Washington-Ellinor Traverse, Olympic Range - July 23-24, 2009

Mt Washington from the trailhead

What started out as a casual (so we thought) day climb, ultimately turned into a strenuous, fun-filled undertaking that not only satisfied our physical ambition but opened our eyes to a whole new climbing wonderland; The Olympic Mountains.

"Mt Pershing looks like an interesting challenge," Vince exclaimed (voice inflection and everything!) as he gazed west from Mt. Washington's rocky summit, "I bet we could climb the south ridge, descent the east ridge, traverse to Mt. Jefferson, and hike out to the same trailhead." "Yeah, and check out Mt. Cruiser," I offered, pointing southwest towards the dorsal fin of Sawtooth Ridge, "SWEET technical routes to the summit, and you can climb most peaks in the range from the same base camp! That's gotta happen!" Foreshadow alert; it definitely WILL happen later this Fall.

Sawtooth Ridge

So many mountains, so little time. But first things first. We've got our own traverse to complete.

It all started innocently enough. My (retired) buddy Chuck sent out a climbers-group email looking for a midweek climb. Easy for him, but me? Work... climb.... work.... climb.... dang. The never ending battle. After weighing my work responsibilities against my selfish desires, I arrived at the only possible answer -- I was on the phone to Chuck w/in five minutes. Within ten minutes we had our objective. Mt. Washington here we come!

Next to respond was Vincent. I always enjoy climbing with Vincent. He was the leader of Gloria's and my first ever Chemeketan climb - Mt. Hood - and we've always had a great time in the mountains. Daring Dan rounded out the team.

Vincent, Chuck, Dan, & Me


After a casual night at the Big Creek Campground, we rolled out early Friday morning and drove to the trailhead. Literally three steps onto the trail, we were ascending at a rate of 3,200' for the first two miles. I'm talking up. Hand over fist, foot over foot, swinging from vines.


Some may call it a trail I guess

Finally we reached the Big Creek Basin where we "enjoyed" the loose scree slope leading to "The Tower". Having never climbed the route, we knew we were ok because the guidebook rates it as merely fourth class.... as long as you stay on the trail of course, and avoid "The Tower". Sigh. Up we went.


"The Tower"

Hey, it wasn't death defying but it wasn't fourth class either. It was actually 80' of enjoyable low 5th class climbing on moderate (read: loose, crappy) rock. Just as we topped out, Vince looked over his shoulder and made two interesting observations: a rappel sling just to the left of us and even more surprising, the trail 80' below (oops!).

After a downclimb here and a short hike there, we arrived at the saddle near the foot of the summit pinnacle. We welcomed the gentle breeze that creeped it's way up the west side of the rocky slope. After a few short minutes we topped out. 3-1/2 hours from the car, Mt Washington was toast.


Still spry on Washington's summit

We now turned our sights on Mt Ellinor. Looking down the ridge that connects the two mountains, it appeared we may have a chance to boogie around enough gendarmes to make a go of it.

Looking down the ridge towards Mt. Ellinor

Unfortunately, as much as we were ready to tango, Ellinor was not. Dang wench! We descended a few hundred more feet, determined to stay as high as possible as we worked our way south towards our goal. After a short time, we ran into a couple of old guys (maybe a year or two younger than Vince) who said that the standard traverse route was to descend back into Big Creek Basin and follow a trail to the FOOT of the Ellinor Chute, 1,400' below the summit. Oh ok, sure, right, thanks, whatever you say.... NOT. We're Chemeketans not Cub Scouts. We held the course.

Up some talus, across a plateau, up a gulley, down a scree slope, up more talus, across a snow patch, down a cliff (thank you, hanging branches), across a short sidehill and we arrived at the dreaded final gulley. Hand over fist, foot over foot, swinging from vines (sound familiar?) and we popped out at the TOP of the Ellinor Chute, thank you very much!


Lake Cushman from the top of the Ellinor Chute

The welcoming party (a big Billy sitting in the snow next to his dear Nannie and baby Billie) cheered us on as we pranced (read: limped) by on our way to the final ramp leading to the summit.

Mountain goat welcoming committee

We were moving with purpose (read: slow) when another really old couple (about Vincent's actual age) approached us and offered their encouragement. They were wearing Hawaiian shirts and flip flops, and had obviously arrived via the Upper Ellinor Trailhead. "Hang in there Sonny," the ol' fart growled, "You can make it! Hey, you look like you've been through a war! Did I ever tell you about my experience in WWI....?" Good Lord, get me outa here! It's amazing how "old guy talking" gets your heart pumping again. The Ellinor summit was ours!

The summit was HOT but after that manly traverse, we felt very COOL. We readied ourselves for a summit photo right in front of a pile of rocks; the true summit. We were feeling pretty proud of our accomplishment as we puffed out our chests and patted eachother on the back. Just as a willing bystander raised my camera and prepared to document our place in history, Big Billie jumped up on the rocks behind us, baying towards the camera. Not to be outdone, Little Billie followed. We were upstaged by a couple of mountain goats!


What the....?


Ba-a-a-a-a-a-d goats!

We all had a good laugh and decided it was time to head down. Ahh, a real trail. After all we'd faced, the path felt like walking on goose down and rose petals. A few miles and a dusty pickup ride later, we were showering off under a roadside waterfall. The 8-1/2 hour trip felt more like twelve, but as we sat for dinner at the greasy Hoodsport Pub & Grub, looking across the table at eachother's cheesy grins, it was obvious that we were all thinking the same thing: Life is GOOD.


Oh yeah!

Three Fingered Jack (7,841') - July 11, 2009

Three Fingered Jack; chossy, rotten, challenging, airy, varied, and fun, fun, fun! Our team of six got up and out early Saturday morning for what proved to be a wonderful day in the mountains.














Tony, Sarah, Vaqas, Ken, & Mike

We were expecting lots of climbers and lots of bugs, but we got neither (no climbers and only a few bugs). If you've ever climbed 3FJ, you know that's a BIG win right out of the shoot.

Provisional Climb Leader Mike Rudy led us up the snow-patched PCT to the base of the climber's trail leading up to the saddle and onto the South Ridge.

Looking back at the saddle




From there we danced around several gendarmes, up scree covered crud, and finally to the base of The Crawl, where you actually have rock that is "sort of" stable. It's always fun to see how new climbers react to their first look at The Crawl, and Ken, Tony, and Sarah didn't disappoint. They nailed it without hesitation!

Mike and I continued up to the base of The Chimney and setup a fixed line leading to the airy, crumbly, knife-edge summit.














The upside of the 3FJ summit is the great views of Mt Jefferson to the northwest and all the familiar Three Sisters, et al, peaks to the south. The downside is that your lifeline is attached to a couple of fingernail sized chicken heads that cluck in the wind! After a few macho photos it was time to head down. As always, the descent and subsequent hike out was painfully longer than you'd expect, but fortunately we had a talkative, charismatic (!) Vaqas to keep our minds off the dusty trail. Thanks, man!












Descending down to The Crawl




Once back to the trailhead, my duties as mentoring leader were finished (nice job, Mike). For the rest of the team, the prospect of climbing Mt Washington on Sunday still loomed. Thankfully, thunderstorms and low clouds provided the perfect excuse to reschedule to a later date. Brewskis around! Yep, it's a charmed life.

Mt Ellinor, SE Chute (5,944') - June 6, 2009

You never know how things are going to work out. I have been looking for an opportunity to lead a Chemeketan club climb of Mt. Ellinor for over a year, but for one reason or another it hasn't happened. Consequently, when poor weather forced Scott Kelley to cancel his provisional lead of Middle Sister (I was his mentoring leader), I suggested we give the ol' girl a shot. While not great, at least the weather was better than bad so we decided to go for it.

As we worked our way up I-5 towards the turnoff to Hoodsport, we realized this may have been a better idea on paper than in reality -- it was raining cats and dogs! Finally, less than ten miles from the trailhead, we hit dry road. We still had to deal with low clouds, but at least we were dry.















Our Team: Stephen, Cathy, Mark, Gloria, Chuck, Diane, Cynde, Me, Scott, & Wild Bill (front).


There are three trailheads leading to Mt. Ellinor; the upper (for mom's, dad's, kids and dogs), the lower (1.9 miles longer and our choice), and the trail out of Big Creek Campground (add 3.6 miles & several hundred feet of elevation.... hey, we're tough, not crazy). The root-covered trail led past a wonderful vista view of Lake Cushman....















and eventually to a way trail leading to "The Chute".













We worked our way up through the low clouds, over frozen snow bridges, under low hanging branches, over rocky piles of loose talus, and across dry stream beds, eventually topping out just a few hundred feet below the summit.





















Just as we regrouped for the final push, the warm sun broke through the clouds and we were blessed with a beautiful sunny summit! We made it!




After a pleasurable descent back to the car, there was nothing left but to enjoy one final luxury.... a post climb micro-brew! Congrats to all!







Wild Bill and Scott celebrate in style!







For more photos and commentary regarding this climb, please visit my Webshots Page

2009 Trip Reports

Mt Shasta, Avalanche Gulch (14,162’), May 15-17

Perfect weather, great companionship, and over 7,000 ft of elevation; what more could we ask for? After waiting an extra week for the avy danger to subside, our five member team began the six hour journey to Northern California and our date with the alluring Mt Shasta. If Mt Rainier is the “granddaddy of them all,” Mt Shasta is certainly the grandmamma. Unlike my grandma however, she’s no pushover.



Mt Shasta from Bunny Flat Trailhead

We spent the first night camping at the Bunny Flat trailhead (6,950’). Clear skies, a warm breeze, and the melodic sounds of a local Native American drum beat are all it took to send us off to la-la land. Early Saturday morning, we started our four hour approach to our high camp at Helen Lake (10,500’). We had originally planned to ascend Green Butte Ridge, but poor snow conditions and recommendations from both the local rangers and a friend that attempted (and bailed) the route the week before, convinced me that we’d have a better chance getting our summit via the standard Avalanche Gulch route. Thankfully, the decision paid off!


Our route leads to the ridge in the upper right of the image

Warm temperatures forced a 3:00am alpine start. If not for the constant chatter from the French team camped next to us, we might have actually slept that night! However, when you sign on for Avalanche Gulch, you get the privilege of camping with all sorts of characters in “tent city”. For some, this departure from the serenity of a typical alpine adventure is a deal killer, but for us it was an opportunity to share a common experience with people from all over the world and from all walks of life. Fun stuff!


Gloria surveys the scene from our high camp at Helen Lake (10,400')

The steep, 2,000’ climb up to the Red Banks starts right out of camp. We maintained a steady pace, and as we crested the ridge we were greeted by a beautiful pink sunrise. Half way to our goal and still going strong! At this point, I turned the reigns over to Travis Klaas, a recent climb school grad. Travis is a capable young man, and after telling him my compelling “old bull-young bull” story, I was confident he could lead our team up the next section without incident. This was to be his first summit, and he was certainly excited. Ya done good, kid. Within a short time we were on the plateau leading up to the summit pinnacle. A short twist and a turn later, we were all standing on top!


Summit celebration!

The summit was superb, and after 15 minutes we had it all to ourselves. We ate our lunch, signed the summit register, took a few photos, and eventually made our way back to camp. After a short rest, we donned our heavy packs and jumped into the nearest glissade chute we could find. 2,500’ later, it was time for snowshoes and the final leg back to the car. Sweet success!

Congratulations to my dear wife Gloria, Greg Phillips, Travis Klaas, and Lynn Kropf. You definitely earned it!

