tazz Posted July 8, 2009 Posted July 8, 2009 Trip: Buck/ Fortress HighTraverse 7/3-7/6 - what ever worked Date: 7/3/2009 Trip Report: Two years ago I tried for Buck solo, This is how it turned out. I have had this obsession every since. This time I planned 2 months in advance and asked some of my favorite folks to join me. My plan was to climb Buck and then traverse cross country to fortress and climb it. Now these folks are all crazy fast peak baggers and Bulgers list tickers. The area was perfect for folks to tag many peaks. I thought it was great that the “energizer bunnies” could have their list ticking fun! I am not much of a list ticker and have no problem parking my ass from 5pm to dark. They can’t sit for that long so they did what peaks they all could. The trip planning was working out perfect till I fucked it up! I was woken up by a vibrating phone. 7:45am!!!! Me, “Good morning Yana.... OH FUCK!!!” ....repeat for about 50 xs! I was supposed to pick up carla at 5 am !!! Shit, fuck, damn!! WTF???!!!??? I just came back from Shuksan and had not caught up on rest. My phone was unfortunately on vibrate. I slept right through the phone alarm and calls from my partners. What an idiot I am!! The only thing I could do at that point was tell them I would meet them at camp that evening. Started out at the th at 12: 15. Same timing as the last trip. I think Buck wanted me to do the entire shwack solo again! I rocked the bushwhack between the crossing and the ridge. Then laterally walked right up to the exit path into the basin. I think it took a total of 2.5 hrs from the crossing of Buck creek to the traverse across the basin. A walk in the park!! ;-) My group ran in to these guys(good climb guys! I was jealous) It seems I was the only one who didn't have an issue with the bushwhack... Although, I now cannot shave my legs due to the wounds and abrasions I have acquired. I may have lost a quart of blood on the bushwhack!! The route plan was to climb under the east buttress of Berge. When I finally caught them they had changed the plans and camp location. This would affect the rest of the trip. I didn’t care as long as they let me know what was up. We had radios for better communication. I was trying to get info from the folks in the lead. I got no response. I was ticked about the communication, or the lack there of. It was great up to this point. I was bonking and needed to know what folks planned on. I was told they would go up to a knob and then call me. They didn’t, they kept going and I had no idea what was going on...???!!??? I got a bit ticked about the communication but It was all cool and we all ended up in an incredible camp! [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/3701361914_50a5703a43.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/3701362184_90f4009cd2.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3701362362_725f970bfd.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2520/3700554107_d43366cb0e.jpg[/img] The plans for Buck obviously changed due to camp location. Longer and harder but worth it! From high pass we descended, then back up the snow/pass of “doom!” Then drop down to Lewis basin then back up Buck. Then repeat the return trip. The crux of the day was a steep snow pass. We chose to climb the less steep part but it had bad runout. The other steeper section created by a cornice had good runout but DAMN steep!!! [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2449/3700555353_a9d667de8e.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3700555189_367b6581ef.jpg[/img] This is where we saw the finger impressions in the snow from the two Berge climbers. He must of had a FAST ride down! weeeeeeee.......! We then picked and our way down to Lewis basin which is amazing!! [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2638/3700556441_9554e21437.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2429/3701365738_0a3bd46709.jpg[/img] Then it was time to finish Buck! 2500' later and fun C3 scrambling I was at the top! Whoo hoo! I gotcha Buck! [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3644/3700556893_e0606661d7.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3456/3701365178_2b34108ec5.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3497/3700558419_3b17f7a627.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2567/3701367208_62040da5d4.jpg[/img] That’s all I cared about and so the rest of the trip was just to be with the folks I love and the mountains I love! The summit is very airy!! Yummy!! Now it was time to reverse the trip back to camp. Folks headed up Berge and I kept going. Took a break at the pass waiting for folks. It was a quick summit for them. Time to descend the snow slope of DOOM!! I down climbed to the rock. Then 3 of us glissaded the slope. WEEEEEEE!!!...Fun!! That was FAST steep glissade! From there folks wanted to do point sumpin sumpin...summit.I wanted my advil and whiskey and no more pain! I enjoyed my time off and took pics of them bagging peaks with no name! ;-) [img:center]http://http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2433/3700560991_9aa83aac19.jpg[/img] I do have to say that Franklin hit 12 summits this weekend! MattB, hit at least 10. The others hit about 6-7 peaks. I lost track. Franklin took off in one direction and matt the other. It was like watching some weird race! [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/3700561239_9d7e44a70f.