wanted to do a winter climb of the Castle and Pinnacle Peak for a while. With an unexpected day off I left early in the morning hoping to catch the sunrise on Rainier. I didn't know they closed the gate at Longmire at night. Luckily a ranger came by at 0630 and kindly let me follow him up. I went up the snow slope directly from the Narada Falls parking lot and walked on the snowshoe tracks on the road to Reflection Lake. A nice track led up to the ridge beside The Castle. From there the snow slope was quite firm all the way to the rock wall. I more than once wished I had put on the crampons I had lugged up, but did okay with hard step kicking. Less than 100 feet of 4th class rock gets you to the summit ridge. The rock is actually not as loose as I had heard. There is a rap station on the summit ridge, but I downclimbed...as I had not brought a rope. Views were nice of Hood, Adams, St. Helens, and of course Rainier.

 

Gear Notes:

Ice axe and crampons. Snowshoes if you don't stay on the previous tracks (where postholing from ankle to crotch depth happened if I strayed) Rope if you don't like downclimbing.

 

Approach Notes:

Very straightforward once you get past the gate at Longmire...just follow the tracks.

[Hiking4Fun]

I was thinking of climbing the Zipper on Lane this Saturday--how did it look?

[Le Piston]

Sorry, I really didn't scope out the Zipper route, but what little I saw looked doable...perhaps leaner than usual. The snow where I was certainly was in great shape. I'll include a picture. I hope this helps...Cheers!