2008 Trip Reports

South Sister, South Side, June 28-29

Robyn Smith was the provisional leader for this Chemeketan climb. I was her supervising leader. She did a great job for her first time out. Here's the edited version of Robyn's trip report:

"The 7 day forecast promised perfect weather but as the week progressed NOAA was threatening thunder showers..... We began our climb from Devil's Lake TH at 10:45 am. The snow covered any signs of a trail and with careful route finding we made our way through the forest and up onto the plateau. Once we were out in the exposed warm sunshine we opted to put on our snowshoes to make our way across the semi-soft snow arriving at camp at 1:00pm. We set up camp at 6,950 ft on a patch of snow free ground on the northeast side of the plateau in a patch of trees..... We ate lunch and looked at each other and discussed the possibility of summiting that afternoon (to beat the impending weather). We all felt good and agreed to go for it! At 2:00 pm we departed camp with only our essentials. Our rhythm propelled us to move fairly quickly allowing for breaks at every 1,000 ft gained. We arrived at the little cirque lake at the bottom of the Lewis Glacier 9,000 ft around 5:00 pm where we filtered water. There was very little wind and it was quite warm all day.... After an extended break at the little cirque lake, we proceeded to attack the last big push to the summit.... (The summit ridge) was snow free for the next 1,000 feet where we then encountered some crusty soft snow until we reached the crater rim.... Once on top of the crater we opted to slog across the inside of the crater directly to the summit. At 6:15 pm the team arrived on summit, elevation 10,358 ft. The views were phenomenal. Photos were taken, congrats shared, enjoying the moment observed by all. We departed before 7:00 pm back across the crater and back down the steep cinder scree ridge. Jenn and Robyn opted to glissade the snowfield to the west of the ridge and traverse across to the little cirque lake as John and Garry plunge stepped the scree. We made good time plunging through the soft snow arriving back at camp at 8:30 pm. After the sun set the 4 of us were treated to a "fireworks" show like no tomorrow! For hours we watched an amazing electrical storm brewing south of us. We finally dozed off to sleep after midnight and "slept in" the next morning. The sun was shining brightly persuading us out of our tents around 6:00 am. The morning was peaceful, another moment was taken by all as we sipped our hot coffee and soaked in the sights.... We could see the predicted thunderstorms moving north from the south. We arrived back at our cars by 10:45 am.... and met up in Bend with Gloria Petrie who ran in a 5K race that morning and had lunch (we missed breakfast). Perfect conditions mixed with a great group of people made for a memorable climb. Not to mention, it was the leader's first provisional leader climb! Climbers include: Robyn Smith, John Petrie, Jenn Truax, and Garry Stevenson."


Enjoying life on the summit!
More photos of this trip here: South Sister 2008 Webshots


Mt. Hood, Old Chute-Mazama Variation, June 14

Rick, Gloria and I took off late Friday night and headed up for yet another assault on Mt. Hood. Our plan was to get some good conditioning in before our Rainier attempt, originally scheduled for this weekend. We've been waiting all Spring for a legitimate opportunity to climb and we got it! We left Timberline @ 1:10am in moderate temps and light winds. We made decent time up the Palmer but when we got there, Glo informed us that she had aggrivated a previous achilles injury and was going to go down for fear of ruining her plans for Rainier. Unfortunate, but a good move.

Rick and I continued up the usual track, and by the time we reached the Hogsback several other groups appeared. We found our place in line and scurried up the Old Chute, passing six or seven climbers on our way. We took the Mazama variation, up through a tight gully hugging the cliffs on the right. By 7:10am we were standing on the summit!

Our descent was uneventful. We ran into our new buddy Brad (from ASI) on the Hogsback. He had just climbed the Pearly Gates without incident. Let it be said -- Mt Hood is open for business! Finally!

By 10:30 we were back to the car. Another great day in the mountains!


Looking North at the summit


The boys on top!