Ptarmigan Traverse: north half 8/21/2011

[Waydough]

Trip: North Cascades (WA) - Ptarmigan Traverse: north half

 

Date: 8/21/2011

 

Trip Report:

Conditions update from our August 18 – 21 trip: For those interested in a late-season Ptarmigan Traverse trip there is still plenty of time to do it this year. It’s nice to have a chance to go from couch-potato to good shape earlyMay-earlyAugust to carry a large climbing pack deep into the rugged Cascades at the end of August. Right now the snow and glacier conditions are still very good (firm and deep, ascent to Red Ledge’s is good, descent down Spider/Formidable col is good, islands of snow patches to cross frequently are of the non-postholing type, glaciers are just now starting to crevasse up). We cramponned up a lot since even stiff boots could cut/punch only 3-4 inches into the snow with two or three kicks. It’s a good time to travel fast on foot on the PT. We climbed LeConte (E/NE face up the snow and onto the ridge: snow covers large parts of the scramble route so you have to get creative up high and go onto a knife ridge) and Old Guard (we made a mistake on route choice and after failed attempts from the NE we headed home under the north face and saw a 200-foot 45-degree couloir to a notch with Sentinel and then ascended easy fun 3rd class rock to the summit). Neither Old Guard or LeConte had summit registers that we could find, which surprised us.

 

Notes to those interested in my notes from this trip for my next trip (and a useless rant about chipmunk feeding that reveals my hypocracy since I’m guilty of feeding camp robbers with great joy):

 

1.)We left helmets behind out of the interest of going lighter and having less crap jiggling on our packs (or taking up volume that could be filled by very large cucumbers and booze and such inside). In retrospect I wish we would have brought and frequently worn helmets on steep traverses where a slip would mean a fast slide into talus field. Also, on the traverse in a couple of locations and while ascendiing LeConte, we had some party-inflicted rockfall that could have resulted in a bad head injury that a helmet may have prevented.

2.) Going north to exit the PT gave me a new appreciation for doing steep descending traverses with large packs. Getting off the Red Ledges was sketchy without using rope/picket protection however going up them two days before was a snap. Doing a descending a steep, hard, dirt 120-foot section on the “trail” between the Cache Glacier and Cascade Pass was the most treacherous part of the trip (no chance to arrest a slip and very bad run-out).

3.) To all the Disney-brainwashed fans that see wildlife as cute little cuddly creatures that are pet /child-like and in need of feeding to show friendship and camaraderie with wild things: please stop feeding Alvin, Simon, and Theodore! Regardless of your deep desire to carry less food weight that big friggen fat chipmunk at Cascade Pass does not need another 11 almonds, 3 Gummy Bears, 6 Wheat Thins, and the tip of your finger (yes, they are carnivorous when provoked, which means if you start to feed her and stop before here extra-large belly and jowls are full she will attack and take a piece of you to her winter stash – ask Jill from our group). Just think of it this way if you have any interest in a chipmunk’s well-being: making her bigger, tastier, and an easier meal for Mr. Badass Golden Eagle does not improve her life one tiny bit.

4.) Take great friends with you. It’s likely you’ll get tired from hiking and succumb to the desire to just relax at a camp site longer than your super-summit-fever-repeat-the-original-Ptarmigan-Trip plan calls for. This North Cascade alpine region is amazing with stunning scenery everywhere you look and roam from Cub Lake north to the Cascade Pass trailhead.

5.) Consider camping away from other groups, both for your mountain peace as well as for theirs. There are LOTS of great places to camp on dirt or rock along the way with running or pooled clear water nearby.

6.) Bring easy to install crampons that you are proficient at installing/removing. Most people will end up installing crampons multiple times each day due to changing surface conditions from heather-cut dirt trails to hard steep snow to talus fields to glaciers. Using steel crampons will make you less concerned about wearing them on talus to get from one patch of steep hard snow to the next = saving time and effort. I generally wear my nice lightweight Grivel Air-Tech aluminum crampons and cringed a bit during several rocky/unstable walking on rocks and the points are a good 1/8” worn off from this trip. Oh, and each of the many crampon install/removal stops lead to second and third and fourth breakfast. As a result you will move more slowly than expected and gain weight on this trip.

7.) Regarding experience level of climbers attempting this route: Be good at steep snow travel while wearing a heavy pack before going on this traverse. This is not a beginner’s trip to learn how to ice axe arrest, wear crampons for the first time, or to learn how to travel on steep snow. My partners did well and had mountain climbing experience but I still should have been more considerate of a few team member’s steep snow expertise/comfort. It would have been easy and not very time-consuming for me to have set a few pickets with a rope to protect some steep snow spots that had really bad run-out and with no chance of arresting a slip.

8.) Even if you have a bomb-proof weather forecast for your whole trip and a few days beyond it (sunny and warm) you need to take that forecast with a grain of salt. This is the middle of the North Cascades and the forecast is really only good for about 2-3 days. Doing steep traverses on rock, dirt, and snow with large packs on is hard enough in dry conditions but when it rains it gets much, much more spicy. We came out a day early because we saw clouds forming to the west and sure enough the rain hit the next morning (Monday). On my previous PT trip of 6 days there was rain and fog for the first five days and it made the trip barely tolerable comfort-wise and much less safe to walk in steep terrain.

