Lincoln's Throat, Mt. Lincoln (11-6-10)
The route.
I headed into the woods with two other optimistic and hungry climbers in hopes to get our tools cold for the first time this season. Prior to Saturday, it rained twice and mother nature had blasted Washington's summit with 40 degree temps for a few days in a row. But ice had been climbed as early as October 10th so I knew the stuff was around and I was willing to give it a go. At the trailhead at 8 a.m., it was.. mild. But we trudged in anyway with the knowledge that the worst case scenario would involve a little exercise and a little adventure. Not too worst case for me.
We walked up the Old Bridle Path for 20-25 minutes before dropping into the drainage and working our way up the brook. The brook was flowing pretty good but the approach was easy as we worked our way back and forth across the water taking the path of least resistance. We reached the Throat in a little under 2 hours of walking.
From the junction we looked up the Throat and saw some promising ice to the right of the headwall on the upper portions of the slabs. It was just a matter of being able to get to them. After a few more minutes of weaving in and out of the jumble of drainage rocks we put on our spikes and got the tools out. We left the ropes and protection gear in the car.. we planned from the start to solo climb because the ice was going to be too thin to protect anyway. Go light or don't go at all.
Some clouds dropped down just as we started moving again but visibility wasn't an issue. We were able to see the headwall now, and it was almost absent of ice so it was a no brainer to head for the slabs. We thrashed our way to the right and found ourselves in front of the lower part of slabs. Thin ice, half frozen waterfalls and required turf shots awaited us. It was tricky negotiating at times on the thin ice/rocks/frozen ground.. super fun!
The beginning of the route involved some trust, some luck and some skill on the thinner stuff, but then next thing I knew, I'm looking up at 50 or so feet of thick (for early season standards) bonded ice. Awesome. We reached the slab we spotted from the bottom. YES. It was sweet. As a bonus, there were cool ice formations up there. We cruised up the slab and ate up some delicious exposure along the way. Now topped out at the scrub line we looked back and saw we climbed up above the undercast and was treated with sweet views inside the cloud sandwich. I felt like I was higher than 5,000 feet.
From there it was a heinous thrash through the scrub to Lincoln's summit, but well worth it. We were further rewarded with a beautiful sky, low winds and decent temps. We took our time on the ridge enjoying the afternoon and then plunged down into the woods via Falling Waters.
Back to the car at 2:45 and at the bar by 3:15 to toast our first ice catch of the season.
Full Album
The route.
I headed into the woods with two other optimistic and hungry climbers in hopes to get our tools cold for the first time this season. Prior to Saturday, it rained twice and mother nature had blasted Washington's summit with 40 degree temps for a few days in a row. But ice had been climbed as early as October 10th so I knew the stuff was around and I was willing to give it a go. At the trailhead at 8 a.m., it was.. mild. But we trudged in anyway with the knowledge that the worst case scenario would involve a little exercise and a little adventure. Not too worst case for me.
We walked up the Old Bridle Path for 20-25 minutes before dropping into the drainage and working our way up the brook. The brook was flowing pretty good but the approach was easy as we worked our way back and forth across the water taking the path of least resistance. We reached the Throat in a little under 2 hours of walking.
From the junction we looked up the Throat and saw some promising ice to the right of the headwall on the upper portions of the slabs. It was just a matter of being able to get to them. After a few more minutes of weaving in and out of the jumble of drainage rocks we put on our spikes and got the tools out. We left the ropes and protection gear in the car.. we planned from the start to solo climb because the ice was going to be too thin to protect anyway. Go light or don't go at all.
Some clouds dropped down just as we started moving again but visibility wasn't an issue. We were able to see the headwall now, and it was almost absent of ice so it was a no brainer to head for the slabs. We thrashed our way to the right and found ourselves in front of the lower part of slabs. Thin ice, half frozen waterfalls and required turf shots awaited us. It was tricky negotiating at times on the thin ice/rocks/frozen ground.. super fun!
The beginning of the route involved some trust, some luck and some skill on the thinner stuff, but then next thing I knew, I'm looking up at 50 or so feet of thick (for early season standards) bonded ice. Awesome. We reached the slab we spotted from the bottom. YES. It was sweet. As a bonus, there were cool ice formations up there. We cruised up the slab and ate up some delicious exposure along the way. Now topped out at the scrub line we looked back and saw we climbed up above the undercast and was treated with sweet views inside the cloud sandwich. I felt like I was higher than 5,000 feet.
From there it was a heinous thrash through the scrub to Lincoln's summit, but well worth it. We were further rewarded with a beautiful sky, low winds and decent temps. We took our time on the ridge enjoying the afternoon and then plunged down into the woods via Falling Waters.
Back to the car at 2:45 and at the bar by 3:15 to toast our first ice catch of the season.
Full Album
Last edited:
