tanstaafl Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Trip: Mt Cruiser - West/Southwest Corner Date: 8/21/2011 Trip Report: Der Rat and I climbed Cruiser this weekend and Dave Parker told me I needed to post a TR to up the percentage of Olympic reports. The approach via Flapjack Lakes was a straightforward slog. Needle Pass still has a fair bit of snow so aluminum crampons and an axe came in handy. We ended up doing the West/Southwest Corner variation off the flake on the west side of the summit ridge -- fun! There were supposedly two bolts from the 50s somewhere on the pitch but we never found them. Three single rope raps and some downclimbing got us back to our crampons etc., where we decided to climb the needle formation at the top of the pass as well. It was easy but if you only have one rope you can’t rap all the way back to the notch and will have to do some downclimbing. Chilling at Flapjack Lakes Rolf sounds his barbaric yawp on the summit ridge Looking for pro on the needle Back on the trail Glacier lilies - they're what's for dinner We realized later that Mildred Lakes would have been a much shorter approach -- has anyone else gone that way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spionin Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 awesome. you look mighty relaxed in those pictures, mrs. rat! Glacier lilies - they're what's for dinner light and fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drederek Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Haven't been all the way to Mildred lakes in years but its up and down and up and down. There just isn't any easy way into that corner of the park. The roads got a couple of semi-navigible washouts about a mile before the putvin trail, no prob with a 4wd I'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanl Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Yaaaay for the Rats!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Parker Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO impressed you actually took a ferry to do a climb! Welcome to my world!!! Good for you to check out the other range in WA! Pretty nice wouldn't you say! BTW, that photo on the needle brought back a lot of memories of no pro on pillow lava! I lead that pitch too when Wayne and I did the Sawtooth traverse... Never underestimate the Olympic Range, there is serious relief there too! Btw, Mildred lakes may look shorter on a map but time wise you did the right thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 V -- so relaxed I think I was asleep ten minutes after that first picture was taken. Flapjack Lakes is a nice place for a nap. David -- sorry to disillusion you, but we actually drove around through Olympia instead of taking the ferry -- on Saturday morning we dropped a friend off at the airport on the way and on Sunday we were sort of on autopilot. After spending the whole time from Olympia to Tacoma Sunday night in 20 - 40 mph traffic, though, I'm thinking next time we might go for the ferry. Thanks all for the words of wisdom re Mildred Lakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeP Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Nice!!! I hope to top Cruiser in no less than a few years. I went up to Mildred lakes with my sister almost two weeks ago (Aug 13-14). The trail was pretty tough for a trail. There was difficult trail-finding at parts (GPS recommended). We also had to park about 2-3 miles from the trailhead because of bad road, but we saw SUVs and trucks at the trailhead which made it up a stream crossing that was a little to gnarly for our '96 Legacy. Overall, the trip was fun, but hard (~6 hours for 7 mi), and I'm glad I only had an overnight pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 rawr....der rat is looking RANDY! fun little hunk of rock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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