1981 - Denali Traverse, South Buttress to West Buttress

I believe it was Don Goodman who conceived of this trip.  I was fortunate enough to join Don, Dave Adams, David Jay and Al McGuire on this climbing trip, my first expedition on a big mountain.  The goal was to retrace the ascent route of the 1954 Thayer expedition on the South Buttress.  They ascended the South Buttress from the West Fork of the Ruth Glacier and descended the Muldrow Glacier.  Our plan was to descend via the West Buttress (the most popular ascent route).

We left in mid-April hoping for more settled albeit colder weather.  My departure was delayed by 3 or 4 days as I had contracted Chicken Pox from my nephew about 2 or 3 weeks earlier and was behind on my preparation.  I missed out on the load hauling between the landing zone and the first camp.  As it turned out, I also missed out on the trudge down the Kahiltna Glacier to Kahiltna Base on the SE Fork as I was flown out from just below Kahiltna Pass on account of my frostbitten toes. 

It was a great trip.  Some good weather and some bad weather but the good weather (moderate temperatures and NO wind) came when we especially needed it on the long traverse of the South Buttress Ridge from our 13,000 foot camp to the 15,000 foot camp at Radio Tower Saddle.  A few tensions in the group but no blood was shed. 

		1981 Denali VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

1980 – A Week of Climbing in the North Cascades (Bonanza, Logan & Goode)

This was a week long climbing trip I took with Mountaineer friends, Roger Anderson and sisters, Cherri Mann and Jayn Little, to the southern portion of the North Cascades National Park. My recollection was that it was late July or early August (the slides were processed in August 1980).  Statistically, this period is the driest time of year in Washington and our experience fit that data.  In looking at the photos of the trip, I see only blue skies.  Our goal for the trip was to summit three peaks, Bonanza, Logan and Goode, which are three of the top ten highest non-volcanic peaks in Washington. state.

The easiest access to the area is via Lake Chelan.  We rode the passenger ferry, MV Lady of the Lake, from the town of Chelan, first to the dock at Railroad Creek that supports access to Holden Village and Bonanza, then to Stehekin at the end of the lake and access to climbing routes on Logan and Goode.  We returned via the Lady of the Lake at the end of the trip. 

Bonanza was our first goal.  From the dock at Railroad Creek, we took the shuttle operated by the Holden Village Retreat Center to the road's end, then hiked the trail past Holden Lake to Holden Pass where we camped.  The next day we ascended the slopes on the NE corner of Bonanza, onto the Mary Green Glacier and finally the upper rocky slopes.  The climbing was not very technical but there was exposure (i.e., don't fall).  The rocky portions are descended via rappel.   

I believe after summiting we immediately descended back to our camp, breaking it down and then descending to Holden Village where we spent the night.  The next morning we took the shuttle back to the dock and picked up the Lady of the Lake on its northbound trip to Stehekin.  We spent the afternoon in Stehekin and camped their for the night.  The next morning we caught the Park Service shuttle bus and got dropped off at the Park Creek trailhead.

 

From the trailhead, I recollect we hiked the seven or eight miles to camp just south of Park Creek Pass.  The next morning we continued through Park Creek Pass then traversed the slopes towards the Fremont Glacier on the south side of Logan. After leaving the snow, the final slopes were an easy scramble.   After we returned to our camp near Park Creek, I don't remember whether we stayed an additional night here or moved camp that afternoon to position for climbing Goode the following day. My bet is that we didn’t move until the next day rather than having two climbing days back to back.

From a camp part way down Park Creek, we climbed Goode via the 1936 first ascent route, the SW Couloir/SE Ridge.  One of the climbers on the first ascent party was Othello Dickert, who was still active in the Mountaineers Club and somebody we all knew. Similar to our two previous climbs, the route was not technically difficult but Goode did have significant exposure as you scaled the final rock pitches to the summit.  The views are expansive and demonstrate why the North Cascades National Park is such a treasure.

Our trip was certainly blessed by good weather but we were also well prepared and had a good plan.  I can't remember whether it was Cherri or Roger who organized the trip.  We got along well and everyone had a good time.

       

Left: Cherri & Jayn;    Center: Roger, Jayn & Cherri;    Right: Roger, Cherri, Jayn, Kurt

Mt Adams – N Face NW Ridge

This is a climb for which my memory has been reduced to only a vague remembrance.  It was a Mountaineers climb but I can’t remember whether it was a “Club” climb (i.e., not associated with a course) or an Intermediate climb (i.e., done as part of the Intermediate climbing course).  I had graduated from the Intermediate course in 1977 so I know I wasn’t doing it for credit.  I don’t remember the names of the three other climbers in the party.

