[TR] Mt. Shuksan - Sulphide Glacier 6/18/2009

Lisa_D · June 22, 2009

Trip: Mt. Shuksan - Sulphide Glacier

Date: 6/18/2009

Trip Report:

Shuksan: the perfect weather window

I grew up in Bellingham and have stared at Mt. Shuksan my entire life, always wondering how anyone could climb such a rugged and complex mountain. I have tried twice since I began climbing in 2006, but always failed due to bad luck with weather. When Jon and I picked the Sulphide Glacier as our objective, we originally planned to bring skis. But the first part of June was eaten by 30 page papers, presentations, finishing up research, and grading exams. Oh, the life of a grad student! (Actually, it's pretty sweet. I'm not complaining.) Plus, our skis were in poor shape after a few spring tours, and we suspected that the cloudy weather would yield concrete sun-cupped mank, rather than beautiful spring corn. We also didn't want to navigate the Fisher Chimneys in a rainstorm. So we decided to just walk the Sulphide.

It rained the entire first day, but we hoped that the weather would break for us the following morning, as forecasted. We departed from the car at 4 PM on Wednesday June 17. The approach trail was beautiful, lush and full of wildlife. Jon serenaded me with various self-composed ditties. We stopped to admire a single thread of spider web that spanned 20 feet!

A diamond in the rough? Nope! An engagement ring, looking a little out of place in a muddy, rainy forest! Jon and I got engaged a few weeks ago, and it all started on cascadeclimbers.com. Last summer, he posted in Trip Partners about the NR of Baker and I randomly decided to send him a picture of the route that I had taken while on a nearby peak with my dad. See? This website is good for more than TR's and spray

After a few miles of trail, we made our way through some clear-cut, following helpful pink tape that seemed to show up every 15 feet or so. Snow was consistent from the treeline. We followed Shannon ridge to a notch, and then traversed around beneath some cliffbands that showed evidence of recent avalanches. There were some refrigerator-sized blocks! We passed two other parties on our way to camp, and the clouds began to break as we set up our tent at 6,000 feet.

We reached camp around 7:30, set up the tent, made dinner, and melted water. I packed the food this time, and unthinkingly packed for two people with Lisa-sized appetites. Jon was horrified when he saw the stuff sack only half full of food "We're going to starve!" he exclaimed. I raised an eyebrow when I went to light the stove and noticed that Jon had not added to the fuel canister since our Dragontail trip, and it was only 1/3 full. "What if we can't melt enough water?"

My efficient water melting system!

It turned out that we brought exactly what we needed for this trip. Our packs were very light, and felt like daypacks. Couldn't have been more than 25-30 lb, which is a BIG improvement over how I used to pack for glacier trips like this. I became interested in the statistics of the trip.

Water: we consumed 2 liters of water each on the approach. Melted and filtered 7 more liters at camp, for dinner, summit day, and hike out.

Food for 2: 12 whole wheat tortillas, 4 oz cheese, 1 bell pepper, 1/2 box Triscuits, ziplock of Swedish fish, 2 Pemmican bars, 6 Nature Valley bars, 4 servings of instant cheesy mashed potatoes, 1 vacuum-sealed chicken breast, granola with powdered milk and craisins added, 2 tea bags for morning caffeine. Total: about 7000 calories for the two of us to share. Jon ate about 60% of the food. We ate the last of it on the hike out, and were hungry as we drove home.

"I want more crackers!"

gear: 8 oz alpine harnesses, 30m/8mm rope, REI half dome tent (not the best, but it's what I've got! I'd like a MegaMid or something similar), 1 sleeping bag (didn't work as well as we'd hoped - we're going to try to make a "sleeping quilt"), 2 small foam sleeping pads, Whisperlite stove, titanium pot, 2 runners, 2 pickets, poles, axes, light packs, 2 locking biners, 2 pulleys, prusiks, crampons, shell jackets, down jackets, light gloves, soft shell pants, small 1st aid kit, PLB.

First light was at 4:30 and we woke naturally. Clear skies awaited us! We were above the clouds. We left camp at 5:30.

We reached the base of the summit pyramid in less than 2 hours, with no breaks. The summit pyramid's central gully was partially melted out. From a distance it appears very steep! A good family friend of mine skied it a couple of weeks ago. Crazy! Up close, the summit pyramid is much more inviting, and pretty straightforward overall. We scrambled up it, simulclimbing with a picket placement for a short stretch when the transitions between snow and rock got tricky. The snow was hard and brittle, but since it was melting out by the rocks, we punched through a few times. In the early morning, some of the rocks were covered in verglas. Looking down:

Then, at 8:45 AM, we reached the summit, elevation 9131! It was bright up there.

A party of 8, who turned out to be an AAI alpinism course, arrived and took this photo for us. We figured that for engagement pictures, we'd just collect summit shots. They were nice people and a lot of fun. Sounds like a really good course that they take. The other party, a group of 3, turned around at the base of the summit pyramid.

After lounging on the summit for an hour, we down-climbed. Jon went first and then waited, out of the line of fire, while I followed. There is a fair amount of loose rock in the gully, and chunks of snow were also raining down as the temperatures warmed and it turned to mush. Ice axe placements were pretty good and the steps were pretty solid. Soloing down the pyramid was good practice for me, since I'm trying to overcome my steep snow demons. I stayed efficient and focused.

The MOMENT we reached the base of the pyramid, clouds closed in! We got a little disoriented in the whiteout, so we went down a ways and stopped on some rocks for a lunch break. When the clouds cleared again for a moment, we saw this awesome ice cliff and the summit pyramid. Shuksan has such a beautiful landscape! I love this mountain.

We ran down the Sulphide, following the trampled boot track back to camp. 30 minutes later we reached the tent, and it started raining the minute we got there, so we napped for an hour while it cleared.

Then we hiked down to the car, which took 2 hours. It was a beautiful hike out, with layered clouds and glimpses of Baker. This was a much more fun route than either of us expected - a lovely, enjoyable climb with about 6700 feet of elevation gain, a lot of variety, a spectacular setting, and a satisfying summit. It was the perfect warm-up for summer and we both feel like we're in great shape for the season.

Gear Notes:

Jon votes that we bring more food next time. To tell the truth, I usually like to have one extra bar at the end, just in case.

Approach Notes:

Road is in great shape to TH. Trail muddy but snow-free. The clear cut on Shannon ridge is well flagged by pink tape and melting out quickly. Snow begins at tree-line and is continuous from there, if on skis only one or two carries would be necessary. Glacier is easy and completely filled in - no crampons necessary when we climbed it. Pyramid no longer skiable. Evidence of recent ice avalanches under cliff bands at ~5500.

LostCamKenny · June 22, 2009

Nice TR! Glad to see/hear that this story is far from over... Many happy years of climbing together and hope the wedding ceremony can be somewhere cool - like Baker! :brew: