[TR] Colonial Creek Basin - Snowfield Peak, Neve Glacier 9/11/2009

[zloi]

Trip: Colonial Creek Basin - Snowfield Peak, Neve Glacier

 

Date: 9/11/2009

 

Trip Report:

[font:Arial]Hadn't gotten out into the N. Cascades yet this year, so with a perfect weather forecast and a little time on my hands, there was no excuse not to make the long drive up there from S. Seattle. Since I was just winging this mid-week trip, subject to the vagaries of weather and work, I didn't bother trying to line up a partner. I had the initial notion of climbing Elephant Butte, a "safe" sounding destination for a solo venture, but the prospect of a long, hot, dry hike without an adrenaline fix left me disdainful. The Colonial Basin area, on the other hand, was a conspicuous blank spot in my appreciation of the Cascades, one which opportunity had, for one reason or another, not allowed me to rectify over the years. Suddenly, in a burst of bold exuberance ill-fitting a man of my incipient decrepitude, I added crampons and ice ax to my pack, the appropriate maps, route descriptions, etc. and stoutly resolved to show Snowfield Peak at least a minor skirmish, if not outright battle.

 

The drive up was punctuated by showers, heavy at times. After a soggy car-camp near the Pyramid Lake TH, I awoke next day to sunshine and warmth, as confidently promised by our meteorological mavens. The first order of business was to stow some gear in the woods. SR 20 is lush temptation for car prowlers--I got rudely broken into a few years back at a nearby TH (tailgate glass smashed out), so my goal was to leave the car as empty as possible and hope for the best. That accomplished, I got a prompt alpine start on the trail sometime, oh, after noon. I was actually hoping the sun by then might succeed in drying out the trail somewhat, but this proved vainly optimistic and I got well sodden on the hike in. The trail to Pyramid Lake is a pleasant warm-up for the climbers' trail above. This trail was easy to find, and mostly easy to follow, provided you are in a mood to go straight up. (Folks who put in climbers' trails don't bother with switchbacks, either ignorant of their invention, or else considering them "pansy".) For an unmaintained trail, I found it in jovial enough shape, with minimal blowdown and overgrowth, although unlikely ever to make Backpacker magazine's A-list. Pyramid Lake is a shallow, logged-choked eyesore, and there is no spot flat enough to catch your breath until you reach 4200’. A curious thing happens shortly after that: another trail mysteriously branches off downhill. I note this because on the way back one could mistakenly deviate onto this rogue trail, which leads to god knows where (there’s nowhere to go). You next pass some fetid looking pools, thrash through woods, and do several more acrobatic hiking stunts before tromping through field after field of irresistable wild blueberries (at their snacking peak, which slowed me down considerably). Eventually heather-covered slabs are reached at ~5400’ (no water). At this point, Pyramid Pk is in your face, and Colonial Ck becomes visible as it begins its long plummet down to Diablo Lk. Drop down a couple hundred feet and traverse a field, then talus slopes for another hour to reach Colonial Ck a short distance from its source at the nadir of Colonial Basin (~6000’).

 

What I encountered was a small lake. By Labor Day, glacier- and snow-melt have conspired to render the foot of Colonial Gl a liquid mass roughly the color of a climber’s bath-water after a three-week expedition. I claimed one of the pre-stamped out, sandy camp spots at water’s edge (there were two more beyond, besides some bivy sites earlier near the Colonial Ck waterfall, apparently set up under snow cover). While there were old tracks here and farther on, I had the place to myself the entire time. I was setting up my tent about 6 o’clock after a 5-hr hike in. Wholesome drinking water was abundant from snow-melt streams off the nearby walls of Pyramid Pk.

 

As the lake afforded no easy access to the glacier, it had to be circumnavigated via a sinewy bulge of rock slabs across Colonial Ck's roaring outlet. Fortunately, the creek crossing was facilitated by a significant drop in the stream flow the next morning. The slabs proved an easy enough nuisance, leading down to grungy, silt-covered ice at the lake’s far end and from there the start of the glacier proper. Reaching the Colonial-Neve col was the next task. The glacier was impassable to a direct line, so I had to steer off to the (climber’s) left and gain a rock gully via a slightly questionable detached droop of ice. I climbed rock past the crevasse obstacles, regained the glacier higher, and had no further problems getting over the col (6840’). From my first view of the Neve Gl on the other side, I could see my ascension was really going to amount to mostly a matter of good luck, although at first it seemed less broken up than I had feared. (In fact, it proved to be more so.) In morning light, the left-hand side seemed to promise fewer hidden crevasses, so I tried that.

 

Well, so much for my "intuition.". It was a pretty wild maze, necessitating a lot of end-running and zig-zagging, poking and scrutinizing of the snow, ever aware that a mistake might prove disastrous. Unfortunately, even taking great care, it is still possible to cross a manky snow-bridge without being aware of it until you see it from a different angle (ie, looking back after you've crossed it). Anyway, suffice it to say I made it through the worst of the crevasses to where the glacier flattens out and thence to the W. Ridge rock. It is an easy hike up from there to near the top (~8200'). Someone has left some cairns leading to the north side across a shallow gully. From there, it is an easy scramble up to a notch. A short ledge or two traverses into another gully and then to the summit.

Views from the top were stunning. Snowfield is beautifully situated between the N.and S. lobes of the park, so a great panorama spreads in all directions. No summit register--just a USGS marker from 1962.

 

Beckey mentions another final summit route, so in the interest of diversity, I followed his description down. It involved descending the summit gully past the ledges down into a larger, looser gully which cleaves and twists its way down the south side. I descended it a short distance, then climbed up its other side to regain the west ridge that I'd come up, and from there back down to the glacier. No preference to either route.

 

While on the summit, I used binoculars to scout a route down the middle of the glacier. It looked easier than what I'd come up, but uncertain what I would find once actually committed to it, I decided it was less risky to simply retrace my ascent route down. However, it wasn't that simple. Because the surface was mostly ice, I often could not locate my tracks or recognize which way I'd come. That and, in the sun-softened conditions, detouring around a couple snow-bridges which, I mightn't shouldn't've crossed coming up, caused the descent through the steep part to take fully as long as it had to climb up. Finally down on safe terrain, I looked back up at what I had snaked through, noted a line of seracs towering above my route, and gave silent thanks to the deities of the outback that nothing went awry. Once again whistling to the glory of a sunny, late-summer's afternoon in the mountains, I half-waltzed back up to the col, studied the glacier again, and would fain advise other parties to go the middle route. Then I peered across at Pyramid, Pinnacle, and the "Stump" on the other side of Colonial Gl.

 

I had thought I might attempt one of them on the way back (Pyramid looking to be nothing more than a walk up). Overly optimistic as usual! Fatigue and the slanting sun dictated a humble return to camp, which I scuttled into 11 hours after leaving.

 

To sum up this route in late season, I'd say it is an advantage (especially to a solo traveler) that the crevasses are mostly open because they are visible; of course, it's sometimes a disadvantage because they have opened up too generously. The glacier surface was mostly great for cramponing. The approach wasn't muddy, I saw a total of 2 mosquitoes and no flies, and had I thought to pack a hard container, could have returned with a bounty of intact blueberries. There were also scads of shrooms, although I saw no choice ones. I'm not a fan of cell-phones, so I can't say if one would have worked from up there. Lastly, yes, the car was intact (and started) when I got back!

 

PS: I have some decent photos--maybe someday I'll figure out this site's protocol as to how to add them.

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Gear Notes:

ice ax & crampons

Edited September 27, 2009 by zloi