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3528/3700561547_85c797223c.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2480/3700561993_a8d8bf7744.jpg[/img] It was time to move on to Fortress. It was a great traverse with some steep snow traverses with crappy run out. [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/3700695077_cf2e1f6ed3.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2656/3701503208_c977dc6bd7.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3535/3700695401_332fa3b8f8.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/3700696175_8d5e7c7d4a.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3701504406_15e3711b73.jpg[/img] The plan was to get to camp and then drop packs and climb Fortress. This was not going to happen for me. I was hurting on this day. I was in so much pain there was no way I was even going to try . I needed rest for my body. Baker attempt, then two days later Shuksan and then 24 hrs later I am thrashing my way up to Buck. My body was on strike and wanted rest! The others scrambled up Helmet Butte as I rested and wandered around the area and enjoyed the views. [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2643/3700695643_27c8d74347.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2526/3700695923_e62280b27d.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2625/3701504798_678c835f52.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/3701505020_f5e0baf6b1.jpg[/img] We could see the weather changing and hoped it would hold for our last day to get up Fortress. Three folks headed out after Helmet Butte and the rest of us set up camp. We walked up Flower Dome for a quick view of Glacier. By this time the weather was defiantly coming in. We woke to crappy fog and clouds and called it a trip. The 9 miles back out was a death march with 4-5 HUGE avi paths and debris to weave/thrash through. Lots of work to be done up in there!! All in all it was a great trip and I got Buck! That’s all that counts for me.... :-) 24000' of gain in 7 days has my body screaming at a me! Trying to tell it that it is good for it is not working...hah! This trip meant a lot to me. Thank you to the great folks who joined the fun with me. Gear Notes: helmets for those pesky rocks falling from slopes ice axe crampons (mainly used for steep slick heather slopes) Approach Notes: Bushwhack and try not to bleed! Quote
cbcbd Posted July 8, 2009 Posted July 8, 2009 Sounds like you have a good string of trips going... glad your trip worked out even with the late start! We were looking for you guys on Buck the whole day and could not find a trace on the big landscape up to it's summit. I got 3 pics of your friends hanging out near our camp, if you'd like to forward: http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=47867 We had axes but digging in the fingers also worked great. We saw the ascent line above the rocks and after checking the runout on the steeper line just opted for that... seemed a lot nicer! We then passed by your camp and borrowed some food, hope you all didn't mind. Quote
BirdDog Posted July 8, 2009 Posted July 8, 2009 Congrats on getting Buck! More snow up there than I would have expected. Very nice pics!! Quote
tazz Posted July 8, 2009 Author Posted July 8, 2009 Thanks for the pics! yeah that line we took up was not the best runout. It worked well for the morning though. Ummmm... did ya know that you "borrowed" marmot food? Quote
Hayley Sierra Posted July 8, 2009 Posted July 8, 2009 Thanks for the TR. I'm thinking about heading up to Fortress soon, and was wondering what trail you used for the descent (with avi debris). I tried Fortress last month via Chiwawa Basin and was rained off before I could attempt the summit scramble! Quote
tazz Posted July 8, 2009 Author Posted July 8, 2009 We took Buck Creek trail out from Buck creek pass. The route we planned was from Pass No Pass. There is a climbers track that takes you from the trail up to pass no pass. There is an avalanche path and debris in the hairpin turn on the trail, just before the climbers track. Its pretty easy to find. Quote
wolffie Posted September 26, 2011 Posted September 26, 2011 TR, Little Giant -Spider Gap If you can fit this in, there's a great bivvy site high up on Middle Ridge above the sheep camp. Glorious view, and I think one could climb the NW buttress of Fortress from there. Bivvy at the lip of the moraine, 7300', look for a conspicuous cubical rock. You could go on to to Plummer, Cloudy, North Star, even hop over Red, maybe do Chiwawa, and go out Chiwawa R if you're parked at Trinity. It definitely looks like more fun with good snow cover (9/5/11 was more like late July/early August). Quote
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