Poet Traverse 8/25-26/2012

Our trip to Glacier Peak reminded me of the Poet Traverse which had been on our to-do list since discovering them during the Clark Mountain trip last year.  We did 3 of the Poet peaks plus 2 peaks for a loop trip.

Day 1 - Poe, Longfellow and Bryant.  Camp at Kodak Peak

trekking over to Longfellow

Started at the Little Wenatchee River trailhead.  up 3000ft elevation over 3 miles to the summit of Poe Mountain.  Poe is first of the 3 peaks named after poets on our agenda today.  we reached the summit in 1 hour and 45 min.  We had a good view of our route for the weekend, which is entirely on the ridge.  We had yogurt for breakfast and watched the bears way down in the meadows.  We read quotes from Poe.

Our way to Longfellow involved some traverses on steep slopes, we stayed entirely on the south side of the slope close to the ridge.  some class 2-3 scramble towards the top of Longfellow.  some quotes from Longfellow at the summit.  Bryant looked far away but trekking over was quick.  We went to north of the summit, gained the ridge and the summit.

We enjoyed blueberries and huckleberries the entire way.  wildflowers were in bloom, in particular Lupines and Indian paintbrushes.

We found water at a tarn after Bryant Peak.  Filled up our extra water containers.  Peter suggested camping at the summit of Kodak Peak - brilliant idea.  We found a perfect camp spot at the summit. enough room for one tent and walk around comfortably for an amazing panoramic view including Glacier Peak, Mt Rainier, Sloan, Daniel and the whole Poet range.

Ridge walk on Bryant	Theme of the day: Ridge walk on meadows
Wildflowers in bloom	Kodak Peak summit camp

Day 2 - Skykomish Peak

Day started with a brilliant sunrise, took some pictures and a video from my sleeping bag.   back to sleep until after 9a.  went down the peak by 20 steps and picked a bunch of fresh blueberries for breakfast.  definitely a highlight of the trip.

Breakfast

picking berries for breakfast

off we go on the trail, hiking the PCT for the most part, which was immaculately maintained and a welcome change from the heather traverse the day before.  We came across quite a few hikers that started 3-4 days ago from Stevens pass and trekking to Rainy Pass, which is ~ 2 week trip.  quite envious of the amount of time they get to unplug.  today's trail has water, streams everywhere.  I happily wash off as everything was dusty from the day before.  We passed the Cody Ridge junction, which we'll backtrack to later on in the day and stopped at Lake Sally Ann.  Lake Sally Ann has many well established campsite but we had the whole place to ourselves when we got there. I took a refreshing dive into the lake, there is still lingering snow but water was just warm enough to stay in.  We ditched our overnight gear and continue on the PCT for another mile or so before leaving the trail and aiming up Skykomish Peak.   There was not much of a trail up Skykomish but it is pretty much a walk up.  The trek down Cody Ridge was lovely, view on both sides the entire way, berries galore and Lupines paint the hillsides purple.  

Skykomish Peak
Lake Sally Ann	Lupine on Cody Ridge

Time

leisurely pace, time includes mandatory summit naps

Day 1

9a Little Wenatchee River TH

10:45 Poe Mountain

1:30p Longfellow

4:45p Bryant

7:30p Kodak Peak (Camp)

Day 2

10:15a leave camp Kodak Peak

Noon skinny dip at Lake Sally Ann

1p Skykomish Peak

6p TH

Gear

Ice axe was useful for the heather

extra capacity for water as the traverse on day 1 was entirely dry

View 120826 Poet Traverse in a larger map

Glacier Peak - 8/17-19/2012

The road is opened to the TH to Glacier Peak.  It had been closed for years before making this a 5-day adventure, it opened for 2 months 2 years ago when Peter tagged the summit and I missed it.  Seeing that the road is open again, I wasn't going to wait for another time again.  Peter wasn't going to join as he wanted to ski it the next time he goes.  I posted it as a basic trip 6 days before the trip date and wonder if I'd be going alone (sob sob), turns out a few others shared the same interest.  I was delighted to see a few familiar names on the roster. Peter decided that a day in the mountain trumps a day in the salt mine and decided to join at the 11th hour.  On Friday morning, 10 of us met up and gave it a go.

