Skagit Alpine

Skagit Alpine Club – April 2010 Newsletter

Skagit Alpine Club mission statement:  "To promote the use and prevent the abuse of outdoor recreation areas"....SAC Articles of Incorporation

Meeting:

Our February meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 7th at Skagit Valley College in Robert’s Hall T-31. The following shortcut is to a campus map http://www.skagit.edu/images/color_mvCampus.pdf. 

Secretary‘s Report:

Old Business:

Jason Griffith started up a round of introductions.

 JG-ski trip was great; everyone seemed to have a good time.

 JG- Mentioned that there has been a Mt. Erie climbing committee formed and Dallas Kloke has a seat on it.

Food and Drink Schedule:

New Business:

CDD- Said that the 2010 SAC Basic mountaineering course in a GO. This year we are not associated with SVC other than renting a room from them. We are now self insured. CDD encourages everyone to get the word out on the street.

CDD- Annual Leavenworth trip comming up April 23rd through April 25th. All members are welcome to join the climbing class participants and instructors at Bridge Creek campground, Group Site. SAC is paying for the.

CDD- There will be an all member Gear Swap at the next monthly meeting. Please bring in your old gear to sell to the new students. Please show up early to set up

JG- Reminder that next months meeting will be a special one. Dallas will be talking about 50 years of climbing as well as sharing a slide show. Come early.

Financial Report: Ginny says we have about $4000.00 in the bank.

Program:

"50 Years of Climbing"

Dallas Kloke - April 7, 2010 7pm

Skagit Alpine Club

SVC- Roberts Hall T-41 (NOTE: This is a room change from last month!!!)

As of 2010, Dallas Kloke has been climbing for exactly 50 years!! Over the last half century he has climbed all over, but most often locally in the Cascades and at Mt. Erie.  Dallas has numerous first ascents to his name and has climbed just about everything- often multiple times.  As anyone who has climbed with him knows, he has as much energy (or maybe more) as folks half his age.   For this special program, Dallas will share some of the stories about how he got into climbing and what things were like in his early years.  He'll bring some of his old climbing gear for folks to take a look at, and share plenty of stories and some "oldie goldie" slides.   This might just be the SAC show of the year, don't miss it!!!

Lookout:

Outing(s):

PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRAIL WORK SCHEDULE

Submitted by Lynn Postler

Attention Hikers and Climbers!  Here is an opportunity to help keep our local trails cleared and beautiful.  The PNTA volunteer group works on trails in Deception Pass State Park, Blanchard, Anderson, Swift Creek, and along the South Fork of the Nooksack.  Meet at 8:15 AM at the Cook Road Exit for a day of fun and work.  Bring your lunch, work gloves, and rain gear.  All tools will be provided.  For more info email Lynn at sancho999@comcast.net.  Hope to see you there! 

April 3 and 17

May 1 and 15

June 5 (National Trails Day) and 19

July 3 and 17

August 7 and 21

September 4 and 18

October 2 and 16

Conservation Report:

Climbing Class:

Special Announcement/Event:

Ed Busch from last year's class was the one whose small plane crashed last week on March Point. He is in Harbor View for his injuries. I am sending him a card from the club today once the gift shop opens. – Chris Gourley

Washington Trails Association Work Party schedule:

Sign up at www.wta.org

Trip Report:

SEVERAL TRIP REPORTS (keep ‘em coming! – Ed.)

Sahale in the Fog, Feb 28, 2010

Submitted by Don Howard

Alex and I took advantage of this year's unusual road access for a February trip to Sahale Peak.  We were able to drive Cascade River Road to the winter gate.  From there it was maybe a mile of road walking before we found continuous snow.

Weather was variable, to say the least.  Rain showers, fog, snow showers, more fog.  Did I mention fog?  The lack of visibility had us both feeling a bit spooked as we made our way up the valley below Cascade Pass.  Listening to avalanches releasing from Johannesburg behind us only added to our concern.

Once we got a view of the slopes below the pass, we saw no evidence of recent slide activity, so we continued higher.  Visibility improved on the arm, with breaks in the clouds and peakaboo views of Sahale.  Alex was patient as I plodded slowly up up the little glacier to the base of the peak.  We encountered a few open crevasses, but they were easily navigated. We stashed skis and Alex lead the way up rime coated rock to the summit before giving me a much appreciated belay for the last 50 feet.

At this point we found that my suggestion to leave pickets behind was a poor one.  We spent nearly an hour digging out a rock horn to use for a rap anchor.  Note to self: Mountains are covered in snow during winter. You won't want to leave your skis behind as an anchor.  Duh.

