JasonG Posted July 19, 2011 Posted July 19, 2011 Trip: Asa, Agnes, Gunsight, and Sinister - Standards Date: 7/13/2011 Trip Report: "Suffer Together....SUFFER AS ONE!" Our mantra for the trip was coined after about the 4th day of unsettled weather, but I think it applied to the sunny days as well, especially hauling our heavy packs out of Agnes Creek. Tim, Steve, and I returned this past Saturday from seven days in Agnes Creek, managing to climb Asa, Agnes, Gunsight (main and north), and Sinister. We had a couple decent days hiking in, but fairly cloudy and damp weather the remainder, with one full day lost to rain/sleet/snow in camp. Thanks to excellent beta from Tom, we more or less found a fairly "easy" way into the range- camping the first night at Swamp Creek (fire!), followed by four nights at Agnes Col (cold, wet, though dry ground to camp on, and drips of water nearby), and a final night back at Swamp Creek (fire!). Our first objective on day two was an easy ridge walk to Asa peak. As advertised, the original summit paper is there from 1908, along with Austin's entry from 1947. Cool stuff. I think we were the 12th party to sign in since the first ascent. On day 3, we followed Fay, Stefan, and Erin's beta to bypass the ridge leading to Agnes by dropping off the east side of the ridge, losing 1000' and regaining the crest very near the summit via the Agnes snow finger. Later in the season this may be safe, but we were just about taken out by a barrage of rockfall partway up the gulley. Looking back at the photos it appears that the culprit were a few snow patches melting out on the steep SE face. The sound of rocks at terminal velocity is not a good one, beware. The rest of the climb was pretty true to Beckey, but the leader was glad to have rock shoes for the short "5.6" pitch. I think we were the 27th party to sign in. On day 4 we headed to Gunsight, intending the climb the SW rib route (only half of each rope team had rock shoes- probably a mistake for this great piece of granite). Instead, we opted for the easier standard gulley between the North and Main peaks, finishing both of them by short pitches of mid- fifth. The climb was made memorable by the cold temps, snow squalls, and wind- climbing with all your clothes on in July???? Day 5 was a weather day and we sat around and tried to stay warm and dry- not an easy task at the col. We huddled behind trees and taught each other knots when we weren't in the tents. I think we all realized that we aren't cut out for expedition climbing. Day 6 dawned relatively unsettled, but mostly dry. We headed over to the Chickamin with the intention of climbing the west ridge of Sinister. Passing under the north face, conditions were quite good for step kicking (it had been skied by an uber dude (EW?) a few days before). An impromptu change of plans initiated by Steve and Tim got our team set on giving the NF a shot. We only had one picket and no second tools so we shortened our ski poles (to plunge like second tools) and made do until we passed the 'shrund at mid height. After that we unroped and Steve led the charge to the summit, only about 3 hrs after leaving camp. Very cool route, too bad we were in the clouds for much of it, including the summit. After a short stay, we wandered down the west ridge in the fog, made one 30m rappel and found our way back to the Chickamin. Upon returning to camp, a fire sounded good so we packed up and headed back down to Swamp Creek for the night. It felt like a long day, although probably only took us about 11-12 hours total. We didn't see anyone on the entire trip until we came back to swamp creek. We chatted at camp with a group heading into the Gunsight area the very next day and wished them well. Unfortunately, the next day it started raining quite hard on our way back to Stehekin, so I wonder how they fared....Back at Stehekin we ran into Stefan, headed into Devore Creek for 6 days. Small world, that Stehekin. The bakery didn't disappoint either, never get tired of that place. Anyway, enough talk, pictures tell the story much better. Here's the first batch, more to follow tomorrow: Swamp Creek Camp Crossing Agnes Creek on a very ample log Mmmmmm. Brush. Glacier Gunsight Agnes 1st Pitch on Agnes It is about a 6000' drop into the West Fork of Agnes Creek below Tim's feet. Rapping steep snow near the summit of Agnes Camp Life! Sinister and Blizzard Peaks emerging from the mists Gunsight Some fine alpine granite, gunsight has. Approaching Cascadian Patagonia Sinister and Dome At the notch on Gunsight Tim gazing up to the true summit of Gunsight Sinister! The North Face is the prominent snow finger on the right, descending down from the summit. Good times! Photo by Steve Trent, tweaked by me. Agnes from Gunsight Belaying the final bit of the North Peak of Gunsight. Rapping past great rock on Gunsight Weather day, Ugh. Approaching the col to access the Chickamin, with Agnes behind Agnes! Expressing frustration for the lack of views on the summit of Sinister, I bet they'd be grand. Run away! Heading down on day 6. Needle Peak to Bonanza above Tim. He and Blake were likely the first ones to traverse the ridge between Needle and Dark Peaks. Link Agnes Creek Brush. Swamp Creek Stink Day 7 and the wheels have completely come off. Long trips are hard on the feet of softies like me Boat Life! Gear Notes: You will need most everything. Bring tat, this area doesn't see much traffic. Approach Notes: Follow Tom and Fay Quote
Trent Posted July 19, 2011 Posted July 19, 2011 Awesome pictures as usual Jason. Thanks for putting it all together and making it happen. Great partners make the trip, and in this case the trip was excellent. More photos: 100 year old summit register. They had a cook along on the expedition! Jason making the move on Gunsight. The yoga finally pays off! Approaching the summit of Gunsight. Jason leading up the North face on Sinister Quote
JasonG Posted July 19, 2011 Author Posted July 19, 2011 Oh we had whiskey, but that ran out rather quickly. It would have been hard to bring enough, considering the weather. Quote
Riley81 Posted July 19, 2011 Posted July 19, 2011 Sweet looking trip! Where can I get one of those pencils? Quote
Sol Posted July 19, 2011 Posted July 19, 2011 Very psyched to see pics from that neck of the woods. Looks like a very scenic trip, nice job!! Quote
therunningdog Posted July 19, 2011 Posted July 19, 2011 Memorable trip with memorable Bushwhacking! And great partners! Thanks guys! Suffer Together!.... SUFFER. AS. ONE!!! Quote
Swanny Posted July 19, 2011 Posted July 19, 2011 Looks like a great trip, and awesome photos! I'm always impressed by those willing to take a larger camera climbing. Quote
Le Piston Posted July 19, 2011 Posted July 19, 2011 Thanks for the great TR and awesome pictures. You've got to love that North Cascades slide alder...builds character (and bruises). Keep up the great work. Quote
JasonG Posted July 20, 2011 Author Posted July 20, 2011 Thanks for the encouragement everyone- More photos have been added, with many thanks to Olyclimber!! Looking at the photos, my memories of the weather have already softened. Maybe I will head back in there, it wasn't THAT bad . .. .and oh so scenic! Quote
JasonG Posted July 20, 2011 Author Posted July 20, 2011 And I should add that Steve, Tim and Gord kept things rolling when the weather was trying to kill our motivation. Fine partners, one and all. If it was left up to me, we probably would've only gotten a fraction of the summits climbed. Quote
sparverius Posted July 22, 2011 Posted July 22, 2011 Well done fellas. Nice photos J. The rock on Gunsight looks so nice. Quote
Tom_Sjolseth Posted July 22, 2011 Posted July 22, 2011 Verry nice trip report! Thanks for the beautiful photos and a chance to journey vicariously to one of my favorite spots. Quote
JasonG Posted July 22, 2011 Author Posted July 22, 2011 We appreciated your beta for getting up to Agnes Col, worked quite well! While there is no easy way of getting in there, I think you may have found the way with the least pain. That log is pretty amazing. The other group we ran into on their way up was headed along the Beckey beta path (farther upstream before crossing and heading uphill). I will try to compare notes when they return. Quote
lunger Posted July 22, 2011 Posted July 22, 2011 Outstanding pics and report! I wondered how the approach from that direction would go. And Agnes is a compelling looking peak. I was on Sinister a few days before, and really enjoyed the same climb you guys did--any sign of my tracks remain? Seems like the snowpack was finally consolidating and changing pretty fast. Some views of the area from the perspective of the Ptarmigan Traverse: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=21521.0 The picasa link there has more pics, including Agnes. Quote
JasonG Posted July 22, 2011 Author Posted July 22, 2011 AHA!! Now THAT was an impressive effort. After seeing no tracks for days, we were a little surprised to find SOLO ski and boot tracks on the NF of sinister. Your tracks were there, but faint. I think that might have been the catalyst for the rest of the group. If someone skied it, we should be able to climb it without too much trouble, right? We had some sluffs roar past us (not too close, but close enough to give me pause) on the way up, so your ascent and descent was a topic of conversation. Strong, bold work!! Quote
JasonG Posted July 22, 2011 Author Posted July 22, 2011 Ah.. your tracks on the lower south side of the west ridge makes sense now. You didn't quite go high enough to find the dirty gully. If you went uphill another 50-100 vf you would have seen a giant wind cirque on the climbers left. Shooting up from there is a really dirty gully (class 3-4) that leads to easy slopes. Plug steps up some steep snow to gain the summit slopes. Quote
sepultura Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Nice effort guys! Looks like a great trip, wish I could have been along. Good to see Gord made it along with the new job and all. See you all in September! Quote
Stefan Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Great meeting you guys in Stehekin! It looked like fun! Quote
JasonG Posted July 25, 2011 Author Posted July 25, 2011 How'd your trip go Stefan??? A similar battle with the weather? It was great to finally put a face to the name I'd seen so many times in summit registers over the years! Quote
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