Devin27 Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 (edited) Trip: Mount Fernow and Seven Fingered Jack - Phelps Creek trail to the Leroy Creek Basin Date: 7/3/2011 Trip Report: After marching up the conga line of the DC route up Rainier last weekend, we decided to avoid the volcanoes and find some mountain solitude for our 4th of July weekend in the Entiat Range. The team comprised of 5 Boealps members- Ken, Dustin, Jeff, Danika and I; and our canine companion Indy. We began at the Phelps Creek Trailhead after a very long drive on the Chiwawa River Road. The hike along the Phelps Creek Trail to the Leroy Creek turn off featured about 7 or 8 creek crossings and a decent amount of snow. The creeks are moving fast because of the snow melt and several do not have any logs to cross on, so be careful and be prepared to get a little wet. The turn off up Leroy Creek Basin is clearly marked and gains elevation quickly. We reached complete snow cover around the 5,000 ft mark and made camp on a small mound at about 6,400 ft below the approach to Seven Fingered Jack. Our original goal of making the summit of Seven Finger Jack that afternoon was supplanted by relaxing in the sun at camp and getting some sleep for Fernow the next day. An early start brought with it some route finding misadventures. We first went up the col to the climbers left of 7FJ with the hopes of traversing the highline above the cliffs to the main gully up Fernow. Unfortunately the traverse was steep, had a dangerously short run out and dead ended in a steep narrow gully with no way across, so we pulled back and headed down the ridge line from the 7FJ col and descended down to the remnants of the glacier in the valley below. From there the route finding is easy, though you will have to gain back all that elevation and then some. Luckily we had some great steps already put in by a team of 7 just ahead of us, so we made great time getting to the summit block. When we reached the rock scramble, we discovered the group ahead of us was another Boealps group. We ascended the easy rock scramble together and enjoyed the summit of Mount Fernow and the great views. A word of caution, the scrambling is easy class 2/3, but the rock is very loose and several rock falls were caused by climbers as they scrambled the route. The snow was great for glissading down to the valley below Fernow, but not so fun on the 1,500 ft climb back up to the ridgeline. We had wanted to hit 7FJ that day as well, but the extra extra drop into the basin and climb out lead us to split our group as Dustin and Jeff went with the other team to summit 7FJ, while Ken, Danika and I returned to camp with plans to summit in the morning. The other group made the summit of 7FJ and made great time back to camp, however they were not fast enough to save Dustin’s hostess cherry pie, which was eaten; wrapper and all; by a very sneaky pup. A cold night brought hard snow the next morning and made for a quick crampon ascent to the rock of 7FJ. This brought more route finding misadventures as we followed the steps of some lost climbers to the wrong finger twice. If you find yourself climbing anything more difficult than easy class 2, you are in the wrong spot. There were also a large amount of mysterious large animal footprints all around the snow on the traverse to the summit. I would hazard a guess at black bear, given the shape of the prints and number of toes. I have no idea why a bear would be up there but it was too large and had to many toes to be a dog.. We were treated on the summit to stunning views of Glacier, as well as Rainier, Baker and everything in between. Unfortunately, despite an hour spent relaxing on the summit, the hard icy snow that made our ascent quick and easy turned against. This made it impossible to plunge step or glissade safely for most of the steep descent from the summit and forced us to crampon most of the way down. The hike out from camp was uneventful, as the snow had softened up in the afternoon sun. The rapid pace of snow melt was obvious as more and more of the landscape is uncovered. Gear Notes: Crampons, Ice Axe, Trekking poles (great for stream crossings), helmet (loose rock) Approach Notes: Fast creeks and plenty of snow Photos!!!!! I hit my limit, so there a 5 more to be posted tomorrow Crossing one of the small creeks on the Phelpes creek trail Crossing Leroy creek Indy the Mountain Dog Nom Nom Nom Looking up at one of our goals, 7FJ Alpen Glow over the mountains Heading up the ridge to drop into the basin below Fernow Dropping into the first basin with an ice lake below Traversing to the col Watch your step Heading up the gully to Mount Fernow Boealps goes scrambling. We found the another Boealps team Scramble time At the Summit of Mount Fernow Summit Shot Nap time Heading back down. Copper Mountain I believe in the background Jump for it!!!! Glacier in the Alpen glow on our way up 7FJ Up we go More photos to come, including our mystery animal tracks Edited July 6, 2011 by Devin27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete_H Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Cool. Looking forward to photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeShy Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Nice work Devin! Congrats on the summits. Glad to see you all out there climbing. Great photos too! Did Indy get to summit either 7FJ or Fernow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BootsandPants Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Nice shots! Thanks for re-kicking your downtrack up that 800ft face on the way back to your camp. It let us get up there in 20 mins and led us right to the remainder of your group that wanted to accompany us up 7FJ that afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b00 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 did you find dry ground to camp on? was there a good camp spot at the 7fj col? was there water at camp? was there water on the route? if so, where did you find it? thanks, :>) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Piston Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 If you are considering climbing Fernow and 7 Fingered Jack, you might consider going via Copper Creek Basin (4 miles from Holden). I was there 2 weeks ago. We camped on snow, but had running water. We were planning on climbing Copper Peak and Fernow, but I got sick. This is a picture of our camp at the basin. It is just an alternative to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BootsandPants Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 did you find dry ground to camp on? There wasn't any dry ground above 5200ft in Leroy Creek basin was there a good camp spot at the 7fj col? There is a flat spot up closer to the col that would work OK, or maybe a small bivy site on the rocks of the col itself was there water at camp? Both weekends we had water relatively close to our bivy sites, however our camps were not close to the col. One was at 6800 at a flat spot in direct line with the col, the other was around 6600 on the north side of the basin closer to the gap you cross over to approach Fernow. Not sure if Devin's group had water by their camp though. was there water on the route? Tons of water on the approach, and there was a decent amount of melt at places on the traverse to Fernow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b00 Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 thank you! :>) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k7min Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 (edited) It's so great... thanks for sharing.. do you have a gpx file ? would you share it,if you keep it. k7minjason@gmail.com Edited July 10, 2011 by k7min Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k7min Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 it's good idea.. but, pretty long way to the holden, How did you get the holden? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin27 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 There was a waterfall about 400 feet above our camp on the route to Seven Fingered Jack that was accessible. I do have the GPS file, but I havent had a chance to get it off my GPS yet. I will try and remember tonight. We came in from the Phelps Creek Trail Head off US2, so we didnt need to go through Holden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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