Our objective - Glacier Peak at sunrise

Day 1 

Beautiful hike over White Pass on the PCT

Forecast was for a heat wave, so we started early.  4:30a meet up at a P&R, off and moving from the Sauk River North Fork TH at 7:30a.  We took 2 hours for the 5.5 miles to Mackinow shelter.  a quick break and off up the 3000 ft up for the next 3 miles. Reached White Pass before noon.  the trail got hot at the end and the tail of the group got the heat treatment.  Long break with lunch at White Pass. met a PCT hiker who's been out since 4/29 and heading towards the Canada border.  We are moving at 2:30p, after some blister management, following the foam creek trail to its end.

our campsite at a beautiful basin with heather meadow and running water.
Tents can be seen in the middle of the photo

We headed up hill over the crest into the White Chuck Glacier basin where we got the first view of our objective.  We dropped down to a nice heather basin  at 6500ft with running water and settled for the evening at 4pm.

Glacier Peak at Sunset

Mt Baker at Sunset

Day 2 - summit day

Anticipating another hot day, the group got moving at 5a. Mike's feet were chewed out by his boots on the approach so he's staying in camp for the battle with the marmots. 9 of us headed up.  Where the maps indicate as the White Chuck glacier, it is a deep basin with the glacier completely missing.  we dropped into the basin and found mud that sucks your boots in all the way up over the ankle if you don't move fast.  so the game of frogger begins, the trick is to jump from rock to rock and never be on the mud.  We reached Glacier Gap at 6:40a with the view of Glacier peak greeting us with the sunrise.  We took a quick break for sunscreen and sunglass and off we go again.  From Glacier gap, you can see about the entire south route, it is a hike on the ridge with a path.

We roped up for the Cool glacier and put crampons on.  Other than some exposed blue ice, there wasn't any open cravasses.  The glacier section was short, we ditch our ropes, ice axes and crampons after the glacier portion and scrambled up the last part of the summit block in light packs.  View from the summit was awesome, it was warm and calm, many of us didn't even pull our jackets on.  we stayed on the summit to our hearts content, Noam shared fresh cherries as summit treats.  We took summit naps and soaked up the view.  This is the last unclimbed Washington volcano for me and a few in the group, it was satisfying to tag it in such grace.

Peter on the ridge looking back to the Honeycomb glacier	Beyond the cool glacier, more ridge walk up to the summit
Summit group photo	Crossing some blue ice on the Cool Glacier

Day 3 - Camp to TH

We started early again at 6a at a more relaxed pace.  i wondered if we should be sleeping in on our last day but catching the sunrise view of Glacier peak (top picture on the blog post) and White pass basin was worth waking up early.   Temperature was pleasant and we were soaking in the view.   We took a break at White pass, then another one at Mackinow Shelter.  For the most part we kept a steady and relax pace, stopping only for Huckleberries, Blueberries, Timbleberries and Salmonberries  We reached the TH around 12:30p and high fives all around for an awesome outing tagging a big volcano!

Marmots	Sound of music theme song please

Moving time for 33 miles and 10,000ft elevation gain

Day 1 - 6.5 hours in total excluding breaks.  2 hours TH to Mackinow Shelter.  +3 hours to White Pass.  +1.5 hours to Camp at 6500 ft meadow

Day 2 - 5 hours and 40 min Camp to summit including breaks.  1 hour 40 min to Glacier Gap, 4 hours Glacier Gap to summit.  2 hours on the summit.  3 hours summit to Camp

Day 3 - 6 hours camp to TH

Gear Notes:

3 30M glacier rope

3 pickets (1 for each rope) - did not use

1 Shovel for the group - did not use
crampons

ice axe
helmet

standard glacier set up

bug juice - bugs were not too bad

View 120818 Glacier Peak in a larger map

Pancakes and milkshake - Mt Rainier via Kautz

The National Park Inn at Longmire never ceases to impress me. This time, Susan, myself and my two co-workers Jeff and Jake decided to go there for pancakes first thing on Saturday morning.

