Contrary to the title of the blog (kc-climbs), I am putting more than just climbs. I am putting weekend hobbies ... Climbs, hikes, Fun brew news, and other exciting or not so exciting excursions. I'm trying to organize trip reports, recipes, etc. on the right. Please leave comments as I love reading them!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Kyes peak (7280')

So with good weather supposedly coming into the area, I wanted to get out on my day off. Problem: nobody else had the day off. So I posted on cascade climbers (first time) looking for a partner with the intent on doing Sloan. Z-Man replied and we concurred on a Kyes peak since the road to Sloan was closed for maintenance (as of the previous day, argh!). We decided to do the S ridge which looked entertaining enough.

We met in Monroe and I drove to the TH (punishment for being late??? - that's not the first impression that I really wanted to make). We took 2 to skykomish to NFD 65 to NFD 63 and right on a spur road just before the barricade on 63 to the TH. I have never been to this area so I was happy that Z-man knew exactly where to go. However, the check engine light did lead to some significant anxiety for him, but it still didn't stop us.

Unfortunately weather was not quite as predicted and we were hiking in low lying clouds - we hoped it would burn off soon enough. We headed up the relatively steep switchbacks at a relatively quick pace... 39 ft/min for most of it. It was all I could do to keep up and not drain myself for the rest of the climb. I feared for a long day where I would just slow us down! We arrived at a snowy Virgin lake in no time thanks to our pace. I later found out that z-man hates mindless switchbacks on the trail with no views so he powers through them at the pace that sometimes makes him sick. Sweet. At least I wasn't too far off of that description!

From there the pace slowed substantially (thank god) and we headed off the main trail onto the ridge, attempting to find the path of least resistance. The ridge itself was mildly interesting and we continuously found and lost a faint climbers path. It was pretty jagged (pic left) so there was a bunch of up and down to annoy most anyone. Also the going wasn't too easy since you had to keep hopping from one side to the other instead of walking on the crest, again kinda annoying. The worst part is that there were limited views in any direction because of the weather. Having views in all directions is normally the benefit of ridges. ... but not today. At 6200' we finished the ridge and started up the snowy faces to the summit. Pic right as we ascend the snow with the (false) summit in the background.

the route to the summit was straightforward and offered some fun class three. This was true class three (3+ for me :-), with significant exposure (pic left). Fun times and the views were improving a tad. It cleared to mostly cloudy, but at least the clouds were high enough to give us some views of the cirques around us. The Columbia glacier flowing into Blanca lake was gorgeous. The pride glacier to the N nice --- I just wish I could have see more of the surrounding area. ... I'll definitely have to get back there to take it all in and see Blanca lake in the summer.

After some lunch we decided to head out. We both had been fed up with the annoying ridge so we decided to go straight down to the lake. --- it looked like a few couloirs went all the way down. Halfway down the mountain we found out that this was not the case (at least for our chosen route). Undaunted, some bush wacking and down climbing some spiciness got us to the lake eventually. We made it around, forded a miserably cold outlet of Blanca lake (pic left), and continued to the car on the mindless switchbacks of the trail.

All in all a great climb with a bunch of fun, different terrain. Time was 11:15 (from 7:00 - 6:15) round trip and ~6,000' gain (but who knows on the ridge). A great first experience with a previously unknown partner - thanks Z-man! I'll post pictures later when I get them from Z-Man, i stupidly left my camera in the car. :-(

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Ingalls Video

Better late than never .... here's a little video Lucas made showing some of the days events.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

South Ingalls and point 7646 (6/20/09)

We recently had a record 29 consecutive days without rain in Seattle, however, it's been a different story in the mountains. Sure, good weather was in places, but we had not chosen wisely to find it (see previous hidden lakes peak post). So we watched the forecasts like hawks and decided to go to the east side of the crest to what looked like the place with the best forecast, even if it was a slightly longer drive. We decided on Ingalls pass/Headlight basin to get out of the city and get some turns in. Lucas loves the area and was the one pushing specifically for it. I've been there a couple of times to attempt/climb Mt Stuart and it's such a nice place that I love going back. So Four of us (Lucas, Ryan, Blythe and myself) got to the trailhead and put the skis on the back and started hiking up.

