| Fricaba South Ridge-NW Basin Traverse Route |
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| Fricaba South Ridge-NW Basin Traverse   | 
| Page Type: Route Time Required: One to two days
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| Page By: Alpendave Created/Edited: Sep 19, 2006 / Sep 24, 2006 Object ID: 227278 Hits: 433 Loading... Page Score: 87.45% - 4 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
OverviewDoing Fricaba as a traverse gives one a large, healing dose of Olympic highcountry. Along the way are upper Royal Basin, Fricaba-Deception Ridge, Deception Basin, Mt. Fricaba, Fricaba's NW Basin, Fricaba-Petunia Ridge, and back into upper Royal Basin. Each of these is a worthy destination in and of themselves, but to take them all in on the same trip is especially rewarding.Getting ThereThis route starts from upper Royal Basin. For driving directions to the Royal Basin Trail, see the "Getting There" section of Mt. Fricaba's main page.
This trail, though staying uphill away from Royal Creek, is crossed by a few small streams and water availability is quite good along the way.
The Royal Basin Trail starts at about 2500' in old growth forests on the Dungeness River. The trail follows the north bank of the Dungeness up river for a nearly flat mile to a camp where it is joined by Royal Creek. From here, turn right on the Royal Creek trail (keeping Royal Creek on your left). In .1 miles on the right, is another junction with the Baldy Trail. Stay left of this and continue along Royal Creek. At 1.4 miles the trail enters Olympic National Park. After another mile or so, the trail alternates between old growth forests and meadows created by avalanches the have swept down from the peaks high above.
After about 5 miles of hiking the trail steepens as it swithbacks up somewhat of a headwall and at about 6 miles from the car are the camps of lower Royal Basin which has good views of the peaks rising from Royal Creek's willow choked banks.
The Trail then enters more forests and switchbacks as it goes another mile to Royal Lake in the middle basin, 7 miles from the car. There are many camps at this beautiful lake and the views are quite stunning. A few hundred yards later the trail goes through another meadow to another camp and the ranger station. An interesting large chunk of pillow basalt with a significant overhang is here. The rock is called shelter rock and would make a good shelter for cooking your meals or waiting out the weather for your sucker-hole.
After shelter rock the trail swithbacks a bit and then comes into another meadow with a tree island in the middle. A marmot colony is here and from the meadow you can see another headwall with an opening that leads to the upper basin. The trail goes through this opening and comes out into upper Royal Basin. From here part of your route comes into view. Follow the trail to a flat where camp can be made on the dirt (be carefull not to pitch your tent where water will collect). Just beyond this is a beautiful tarn with the water turned a beautiful shade of green by the glacial rock powder in it.
The route is to the southwest.Route DescriptionFrom the upper basin, one must decide where he/she would like to enter Deception Basin on the other side of the Fricaba-Deception Ridge. The upper SW reaches of upper Royal Basin provides a more direct route and will involve less elevation loss coming down into Deception Basin.
From the tarn, head back down the trail a hundred feet or so to where a waypath takes off to the right (SW). Follow this SW as far as possible and then go cross country to making your way to the permenant snowfield at the head of the basin, watching for falling rock from the cliffs off to your right. Ascend the snowfield to either of the 2 notches at its head. The one on the right is the one I took and I had to scramble over to the one on the left. To the left of both is a jagged summit that lies just to the NW of Fricaba. Once one has gained the ridge, the view of Hal Foss Peak, Mt. Mystery, and the Mystery Glacier are fabulous.
From the lefthand notch, walk down the scree, veering left toward the upper reaches of Deception Basin. There are a few tarns here to refill your water bottles. From the upper basin, ascend over scree and loose rocks to the low point in the ridge connecting Fricaba with Hal Foss Peak. From here, it is a steep walk to the summit. Though shattered, the shale along the ridge is fairly easy walking.
From the summit, walk down the north ridge 50-100 feet and choose a place to scramble down the loose rock to the snowfield lying in Fricaba's NW basin. Descend the snowfield to the morrain on the other side, angling to the nearest low point just to the north (right) of the notable jagged summit between Fricaba and Deception. Once at the saddle, descend the loose scree back into upper Royal Basin and back to your camp.
Time: 3 to 4 hours from the tarn in upper Royal Basin.Essential Gear-Pack with the 10 essentials
-Sturdy hiking boots or mountaineering boots.
-Helmut (much of the fresh snow along the way was disturbed by rocks that had fallen)
-Ice Axe.
-Crampons of snow is hard. Images
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