Considering it is at least a two hour drive there from Seattle, Susan and myself decided to make the drive Friday evening instead and camp out. So we left Seattle after work on Friday evening and arrived with the intention of camping. Being Friday evening, campsites within the national park are hard to come by - so Susan decided to inquire with the Inn at Longmire about room availability. Turns out they had none (no surprise), but miraculously, the Paradise Inn had a last minute cancellation. Susan handed them the plastic, and the room at Paradise was ours! Success.

We arrived at Paradise at 9pm, just as a ranger talk about climbing a mountain was starting. How pleasant and relaxing to be sitting in a great big lodge, eat some snacks, and letting the ranger take you away to the magic realm of mountain climbing. We slept well after that, eagerly awaiting the great meal in front of us.

We met Jake and Jeff back at Longmire at 7am on Subday morning, just as the Inn was opening. I was excited, and we were seated at a table for 4, coffee all around. We chatted a little bit about the exciting weekend ahead of us, but soon we had to turn our attention back to the menues, as we were probably all pretty hungry. I knew what I wanted, a large stack of pancakes. The crux of the ordering part was that the Inn only advertises a "short stack", equating exactly 2 pancakes. I had to be brave to overcome this, I asked if they could furnish me 3 pancakes, and yes for a little extra dollars they will happily serve you 3 delicious pancakes, with a slice of orange on the side - blackberry and regular syrup. The waitress actually recognized me and Susan from another visit a few months ago, which gave it a little bit of a homestyle feeling.

After having 3 cups of coffee and the food processed, we were done. All of us delighted with our meals. Well done with breakfast, it was time to go for a hike up to one of the local mountains. It was a nice day and more of a hike than we wanted to finish in one day, so we camped out for the night on the Wapowety a ridge with a beautiful views all around us. In fact we arrived in camp in the early afternoon and instead of pressing on, decided to nap the afternoon away in the sun. Next day we proceeded to finish the hike. So lovely so spend time outside.

Resting at camp during our hike 

It was now Sunday evening, and after our hike it was time for the other highlight of the trip - dinner and milkshake at the Copper Creek Inn!. It is quite popular and we had not made reservations, so we did have to wait for nearly 20 minutes to be seated. However, we were welcome to start with drinks in the entrance to the restaurant while waiting. Jake, Jeff and Susan each had a beer, but I waited since I was about to have a milkshake - which does not mix very well with beer. Neither of us had actually been at the Copper Creek Inn before, but both Susan and myself chose the burger, which had tempting bacon and a fried egg on it. Wow, together with the home made (actually store made) blackberry milkshake, it was a real treat. Jeff had a steak and Jake a salad, which both looked pretty good. I do think they made a mistake by not ordering a milkshake though... Heavenly delight.

We could not stop with just dinner but proceeded towards having dessert, and what could be better than blackberry pie. Unfortunately we were all pretty stuffed, so we could only manage to share a piece between the four of us.

Filled up to the brim, we limped out of the restaurant, and happily drove home. I think we were all pretty delighted with this trip, which had good food, good friends and a nice hike!

Pictures from the hike

Overlooking the Nisqually glacier which we hiked across on the way to camp.	Looking up towards the Kautz ice hiking section
Everyone excited to finally be ice hiking.	We hiked all the way to the top of this thing. No wonder it took us two days.

Video from the summit.

Last, but not least, the obligatory flower picture.

View Larger Map
Thanks all from a great trip!

Buckner Mountain - Aug 4-5 2012

Another solidly sunny forecast for the weekend, we look for something that can top our Rainier carryover from the previous weekend.  Buckner Mountain comes to mind.  It is over 9000 ft, involves bringing and potentially swinging some ice tools and a carryover.

The Itinerary 

From the Boston Basin TH, ascent the Quien Sabe Glacier to Boston-Sahale Col, drop down to the Boston Glacier to camp.  On Day 2, traverse Boston Glacier to the base of Buckner.  Ascent the North Face of Buckner to the summit, descent the Southwest Gully, across horseshoe basin and down the Sahale Arm to exit the Cascade Pass TH.


