Thursday, December 7, 2017

Route: Whitehorse Mountain via Northwest Shoulder (Mountain Loop Highway)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead: Neiderprum Trailhead
  • Co-ordinates: 48.2511104,-121.6764304
  • Address: Niederprum Rd, Darrington, WA 98241
  • Elevation:  918 ft
  • Pass:  Northwest Forest Pass
  • Directions 
    • Mountaineers: "Drive north on I-5 through Everett. About 11 mi north of Everett turn right (east) onto SR 530 to Arlington. Continue on SR 530 about 23 mi east of Arlington (5 mi west of Darrington) to Shell Station at Mine Road/387 Av. Turn right (south) and in 0.5 miles park at the closed bridge over Moose Creek. Walk the road, turning left at each of the next two forks. Shortly after crossing Furland Creek, the trailhead is marked “Niederprum Camp” (on the right, about 2 mi from the store)."
  • Weather forecast
  • Avalanche danger forecast:  

Route Information: Northwest Shoulder

















 

 Misc 

  • NWHikers.net trip reports
    • Whitehorse Mountain has it all: The mountain itself is spectacularly beautiful, especially from the little town of Darrington at it's base: The views from the summit are world class in all directions; the hike in and the climb are difficult enough to be forever memorable; and the solitude, especially considering this mountain's proximity to habitation, is remarkable.
    • Whitehorse Mountain is a classic peak you want to save for a picture perfect day. You also want to catch this one when the conditions are just right. With a trailhead at 900 feet and the summit at 6,840, you will experience a summit that probably turns back over 50% of those who attempt it. It’s not just the elevation, the route finding, steep trail, steep snow traverses and glacier bergschrund issues all cause people to turn back.
    • Starting Point: FSR 2030 (c.750'), or Niederprum Trailhead (918')
    • Mountain Skills: Route finding,  ice axe, crampon, steep snow/ice climbing, avalanche assessment (class 3-4 rock later in season)
    • The trip starts out on Trail #953, the Niederprum trail. After around a mile of swithchbacks, the trail is more of a fisherman’s route, built by boots working their way up as fast as possible. Keep this up another mile, now having gained 4,000 feet. Eventually, the trees thinned out and we headed up on snow slopes to Lone Tree Pass. Once at the pass, take the ridgeline for a mile or so. A trail should exist in summer; in fact it apparently continues (doing ups and downs) all the way to the final climb up to High Pass. In spring/early summer this will all be snow covered. Work you way along and then below the ridge until you find the correct ascent gully to High Pass. From the pass, you will see the route across the glacier and up to the summit. In spring/early summer this is relatively safe, from July on you will encounter crevasse and a major bergschrund near the summit. Instead of snow, your summit will be climbing 5th class rock for 60 feet or so. No matter when you go, bring ice axe, crampons and some pickets to be safe. The snow was extremely icy.
    •  Everything needs to be good for an ascent of Whitehorse, the weather and more importantly the avalanche conditions, good route finding would be the key to a successful climb. The biggest difficulty seemed to be the traverse on the south side of the mountain, finding the gully leading to High Pass in particular. The view from highway 530 is helpful, but certainly incomplete. 
    • The bridge over Moose Creek 1/2 mile south of hwy 530 has been closed and barricaded due to "unsafe" conditions. You can still walk across. This will add 2.6 miles RT and an extra 400 vertical feet to your already epic quest.
    • Winter ascents can be made directly up the Wellman basin on the north face of the mountain once the snow is deep enough to cover the brush and small trees. The adjacent basin, Snow Gulch is also sometimes used for winter ascents/descents and is at least as steep as the Wellman route. These are shorter routes but with an average slope of over 50 degrees it looks pretty grueling. 
    • Getting to Lone Tree Pass (4973') is not difficult, but is moderately steep in places. 
    • From Lone Tree Pass, follow the ridge east for about a half mile. One description said to follow the ridge until further progress is stopped by a buttress but I didn't see the point in going higher than about 5200 ft. and began descending SE until above the small basin with a lake mentioned in most descriptions of this route. You do not have to descend all the way to the basin before beginning a rising traverse below cliffs. The traverse is long and steep and continues until you can go no further without climbing a cliff. High Pass (6032') is located west of a prominent tower (pt. 6357'). A broad gully leads to the pass which allows easy access to the So-Bahti-Ahli Glacier, more commonly referred to as the Whitehorse glacier.
    • This route is long and strenuous with less room for error than many peaks but well worth the effort. Expect to ascend 6800 feet by the time it is all over on slopes averaging about 35 degrees. The traverse on the south side is tiring and the threat of falling ice is present much of the way.
    • Car camp  is recommended as this is a very long climb and requires an early start in the morning. The other climbing route via the Whitehorse Glacier should be avoided as it is dangerous (avalanches, rockfall). This climb is an excellent conditioner in early season. Consider stopping at the Texaco station (where Whitehorse Merchantile used to be) and looking at route before climb (Lone Tree Pass is not obvious from directly below).
    • Bridge over Moose Creek closed and barricaded for safety reasons in 2008.  You can car camp at the closed bridge.
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Saturday, November 25, 2017

