12 miles of hiking • 5000' elevation gain • 1 night
WARNING, THIS IS NOT A HIKE.... just to clarify that for those considering. Recall that two weeks later on September 24 a man fell to his death while 'scrambling'. His body has not been recovered and it is hoped that the winter snow and ice will migrate it down to a less hazardous area for recovery next year.
re-Posted from CC.com...
Why I keep coming back to this damn pile, I don't know. But I do. Well, I do know, its ragged decrepit rock has a beauty to it. I'm convinced this mountain could be dropped by 2k ft if someone detonated just a bit of explosives midway up the east or west face.. maybe the plug would remain as a spire.
Anyways, L & K have been on a volcano stomping binge whilst nursing an injury keeping them from rock climbing. knocking off the oregon ones they've never visited, they happily enlisted my company as I'd been up a few times before.
headed down on a friday, crashed at TH and got going around 3am or so?, I think.
Not much new to report, heavy snow year as ya'll know and there will be banks of it from 6k up that will make it into 2012. Found things to be melted very well up high on the west side, of course way more than in July when I was last there. Met a guy just before the junction with the south ridge. He was going solo on his 3rd attempt after being skunked before. He had come directly up one of the dikes on the south face, which he said he would not recommend at all... He stuck with us since I knew the route and that had been an issue previously for him.
Still snow at the traverse, which gets steeper and steeper as it melts, but praise jebus the top had a beautiful moat along the summit block rock that made for speedy protected passage.
After that was all pretty easy.
K & L's expectations for horrible rock were surpassed. As we hiked out they asked if I'd come back and climb it again. I groaned, hesitating and said "well...probably yes, I'll be back". I asked if they would, and they both said "no".
Drove home, watched a football game rebroadcast on espn3 online, and then up very early the next day to Indian Heaven Wilderness to do trail magic for PCT thru hikers! What a weekend!
Gear Notes: brought the kitchen sink to cover the bases (crampons, ax, rope, pickets, few pieces of rock pro)
trail runners and camelbak would have done the job
Approach Notes: climbers trail from just before soap creek, cut S/SE sooner than later, or you give yourself a bit of extra work crossing a small ridge just north of where SE ridge of north begins.
exited via S ridge and hayden glacier moraines and back the middle sister climbers trail to soap ck.
