Route Climbed: West Ridge/South Slope - Scramble route Date Climbed: September 25, 2005
Left the Barclay Lake TH at 8am under clear, sunny, and slightly chilly September morning. Gained the ridge crest in one hour (man was this steep!) and at the edge of the talus basin in another 45 minutes. Gained the saddle between north and south peaks 30 minutes later and was standing on the summit 15 minutes later. Total ascent time of 2 hrs and 30 minutes. Whew!! That was tough.....only 3 miles one way but over 3900 vertical feet elevation gain.
Descent was tough. It took only 2 hours but I must have slipped 20-30 times through the steep (I mean steep) gullys. Even twisted my ankle couple of times.
Overall, a good workout and great views of Merchant, Gunn, Index and the high volcanoes (Glacier Peak, Rainier, and Baker)
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: February 2005
Took advantage of the very sunny February to get this one in. Great summit with awesome views. Hit is early season when the gulley up to the saddle has plenty of snow/ice and you don't have to mess with the talus. Be wary after a recent storm as the two steep sections in the trees can be very very muddy and slick.
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: March 6, 2005
With David and Steve. Started up at 10 am up the steep "trail" to the ridge. Easy to get off route on this one. Made the ridge and scurried down to the boulder basin. Very neat area. Hit snow in earnest here. Heavy, wet, sloshy snow. Went up the gully without any gear, the angle is maybe 30 degrees at most in snow (at least it was this time). Once in the notch though, we donned crampons and axes and made our way to the summit through rocks, trees, dirt, bushes and snow. The weather turned out to be nice all day but it took us almost the whole 9 hours the one guide book says to do this climb. The steepness of getting up to that ridge really slows things down.
So, we spent time trundling giant snowballs down the gully and throwing snowballs at each other and of course we got stuck on the descent in the dark. :- ) Made for some interesting moments when we got off the trail too. But we made it back fine and had a fun day. The two guidebooks list this as either a 6 hour climb or a 9 hour climb. Plan for closer to 9 and start earlier in the day that we did. But it's a fun one.
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: January 28, 2005
Climbed the NW ridge today. No substantial snow until the basin below the gully at 4800'. Gully was still rocky and snow was very hard (crampons and ice axe needed on upper ridge). Could not find summit log (buried in snow); limited views, wind was very hard and COLD! Trail up the ridge was very slippery.
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: November 2, 2002
Nothing like a late season summit. First person to summit since October 19th according to log. Perfect clear day. Hit snow in gully, scrambling over rocks with fresh snow not the best idea. From the summit we could see everything. All the way to Canada, and even adams just to the east of Rainer.
esugi - Sep 28, 2005 1:18 am
Route Climbed: West Ridge/South Slope - Scramble route Date Climbed: September 25, 2005Left the Barclay Lake TH at 8am under clear, sunny, and slightly chilly September morning. Gained the ridge crest in one hour (man was this steep!) and at the edge of the talus basin in another 45 minutes. Gained the saddle between north and south peaks 30 minutes later and was standing on the summit 15 minutes later. Total ascent time of 2 hrs and 30 minutes. Whew!! That was tough.....only 3 miles one way but over 3900 vertical feet elevation gain.
Descent was tough. It took only 2 hours but I must have slipped 20-30 times through the steep (I mean steep) gullys. Even twisted my ankle couple of times.
Overall, a good workout and great views of Merchant, Gunn, Index and the high volcanoes (Glacier Peak, Rainier, and Baker)
easleygone - Jul 31, 2005 10:14 am
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: Sept 1992A lot of sub-alpine scrambling early, but well worth it.
Have climbed it several times under varying conditions
Snow in the gully can be very dangerous when iced
up. Great views.
iluka - May 13, 2005 12:30 am
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: February 2005Took advantage of the very sunny February to get this one in. Great summit with awesome views. Hit is early season when the gulley up to the saddle has plenty of snow/ice and you don't have to mess with the talus. Be wary after a recent storm as the two steep sections in the trees can be very very muddy and slick.
dkantola - Mar 10, 2005 8:27 pm
Route Climbed: Northwest Ridge Date Climbed: March 6, 2005Pleasant root pulling and Devils Club encounters below the ridge led us to a trail tour and snow stroll above. Enter the thicket.
Brian Jenkins - Mar 7, 2005 12:25 pm
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: March 6, 2005With David and Steve. Started up at 10 am up the steep "trail" to the ridge. Easy to get off route on this one. Made the ridge and scurried down to the boulder basin. Very neat area. Hit snow in earnest here. Heavy, wet, sloshy snow. Went up the gully without any gear, the angle is maybe 30 degrees at most in snow (at least it was this time). Once in the notch though, we donned crampons and axes and made our way to the summit through rocks, trees, dirt, bushes and snow. The weather turned out to be nice all day but it took us almost the whole 9 hours the one guide book says to do this climb. The steepness of getting up to that ridge really slows things down.
So, we spent time trundling giant snowballs down the gully and throwing snowballs at each other and of course we got stuck on the descent in the dark. :- ) Made for some interesting moments when we got off the trail too. But we made it back fine and had a fun day. The two guidebooks list this as either a 6 hour climb or a 9 hour climb. Plan for closer to 9 and start earlier in the day that we did. But it's a fun one.
Andy Dewey - Jan 29, 2005 2:14 am
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: January 28, 2005Climbed the NW ridge today. No substantial snow until the basin below the gully at 4800'. Gully was still rocky and snow was very hard (crampons and ice axe needed on upper ridge). Could not find summit log (buried in snow); limited views, wind was very hard and COLD! Trail up the ridge was very slippery.
Distel32 - Nov 3, 2002 8:31 am
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: November 2, 2002Nothing like a late season summit. First person to summit since October 19th according to log. Perfect clear day. Hit snow in gully, scrambling over rocks with fresh snow not the best idea. From the summit we could see everything. All the way to Canada, and even adams just to the east of Rainer.