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Chiwawa Mountain - Lyman Glacier, August 2001
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Chiwawa Mountain and much more as seen from the summit of Bonanza Peak.
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After being rained-out on a Friday night at Mt. Baker's Heliotrope Ridge Trailhead (the same weekend that a multiple-fatality crevasse fall on the Coleman-Demming route occurred) Nick and I decided to dry out and headed east. Our departure was not without difficulty, however. After draining a can of fix-a-flat into one of my deflating car tires the night before, I merely made it within a few miles of Bellingham that next morning before having the same tire go flat on me again. We quickly discovered that the donut wheel was practically flat as well. So, very slowly we drove to Bellingham and after some bitching I managed to secure a free replacement tire from the nice folks at Discount Tire. By then, it was lunch time and we proceeded to gorge ourselves on pizza.
Finally back on the road, we stopped briefly at the indoor go-cart course in Burlington. Nick clearly has more experience go-carting than I do! Anyway, thanks to an anonymous suggestion that I have a backup plan, preferrably out east, we decided to go after Chiwawa Mountain. So, here's to Plan B! (Photos: NR, SV)
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Click thumbnails below to enlarge...
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We reached Spider Meadow, as seen from the base of the small Spider Glacier the following morning, just as darkness was falling. The pizza we ate hours ago was now a distant memory and we once again had food on the brain. On the menu tonight was tortellini w/ a zesty red sauce. Nick was determined to retain some of the comforts of home out in the wilderness...I wasn't complaining.
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The Lyman Glacier headwall as seen from snowfields below Spider Pass.
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We hiked up the Spider Glacier to Spider Pass and back down the other side. We cut left across some rocks to the flats of the lower Lyman Glacier and roped up. The slope was relatively low-angle and increased dramatically as we approached the headwall.
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A Mountaineers group was doing some icefall climbing above us. We skirted below them stepping carefully on chunks of ice and rock. Soon we were back on gentler snow slopes and worked our way around a few crevasses before reaching the exposed rock ridge above the glacier.
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We walked easily up the ridge, with some fun sections of easy class 4 scrambling.
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Bonanza Peak dominates the view to the NNE. Bonanza Peak is the highest non-volcanic summit in the state.
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Nick makes the final scramble onto the summit rocks.
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Distant views of Clark Mountain, Mount Rainier, Luahna Peak and Chalangin Peak.
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On the summit. Fortress Mountain and Glacier Peak rise behind us.
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Once back down below the icefall, we casually walked back across the relatively flat and un-crevassed lower Lyman Glacier to its eastern edge. We decided to stay another night and left early the next morning for some mountain biking at Devil's Gulch. A full weekend!
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