View 120805 Bucker Mountain in a larger map

Day 1 

Radka and Brian M joined for the trip.  We met up at Ashway P&R at 5a. reached the Marblemount Ranger station by 7a.  Started up the Boston Basin TH at 8;30.  TH was busy, we managed to get one of the last parking spots on the road.  on our way up, we ran into some friends coming down from a Forbidden attempt.  We spent some time convincing them to come to Buckner with us, for reason i still can't grasp - cold beer at the car trump over the idea of an unplanned carry over trip - um..

Boston Basin

We made quick work up to Boston Basin.  it is beautiful as ever with the awesome view of Johannesburg mountain   Quien Sabe Glacier is well filled in and the route is direct.












 We took a break at the Boston-Sahale col, taking a careful look at Boston glacier and getting our first view of Buckner Mountain.  First view of Buckner Mountain, our ascent of North face is the snow field up on the left.  descent is the Southwest gully which is the snow field on the right.  yes we all thought Buckner looked steep.

from Boston-Sahale Col towards Boston Peak

From the Col, we scramble towards Boston Peak.  it was best described as an airy ridge with portable holds.  you need to find the solid rock among the many that moves.  it can be a little nerve wreaking depending on your appetite for loose rocks and air.  The ridge turns into a ledge along Boston Peak, follow until you can see the snow field from the Boston Peak.  

Boston Peak and our Camp

We descent down the rock rib (left side of the picture) until the slope is gentle enough to hop on, at that point we're on the Boston Glacier.   We found flat spots to camp on and hang out on the ridge for dinner.  In bed by 8:30, barely keeping my eyes open for a few more sunset photos.

View of Mt Logan from the sleeping bag	Buckner at Sunset from the sleeping bag
Glacier Peak at sunset from the sleeping bag	Sunrise hitting Boston Peak and Forbidden Peak

Day 2 Ascent

Alarm goes off at 4:30a and we're moving by 5a.  We made a fairly direct track over towards Buckner.  Sunrise lifted our spirit and lit up Boston, Forbidden and surrounding peaks.  At the bottom of Buckner I consolidated all the pickets and started leading up.  We did running belay with the second rope team cleaning pro.  The system worked well.  

Pitch 1 up and exit left to the rocks. leftward traverse was steep with on a bergschrund above and below me.    

Pitch 2, up the snow field on the left.  good snow for kick step.  exit top of the snowfield to the right on rocks.  mellowest pitch

pitch 3 up across a few deep rock fall tranches.  a little steeper than pitch 2.  exit on rocks to the left





Pitch 4 Peter led straight up on snow field.  we got into the sun and made some good pictures with the falling snow reflecting the sun.

Pitch 5 straight up the slope.  pretty steep but good kick steps on snow.  i found a patch of ice which i promptly throw a screw in - just for kicks..

we top out at 11:45. It was calm, warm and the view was amazing.  a perfect way to spend a summer weekend. We spent an hour on the summit and found many familiar names in the summit register - we were happy to add our own in there.  We could see our entire descent route which appears long.

Day 2 - Descent

Horseshoe basin, waterfalls and the exit snow ramp

Descent off the summit was good plunge steps. we did it speedily yet carefully as run out was steep and there were some harder snow step to keep us on our toes.  Horseshoe basin has many water fall flowing, and it was a beautiful traverse.  For the most part, the traverse was fairly flat.  The snow ramp up to the south ridge of Sahale was a little steep.  we roped up and put in pickets.  top of the snow ramp, you stay on the ridge and go up on class 3 rock scramble to gain the ridge and get back onto the snow slope on sahale arm.  We didn't have beta on this part and spent some time looking for the class 3 scramble up.  We reached the top of the snow ramp at 4p, the Sahale arm proper at 7p and Cascade pass TH at 10p.

Gear notes:

ice axe
ice tool
crampons
9 pickets
4 ice screws (did not need)
light rock rack
two 30M glacier ropes