The climb itself was scenic but not too technical.  The NW Ridge bounds the righthand (SW) side of the Adams Glacier as it tumbles down from the broad summit of Mt Adams. In the photo on the right (taken from our camp before the climb), the NW Ridge is the righthand feature descending from the highpoint (which is not the summit but a subsidiary bump called “The Pinnacle”). 

The route ascends, on a diagonal, the large slope coming off the NW Ridge towards the highpoint.  Some route finding through the lower Adams Glacier is needed to gain the slope, avoiding bergschrunds and rock slopes.  Once on the face, the climbing is exposed but not difficult.  We may have done running belays using pickets or flukes where we thought some protection was necessary.  Mostly the route was a long ascending diagonal climb requiring careful foot placement so as to not stumble or snag your crampon on something.

The weather was perfect and I even got someone to take a summit photo of me (Mt Rainier in the background).  We descended via the NW Cleaver, a long ridge of loose unpleasant rocks (but it did offer a nice view of the route in the photo above).

Prusik Peak (West Ridge) – Enchantment Lakes

Prusik Peak is a lovely mountain located in the Enchantment Lakes area of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the Cascade Mountain.  It is an iconic representation of the Enchantments, showing up frequently in photos with golden larch trees, as like this one I took in 1971.

I climbed it with Karl Kaiyala, a high school friend.  We would see each other occasionally at the University of Washington Intramural Activities (IMA) building and somehow we decided to climb it one weekend in June or early July.  Since he had done the West Ridge route before and was a far better rock climber, to expedite the climb he ended up leading all the pitches.

I remember we hiked up to Nada Lake on Friday evening. On Saturday, we  completed the approach and did the climb.  We camped Saturday night amongst the larch trees on the gentler slopes beneath the peak. Sunday was hike back to the trailhead and drive back to Seattle.

             

 

The weather was excellent, the scenery stunning and the climbing fun (despite the tenacious grip I have on the summit blocks in this photo).

This trip was the only climb I did with Karl.  While writing this blog post, I searched Karl’s name on the Internet and see that he has had a distinguished career as a researcher in the UW Health Sciences Schools.

Mt Rainier - Central Mowich Face

The Mowich Face is located on the NW corner of Mt Rainier. As you look up at it from below, it is bounded by Ptarmigan Ridge on its left side and Sunset Ridge on its right.  The North Mowich Glacier leads up to the face.

This climb was a Mountaineers Intermediate course climb. I am not absolutely sure, but from the photos I took on the trip, our party may have been up to six climbers (although four is also a possibility).  I only remember one of the other climbers, Al McGuire, with whom I would do several other trips in later years, including Mt McKinley (Denali) in 1981.  This route, the Central Mowich Face, was certainly the most challenging climb I had done up until then and, even years later, it ranks up near the top.

The approach to the climb is long.  We drove up the Westside Road of Mt Rainier National Park (MRNP).  I am not sure whether we hiked up the South Puyallup Trail or continued further to the St Andrews Creek Trail.  It might have depended on how far the Westside Road was open (that road washes out regularly from winter storms).

We picked up the Wonderland Trail at some point but then broke off from it when we got to the higher, more open terrain.  We worked our way up, crossing the Puyallup and South Mowich Glaciers, to our high camp from where we would start the climb the next day.  Our intent was to descend the South Tahoma Glacier and I believe our camp was at about 9200 feet near the bottom of Sunset Ridge, between the South Mowich Glacier and the Edmunds Glacier. 

The weather was mostly clear and settled with firm snow conditions as we started before dawn.  My recollection is that we followed the original 1966 ascent route which works its way through some rock bands before reaching the Liberty Cap Glacier.  Once you summit Liberty Cap (14,098'), you are faced with losing nearly 500' of elevation before climbing 900' back to Rainier's high point of Columbia Crest at 14,409'.

         

The descent down the South Tahoma Glacier involved route finding challenges of ice falls and crevasses as well as dealing with snow balling in our crampons as the sun warmed the surface.  We retrieved our gear from our high camp and retraced the route to our cars at the trail head.

Compared to other Cascade Mountain peaks, Mount Rainier is an order of magnitude bigger and can be intimidating as you stand on its lower slopes looking up. A successful climb of it by any route always feels like an accomplishment.