The snow conditions for the ski down were perfect, 4-6 inches of powder over a firm base.  Unfortunately, the fog level had risen (did I mention the fog?) and we were reduced to side-slipping, carefully following our uptrack in flat light and minimal visibility.

Things improved as we descended back to Cascade Pass and below the cloud deck.  From the pass, we skied by headlamp, making thoroughly enjoyable turns down to the valley, where heavy, wet snow made us work for our last turns.

As we walked the road back to the gate, an avalanche let loose from Johannesburg that rumbled for better than 60 seconds.  We couldn't see anything, but it made for a most impressive end to the day.

Car to summit: 7:30 am to 4:30pm
Summit to car: 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

California Winter Warmer (bike trip)

Submitted by Shannon Good

I just returned last night from a couple of weeks in San Diego, where I had mostly sunny, but colder than usual weather for down there. I visited with my cousins on my Dad’s side for four days or so, then met up with a group of cyclists in Chula Vista, which is right at the edge of the developed area of San Diego County. We cycled east into and over the mountains and down into the Anza-Borrego desert area, where we spent three days riding and hiking before climbing back over the mountains again to our starting point. The weather was kind to us, with no rain or snow, but it was very cold in the mountains and very windy in the desert. Most of us were pretty hammered after our first day of riding – we climbed 7000 feet in 50 miles, and the campground had 3 inches of snow from the previous night. I was really spent once I got off my bike and into camp – luckily, we were able to round up some firewood and we made a nice campfire to warm up by. The next day was a big payoff – after 20 miles of rollers we came to the place where the road literally dropped us into the desert basin – 8% grade for 10 miles of winding, twisting turns through a steep-sided canyon… I tucked into the turns and screamed for much of the way down… I felt like I was 10 years old again!

I spent the following day hiking with my new friend Ursula, from Calgary, Alberta. We hiked up into a place called Palm Canyon, which was beautiful – a small stream trickled through the rocky landscape, which was covered with giant succulent plants and blooming wildflowers. I love the aloes and agaves and cacti – they are so sculptural, simple and grand in scale- I fantasize about what it would be like to garden in these climates. As we neared the end of the hike, up at the headwaters of the small stream, there was an oasis of palms and many small pools to soak hot feet in. I saw a couple of big-horn sheep up on the escarpment above us, and a few pair of quail & a jackrabbit, along with many small lizards and lots of birds. That night I sat in the hot tub under the starry sky and slept really well in my tent, all warmed up and cozy in my flannel lined bag.

I got back on my bike the next day for a short 38 mile loop ride up a mountain pass and across a long, flat expanse of desert. The headwinds were howling at probably 20mph at least and it was slow going for half the ride. There’s nothing as de-moralizing as riding into the wind, which is such a relentless adversary to a lone cyclist. Thankfully, at the top of the pass, I turned a corner and then the wind assisted me with another screaming descent back to the desert floor – Yahoo!

Back to camp for another night of fun with some of my group. This ride was through a company called Adventure Cycling, a non-profit organization which promotes cycling for people of all ages – they provide the best maps available for cross country cyclists and are advocates for trail & route development all across the US. This was my second tour through this company, and they do a top notch job of organizing these rides to ensure a great time for the participants. Kathy, the wonderful cook who travels with us is from just down the road from me in Lake Stevens. She is a master of her craft and everyone is so happy to have a great meal (3 a day, in fact) to fuel the riding engines. We all eat like gourmet stevedores on these tours!

 A bit of info about our riders – there were 40 of us, mostly from the northern states & Canada, as is common on these early season tours… everyone is itching to get outside and be warm, or at least, get out of the snow! There were many riders from New York City – at least 6 or 7. One woman, Dolores – from Brooklyn, is 67 years old and last year she rode across the country alone on her Bike Friday. Most of the riders are in their 50’s & 60’s, but we had a nice young couple, Anna & Olivia, also from NYC, who were just 29 & 30 – our youngest riders. The oldest rider was Paul, who was 71. These are tough people, committed to staying fit for life. The two strongest riders were up in their upper 60’s and very, very fit. It’s such an inspiration to be among these elite athletes who just refuse to sit down and quit life!

The next day was time to climb back up into the mountains – into 40 miles of headwind. Yikes! I bailed out on the camping after learning that it was going to be 26 degrees that night and we would have the option of lodging indoors in the little town of Julian – famous for it’s apple pie. After that long climb (at about 5 mph, much of the time) I came to a place called, ‘Mom’s’ with a dozen familiar looking bikes leaned up outside, so that was clearly the pie-refueling station. Quite frankly, I could teach these people a thing or two about crust – but it still went down nicely with a cup of coffee. Which I regretted at 2am – but at least I was warm, in my room shared with a brother & sister traveling together from Boston.

