keenwesh Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) Trip: Washington Pass and Burgundy Spire - Date: 7/28/2011 Trip Report: I spent 4 wonderful days climbing and hiking with my dad last week. We tried to do 4 but managed to make it up 3 summits, and had a absolute blast. We left Olympia around 3 on wednesday and spent a good portion of the drive in traffic, ended up taking ~5 hours to get to blue lake trailhead. mosquitoes were horrible. Thursday morning we packed up our overnight gear and hiked in the long way past blue lake, finding a sweet campsite below news. After some lunch it was off to the West face. I led everything and provided tension when scott called for it. every pitch was great. I went from the big ledge atop P1 all the way through the 5.9 traverse to the base of the 10d crack scott following I originally had decided I was going to free the 10d crux crack, but after getting up to it and trying to get my sausage fingers to fit inside I quickly dropped that plan and pulled on gear to get up. Have tiny little baby fingers for this one. scott pulling the anchor and getting ready to grab the nylon holds I took the cleaned gear and started heading up the stellar next pitch This is so much fun! cruise up the crack, thin at first but not too desperate and it slowly widens. Most is bomber fingers though. Great exposure. I made it all the way to the top with a 70, so we did the W face in 4 pitches. scott coming up over the top Views on top Wine Spires chockstone rap we came back to camp and relaxed in the sun. I had thrown the entire beckey guide in my pack for reading material. The standard route on Liberty Bell and the tunnel route on Concord Tower were out on the next days itinerary. On the way up in the morning to the liberty bell notch we ran into the nicest looking goat either of us had ever seen. damn you look good The beckey route is so nice, all the loose shit that is usually on terrain like this has been knocked off. Fun and mellow in the sun. summit The Tower Route. Don't go by the picture shown in the beckey guide unless you like doing steep crumbling liebacks with absolutely no pro. Follow the topo, that might be right. My dad convinced me to follow the picture which doesn't really exist and for sure does not go at 5.7. I got to solo up and down the west face of Concord for a few hours, it was so fuckin' awesome. Saturday we headed for Burgandy, reaching the col in 3-4 hours from the road Coming up the 5.8 pitch to the big ledge midway up the face On the ledge At this point I headed up left, towards the obvious handcrack in a flare. Scott following the flare After the flare there is fantastic 5.7-8 face climbing up the crest, with the east face falling to the left all the way to the silver star glacier, there's a nice 50 year old 1/4 incher too you get to clip for the hardest moves too. I belayed partway across at a slung block. the next pitch continued up the arete finishing with a perfect handcrack so good!!!! After that sweet climbing there is another pitch or so of BS downclimbing and traversing to reach the standard 5.8 grunt that goes off the right side of the big ledge. it's not all that far but ropedrag becomes a problem. Scott on top, I have no idea who he's waving too... Tired and a little chilly on top Rap #5 (of 8, the route is so convoluted!) We got down, brewed up water and pitched the tent. Whoever left your fancy foil bag of crap under a rock, fuck you. Along with the other party at the col we played a guessing game of what was inside. when it turned out to be shit we were pretty disappointed. I also had the pleasure of carrying it out the next day. Speaking of shit, on the hike out my pops had to make a deposit so I was left to take sophomore girl pics of myself while I waited for him. here's the best I got. Gear Notes: At Washington pass I brought gear to 3, doubles to 2. for burgundy a single rack to 3, it was just about perfect. Approach Notes: Hike Edited August 1, 2011 by keenwesh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtveld Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Rope-gunning the dad up WA Pass classics - very cool! Looks like you're sprouting some little veggie-dreads in this one.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeezix Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Awesome to see this father-son activity. As a father of two sons, this pushes all sorts of buttons for me! I salute you for carrying out the badness you found. Major karma and style points for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmilingWhiteKnuckles Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Great report. How cool to do all that with your dad! Regarding the hair extensions, is that what you call getting spruced up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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