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Ptarmigan Traverse


marek

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Here is our report, link to picassa images is below the text

 

Day one

After reading over multiple reports and hints from previous Ptarmigan Traverse, we set out for project at 5am on Jun 29th. Having good weather forecast we had one less thing to worry about; just move forward! We left Seattle at 5am and parked 2 cars at Suiattle road blockage; some 9 miles away from trailhead, then on, we drove to Cascade Pass-all the way to the parking lot!

After countless repackaging of our stuff and weeding out “presumed unnecessary” items, we went uphill 2K feet up the switchbacks, and after short rest, we then moved up a steep traverse to Cache Glacier (that was a steep and exposed slope with heavy packs) Cache Glacier looked very good with no crevasses at all; no moat either! The way to still frozen Kool Aid Lakes was over steep but easy snow slopes, so we pressed on. Having still few hours of light and energy, we continued to Arts Knoll above Red Ledges and stunning views of Spider and Formidable. Red Ledges were very easy to navigate, and snow free bivy sites some 50 yards away offered far better place to stay than Kool Aid Lakes. Running water was 10 minutes away. I think, this is a far better place to camp than Kool Aid Lakes.

Day 2

We left the camp 6sh and made it to the base of Middle Cascade Glacier in 2hrs or so, over easy snow slopes and some scree/trail? The glacier was in perfect condition, and there was no moat at all. We used the lower/left/eastern col to descend and traversed down and right (west) to a nice bivy spot below Point 7285 (pass/access to Formidable just to the right of it) our next objective before dropping to Yang Yang Lakes, was Mt Formidable. Having had several trip reports in our hand (Klenke, Michael Stanton, Summit post) we thought we were dialed in, but with snow dripping in onto rocks and two of us with plastic boots, the going was slow; we even belayed one spot over a ramp. With the snow obscuring parts of the way up, we lost and found the right way several times, finally rolling onto the summit at 4pm? Once on the top, our first thought was “how in the world we going to get of this choss pile”? And since we had a nice rope, we just rapped the thing all way to the snow (into the gully/option B in Klenke report) and down climbed/traversed the rest of the way. We got to our packs at the last light and then continued to the lakes, where after much needed replenishments, we finally hit the sack at 1am!

Day 3

After a long day 2, we took this one a bit more leisurely, baked some in the sun, dried things up, replenished fluids and refocused. I think we left before 10am? And instead of back tracking and going over a bluff, we just went straight over a Goat Pass? (We followed a tip from a couple in front of us) Sure enough, it worked like a charm and we made it to Le Conte Pass in no time. The pass was the beginning of a long traverse on the Eastern side of the crest and access to Le Conte Glacier. Easy going here, few butt slides. The glacier looked very good, with few holes at some distance away and no moat/access issues. At the top of Le Conte Glacier, we decided to climb Old Guard (better rock!) This time it went without hick-ups and we relaxed at the top for a while (no summit register?) Thereafter, the traverse on the Western side of the crest went easy below the slopes of Sentinel Peak and onto the top of South Cascade Glacier and Lizard Pass shortly thereafter. Did we see buildings on the opposite ridge overlooking South Cascade Glacier? Geological station? There were probes all way around; anyone knows anything about it? Also, the whole glacier here was infested with small 1-2 inch bugs. Any info? We found this to be very interesting. Now, the view from Lizard Pass was just a stunner, and we just stood there looking. The White Rock Lakes are right there below, and the way down was a steep snow and scree (even a cornice) but with few minutes of unnerving stuff, we were at the camp. Yes, as advertized, it was a very picturesque place, and we soaked the views during the dinner.

Day 4

At this point of the trip, my ankle was giving me more and more pain; especially during traverses and down climbing, and as it was decided on a previous day, I would carry only to Dome Peak, and skip Sinister. The traverse to Dana Glacier was straight forward, but over tedious slopes of mixed talus fields, scree, snow and blueberry patches. Reading trip reports, Kuba had found a better access to Dome Glacier, instead of going for Spire Col; we went one valley over to the left/east, and very quickly gained Dome Glacier. With close to no wind at all and heavy packs, we were baking tremendously and our tempo slowed down significantly. After we ditched our packs at the Dome Col, we went for the summit over moderate snow slopes to the summit ridge. After being here before (8 years), I was surprised at the sight of a snow/cornice on the Eastern side of the summit ridge; I knew there was a ledge below, but this much snow on such a small ledge, hmm? Anyway, we continued over the ridge until the final summit block (summit 3 feet higher) at which point I could not scrape anymore rock with my plastic boots. That was a stunner to me, because I did not recall having any problems on my previous trip up here. Lastly, Kuba gave it a look to no result, and we called it a day. Then, when we all met at the packs, it was decided that we would scratch Sinister, and we walked down to Cub Lake over Itswoot Pass. Unfortunately, there was no snow free area, and a tent was pitched on snow for the first time during our trip. We fell asleep with the company of some bats fishing in the Cub Lake.

 

Day 5

With at least 22 miles ahead of us, we got up early and hit the trail at 7:30am, warming up on the way up to the pass above the lake. Already on the other side, we followed some faint tracks in snow, and dropped down and left over avalanche destroyed forest of Bachelor Creek. From what I remembered on my previous trip here, we went down and left across fallen trees into deep forest, and continued to traverse for few more minutes in the tall forest. As it turned out, we could have gone straight down on the edge of the deep forest, so once we realized that, we quickly dropped down and found the trail at the bottom with no issues. We then followed the trail, losing it and finding several times (still some snow) until we got out of the forest and onto a field of slide alder. At first we dropped down towards the creek (avi debris) and realized our mistake. We then dropped our packs for rest, and I went looking uphill for now difficult to find trail. Sure enough, score! So, we followed this “secret passage” to a ford log and out of the mess on the opposite side. The trail down Bachelor Creek dragged on for ever with many more fallen trees obscuring the trail than I’ve seen here before. Upon arrival at the Downey Trail/Six Mile Camp, we took a nice rest drying things out and dipping into the creek, before we moved on to one push move over 6 mile trail to Suiatte River. When we finally made it, first signs of blisters appeared on my feet and out of Aleve pills, my ankle started to really giving me pains. We still had 8.5-9 miles left to the car, and without much delay, we ripped the first 3 miles in 1 hr, to more alarming pains from ankle and feet. I realized that any time I stopped, the start was even more painful, so I resolved to not stopping at all, and continued at ever slower pace. The energy was there, but the pain was unbearable. Going so slow, mosquitoes and flies had a feeding frenzy, biting just about everywhere-constantly! The boys had offered bug repellant to me, but I had no stomach to stop, and thus continued to be eaten alive. At last after 11hrs push we made it to the cars, ending our 5 days in the mountains.

Jacek and Kuba thank you for the company, Polish food, bunch of jokes and humor, and Jacek, congratulations on your achievement!

Quite possibly, this was first Polish Team Ptarmigan Traverse

Marek

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/frozenimage/PtarmiganTraverse#

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