| A Mad Dash Up Thielsen Trip Report |
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| A Mad Dash Up Thielsen   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Oregon, United States, North America Date Climbed/Hiked: Aug 1, 2006 Activities: Hiking, Scrambling Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter | Page By: SawtoothSean Created/Edited: Jan 22, 2007 / Jan 23, 2007 Object ID: 263353 Hits: 1298 Loading... Page Score: 88.44% - 12 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Thielsen
The primary purpose of this trip was to spend time with the family and
explore The High Desert Museum near Bend, Crater Lake, and the Wild Safari in
Roseburg. But I couldn't resist the opportunity to get on the trail and
run up one of the peaks that I've had on my 2006 mountain goals list. The
first views of Thielsen from the east are quite impressive, and this was one of
those peaks where it's been done by many, many people, but everyone seemed to
have a slightly different take on the difficulty of this impressive Cascade
needle. One the one hand, I've heard that it's the lightning rod of the
Cascades and the last section is exposed and dangerous. Others told me that it
was easy scrambling and no rope would be required for any competent climber.
The mixed beta was just enough
information to cause a speckle of anxiety, especially since I was coming from
another geographic region. Over the years I've come to realize the
variation in grading climbs from Class 3 through 5.10. One such region
that sticks out to me is the climbing in the Moab, Canyonlands, and Arches
area. After climbing granite in the Sawtooths and Tetons, I found the
sandstone climbs of the southern Utah area to be challenging for the
grade. Fortunately for me, the weather was clear and sunny and the
climbing turned out to be relatively easy. I
started at the trailhead on the west side by telling my young son and mother I'd
be back in 2 hours. We were planning on exploring Crater Lake, so I purposefully
did this to apply pressure to my self to run quickly. There is a time to relax
and enjoy the scenery, and there is a time to squeeze in a climb while others
await your return. This was the later, and the pressure was intensified by the
fact that my 5 year old son was upset that he couldn't go with me to the summit
and he wanted me to stay. So we all hiked together for the first relatively flat
mile and I took off and started the run on an excellent path. As the trail
steepened toward the PCT trail, I kept thinking that the trail was too far left
and it would be much better to just bushwhack straight up, but given that I was
unfamiliar with the area, I chose to stay on the trail. That thought would
help me though on the way down. From the PCT
trail, the first views of Thielsen's northwest side are impressive. I soon
left the trail and followed the unofficial trail up the west ridge. The
going was incredibly loose unless I stayed on the exact spine of that
ridge. Still, toward the top I was forced to get off the ridge and head
toward the south side of the summit block. I've been on some loose rock
before, but this was some of the loosest ever. Most of the Cascade climbs
I've done have been glaciated peaks, so this was a new one for me. The
Sawtooths have some chossy scrambles like this, but this stuff just seemed more
fragmented and jagged. Nevertheless I reached the base of the summit in
nice time with outstanding views of the surrounding terrain.
At the base of the summit on the south side, I noticed a
bolt hanger which managed to bring back any speckle of doubt I've had about this
climb. I was alone and hadn't seen a soul the whole time. The rock looked
more intimidating than it was as I choose a line that was slightly more steep,
but more solid. This looked like slightly left of the bolt and this Class
4 section was rather easy as I reached the summit. I looked over the
northeast side, which was quite a drop off. The down climb was a piece of cake
also, as I realized that I done this type of thing unroped, hundreds of times.
The thought crossed my mind that this would be a great winter climb. I
made my way down the jagged scree, which was as tough going down as it was going
up. At the PCT, I left the trail and ran down through a thin forest as I
came across the trail way down low. I wouldn't normally do that, but I had
people waiting. It saved tons of time on the decent as I reached the car
in 2.5 hrs from when I left. The run / scramble was short, but enjoyable.
Sometimes it's better to have a helter-skelter scramble, rather than no
scramble. The rest of the day was spent sight-seeing Crater Lake.
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