Have you ever had one of those trips you wanted to never end because it is so perfect? I had one of those on Black peak with Mesahachie Mark from NWHikers and dicey also NWH poster. The last time this trio was out on a climb together like this was Clark last Oct. Black proved to be just as much fun.
Mark had to be back home Sunday afternoon so we planned on climbing Sat afternoon, staying at Wing lake Sat., and hiking out Sunday. I received a PM from fellow SP’er Brian Jenkins saying that he, his girlfriend, RPC & Shirley,and hkutuk, would be there to climb Black as well. All these folks are SP members from Portland Or. Brian told me RPC and crew are climbing the NE ridge and he was taking his girlfriend up the South ridge route. I was hoping we would bump into these folks at the lake, so I could finally meet them.
We made good time to the lake and dropped our overnight gear. The gully is free of snow. We all picked a line we felt comfortable doing and made it to the saddle. I would say the best bet when ascending the gully is to stay to the right near the solid rock. If you get too far over to the left it can get nasty real quick(ask dicey :). It was much easier than I thought it would be.
From there we headed strait up the ridge for a 100' or so then start to trend left into a series of gullies. You can pick and choose the route from here (cairns mark several options). It is class 3 to exposed class 3. We ran into a couple who just finished up with the NE ridge route. All clad in their racks and harnesses they chatted with us a bit and took a group shot for us. From here it is a bit more exposed class 3 to the base of the summit block. From here is it exposed class 4 for about 20' to the summit. We saw a spot that would work but had huge exposure. It looked like the spot. I found out later there is a better way.
Dicey lead the way then Mark. As I watched them struggle up I was a bit sketched. I started up and got about halfway and decided the risk was to big. If I fell that would be the end of me. Exposure was huge. I dropped down and skirted around to the NE ridge. It looked as though It would go. Class 4 section with less exposure. I could not see the top so I yelled up and told them what I saw and they said it looked loose from up there. I kept thinking of Josh (my 3yr old son). I just couldn’t risk it. I was good hanging out on the ridge. We could all still talk to each other it was that close. If I had a belay I would have done it. I just can’t justify the risking my sons future. If I fell and was injured or killed Josh would not have a mommy and have a scar for life. I just can’t do that to him. You know though, it didn’t matter to me. The views are the same from the ridge and I enjoyed my time hanging out there.
As I looked down the NE ridge I noticed a climber down below belaying. I told Mark and dicey I thought it was RPC. I recognized his helmet and climbing clothes from pictures on SP. Plus how can I not recognized a tall wiry rock hound like Radek? I watched as another climber came up and over the ridge to join him. Took some pics and video and it was time to go.
I dropped down to help spot dicey and Mark as they down climbed and then we headed down. Mark and I stashed our poles down in one of the series of gullies. We figured we could find them on the way down. Well we it was not as easy as we thought. Mark had to go back up the gully we thought we stashed them.
While we waited for Mark I noticed a guy down in the saddle running around nervously. I spotted a guy in the gully looking very sketched. A minute later the guy in the saddle runs up to us and asked if we had a rope. His buddy was stuck in a bad spot in the gully and could not move. We told him no but there are some climbers coming down who do if they wanted to wait (a long time). He left and we waited for Mark to join us.
Poles found! Due to the sun hitting them so dicey and I could see a sparkle. We dropped off the ridge into the saddle. The guy stuck in the gully was sitting in the saddle. They fashioned a rope out of T-shirts tied together to help him out. They didn’t seem to have much experience and were quite young. But having fun. They chatted with us for a bit and we started to drop out of the saddle. We traversed over to the right then I dropped into the solid rock as they traversed over the top of it. Then we all found a great spot to plunge step in deep scree. Piece fo cake! Not so if we stayed in the middle or the right.
We arrived back at camp. Food and whiskey consumed we enjoyed the sunset and watching as the 4 climbers descended the gully. I noticed a couple arrive with overnight packs and the guy waved and I thought it might be Brian but was not sure. We walked down the trail in the direction they went and found Radeck, Shriley, Haydar, Radek’s brother and Brian’s girlfriend resting. Brian joined us a few minutes later. RPC and folks planned on heading out that evening/night. Yikes we hoped they crossed the talus/boulder field before it got too dark. Crossing that in the dark would suck!. After chatting for a while and giving Brian some beta about the gully we all went our separate ways.
It got down to 25 degrees that night. Our water had ice in it. The morning was great as we made great time hiking out 2 hrs 45 min with a break. We arrived back at the car a little after 11am.
What a great fun scramble! It was great for the 3 of us to get out again. Good times dicey and Mark! Looking forward to the next one.
It was a pleasure to meet you Radek, Shirley, Haydar, Brian. Forgive me because if forgot your brothers name and Brian’s girlfriends name. Hope we can all run into each other again. Good job on the NE ridge too! Brian I hope all went well with your climb.
here is a poor quality video. I will get better at them. Still getting used to the camera in this kind of setting.Plus the quality drops a lot when loading it to the internet :( Look for a quick shot of rpc about 3/4 through the video.
Gear
poles for scree.
Helmets
If one is not comfy on class 4 then a rope for belay would be helpful.
Washington Top 100