The hike up to Ingalls pass is nice, but not necessarily spectacular. We covered just over 2 miles and about 2000 ft in about 90 minutes. Thankfully we started walking on snow about 100 ft from the pass and at the pass we were greeted with a a beautiful view of Headlight basin and Mt Stuart, as always with its top covered in a cloud, and plenty of snowcover for some excellent skiing. We rested and changed into ski boots/clothes when we got a few visitors in camp as Lucas described as "ridiculously too cute:" a few baby goats (accompanied by mommas) that couldn't been more than a few days old. (Personally, I think he has been hanging out with his dogs too much making everything ridiculously too cute, but I'll have to agree with him on this one.) We rested in the entertainment of said goats. All around us the goats were coming out of cracks in the rocks. We also saw a coyote run across the snow field that we would skin across later. This turned out to be a great wildlife day which also included a ridiculously fat marmot (not too exciting), a frozen mouse in the snow (could have done without), a deer on the road (kinda dangerous), and several bulls on the road (wtf??? and no, not 'wildlife').

We made our way over to S. Ingalls. We transitioned from boot to skins a little too much for my liking, but all was good. We made it up with little difficulty while at the same time, looking at all the possible chutes for the ski down. A painless climb with nice views on top. Pic is the four of us on the summit. We had lunch and watched what must have been 5 or so groups on E Ingalls peak (the highpoint of the three peaks) rock climbing. Some of the pitches looked fun (I might have to go back), but still a little crowded. After lunch, we got to ski! The snow was nicely consolidated and soft offering some fun skiing. Pic left is our chosen line down. Our route up took us a little to the right (with a little booting on rock), and then a ski to 20 feet from the rocky summit shown in pic. The continuous line from the summit included a little steep 3 feet wide 'couloir.' There was a too little room for error with that line so 3 of us downclimbed 20 feet as to avoid that area while Ryan nailed it. The rest was pure June ski enjoyment - steep and great snow! Pic is lucas coming down on said terrain.

We then headed back up (South) to another highpoint (~7646') skinning the whole way. The lines down looked great - nice open, steep faces. Pic shows Lucas and Blythe skinning up to the highpoint (Ryan and I took a slight detour for the fun of it). After another break we were greeted with another awesome run down. We managed to glide over to the pass without needing to don the skins (a pleasant surprise) where we were greeted with Mt. Stuart finally coming out of the clouds. We retrieved the trail runners, changed, and had an uneventful hike out.

All in all it was a great day. 5060' gain/loss over the day. Headlight basin is a great place to ski, or just hang out and hike! The weather stayed sunny nearly the entire day, it was a great location, great company, and great skiing. Just what the Dr ordered for the four of us needing to flee Seattle.


View to the W from Ingalls summit, including Mt Daniel (highest point in King county)

Mt Stuart at the end of the day. Last year we climbed the W ridge (in the clouds) to the summit.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Hidden Lake Peak

Well, not much to say about this one. We really wanted to get out and do something nice in the N Cascades - Ryan really hasn't been out there yet. The plan was to try to do Eldorado via sibley creek/the triad and also climb the triad - a new one for me.

After 2 weeks of incredible weather, wouldn't you know that we left the trail head in mist/drizzle/rain with no visibility. Weather not improving and not knowing the route we decided to stay in the sibley creek basin. We decided to make a go for the summit and lookout shelter on Hidden Lake Peak. I think that we made it to the summit - the altimeter reading was pretty close and there was a water logged summit registry. I've been told that the views are good too, especially with good weather. Not being able to see the shelter or really know how far away it was we just headed out. Car camped with beer/whiskey/fire for the evening and returned to Seattle where the weather promptly turned to sun.


Lucas and Ryan skinning in pea soup.
Lucas and Ryan on the summit - gorgeous views.