Route: Vesper Peak - Ragged Edge/North Face (Mountain Loop Highway)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead: Sunrise Mine Trailhead
  • Co-ordinates: 48.0295755,-121.5085599
  • Address: Sunrise Mine Trailhead, NF-4065, Granite Falls, WA 98252
  • Elevation:  2100 ft
  • Pass:  Northwest Forest Pass
  • Directions 
    • SummitPost: "From Seattle take I-5 North to Exit 194. Follow Highway 2 East for 2.3 miles, stay in left lane, go to Lake Stevens Highway 204 East, in 2.2 miles take left (north) on Highway 9 to Lake Stevens, in 1.7 miles take right (east) on Highway 92 to Granite Falls, in 8.4 miles turn left (north) to Mountain Loop Highway. Follow for about 30 miles to the Sunrise Mine Road on the right. Road dead ends in about 1 mile where parking is limited to one side of the road. Leave room for others to turn around."
  • Weather forecast
  • Avalanche danger forecast:  

Route Information: Headless Pass

 






 

 Misc 

  • Nwhikers.net trip reports
  • Other Links: 
  • Notes: 
    • Stream crossings
    • Good water flow at the Vesper Lake outlet creek
    • While FS road 4065 is officially closed, it is passable all the way to the trailhead.
    • Bring ice axes and micro-spikes.  The first 3 or 4 inches of snow was soft.  However, there was an ice layer just beneath the soft snow.  Be prepared to kick steps the last 500ft of the ascent.
    • The trail fades out as you enter the basin between Vesper and Sperry Peaks. Cross the outlet of the lake and follow an obvious talus ridgeline up to a col between the peaks. The climb is accessed by a ledge system that cuts across the north face of Vesper at about 5800 ft elevation and begins at a small notch overlooking the Vesper Glacier. Allow 3+ hours for the approach.  
    • Walk out the ledge on steep exposed heather (snow until mid-late summer?). When you can't walk any further either (A) scramble up over an obvious chockstone formed by a large, thin flake to a belay ledge or (B) as a variation backtrack a bit and figure out an exposed 3rd class traverse down and around the toe of a buttress before scrambling back up to an obvious and clean 5.6 layback crack (better start). The 3rd class slabs at mid-height on the first pitch could easily be accessed after climbing the lower half of the north face as well. 
    • Gear: Doubles of .5 - 1, singles of .2 - .4, 2, 3, and a set of small nuts. The route is protected by a mix of gear, bolts, and pins. Pitch 5 required the most gear, as it is very exposed, but takes gear well. Set up gear belays at the top of P1, P3. The rest of the pitches have fixed anchors for belays.
    • This is the 5.7 variation that is on the eastern half of the North Face and the direct start begins at a large flake. Ragged Edges was retro-bolted in some places in August of 2013 and there are still some old pitons along the route. Generally done in 6 pitches.
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Friday, November 24, 2017

Route: Guye peak - Improbable Traverse / West Face (I-90 Snoqualmie Pass)

Mountain Information:

 Driving Directions:

  • Elevation: 2,950 ft
  • Pass:  Northwest Forest Pass
  • Directions: 
    • SummitPost: "Take I-90 from Seattle east to Snoqualmie Pass (30 - 45 minutes). Exit at Alpental Road and park at the Snoqualmie Ski Area, or use other public parking nearby."
    • Mountain Project: "The route is located on the west face of Guye Peak. It begins at the top of the talus cone below the face, which is accessed by walking up through the houses on Ober Strasse Road."
  • Road condition
  • Weather forecast
  • Avalanche danger forecast:  

Route Information: Improbable Traverse / West Face













 