Our last day of riding was the longest for this tour – 65 miles. We climbed Mount Laguna, which is up there at about 6500 feet on the road – it looks a lot like eastern Washington, with pine trees and open forest. The Pacific Crest Trail goes right through where I was riding – since I do a lot of hiking on the northern end of the PCT up here, so it was neat to cross it at the other end near the Mexican border. Once I reached the top of the climb, guess what? Another eyelid flapping descent! This time I had really good visibility through the twists & curves, so I got my little Bike Friday up to 43 mph. What a thrill! We stopped for lunch in Pine Valley, where we ran across a man just beginning his cross country ride on the Southern Tier. He was loaded down with panniers and headed for the climb I just came down. I think he was probably about 65 or so, and he planned to make it across the US in 30 days – that is about 100 miles a day. Whew! The rest of the day was mostly down hill, and it was surprising to see how much greener the west side of the mountains had gotten since I left a week before. I was sad to enter back into the suburbs of Chula Vista and see the ride end, but right before I came over the last little rise, about a half mile before I got off my bike, a big coyote came right out onto the road in front of me and we shared a gaze. It was a nice end to a great week of riding in an alien place. I rode 305 miles on this trip.

My cousins were so gracious to host me for this visit, and it was wonderful to become familiar with another branch on the family tree. Just before I got onto the plane to come back home, My cousin Judy took me up to Point Loma, to visit my Aunt Gayle’s grave. She is buried with her husband, Marvin, in a sea of white tombstones overlooking the San Diego Harbor and the city where she spent most of her life. The view from up there is stunning, with the city on one side and the open sea on the other. I’m glad to see her rest in such a beautiful setting.

Ruth Mountain backcountry ski – March 19, 2010

Submitted by Chris Danilson

The promise of a bluebird weekend and improved ski conditions was a disabling distraction all week. All too often, Tuesday’s forecast invariably is somehow sabotaged by Thursday afternoon and we spend a rainy Saturday climbing the walls at home. With this in mind, I was able to cajole Alex K. into idea of the backcountry ski with an eye toward Mount Shuksan (didn’t actually take much of an arm twisting!). However, personal schedules, avalanche danger, and commitment levels led us to abandon our plan and join up with Don Howard and his B’hamster bro James to Ruth Mountain.

A five a.m. departure from Mount Vernon had the Big Blue shuttle and it’s occupants northbound to pick up James in B’ham then up the Baker highway to the trailhead. With 4WD, we were able drive to the trailhead through increasing amounts of snow for the last ½  mile. While pleasantly surprised to be skinning right from the rig, we quickly learned that the rolling topography coupled with many melted out creek crossings made for exhausting travel.

While a northwesterly approach to Ruth was contemplated along the way, further travel soon revealed that the Hannegan Pass route resulted in considerably less elevation loss along the way. We were pretty worked when we reached the pass, so refreshed with a quick bite while enjoying views of the Chilliwack River peaks including Bear, Redoubt and Challenger. The final portion of our ascent involved wrapping around the east side of the unnamed peak just north of Ruth and ascending the final 1,500 feet to the summit.

During the final climb, my excitement level grew as the snow was relatively well preserved powder on the leeward slopes and felt quite stable. The last thousand feet went pretty quickly on perfect skinning slopes and we celebrated our warm and sunny summit overlooking Nooksack Cirque and the Picket Range while polishing off the rest of our food and water. After a group snap, we shedded the skins and ripped 1,500 feet of quality turns right off the summit, retracing our skin track to the north. At this point, we made descending traverse into Ruth Creek attempting to preserve as much elevation as possible. We had to negotiate a few wet sloughs along the way, but otherwise this worked as well as it could.

The last four miles out were long and unforgiving on tired legs and sore feet (OK, it was a sufferfest!). However, we made it out uneventfully and were thankful to be taking off the packs and taking in the beer. We all agreed that the amount of skiing was not enough to justify the level of effort. However, looking at the pictures and re-living the incredible views on such a gorgeous day with well matched partners, I believe I’d probably still do it again next year.

SUMMARY: Total elevation to summit – approx. 4,760’ in about 6 miles (6.5 hrs). Total travel time - 10 hrs.

GEAR: Although we carried them, axes, crampons, rope were not required.

