Jump to content

[TR] Index - Bridal Veil Falls 2/8/2014


bellows

Recommended Posts

Trip: Index - Bridal Veil Falls

 

Date: 2/8/2014

 

Trip Report:

Bridal Veil Falls is IN! Jay A and I headed out to Index Saturday morning, not sure what we’d find and prepared to continue driving over the pass to Leavenworth. But Bridal Veil Falls was fully formed and relatively fat thanks to the record(?) cold weather in western Washington this week. Buyer beware with the warming temps this week though, when the curtain comes down it apparently does so in spectacular fashion:

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=857357

 

We started center/left on the falls up the first ice covered dihedral, climbing two long pitches to a huge tree on the left side. From there we moved the belay further up to a second series of falls which we climbed in a shorter two-tiered pitch. Continuing several hundred yards up the drainage (sans rope) we came a third larger section of ice with quite a bit of water in the center. We found a line up the left hand side, involving a little Cascade mixed climbing with a couple turf sticks. At the top of these falls we figured it’d be just as fast (and more enjoyable) to take off the rope and scramble up the frozen creek all the way to Lake Serene. We were able to stay on ice in the creek the whole way up, avoiding occasional holes to the water below and enjoying fun little bouldering problems on the way to the lake. Arrived at the lake ~3:00 to amazing wintery views of the north side of Index Peaks. Overall an amazing day!

 

For future reference, here’s the 7 day temperature profile from the weather meter in Index, ~1000 feet lower than the base of the climb.

Image_5.jpg

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobext.php?wfo=&sid=TINDX&num=168&raw=0&dbn=m

 

 

 

 

Looking up the the base of the climb:

IMGP2775.JPG

 

Jay starting out on the first pitch:

IMGP2783.JPG

 

Further up the first pitch:

IMGP2790.JPG

 

Second set of falls, lower tier:

IMGP2803.JPG

 

Third set of falls:

IMGP2810.JPG

 

Continuing up the creek to Lake Serene:

IMGP2825.JPG

 

Cheese:

IMGP2843.JPG

 

Nice views to top out to:

IMGP2845.JPG

 

Considering it is visible from Highway 2 we were surprised not to see anyone else on the route. Go get it while you can!

 

Gear Notes:

We brought and used a dozen screws of various lengths.

 

Approach Notes:

No snow at all on the trail to the base, although that likely changed last night.

Edited by bellows
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 12
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

wow the the entry to the bibler-klewin route looks phat!

 

???

 

Wrong mountain

 

I think he may have meant the 1978 Klewin-McNerthney route on the Middle Peak but I think Bibler was on the first winter Index Traverse team so not too far off.

 

The N. Norwegian Buttress looks like it's ready to tip over from that angle :shock:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...