 Misc 

  • Notes: 
    • The west face of Guye Peak is easily visible from the interstate when driving from the west. With the exception of the traverse pitch, the rock is generally poor in quality and can be very lose.
    • Approach: Start by hiking up the talus cone beneath the face and scramble a couple hundred feet of loose, mossy, dirty slabs to the the start of the roped climbing.
    • Descent: From the summit traverse north up and over two subsummits. There is reputed to be a climbers trail descending from the Guye-Snoqualmie saddle, and descending to the west, but it was snowy when I was there so I never found it.
    • Essential gears:
      Mid-size rack: an assortment of 6-8 cams, small and mid-sized nuts including the small #3 nut for the anchor at the far end of the Improbable Traverse pitch.
      60m rope (a 50m rope may not complete the Improbable Traverse Pitch all the way from Lunch Ledge; however, an intermediate belay can be done on the ledge leading to the crux moves) Helmet, Rock shoes, Approach shoes or boots
      At least five double runners. A triple runner for the second protection point out from Lunch Ledge would be nice to mitigate rope-drag Sunscreen. The West Face receives the full bore of sun in the afternoon (on nice days). You may find yourself belaying at Lunch Ledge for a long time Trail Park Pass if parking a second car at Alpental. 
    • Be advised that the resort blasts to clear avalanche prone slopes during the day. Contact them at 425-434-7669 to find out if they will be blasting.
    • The steep west face is climbed in the summer only. It offers several moderate to difficult alpine rock routes. 
 
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Route: Columbia Peak - West Ridge (Central Cascades)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead: 
    • Address: Monte Cristo Trail, Granite Falls, WA 98252
    • Elevation: 2,360 ft
    • Pass:  Northwest Forest Pass
    • Directions: 
      • SummitPost: "Take the Mountain Loop Highway east from Granite Falls for 30.5 miles. When you get to the end of the pavement, you have found Barlow Pass. Parking can be found on both sides of the highway. The left fork of the road continues to Darrington, while the gated right fork leads to Monte Cristo in four miles."

Route Information: West Ridge

  • Approach & Ascend from Mountaineers: 
    • Mountain bike or hike 4 mi from Barlow Pass to Monte Cristo (8 mi round trip, 500 ft elevation gain). From there hike the Poodle Dog Pass and Twin Lakes Trails to the saddle at Twin Lakes.
    • From the saddle, ascend the west spur to the summit of Columbia Peak.  From Monte Cristo, this is 12 mi round trip and 4,400 ft of elevation gain. 
 

Misc 

  • Notes: 
    • Silver Tip Peak/Southeast Ridge is a good Class 4 scrambling side trip from Poodle Dog Pass on the way to Twin Lakes and Columbia Peak.
    • There are a number of camping possibilities on this route. Silver Lake would be a good camp, particularly if you wish to combine this climb with a Silvertip Peak climb. Twin Lakes are another potential camp, but this would add at least 600' additional elevation gain.
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Thursday, November 23, 2017

Route: Bandera Mountain Ridge Traverse (I-90 Snoqualmie Pass)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead: Ira Spring Trailhead
    • Directions 
      • WTA: "Take exit 45 off of I-90 and turn north onto FR 9030. A little over three quarters of a mile from the exit, stay left onto FR 9031. Follow it to its end and the trailhead for the Ira Spring Trail #1038. Road is one-lane gravel and dirt." 

  • Trailhead: Talapus Lake Trailhead
    • Directions 
      • WTA: "From Seattle, head east on I-90 to exit 45. Turn left, and drive under the freeway on FR 9030. In 1 mile follow the road around to the right at a junction. Continue straight on a gravel, sometimes severely potholed road to the trailhead at the road's end. Northwest Forest Pass and Alpine Lakes Wilderness Permit required, both available at the trailhead."

Route Information: Ridge Traverse


Misc 

  • Videos: 
  • Other Links: 
  • Notes: 
    • The bear grass section could have avalanche danger
    •  The route up to the false summit starts of very easy with the well grated Mason Lake Trail. This new trail goes past a beautiful waterfall and breaks out into the beautiful bear grass at about 4500 feet. There will be a spur trail (marked) that will go from there very steeply (but with good footing) up to the false summit of Bandera. Once on top of the false summit look for a boot path and then head down to the ridge up another false and then to the true summit of Bandera.
    • As for times to the top of Bandera it will take you roughly between 1 to 2 hours to the false summit and 30 minutes or more to the true summit.
 

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