HA! Wish I read this before blindly coming down Swamp Creek!
It took Josh and I a total of 7 hours to descend Swamp Creek from the upper basin at the base of the Dark Glacier, after traversing over Bonanza from Holden Pass, then to Dark Peak and out Swamp Creek. It got dark on us halfway from the upper basin to the PCT, but the brush is now much worse than you make it seem. Although had we known better on how to get down from the upper basin we wouldn't have had to rappel on trees lol. This was a hellish experience just going down! Maybe if I did even just 5 minutes of research we could have been more efficient, but then again I am the type who just goes and climbs willy nilly and reacts to what the mountains throw at me.
At the end of the day, I am glad I traversed to Dark from Bonanza and don't have to ever go up this valley!
If you wish to avoid the heinous bushwhack that Matt describes, there is an alternate approach. Continue S on the PCT past the turnoff for Swamp Creek for some number of miles until reaching Hemlock Camp. From there, proceed more or less directly uphill, first through open forest then through scree, until reaching the notch just north of Dark Fin Tower. Pass through the notch and easily descend to the Dark Glacier and continue from there to the summit. I spoke with two parties who went this way in 2018 and both reported easy, brush-free climbs.
Matt Lemke - Jul 21, 2017 1:52 am - Hasn't voted
HA! Wish I read this before blindly coming down Swamp Creek!It took Josh and I a total of 7 hours to descend Swamp Creek from the upper basin at the base of the Dark Glacier, after traversing over Bonanza from Holden Pass, then to Dark Peak and out Swamp Creek. It got dark on us halfway from the upper basin to the PCT, but the brush is now much worse than you make it seem. Although had we known better on how to get down from the upper basin we wouldn't have had to rappel on trees lol. This was a hellish experience just going down! Maybe if I did even just 5 minutes of research we could have been more efficient, but then again I am the type who just goes and climbs willy nilly and reacts to what the mountains throw at me.
At the end of the day, I am glad I traversed to Dark from Bonanza and don't have to ever go up this valley!
Jake Robinson - Nov 7, 2018 11:43 am - Hasn't voted
Swamp Creek schwack alternateIf you wish to avoid the heinous bushwhack that Matt describes, there is an alternate approach. Continue S on the PCT past the turnoff for Swamp Creek for some number of miles until reaching Hemlock Camp. From there, proceed more or less directly uphill, first through open forest then through scree, until reaching the notch just north of Dark Fin Tower. Pass through the notch and easily descend to the Dark Glacier and continue from there to the summit. I spoke with two parties who went this way in 2018 and both reported easy, brush-free climbs.