Lewis Peak, Burgers and Beer Couloir, March 20, 2010

Submitted by Dr. Jillo (Jill Youde)

A sunny day climbing in the mountains...what better way to celebrate the first day of spring? Dallas suggested Lewis Peak, an obscure peak in the Mountain Loop Highway area. By obscure, I mean I'd never heard of it before, and neither had anyone else except Dallas and Fred Beckey. Dallas had climbed it in 1989, and had spotted a likely gulley approach while climbing Morning Star Peak last December. 

  Dallas, Mark Nelson and I arrived at the Sunrise Mine trailhead about 8am. This is also the access to Vesper, Sperry, and Morning Star Peaks. There were 3 vehicles at the trailhead, but we didn't see any other people until back at the car that afternoon.

  After about 15 minutes on the trail, we veered off and started the brush crunch towards the creek. What began as an unpleasant bushwhack through sticker bushes soon changed to mostly pleasant walking on talus and then snow over talus. On the broader upper snow field we had a spectacular view of the slabby slopes of Del Campo directly ahead. Picking our way through avalanche debris, we arrived at the base of the snow filled gulley. The gulley rises 1200 feet to a saddle in the ridge that connects Lewis Peak with Del Campo. The conditions were ideal for kicking steps, about 4 to 6 inches of soft snow over harder snow. We'd brought crampons, a rope, harnesses, and pickets, but didn't use any of it. If the snow had been harder, the gear might have been needed. We did however need our secret weapon. Most people don't know this, but Mark's middle name is "the Lung with Legs".  Yes, it's true, and he made his mama proud that day. He also was an underwear model in Japan in the '80s, where he got his taste for the big peaks. But that's another story for another time.

  At the saddle, you turn left (east) and head up the ridge through small trees and then onto broad convex slopes to the summit. From the top (5608 feet) there were fantastic views all around. Being on a summit with Dallas is fun; with his encyclopedic knowledge of the Cascades, he can name all surrounding peaks, both obvious and obscure. Another endearing trait of his: he barely eats or drinks anything during a climb, but about halfway through, he'll start fantasizing out loud about the "burgers and beer" awaiting him back in civilization. This begins as a quiet muttering under his breath, but if you egg him on, it evolves into a full blown mantra that is chanted for the remainder of the outing. 

  The wind was chilly and dark clouds were starting to collect on the horizon. After a quick break, it was time to descend. The snow conditions were perfect for glissading the gulley. While the ascent of it had taken us an hour or more, the 1200 foot descent was over in about 10 minutes. Wheeeeeee!

  It took us 4 hours to reach the summit, and 2.5 hours (with some lollygagging) to get back to the car. Dallas has been climbing for 50 years, and Mark took the Skagit Mountaineering class when he was 15. Between the two of them, they have about 80 years of climbing experience, and heaps of great stories about their mountaineering escapades, which kept me in stitches on the drive home.

   I hadn't been through Granite Falls in a few years, and its recent transformation is shocking. It's on the slippery slide of becoming yet another boring sanitized yuppie Seattle bedroom community. Once holding the honor as the Methamphetamine Capital of the US, it's now home to a Gold's Gym and a Thai restaurant. It saddens me to think of all those entrepreneurial meth lab operators now working as personal trainers or slinging pad thai for a living. I'd also forgotten what an alpine playground the Mountain Loop area can be. The area was crawling with people that Saturday. Trailheads were spilling over with cars. The Big Four massif looms over all, keeping the peace. So many peaks to climb, so many burgers and beers to consume. Spring is in the air. Go out & play!

Elevation gain:3,500 feet

Time: 6.5 hrs round trip

Little known fact: There is also a Burgers and Beer couloir on Sauk Mt, first ascent by Dallas Kloke

Pictures available for some trip reports on website (after our Esteemed WebKeeper has a chance to post).

Officers:

President – Jason Griffith (360) 419-7480 jkgriffith@gmail.com

Vice President – Jonathan Frostad jonathanfrostad@hotmail.com

Treasurer – Ginny Darvill gdarvill@fidalgo.net

Secretary - Chris Noskoff cnoskoff@gmail.com

Newsletter - Corrina Marote corrina.marote@gmail.com

Webmaster - Steve Trent skagitalpineclub@comcast.net

Programs –

Lookout - John and Marie Erbstoeszer erbst@cnw.com

Outings - Lynn Postler sancho999@comcast.net

Conservation Com- Jenny Lee Frederick jennyleefrederick@gmail.com

Social Com- Wade Bessett bessettw@hotmail.com

Climbing Com - Chris Danilson