Last Updated: Mar. 7, 2010
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Graybeard Peak - West Ridge, June 28

Upper Fischer Creek Valley with Graybeard Peak at left.

(Report by Tom S.) Considering I had forgotten my rock shoes at home, Sergio and I found ourselves looking for an objective for the following day. Plans for a rock climb at WA Pass were shelved in favor of another nearby scramble. Graybeard Peak came to mind and, seeing as how neither of us had climbed it, we decided to give it a go. We set off from the Easy Pass TH at 8:15AM, trudging up a trail I had traveled 5 times prior (Sergio 3 times). There was some avalanche debris covering the trail at about mile 2-2.5, but nothing major. Snow began at about 5000' and was fairly solid all the way to Easy Pass...

-read the rest of Tom's report here.

Slogging up to Easy Pass. Overlooking the basin west of Graybeard. Booting up snow towards West Ridge.
Sergio on West Ridge of Graybeard. Tom at 5th-class step. Nearing the summit of Graybeard. View down Fischer Creek Valley.

Corteo Peak - Southwest Ridge, June 27

Corteo Peak as seen from the Northeast Ridge of Black Peak. Corteo's SW Ridge at right skyline.

(Report by Tom S.) After not having been on a trip with Sergio for the past 2 years, we finally linked up again for a fun weekend of alpine scrambling. We left Seattle Friday afternoon and headed up HWY 20 to Rainy Pass TH with plans to climb Corteo Peak on Saturday and some WA Pass rock on Sunday. We arrived at the TH at around 10PM, and shared a few beers before retiring for the night.

We awoke at 6AM and began our hike up to Heather Pass. The trail had intermittent patches of snow, but it will be entirely melted out as of this writing. From Heather Pass, we dropped down 600' to the NW, passing Lewis Lake, before heading up the Lewis "Glacier". We had no trouble finding the obvious 7500' notch that we would use to cross over to the Woody Creek drainage. From the notch, we lost ~400' before crossing the basin and contouring up towards the SW Ridge of Corteo...

-read the rest of Tom's report here.

Traversing snow en route to Lewis Glacier. Lewis Glacier lateral moraine. Tom approaching the 7500' notch
View of SW Ridge from notch. Traversing Woody Creek drainage towards SW Ridge. Tom low on the ridge. Tom at a short semi-exposed section of the ridge. Fun scrambling on SW Ridge.
Down safely with East Face we descended behind.

Summit panorama looking to SSE and NE.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Odds 'n Ends - June '09

With the sudden onset of unseasonably warm weather this spring the appeal of a refreshing 'dip' in the Pacific has been a hard thing for me to resist. The only reasonable day-trip option for Seattle-based surfers, the waves at Westport have for many years been a reliable outlet for me. Like recalling a pair of smelly socks from the laundry pile, it isn't my first choice but it gets the job done when you're in a pinch. And speaking of dirty laundry - finally partook in some MTB action at Galbraith Mountain where the mud was flying, knees bloody and my neighbor Dave demonstrated some impressive hucking skills! Check Dave's biker blog for the story and pics.

A set rolls in. Late afternoon surf at the jetty. Wave slash under gloomy skies. Hitting the first drop on Scorpion. Not much room for error - Dave hucks and sticks it!


*Earlier posts from July 2000 through September 2007 are viewable here.
*Master list of trip reports and photos here: climbing or snowboarding.

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