[TR] North Twin Sister - West Ridge 9/19/2012

[BrandonU]

Trip: North Twin Sister - West Ridge

 

Date: 9/19/2012

 

Trip Report:

With school quickly approaching my summer is coming to an end and my free time going to zero for the next 3 months. I was hungry to get in one more climbing trip before that happens! Time to treat myself to my first north cascades trip!

 

After much research on this site I settled on the classic West Ridge of North Twin Sister. Gear packed I began the 7 hour drive up to the middle Nooksack River on the 18th with a quick stop in Portland to pick up a mountain bike to aid in the descent of the 6.5 mile logging road approach to the peak.

 

As is my usual style, this is a picture heavy TR!

 

At the "trailhead":

 

Pushing the bike up the steep gravel roads went smoothly, although it felt a bit weird to be approaching a peak on logging roads next to ongoing mining and logging operations. Soon great views opened up to Mt Baker and North Twin Sister, helping to get me stoked!

 

Mt Baker:

 

North Twin Sister (west ridge is right skyline):

 

Good research before I left made navigating the possibly confusing logging roads a snap. I reached the end of the logging roads and the start of the trail up to the west ridge as the afternoon sun was just about to set over the hills to the west.

 

North Twin as the sun sets, west ridge on right skyline:

 

I was hoping to find some sort of water source close by, but to no avail. The last water source I came across was a very small, shallow trickle in the ditch on the side of the road a mile or so back. I hopped on the bike and cruised back on down and decided to bivy right there in the road.

 

Logging road bivy:

 

In the morning I got up, hiked the 1.5 or so miles to the base of the west ridge, and began scrambling!

 

Out of the timber, and starting the west ridge:

 

On the lower west ridge:

 

North Twin's shadow in the morning sun:

 

Views of South Twin Sister opening up:

 

The super grippy and solid dunite rock was amazing to climb on. Awesome holds presented themselves everywhere for the most part. I stuck to the crest of the ridge as much as possible and often went out of my way to seek out more diffucult and fun climbing. There was some pretty good exposure in some places, adding to the whole experience and making this climb freaking awesome! I was glad I brought some thin leather gloves to climb with, otherwise the rock would destroy your hands.

 

Climbing on the lower ridge:

 

Approaching the "Pinnacle":

 

 

Beneath the Pinnacle:

 

Upper west ridge:

 

 

Looking down the west ridge from "notch" pictured above:

 

Mt Baker and the summit of North Twin in view:

 

 

South Twin from the summit of North Twin:

 

Got to the summit 2.5 hours after emerging from the timber and hung out for a while to enjoy the awesome views! It was a bit of a hazy day so all the mountains in the distance were not in clear view, but I could still see them. So many peaks to climb, so little time!

 

Summit photos!

 

 

 

Baker from North Twin's summit:

 

 

As soon as I began to descend from the summit, my ankle flared up bad. I have this messed up undiagnosable ankle injury that is the bane of my existence, and downclimbing the ridge put it in agony. Despite that, the downclimbing was also a blast. I loved the climbing that the route presents, the rock, and the exposure offered in some places. And it is a cool feeling to be completely alone on a peak!

 

West Ridge on descent:

 

 

 

Two hours after leaving the summit I was off the ridge and back on the trail going into the timber. I was limping bad and really looking forward to getting to my bike and being able to just cruise the last 5.5 miles to the car.

 

I got to my bike, hopped on, and...WTF!?!? The damn back tire was dead flat. You have gotta be f@*&^%# kidding me!! I let loose a prolonged outburst of obscenities. Come on! This is freaking ridiculous! Of all the times to get a flat! Oh well, I guess this is just one of those things that makes the trip that much more memorable I thought as I downed mass amounts of ibuprofen and began to limp & hobble the bike back down the road. Instead of a fun and fast bike descent that would have saved my ankle so much, I limped in pain for what seemed like an eternity back down to the car at the Nooksack river.

 

What a great climb! I can see why this route is such a classic! I already want to go back and do it again!

 

Gear Notes:

Leather gloves for super abrasive rock, 5.10 camp four shoes, helmet, useless bike with flat tire. Foam pad and sleeping bag for bivy. Water filter to suck up 2" deep trickle of water in ditch.

 

Approach Notes:

Mountain bike with flat tire to push for 12+ miles and not get to ride back to car.

[Whatcomboy]

Nice TR. Next time take a patch kit.

[Buckaroo]

Nice TR

 

 

I used to race bikes. You never go anywhere without a patch kit, small tool kit, extra innertube, and pump.

[curtveld]

Nice solo mission! Hopefully worth the sore ankle, anyway...

[BrandonU]

Thanks everyone, I definitely learned my lesson.

Any future trips with a bike i'm taking a patch kit!

I can barely walk, but still totally worth it.