Last Updated: July 16, 2025
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    • Mount Urquhart - scramble (June 2024)
    • Rock Mountain (WA) - hike (July 2024)
    • Ladies Pass Quartet (WA | Cape Horn, Ladies Peak, Snowgrass NE Peak, Snowgrass Mountain) - scramble (July 2024)
    • Old Snowy (WA) - scramble (July 2024)
    • Dog Mountain (WA) - hike (July 2024)
    • Mount Ratney & Mount Bardean - scramble (July 2024)
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    • Saint Jacobs Mountain - scramble (August 2024)
    • Mount David (WA) - scramble (August 2024)
    • Goat Mountain West Peak & Table Mountain (WA) - hike (August 2024)
    • Griswold Pass (Tuber Hill, Glacier View Peak, Subatomic Peaks: Baryon, Meson, Muon, Lepton) - scramble (September 2024)
    • Yellow Aster Butte (WA) - hike (September 2024)
    • Mazama Dome (WA) - hike (September 2024)
    • Ptarmigan Ridge - (WA | The Portals East Peak, Coleman Pinnacle) - hike (September 2024)
    • Tetrahedron Peak - scramble (September 2024)
    • Lone Cone & Peak 86 (Tofino) - hike (September 2024)
    • Mount Athelstan ("Pk. 2460") - scramble (September 2024)
    • Excelsior Peak and Cowap Peak (WA) - hike (October 2024)
    • Hollyburn Peak - hike (October 2024)
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    • Debeck's Hill & 4 Lakes Loop - hike (October 2024)
    • Mount Hallowell - hike (November 2024)
    • Anderson Mountain (WA) - hike (December 2024)
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    • Gloria (Peak) Lookout - hike (January 2025)
    • JAPOW! & more (Niseko, Sapporo, Kyoto, Tokyo) - snowboarding (February 2025)
    • Mount Fletcher (S3/1400) - snowshoe (April 2025)
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    • Lewis Butte (WA) - hike (April 2025)
    • Ruby Mountain (WA) - snowshoe (April 2025)
    • Mount Oleg - snowshoe (May 2025)
    • Carnival Peak - snowshoe (May 2025)
    • Shovelnose Creek Knoll & "Pk. 1956" - snowshoe (May 2025)
    • Tolkien ("Pk. 2188") - snowshoe (June 2025)
    • Mount Ichor - hike (June 2025)
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    • Ample Mountain - hike (June 2025)
    • Bird Peak (Prov) - hike (July 2025)
    • Gimli Peak - scramble (July 2025)

    *As of 07/16/2025


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    Thursday, August 01, 2013

    Ruth-Icy Traverse, June 2013



    Punctuating the eastern terminus of Jagged Ridge, Cloudcap Peak (Seahpo) is an often overlooked satellite of majestic Mount Shuksan. But for those whom Cloudcap has captured the imagination, an adventure where the appeal may be more about the journey rather than the destination awaits. The approach entails going up and over scenic Ruth Mountain and traversing Icy Peak’s northwest slopes en route to a breathtaking high camp at the saddle overlooking the headwaters of Nooksack River. With the awesome chaos of the Nooksack Glacier cirque to drown the senses, Beckey aptly describes this area as “…one of the alpine climaxes of The Cascades”. Adding it all up then, we have a climb to a seldom visited summit with uniquely dramatic scenery and the option of bagging the classic Ruth-Icy Traverse on the way. Sign me up!

    Alas, the Cloudcap climb evolved into a beast of a traverse via the ~2-mile long Jagged Ridge, linking-up the aforementioned objectives with the Mt. Baker ski resort. A thrilling enterprise for sure, the route is also significantly more involved and ultimately required a day more than what was planned for. Of my numerous concerns that afternoon on Cloudcap, I just couldn’t shake the wrath that would befall me for being a day overdue. And thus Mike C. and I bailed, freeing Tom S., Don B. and Franklin B. to savor the alpine nectar and bask in the glory of success. Hearing a faint “wahoo” over the roar of Nooksack Cirque from our Ruth-Icy saddle camp later that evening, I was relieved knowing the guys finally summited Cloudcap. Sipping the last of the whiskey, Mike and I raised a toast to our fellow alpinists wishing them comfortable bivys and a safe return home.





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