[TR] Twin Sisters Range - Green Creek Select Circuit - Green Creek Arete, NE ridge S. Twin, etc. 7/7/2013

[JasonG]

Trip: Twin Sisters Range - Green Creek Select Circuit - Green Creek Arete, NE ridge S. Twin, etc.

 

Date: 7/7/2013

 

Trip Report:

Inspired by Darin's excellent TR recently on this, Gord and I cast off on a Saturday afternoon for camp under the Green Creek arete. We had no intentions of ticking all he did, and I'm glad. Just completing the Green Creek Arete, NE ridge of S. Twin, Jaw's tooth, Skookum, and NW rib (Darin's) of Little Sister took us around 17 hours camp to car! What he accomplished was a pretty amazing feat, but I think the "Select" version of his circuit has much to recommend for the weekend warrior who prefers to travel with partner and rope (though simul-climbing on the extremely textured olivine leads to surprisingly bad rope drag, even with the rope doubled). Just be aware the the bushwack to camp and the stream crossings are the real deal, Darin's not joking! I don't have much to add to the excellent info out there on this great destination, but I do want to stress the quality of the climbing on this select circuit. As has been said, the Jaw's Tooth/Skookum combo is probably the highlight, but I really enjoyed the Green Creek Arete/S. Twin link up as well, having never climbed S. Twin before. And the whole area has a surprisingly remote feel, considering the proximity to the Puget Sound masses. Check it out!

 

Crossing Green Creek en route to camp:

 

Camp under the Green Creek Arete:

 

Gordo sizing up the Arete from the base:

 

Topping out on the Arete. Wicked!:

 

Cinderella and Little Sister from the top of the Arete:

 

Great views of Baker are a constant companion on the Circuit:

 

View south to the Skagit foothills across the Green Creek Glacier:

 

Gordo approves of the climbing on the Jaw's Tooth:

 

RIP Dallas. You are missed!

 

North Ridge of Skookum, love it!:

 

Topping out on Little Sister with the day's tour behind Gordo:

 

Gordo getting psyched for the 'shwack:

 

Crossing Green Creek on the way back to the car:

 

Crossing the Middle Fork Nooksack in the dark by feeble headlamp was surprisingly tricky. The rolling rocks thudding in the river below added to the drama:

 

Gear Notes:

We brought a light single 60m rope and a medium rack. Seemed about right if you are planning on belaying anything. 60m rope nice for rap off Jaw's tooth. Crampons and ice axe. We used rock shoes on the Jaw's tooth as it is pretty slabby.

 

Approach Notes:

Follow Darin. As he said, this is a circuit that is best done before late July most years. Snow is your friend.

Edited July 18, 2013 by JasonG

[Dr.Go]

Nice. Glad you guys got out there, it is such a cool area. The bush whack can definitely be a little demoralizing after a long day. I crossed Green Creek at about 3000 ft and was able to just hop across some rocks. I would love to take a machete to the forest!

[tcweiskopf]

Nice work! I was out there a week and a half ago and got up the Green Creek Arete. Psyched to give the circuit a shot, but will have to wait till next year! That range is incredibly beautiful.

[sepultura]

Beautiful pics Jason! but I know it is hard to get a bad shot when Gordo is in the frame.

For sure makes we want to get back into that area, its hard to believe it has been 16 years since Dallas, Chris and I did the traverse.

How many more years do we have to wait to try and get Skookum peak renamed Kloke Peak?

[Jason4]

I'll second the motion to rename Skookum!

 

It's always good to see your pictures Jason, even more so this time since we were so close to running into each other again.

 

We looked at the same Green Creek crossing but pushed on higher up the creek and found a spot that could easily be waded or jumped across without needing a log. How was the bushwack on the other side of the creek there? We also looked at your second GC crossing but didn't like the looks of the log. That might be why our 'shwack in took us 3 hours in the woods, we kept dropping down to the creek to see what we could find. I'm going to go back for Skookum/Kloke and Jaw's tooth soon and for sure to get on the arete in the next couple of weeks.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Jason4

[JasonG]

I think it is two more years, as we need to wait 5 years after his passing. But that is a a good point, I should edit the name to be Kloke rather than Skookum to get folks used to the idea. I plan on getting the support of the climbing community, local climbing clubs, and elected officials in the process and will turn in the application along with letters of support on the 5th anniversary of his death.

 

I think the proposed rename fits perfectly with the US Board of Geographic Names criteria. Dallas was on the first ascent of the peak, and it is not officially named on USGS maps. Both Fred and John Roper have expressed their support for the name change. I think it is fitting that a peak known as Skookum - tough, strong, durable, or reliable- could be renamed Kloke Peak. Dallas was the epitome of "Skookum"! As a plus, it is visible from the family home in Anacortes.

[JasonG]

Hey Jason4! We crossed early on the advice of a couple of folks we ran into that were coming down from checking out the Mythic Wall (they didn't do any climbing). The travel wasn't terrible on the west side, but it wasn't great either until we hit the talus. Seemed like you might hit talus sooner on the side we went on though? How was the east side? I think it took us about 2 hours camp to trail, so it may be a bit faster than the side you were on.

 

Yes, I don't think most folks will mind the change to Kloke Peak, at least I hope not!

[lunger]

cool TR and nice pics. gotta get back there sometime!

[Jason4]

I think if we had stayed up clear of the creek bed we could have done trail to bivy next to the creek in 2 hours also. We hit a talus field below Wiseman that made the travel on that side easy and it only took 2 hours for us to get out. It sounds like it's about the same on either side of the creek really and the biggest time suck for us was dropping down to the creek to look for crossings multiple times.

[dberdinka]

I don't remember the Twin Sisters looking that amazing! It's like you have a Xanax powered camera or maybe it's your male model friend and his plethora of well practiced facial expressions.

 

Nice trip. Pretty different from the road slog to get to the West Ridge of the North Twin isn't it?

 

I've found that staying on the south side of Green Creek is far more pleasant that crossing early and traveling on the north side even if you reach talus earlier. The south side is open forest with huckleberry where as the north side turns into dense small fir trees. That said when water volume is high I'd be concerned about finding an adequate crossing higher up, however Ben (Dr.Go) apparently found that to not be an issue.

 

Sounds like a surprising number of people are headed in there. Time to arrange an informal trail crew?

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2013 by dberdinka

[JasonG]

I think you may have hit upon a new slogan for Adobe: "Lightroom, Xanax for your camera". It always amazes me how a few tweaks will make my cheapo P&S glass produce passable images, even though it doesn't shoot RAW.

 

Good to know about the south side of the creek, the dense fir on the north side certainly wasn't pleasant! And I think that with a few folks and a long day, you could easily rough in a "trail" that would concentrate use and get established over time. Not a bad idea!

[Bronco]

Gordo approves of the climbing on the Jaw's Tooth:

 

I feel like there should be a Can-Euro Extreme Speed climbing disclaimer about the belay anchor in this photo!

[JasonG]

That's what I thought too, until I realized that he had another piece that you can't see unless you look close in the photo. Both were pretty bomber, but I remember thinking the same thing as I cam up to the belay. Probably why I took the picture. Gordo was unconcerned per usual.

 

And, since the ski season is so lame, I wanted to bump this to get folks thinking about heading in there this late spring.

[Jason4]

I'm pretty sure the road is closed for the season until June 1 but somebody should double check me on that. I think the closure is near the bridge across the middle fork that is used to access Dailey Prairie.