TR: Washington State Wanderings Vol. 3 - PCT, tidepools, rock, ski, alpine

[cbcbd]

Seems like I haven't written in a while, well here it goes... did some hiking on the PCT with a thru-hiking friend out here, tidepooling/kayaking in the Olympic peninsula, rock climbing (not enough!) near Leavenworth, alpine peaks in the North cascades, skiing on Rainier... a good mix... and that's not counting all the wine tasting I've been doing on the Space Needle and in Leavenworth

Reference Map

Leavenworth - Castle rock climbing - (H)
Went back with my friend Alex to finish what we had started weeks earlier, which was to climb Castle Rock. Castle Rock is a prominent formation right off highway 2 going to Leavenworth - the history says that it was the first place where technical rock climbing was brought to the state. It's now one of the popular rock crags around and so you see good traffic on it on a nice weekend day.

We linked a bunch of different routes that eventually take you to the summit in 5 pitches. The Fault (5.6 chimney), Catapult (5.8), S. Face of Jello Tower (5.8+), and Midway Direct (5.6)... if you climb at the Gunks then subtract one decimal from these ratings

Great place and very good climbing!

Oh, and right down the road in faeux bavarian Leavenworth you can get some excellent beer, sauerkraut, and an array of wursts!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dougseitz/CastleRock9608#



The Tooth - light alpine rock climb near Snoqualmie Pass (D)
Headed out with Alex, a co-worker of his who has been climbing in the area for a long time, and two other guys from other big Seattle employers. The Tooth is a tooth looking mountain near Snoqualmie Pass, with it's South face a very popular moderate alpine rock climb rating at a mellow 5.4.

Easy hike in and access from Alpental ski area and after a short approach you reach the 3-4 pitch climb. Very enjoyable, easily accessible and a great day climb from the city... highly recommended

http://picasaweb.google.com/dougseitz/TheToothSFace9708#



Stevens Pass - PCT day hike - (B)
My friend Jon was finishing his PCT thruhike and so I met up with him in Snoqualmie Pass one weekend and then picked him up and some friends at Stevens Pass the next weekend... hung out at Skykomish for a day and then I hiked in with him a bunch and then backtracked back to the car.
The highlight of this section was definitively all the views of Glacier peak and the meadows. The trail was very well graded and awesome for running!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dougseitz/PCTStevensPass92808#



Eldorado Peak - alpine climb in North Cascades - (C)
With same crew from The Tooth climb... we picked a Cascade classic, one of the few with a snowed in summit year round and with a famous summit snow ridge.

Pretty steep approach up the forest and onto to a boulder field before you get to the alpine meadows, then cross over a rock ridge and ascend a couple glaciers onto the famous and popular East ridge with views West to Forbidden peak (it's West Ridge one of the 50 classic climbs).

Glorious day with views to Baker and basically just about every other peak around.
Would make a great ski, I really wished I had them up there!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dougseitz/Eldorado91408#



Salt Creek State Park - tidepooling and kayaking - (A)
Kristia and I headed to this park in the Olympic Peninsula for it's well-known tidepooling potential.

Well, it didn't disappoint. In the two days we saw an array of urchins, anemones, sun stars, sponges, and even a baby seal on the Tongue Point rocks.

There's also a beach next to the park on Crescent Bay where we launched from and went kayaking... very cool bay and the waves were perfect for surfing, the beach was shallow and sandy, and 3 kayak surfers were all out doing their thing... very cool.

Apparently this is a pretty popular park in the summer for camping... people had made reservations for some sites as early as April!
Anyway, it's still pretty secluded, it's a short drive from Port Angeles, and just a nice place.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dougseitz/SaltCreekStatePark91108#

 

[cbcbd]

cont

Mesahchie Peak - glacier/snow gully/alpine peak in N. Cascades - (G)
So I found a partner on cascadeclimbers for the weekend and he wanted to climb the Mesahchie ice fall/couloir route on Mesahchie in the N. Cascades... I'm a pretty agreeable guy so off we went.

This would be a two day event, approach on day one up a trail for a few miles and then some lovely traversing on scree slopes to get to our campsite.

The peaks in the N. Cascades are more rugged and jagged than the rest of the range and with the new snow they looked even cooler and more alpine! A drive through the N. Cascades highway, rt 20, is essential during the summer time (most of it closes in winter).

We got an early start on the route which involved going up to the main ridge, dropping onto the Mesahchie glacier, traversing under it's North face, climbing up the small ice fall and then finishing on a longish 45-50 degree gully putting you on the ridge. That was the straightforward part...
From the top of the couloir you jump from gully to gully, ridge to ridge, false summit to false summit until... well, we had some 200ft of blocky unfunnish climbing left and the descent would take a looong time, so we headed back from there by a series of rappels and downclimbs.

