MarkL
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2003
- Messages
- 257
- Reaction score
- 31
Lower Wolf Jaw & Rooster Comb via Rooster Comb Trail, 2/3/08
Firm crust at Rooster Comb trailhead, so my partner put on snowshoes right away. I was curious how it would be w/o them, so I waited a while. There were tracks ahead of us, but they disappeared within 10-15 minutes. The crust had a rough texture, maybe from sleet freezing to the top and snow freezing to that. I'm sure the Inuit have a name for that. Anyway, I was able to go up some grades without slipping on it, but on others, and where the trail slanted sideways, I had to edge in. Though it was mostly supportive, in spots I broke through, but only went in an inch or two.
At the Rooster Comb junction I threw out the option of doing RC now or on the way back. Louise wisely pointed out that there was no guarantee of a view on the way back, or even of a view when we got to LWJ, but at the moment we could get one from RC. I put on the snow shoes there and kept them on til we got back to the car. We were able to get up with just snowshoes and enjoyed great views ranging around from the tip of Big Slide to Giant.
Back at the jct, we continued. Due to infrequent markers, no tracks, and open woods, we had to stop and look around from time to time to find the trail, though usually there was a good hint of where the tread was. We soon crossed a minor brook whose crust collapsed after I crossed. It was easy to get around the wet part on the way back. That was the only stream crossing worth mentioning, and maybe it wasn't even worth mentioning.
About 500' above the t/h we noticed that there was slightly more powder on the crust. The crust was very supportive. In a very few spots it broke into angular slabs, but never a snowshoe-shaped hole. The snow gradually increased as we climbed, but IIRC, it was never more than 2". Could this trip have been done without snowshoes, just using crampons or stabilicers? My guess is no. At higher elevation, the crust might not have been as strong, and it would be lying on top of deeper snow.
I had only climbed LWJ once from this direction, and my trail memory had compressed the route. We both thought we were very very close to the summit, and that the big bump ahead must be the false summit of UWJ. As we descended steeply after thinking we must be there, doubts were raised. Could we have missed the summit by being on an open way that wasn't actually the trail? It finally occurred to me to use the compass dangling from my neck. The direction the trail was descending didn't match the directon of the trail leaving the LWJ summit, so we grudgingly accepted that we had to climb that big steep thing ahead. There were boot prints coming from ahead, which we followed. They soon turned to ski tracks, then back to boot. It got pretty steep, and in one spot the snow and crust I was on gave way and slid with me down the steep ice for about 15'. Louise politely scrambled aside to give me the right-of-way. I remembered this section from a descent years ago, right down to an odd shaped bit of dead trunk I used for grip. I bent or maybe broke a pole here years ago. At that time it impressed on me the importance of taking off the pole wrist strap when going down something steep where there are trees to snag the pole. It seems to me that if the pole snags and one suddenly slides or falls downhill, if the strap doesn't come off the hand, the shoulder could come out of the socket.
We made it to the summit and did have a view of the Johns Brook Valley, and I don't remember what else. Not of UWJ. There were more tracks on the summit, having come up from the UWJ side. We returned the same way, enjoying a few glissades at higher elevations where there was a bit more snow.
There was no significant blowdown, and no iced over trees leaning across the trial.
Snowshoes required.
Firm crust at Rooster Comb trailhead, so my partner put on snowshoes right away. I was curious how it would be w/o them, so I waited a while. There were tracks ahead of us, but they disappeared within 10-15 minutes. The crust had a rough texture, maybe from sleet freezing to the top and snow freezing to that. I'm sure the Inuit have a name for that. Anyway, I was able to go up some grades without slipping on it, but on others, and where the trail slanted sideways, I had to edge in. Though it was mostly supportive, in spots I broke through, but only went in an inch or two.
At the Rooster Comb junction I threw out the option of doing RC now or on the way back. Louise wisely pointed out that there was no guarantee of a view on the way back, or even of a view when we got to LWJ, but at the moment we could get one from RC. I put on the snow shoes there and kept them on til we got back to the car. We were able to get up with just snowshoes and enjoyed great views ranging around from the tip of Big Slide to Giant.
Back at the jct, we continued. Due to infrequent markers, no tracks, and open woods, we had to stop and look around from time to time to find the trail, though usually there was a good hint of where the tread was. We soon crossed a minor brook whose crust collapsed after I crossed. It was easy to get around the wet part on the way back. That was the only stream crossing worth mentioning, and maybe it wasn't even worth mentioning.
About 500' above the t/h we noticed that there was slightly more powder on the crust. The crust was very supportive. In a very few spots it broke into angular slabs, but never a snowshoe-shaped hole. The snow gradually increased as we climbed, but IIRC, it was never more than 2". Could this trip have been done without snowshoes, just using crampons or stabilicers? My guess is no. At higher elevation, the crust might not have been as strong, and it would be lying on top of deeper snow.
I had only climbed LWJ once from this direction, and my trail memory had compressed the route. We both thought we were very very close to the summit, and that the big bump ahead must be the false summit of UWJ. As we descended steeply after thinking we must be there, doubts were raised. Could we have missed the summit by being on an open way that wasn't actually the trail? It finally occurred to me to use the compass dangling from my neck. The direction the trail was descending didn't match the directon of the trail leaving the LWJ summit, so we grudgingly accepted that we had to climb that big steep thing ahead. There were boot prints coming from ahead, which we followed. They soon turned to ski tracks, then back to boot. It got pretty steep, and in one spot the snow and crust I was on gave way and slid with me down the steep ice for about 15'. Louise politely scrambled aside to give me the right-of-way.
I remembered this section from a descent years ago, right down to an odd shaped bit of dead trunk I used for grip. I bent or maybe broke a pole here years ago. At that time it impressed on me the importance of taking off the pole wrist strap when going down something steep where there are trees to snag the pole. It seems to me that if the pole snags and one suddenly slides or falls downhill, if the strap doesn't come off the hand, the shoulder could come out of the socket. We made it to the summit and did have a view of the Johns Brook Valley, and I don't remember what else. Not of UWJ. There were more tracks on the summit, having come up from the UWJ side. We returned the same way, enjoying a few glissades at higher elevations where there was a bit more snow.
There was no significant blowdown, and no iced over trees leaning across the trial.
Snowshoes required.
Last edited:
