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| NW Ridge   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Washington, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 47.77900°N / 121.434°W Route Type: scramble Time Required: Half a day Difficulty: class 2
| Route Quality: | | | | Loading...
| Page By: don frazier Created/Edited: Aug 5, 2002 / Aug 5, 2002 Object ID: 156772 Hits: 1742 Loading... Page Score: 85.94% - 1 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach
Follow the driving directions to reach the Barkley Lake TH and continue up the abandoned road to the climbers path.
Route Description
The route starts up the right side of the creek and is well beat in. The path quickly crosses to the left side of the creek and then shortly after crosses back to the right side again before continuing up. DO NOT MISS THE CROSSING BACK TO THE RIGHT SIDE, because there is a path that leads into the woods at that point that one will not want to take.( Even though the path through the woods will eventually get you to the gully that leads to the ridge it is very difficult going through tightly packed small trees.) Continuing up next to the creek the trail recrosses back to the left side farther up. The route is very obvoius and easy to follow, reaching a chute at 3,900 ft. Here the tread may become lost in lingeriing snow, if so continue straight up the gully to reach the ridge at 4,000 ft and an orange ribbon. Follow the ridge directly on it`s spine for approx 3/4 mile until the ridge gets cliffy. Drop below the cliffs on the South side and traverse thier base until they fade out, then head straight up again to gain the ridge and drop slightly into the small basin at 4,900 ft. From the basin head directly up the chute between the N and S peaks. The chute is very easy travel although getting out at the top could prove to be a little difficult in Spring. A large vertical wall of snow (75 ft ) might have to be climbed to continue on with some exposure to the E. Once above the snow wall it is fairly simple with some minor cliff bands to negotiate.
Essential Gear
Ice axe and crampons are needed especially for early in the year ascents, when the snow wall is present. Later they may not be needed but still a good idea to bring along. One giude book talks about bringing a handline to get out of the gully after it has thawed, so that may be something to think about. Bring water for the ridge, the only place it might be available is the small basin and that is unknown.
Miscellaneous Info
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
Images
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Wild Sky Wilderness
