Skagit Alpine

Skagit Alpine Club – June 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 June meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 2nd at Skagit Valley College in Robert’s Hall T-41(correction from previous months – thanks Jason). The following shortcut is to a campus map http://www.skagit.edu/images/color_mvCampus.pdf. 

Secretary‘s Report:

Old Business:

No notes as our Esteemed Secretary was filling in for our Esteemed President.

Food and Drink Schedule:

New Business:

Program:

Please join us at this month's Alpine Club meeting as Scott Bingen shares pictures and poor wisdom from his explorations over the last 15 years in the Great White North. A commercial fisherman by trade, Scott's schedule allows him to get out on extended trips year round, often to far flung, cold, and chossy locales.  From Mt. Robson to Dutch Harbor, this wide ranging show is sure to take folks to unexpected places, and entertain them with tales of success and failure.  Right now Scott is probably off somewhere searching for the perfect choss pile, but on June 2nd he'll be at the Skagit Alpine Club monthly meeting- Don't miss it!

Lookout:

Nothing submitted

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! 

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:

Nothing submitted.

Climbing Class:

News from the Mountaineering Class of 2010

Eight weeks into the climbing class and pretty much the full contingent of 20 students are still with us! No blown out knees, no crushed egos, and no shattered relationships – what’s the deal here? I keep telling the instructors to quit being so damn coddling, but only Josh Gourley will listen!

No really, these guys and gals (students and instructors alike) have all been a joy to work with and have been indestructible. Each week delivers new challenges and accomplishments while the students’ strength and skills come together for their attempt to summit Mount Baker (next weekend) and a final weekend of multi-pitch climbing at Liberty Bell.

Although weather and avy conditions have affected a few of our outings, we’ve made due and enjoyed pretty decent weather on most of our outings. Although summits have been a bit elusive, we’ve successfully completed our skills/techniques objectives on each outing.

Since my last posting, the students enjoyed two days of sport climbing in the Leavenworth area. The group camp site was a big hit as always and it was great to see some other SACsters show up for the Saturday night festivities. It must be insightful for the students to see how their “mentors” behave around the campfire once the refreshments start flowing!

On the next outing, the gang endured a cold night of camping at Silver Star with a “near summit”. This was followed by a one day 5,500’ conditioning hike (i.e. taking the ropes for another big walk) up a forested ridge in the vicinity of an “indefinite boundary” on federal lands. Our intended destination of Whitehorse was scuttled due to avalanche concerns, but everyone seemed to enjoy the intermittent sunshine while poking holes in the snow and stumbling downhill in the mush later in the day.

The crevasse rescue outing on the Coleman Glacier on June 15-16 could not have gone more smoothly and was a big hit with the students. We all basked in sunny goodness (temps in the 60’s) while lowering students and instructors alike down into the most amazing crevasse. Hopefully there are no false expectations that Baker will regularly deliver such warm and stable weather conditions!

Finally, last weekend we once opted for an east side “Plan B” to avoid a west-side soggy sufferfest. And, the weather gods delivered as we headed to Gardner Mountain. We did get a bit of snow from time, but we got to summit, which made the 9-ish mile footsore approach/retreat seem “worth it”. A perfect final conditioning outing for Baker!

So, that’s a wrap! Thanks again to all the club member volunteers who donate their time to keep these guys from killing themselves, each other and us. You may not all be hearing the feedback, but the students have expressed a lot of gratitude for your dedication to this course!

As mentioned before one of the students Cac Kamak is keeping a photo blog of the class at http://gallery.me.com/cackamak#gallery in case you’re interested. The crevasse rescue pics are really cool!

CDD

Special Announcement/Event:

Work party for Wade Bessett; in the hopes that he might have some free time to spend with us again.  It will be:

  Date: Sunday, June 13th

  Time: 9 AM (or when people start showing)

  Location: 4005 L Ave, Anacortes, WA 98221

  There are all sorts - and plenty - of things to be done, both inside and outside, so whatever your area of expertise, interest, or just willingness to help, there will be something for everyone to do.  And, of course, lunch will be provided.

  Some things that you might want to bring if you have them:

  Personal safety gear: work gloves, eye protection, and sunscreen (in case it is the gorgeous day we hope for.)  Dust masks will be provided.

  Tools: shovel, wheel barrow, rake, wire brush for scraping paint off the house and garage, ladder, weed eater, hoe, hammer, sawzall, catspaw, prybar, wood chipper, or anything else you can think of that might come in handy.

  Landscaping stuff:  rocks that you might want to get rid of, and any native plants that anyone has a start of and are willing to donate to the cause. 

  Materials:  If anyone has any 2x or 4x wood material that you are just longing to get rid of, Wade's house is the place to do it.

  If you are definitely planning on showing up, please send an e-mail to platypusshankie@gmail.com.  If you're not sure, that's okay too, it would be extremely appreciated if you were to show up unexpectedly too!

  Thanks, and hope to see you June 13th!

Washington Trails Association Work Party schedule:

Sign up at www.wta.org

Trip Report(s):

Submitted by Chris Danilson

Jumbo Mountain (5,840’) – April 30, 2010

With a dreary weather forecast, a new climbing buddy Peter McBride and I set our sights on Jumbo Mountain (elev. 5,840’). Jumbo sits just east of that more well-known sentinel peak of Darrington - Whitehorse. Neither of us had climbed Jumbo before and the scant route description and foreboding weather motivated me to seek out some reliable route beta. SAC’s own Andy Dewey (THANKS!) and Darrington local Greg Newberry came through with excellent info. Greg (pseudo-retired) decided he could free up his busy schedule to serve as our guide, likely preventing a very frustrating day of route finding in the fog that enshrouded our objective.

Having listened to the rain hammer down all night, our eagerness and optimism were quite subdued. However, there was only light mist with fog when we left the car on Squire Creek Road just before the big landslide (elev. 1,200’) @ 8:00. We walked about ½ mile of road before heading east into the woods on the “trail”. This old miners’ trail requires constant vigilance or you’ll be “shwacking and swearing” and looking for reasons to turn back. We essentially followed the approach described by Becky for the West Route, but there are a few discrepancies (I know, you’re shocked to hear this). Probably the biggest omission is that we ended up ascending a waterfall for about 600’-800’ BEFORE coming to the MAJOR fork in the drainage, wherein we take lesser dry left fork and ascend 200’-300’ before stumbling upon “the large conifer with an “X” on the uphill side” surrounded by second growth.

We next endure a few hundred feet of nasty blow down atop this ridge, before kicking back out into the main drainage, ultimately transitioning into snow. This gully terminates at a headwall with reddish-colored rock (Dunnite?) where our route traverses southeast towards a tight snow gully. It was snowing at this point and, coupled with the fog, our visibility was limited to about 30’ at times. The snow in the gully was stable, so we ascend and blindly head for the alpine basin leading to the summit. With Greg’s knowledge of the route, we trustingly labored upward and to find the exact spot on the ridge crest just north of the middle peak. Small cornices seemed to alternate on either side of this steep ridge, so we carefully picked our way around the east side, regained the ridge and scrambled onto the summit – HURRAY! The views from the summit were non-existent, so we shared food, told stories, read the summit register and farted (I did anyway!). Jumbo only sees a few parties/year and we were apparently the first party up this year. 

After lunch, we made haste, glissading as much as we can to avoid the nasty post holing. The occasional sucker hole yielded momentary glimpse of our route and views across to the lower flanks of Whitehorse, but nothing lasting. Once off the snow, we utilized trusy “vegetation rappels” to carefully pick our way down the creek beds. Since we were skunked on alpine scenery, we turned our attention to the close in marvels of nature including colorful vegetation, bizarre colored rocks, and monster old-growth trees of various species. Our evening finished up with dinner and drinks at Greg’s wonderful house outside of Darrington with picture window views (normally) of Jumbo and Whitehorse. The fog, rain and snow were persisting up there, but it was good feeling to know we had just penetrated this shroud to attain the infrequently visited summit.

Stats: Total elevation gain = 4,900’ RT; 1^st snow @ 3,500’

Gear: Ice axe, lots of warm clothes, raingear, 10 essentials

Porcupine Peak (7762’), May 23, 2010

Submitted by Corrina Marote

Originally I asked MarkN if he wanted to go skiing on Sunday but he said he already had plans with Dallas to climb either Porcupine Peak (or Kangaroo Ridge (Mushroom, Melted, and Big Kangaroo).  He said I was welcome to come along so I did.  Before our departure they decided on Porcupine as the objective I think mostly because Mark had attempted it some weeks before but was turned away by sketchy snow conditions.

We were expecting a trudge through the snow to a ridge between two broad peaks then a scramble up to the summit, with possibly a rope as backup to get through the exposed sections.  Easy.  Mark had even told his wife he’d be home by about 4:00 p.m.   I packed my harness with a few doo-dads and my helmet.

The plan was to meet at 6:00 a.m. at the park and ride at Cook Road in Sedro Woolley.  Mark was there first shortly followed by Dallas and another Mark, MarkD to keep the Marks straight.  Based on the weather (rain) and the forecast, possible clearing but maybe not, we weren’t really sure whether we’d just have a pleasant ride up to the pass then turn around and come back.  Or hike a ways then come back when it started raining on us.  Or actually make our objective.  Surprisingly I wasn’t fretting about it.

On the ride up I learned that MarkD is a retired teacher and had taken the climbing class through the Skagit Alpine Club with MarkN (who is in the middle of his teaching career) back in 1978.  Dallas is a track coach at an area high school and is in his 50^th year of climbing.   He started climbing in 1961 and hasn’t stopped.  There were over 100 years of combined climbing experience in just that group of three.  My climbing experience only added about 5 years to the sum.

It wasn’t raining at Easy Pass and just a little further we saw the sign for Porcupine Creek.  Just past that is the parking spot.  Apparently there’s a trailhead with parking another mile up the road but since the trail is still under snow MarkN thought we would save ourselves a mile or so and just hike from the side of the road.

Traveling was pretty easy, except for the occasions we punched through the snow crust and ended up hip deep.  Seems like that was happening to MarkD more than anyone else for a while.  Round and round through the forest to Porcupine Creek.  Rest and a drink of water after an hour.  Continue.  We found a snow bridge across Porcupine Creek right next to the trail bridge.  The snow bridge seemed much less dicey than the sideways, slippery trail bridge.  MarkD went first.  Since I’m the lightest and it held up under the three men I felt confident it would hold my weight.  Across the creek, through more forest then across a snow covered talus field and through another forest.  We continued working our way to climber’s right.  MarkN had a gps with the route from his last attempt so there wasn’t much head-scratching over the direction of travel.

It still wasn’t raining on us but the clouds were low, obscuring peaks in the distance.   We decided to continue.  Then we came to the final steep (~500’ or so?) to the ridge.  Time for snowshoes.  At least for a while.  Then it became too steep for snow shoes.  Boot pack.  MarkN kicked steps.  I offered to kick steps but I am not the person who is going to elbow my way to the front.  Note: if you want me to kick steps or break trail you have to let me when I offer.  Maybe as I go on more outings I will find the openings to get to the front but for now I’m content to stay in line until encouraged otherwise.

The clouds lifted somewhat as we arrived at the ridge.  It took three hours to get from the car to the ridge, which was about 7480’.  Not bad for the twisty turny route through the trees, punching holes in the snow, and so on.  From this point it was only another 250’ or so to the summit (7762’ according to Beckey).   We put on harnesses and helmets (at least those of us who remembered to pack them – MarkD ended up fashioning a harness out of webbing).  Dallas and MarkD started up the scramble.  MarkN encouraged me to ask for the rope if I felt uncomfortable.  I wasn’t uncomfortable yet with the scramble but soon arrived at a point where I felt like I wanted a belay.  MarkN scrambled ahead of me and set up a belay.  I climbed the pitch just fine but felt much more secure knowing I had a belay in case I slipped on the cold wet loose rock.

Once I arrived at the top of the pitch we all roped in and Dallas lead the traverse, putting in three points of protection along the way.  The traverse was long and eventually up to the false summit, which had taken two hours from when we left the saddle.  Dallas made the final pitch to the summit.  The rest of us decided that if one person on our roped party made the summit then we could all count it, mostly in the interest of time.  It would take another hour to get the rest of us to the actual summit and Dallas was only about 20’ above us.  Good enough for me and I was at the other end of the rope.  I have a feeling that MarkN at least will want to tag the actual summit at another time.  I may too, but probably in the fall when the route is an actual scramble rather than a technical climb.

I lead the way out until the final pitch.  MarkD set up a rappel and went down.  I went next then traversed to the saddle.  An unsatisfying glissade in heavy snow down to a point where bootpacking was necessary to where I had left my snowshoes.  Even with snowshoes the descent seemed harder than the ascent.  Slippery, less sure on my feet.  Probably tired too.  We finally made it back to the car at 5:00.  The way out seemed longer than the way in.  Does it always feel that way?  I’m not sure.  We were all pretty tired by the time we got to the car but we celebrated with a beers and dry clothes.  No one fell asleep on the way back to the park and ride, mostly because we were all talking about climbs we all wanted to do in the future, next weekend and beyond.  Here are the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/106874128923623287004/PorcupinePeak?feat=directlink

Stats:  Approach is fairly gentle and easy going if you’re lucky enough to have firm snow until the last 500-1000’.  Elevation gain is approximately 3000’.  Time spent is totally dependent on the conditions encountered.  Expect anywhere from 5 to 9 hours RT.

Equip: harness, glacier rope, a couple slings and ‘biners, ATC, helmet, snowshoes, 10 essentials, ice axe, extra gloves, sturdy gloves for rock – I admired MarkN’s Manzella’s, warm clothes, rain gear.

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