In all, a very fun climb... extremely fun and alpine, with the rock climbing never getting harder than 5.easy (I thought) and the snow/ice never really that steep. Scariest part was probably climbing the ice fall at night while hearing the glacier grunt under you and hearing seracs break off very near you but not being able to see them!
A full day of climbing, but lots of fun... I want more!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dougseitz/MesahchieIceFallCoulouir101908#


Camp Muir on Rainier - up to Muir and skiing down - (F)
I like to say that when it rains in Seattle that means that it's probably snowing in the mountains and if you climb high enough you can get above the dreary clouds...

So... on rainy and cloudy Sunday I fished and found a partner to head up to Muir on Rainier and do just that.

We found a Paradise in the clouds and foggy. This was a day that it was absolute necessary to head up with compass/map/altimeter/gps if you have it/ and really helped if you were familiar with the hike up the Muir snowfield... or were with someone who was. Some guys were in front of us so we could follow their skin tracks but I had my bearings and kept checking and rechecking just making sure we were still going in the right direction. Anyway, it stayed extremely foggy for the hike up the trails to 7500' and then the skin up to around 9K'... and then we started breaking through!
Muir was windless and sunny! 8+ skiers had been up there and after a short drop into the Cowlitz side we headed down for 2K' of wind buff powder! The only thing the snow field was missing was some tight trees

Yeah, it was worth it... especially the stall art at Paradise

http://picasaweb.google.com/dougseitz/Muir11908#

tata, come visit
Doug

 

[Hampshire]

cbcbd,

Thanks for the stoke.

 

[una_dogger]

Wow! That's one of the best TR's I've read! Incredible how much variety you have out West.

 

[Michelle]

Those 3 letters caught my eye: PCT! Amazing how beautiful the trail is in Washington state, easy walking but with never-ending views all around. Your pictures are beautiful. A great playground for the adventurous type, that's for sure! Did you friend Jon have a trailname? We finished the trail on Sept. 8th this year, I'm not sure we ever met him, but congrats to him! What a trip!

 

[giggy]

very nice doug

 

[ColdRiverRun]

That's pretty balls, which looks weird in writing but sounds right if said properly. And horribly wrong in another way. I mean the first!

 

[cbcbd]

Those 3 letters caught my eye: PCT! Amazing how beautiful the trail is in Washington state, easy walking but with never-ending views all around. Your pictures are beautiful. A great playground for the adventurous type, that's for sure! Did you friend Jon have a trailname? We finished the trail on Sept. 8th this year, I'm not sure we ever met him, but congrats to him! What a trip!

He is Canyonman, but he finished much later... I think first week of Oct - him and 5 others that were hiking the sameish pace. The first weekend I hiked south for 27 miles from Snoqualmie pass to try to surprise him but he was a day late. At Stevens, after much beer in Skykomish , I hiked in with him for 15 miles north... that's where all the Glacier views started kickin in
He loved the trail and now he's already planning his CDT hike for next year!

Wow! That's one of the best TR's I've read! Incredible how much variety you have out West.

Thanks But really, the main difference is glaciers and snow available year round and the mountain range is bigger... the other stuff you have back East.

 

[mtnmama]

cbcbd..we miss you back east.
Sweet pics and trip report!!!!!
Looks like your having a grand time out west.
Keep those posts coming!

 

[leaf]

awesome cbcbcbabcd. the cascades are unbelievable. being surrounded by jagged rocky peaks with huge glaciated volcanoes in the distance.. totally awesome.

and here i was convinced you've been laying on the couch all day..

 

[timmus]

Awesome pics.

Need to go back.

My day SUCK !!!!!!!!!!

(thanks anyway )

 

[forestgnome]

Thanks for the great pics! One day I'll get into the forest surrounding those peaks.

happy trails

 

[skiguy]

Kool...way to multi task and have fun too!

 

[Tim Seaver]

Beauty and Adventure

Great report and pics! Washington is such an amazing state, it hurts!

I have to ask, seeing as you were in the Leavenworth area, if you had ever been out to the Enchanted Lakes area or climbed Mount Stuart? I would definitely like to climb that some day. Such a stunning peak!

Lake Ingalls and Mount Stuart

 

[cbcbd]

I have to ask, seeing as you were in the Leavenworth area, if you had ever been out to the Enchanted Lakes area or climbed Mount Stuart? I would definitely like to climb that some day. Such a stunning peak!
Lake Ingalls and Mount Stuart

I think it's supposedly the biggest mass of jutting granite in the lower 48! I haven't climbed it yet but I already know that the North Ridge is on my to-do list for next summer. Let me know if you're around and we can meet up to go up it - just give me some notice so I can get in respectable shape

 

[Gillian]

Been a little busy??!! ... ...aahh, one of these days I'll get out west....