9.) For an alternative ascent to the ridge west and above the lower Yang Yang Lake you may try the couloir that goes to climber’s left/south of the standard shoulder approach to the ridge (the couloir is clearly seen right now from the approach to Yang Yang Lakes from Spider-Formidable Col). For us the couloir was filled in with firm snow to the top of the ridge. It is steep, with the top part up to 50 degrees, and 300 feet long with poor run-out, but a climber that is comfortable on steep snow will likely feel ok on it without much, if any, protection and it would save time and energy getting onto the ridge from the lakes to head south toward LeConte.

10.) Consider protecting the vegetation around the lakes on this traverse: For a first night camp site there are several options for people of regular climbing fitness depending on when you leave the Cascade Pass trailhead. The very top of Cache Col is a possibility and there are excellent solid-rock ledges at the base of the Middle Cascade Glacier about 1.5 hours hike south of Kool-Aid Lake. Although Yang Yang Lakes is a wonderful spot to camp on night #2 you could instead camp on the ridge above it just north of LeConte and have less biting bugs as a result. The col where you would descend from the LeConte Glacier to the South Cascade glacier would be an amazing camp site on night 2 or 3 (also on solid rock).

11.) Bring less fuel and food! I keep overestimating the amount of snow my team will need to melt for water (none on this trip and only one day of snow melting on the previous six-day trip in early August 2002). Two Jetboil canister stoves with 3 large gas canisters would have been large enough for our group of 7 on this 4 night trip.

12.) Make a team-gear carrying plan that everyone agrees to before the trip. Nobody really wants to carry the ropes, pickets, rappel cord, first aid supplies, tents, cooking gear, water filter, etc. but if there is a plan on how to share before the trip then it is one less thing to spend time/energy addressing during the trip.

13.) Put a full-sized spare tire in the car trunk for this trip. It would not be fun to get a flat when you are twenty miles up the Cascade River Rd at 8:00 pm and want to get home faster than a factory spare tire allows for.

14.) Bring folding lawn chairs to sit on at the trailhead after the climb. It would be so much more civilized than sitting on the gravel and leaning back against someone’s car while guzzling beer and taking off shoes.

15.) Get back to the trailhead early enough so that you can make it to a real restaurant that is still open and willing to serve you a big greasy bacon mushroom swiss burger with yam fries and a pint of goodness after having only gorp, dried fruit and meat, and PBJ's to eat for days.

16.) Get the pack down to sub-40 lbs for a 6-day PT trip. It can be done.

17.) Ascending from the Cascade Pass trailhead to Kool-Aid Lake took 4 hours. From Kool-Aid Lake to Yang-Yang Lakes took 6 hours. Returning from Yang Yang Lakes to Cascade Pass trailhead with multiple long crampon-snack breaks took 11 hours.

18.) Spend less time planning for the trip and writing about the trip afterwards and more time climbing.

 

chipmunk at Cascade Pass eating a thumb

 

 

 

Looking south from Spider-Formidable col (Yang Yang Lakes can be seen)

 

 

 

looking south from Cache Col towards Kool Aid Lake and Red Ledges

 

 

LeConte Glacier up close (few crevassess, easy traveling)

 

 

Looking south to Yang Yang Lakes, LeConte Mtn, Sentinel Mtn, and Old Guard Mtn

 

wi

 

a rare, albino, hairless Bigfoot scared the crap out of us and even he would not eat the Gorp in the backpack

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2011 by Waydough

[Alex]

Seems more like a guidebook than a TR.

[pcg]

Very useful info. Thanks.

[Waydough]

Alex: does it seem like a trip report now? I get on CC's.com most often when I am checking out current conditions and new route info for climbs I am planning for. I posted the info to provide a tidbit of info about the current conditions of the PT that may encourage others to go on it this year. I do not often contribute in a way that benefits other users of this web site, so I thought I'd try to do so once in a while. I'll keep my trip "notes" off of my trip reports for now on.

[Waydough]

PCG: thanks for your comment. I'm glad it was useful info (that was my intent).

[pcg]

I'll keep my trip "notes" off of my trip reports for now on.

I thought it was very good info and saved the URL for planning a future PT trip. I think you should put your notes back up... OK leave out the part about the fat chipmunk.

[tanstaafl]

I also appreciated your notes. I think TRs can (and should) be whatever the author wants: conditions updates, lessons learned, photo blasts, purple prose, a story that contains no useful information whatsoever, or ivan's inimitable -- I don't even know what to call ivan's writing, but I always read it. Write the TR you want to write. I liked your original.

 

 

[Waydough]

PCG: what if I just post a photo of the fat chipmunk hanging by it's teeth from my friend's thumb in place of the words of that comment? I have not yet figured out how to embed a photo in the words of a report, so I guess that won't happen. The photo says it all :-)

[JasonG]

Wade-

 

Upload to the Gallery then click on the camera icon when you edit the TR, easy as 1, 2, 3! Glad you and the gang had a good time!

[dave56]

very useful. we plan to set out in a week, so your comments are just what i was looking for. thanks

[Waydough]

JasonG: Thanks, I did a quick and dirty add of a few photo based on your help. You should write instruction manuals for computer software companies.

Edited August 25, 2011 by Waydough

[crazedmaniac]

just gota tell ya..(and wasnt easy cause i dont log in that often); I really enjoyed reading your post!!!! thanks, zip

[mountainsloth]

please don't feed the animals.