Took the skis out one last time this summer... Becky and I joined Amar for a climb/ski of Mt.Baker via the Squak glacier. Good one to end the ski season with!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Snowfield Peak, North Cascades
The forecast for the long 4th of July weekend was hard to believe...looked like pretty nice weather in the mountains all four days. I'd already gotten the Mt.Rainier monkey off my back the weekend before, and Becky was interested in something other than Rainier, so we figured we'd go check out somewhere new.
The Isolation ski traverse (from Cascade Pass Rd north to Hwy 20) has long been on our to-do list. We knew the snow coverage was already gone for this season, so no ski traverse, but we could go head to the Neve glacier and check the area out on foot so we have a better idea of the terrain if we ever get to ski the Isolation and finish it via the Neve and Colonial glaciers.
So we found ourselves at the Pyramid Lake trailhead alongside Highway 20 at the depressingly low starting elevation of 1100ft. I think Becky had carried a mountaineering pack out of a lower trailhead, at Whitehorse Mountain, but this was plenty low.
The first couple miles clicked by quickly. Up to Pyramid Lake, and the end of the maintained trail. From there the 'climbers path' bashes its way through the forest at an amusingly steep pitch. The path was fairly easy to follow and after several hours of climbing up small rock bluffs, hanging off of roots and branches, we hit snowline and got some nice views.
Foreshortening is a funny thing. From the highway below, the snow traverse below Pyramid Peak to the Colonial glacier looks very steep. In reality, it was a mellow, scenic, straightforward hike on snow. Up onto the flats of the Colonial glacier, past a few folks camped out for the weekend and on up to the col between the Colonial and Neve glaciers. Clouds came and went and largely obscured our view. We had dinner, read our books and went to sleep early hoping for clear weather Friday.
Friday morning we had even more clouds, but we packed up and headed across the Neve glacier towards Snowfield. Several groups had gotten a much earlier start and as we passed them by on the way down, they told us they'd topped out in a whiteout and had zero views. Fortunately the weather started to clear a bit as we got off the glacier and started up the climbers path to the top.
The trail wrapped into a chimney with easy scrambling up to a prominent notch on the west ridge. From there it was a short down-climb and 200ft of more scrambling up to the summit. We were joined by a couple of friendly climbing rangers who showed up a little while after us and we enjoyed a sunny, windless summit. We got some occasional views out towards the McAllister glacier and over towards Colonial, but not the sweeping panorama that we'd hoped for.
Back down to the glacier for some lunch and then we slowly descended back into the clouds. Camp was a socked-in mess, so it was back to the tent for another twelve hour nap.
Saturday morning had the best weather so far, but we were on our way out. We caught some nice views of the Southern Pickets before descending into the forest and bashing our way through the brush to Pyramid Lake and the car. Didn't quite get the views and warm, alpine lounging that we'd hoped for, but it was fun to see a new part of the North Cascades.
The Isolation ski traverse (from Cascade Pass Rd north to Hwy 20) has long been on our to-do list. We knew the snow coverage was already gone for this season, so no ski traverse, but we could go head to the Neve glacier and check the area out on foot so we have a better idea of the terrain if we ever get to ski the Isolation and finish it via the Neve and Colonial glaciers.
So we found ourselves at the Pyramid Lake trailhead alongside Highway 20 at the depressingly low starting elevation of 1100ft. I think Becky had carried a mountaineering pack out of a lower trailhead, at Whitehorse Mountain, but this was plenty low.
The first couple miles clicked by quickly. Up to Pyramid Lake, and the end of the maintained trail. From there the 'climbers path' bashes its way through the forest at an amusingly steep pitch. The path was fairly easy to follow and after several hours of climbing up small rock bluffs, hanging off of roots and branches, we hit snowline and got some nice views.
Foreshortening is a funny thing. From the highway below, the snow traverse below Pyramid Peak to the Colonial glacier looks very steep. In reality, it was a mellow, scenic, straightforward hike on snow. Up onto the flats of the Colonial glacier, past a few folks camped out for the weekend and on up to the col between the Colonial and Neve glaciers. Clouds came and went and largely obscured our view. We had dinner, read our books and went to sleep early hoping for clear weather Friday.
Friday morning we had even more clouds, but we packed up and headed across the Neve glacier towards Snowfield. Several groups had gotten a much earlier start and as we passed them by on the way down, they told us they'd topped out in a whiteout and had zero views. Fortunately the weather started to clear a bit as we got off the glacier and started up the climbers path to the top.
The trail wrapped into a chimney with easy scrambling up to a prominent notch on the west ridge. From there it was a short down-climb and 200ft of more scrambling up to the summit. We were joined by a couple of friendly climbing rangers who showed up a little while after us and we enjoyed a sunny, windless summit. We got some occasional views out towards the McAllister glacier and over towards Colonial, but not the sweeping panorama that we'd hoped for.
Back down to the glacier for some lunch and then we slowly descended back into the clouds. Camp was a socked-in mess, so it was back to the tent for another twelve hour nap.
Saturday morning had the best weather so far, but we were on our way out. We caught some nice views of the Southern Pickets before descending into the forest and bashing our way through the brush to Pyramid Lake and the car. Didn't quite get the views and warm, alpine lounging that we'd hoped for, but it was fun to see a new part of the North Cascades.
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