Snofzig - Jul 16, 2020 7:07 am Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2020
Introductory Glacier Climb
Great beginner glacier climb. No major crevasses at this point in the year, and snow bridges seemed fairly strong. Trail is in fairly good condition overall, and views are stellar.
huskertriguy - Jul 2, 2020 2:14 pm Date Climbed: Jun 29, 2020
Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge...
Mountaineers climb led by Alina B. This was an alternate to Baker due to weather.
Be informed there are mice at the trailhead who are aggressive when it comes to entering your vehicles. I had my windows cracked while sleeping but I am betting they crawled in through the air ducts. Thanks to these rodents I only got 90 minutes of sleep at the trailhead the night prior to our climb. One other person had them in their car, as evidenced by some gnawed-on snacks.
We started moving at 7:30 a.m. Between the trailhead and Hannegan Pass are multiple snow crossings over streams. The snow bridges are getting quite thin but were still solid enough to cross in the morning. In fact at least 1-2 snow bridges collapsed before our return trip, requiring us to bushwhack 20 feet uphill for safer crossing on the way down.
The last reliable water source for us was shortly before Hannegan Pass. This is also where continuous snow still blankets the entire route to the summit. At 4800' we ascended directly up a snow-covered slop avoiding the last switchbacks to Hannegan Pass. We arrived at the pass at 10:30 a.m.
From the pass we descended ~100' to a small saddle before ascending around the north side of the last bump before the ridgeline to Ruth. This was a short and steep effort that required kicking in steps but the snow was perfect for it.
At 6000' we roped up and donned crampons and ice axes. For us it was snow all the way to the summit block, requiring minimal walking on scree which was nice. We reached the summit at 2:30 p.m. Low clouds obscured some summits but in general we were presented with exquisite views of Nooksack Cirque/Shuksan, Icy Peak, the Chilliwacks, et al.
Shortly before Hannegan Pass we were passed on the trail by 2 skiers who had planned to skin up at the pass and summit Ruth Mountain from there. After the pass, however, we saw no trace of them. Concern was growing until, 1000' short of the summit, we looked back and saw them ascending around the bump below us. It turns out they had mistakenly descended a mile or so down a bowl before they realized their error and had to ascend back up. They caught up with us at the summit and of course descended much faster. This is the only other party we saw all day.
At 6000' we stowed ropes and crampons. We were able to make good time descending back to Hannegan Pass plunge-stepping, minus some minor traversing and the short 100' ascent from the saddle. We were back at the trailhead at 7:30 p.m.
It was a very chill pace with top-notch leadership and a good team of folks.
cascadescrambler - Aug 15, 2019 2:23 pm Date Climbed: Jul 4, 1976
Ruth and Hannegan
Spent the 200th anniversary of our country bagging peaks
Ascent to glacier was about the same as I remember from a previous ascent in 2014. Brushy, steep (at least immediately after Hannegan Pass), dirty. Ridge arm to the base of the glacier is nice and open, and there's loads of great campsites up there. Glacier seems to be receding bit by bit, so I'm not sure how long the upper part of the ascent will be an easy glacier walk. But for now just crampons and an ice axe is all you need to make the summit.
A friend and I Climbed Ruth Mountain via Hannegan Pass. We were successful in reaching the summit and enjoyed the trip despite limited views. Snow levels were low and the glacier had many exposed crevasses, but was navigable by following the obvious ascent route.
Unfortunately we had poor weather conditions, with rain for most of the trip and constant cloud cover. The snow started once we hit about 6000' and was actually a welcome change from the incessant rain. We were unable to see Mt. Shuksan or any of the other classic Cascade vistas, but captured plenty of pictures featuring classic PNW fog-laden forest valleys.
A timeline of our trip is included below, in all we were gone for 8 hours.
06:00 - Began hiking from Hannegan Pass Trailhead
08:00 - Arrived at Hannegan Pass. There is a steep mud gully shortly after reaching this point that really sucks, especially in the rain.
09:15 - Reached bottom of the glacier. Roped up and put on crampons
10:30 - Reached the summit and celebrated with fermented beverage. It's worthy to note that the summit at this time was loose rock and especially difficult to navigate with a fresh dusting of snow.
12:30 - Arrived back at Hannegan Pass
14:00 - Arrived back to the parking lot
Joshabrink - Oct 8, 2017 1:24 pm Date Climbed: Sep 9, 2017
Mountaineering 101
Had a great time learning mountaineering basics this summer. Incredibly hot, still blueberries in season, saw a bear chillin' near camp, beautiful campsite, perfect climb. Made a short movie...enjoy! https://youtu.be/zCnUM0uadTU
rtgomez90 - May 21, 2017 4:51 pm Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2015
2016-04-23 via Ruth Glacier with Natasha and Benjamin
fekjpk24 - Jul 25, 2016 10:37 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2016
Loved this Climb!
Started out intending to climb Eldorado but couldn't get permits. Reluctantly we settled on Ruth Mountain. It turned out to be blessing in disguise. We had a great climb.
We hiked up the trail to the base of Ruth before we jumped onto the snow. It was a fairly easy and pleasant hike with lots of small waterfalls along the way. We climbed up to the saddle between Ruth and a small peak immediately north of Ruth Mountain. The snow was soft and we easily kicked steps without crampons.
We spent the night at about 6800 on the saddle. It was a clear and warm night in the 50s with a small gentle breeze out of the east. The night sky was fantastic.
We got up the next morning about 5 and were climbing by 6 or so. We used crampons and roped up to go up the Glacier to the summit. There were 3 of us. We only saw one small crevasse along the way and probably didn't need to rope up, but we wanted the practice of roped travel.
The climb was easy and by 730 we were on the summit. Our lead on the rope was greeted by a growling dog at the summit. A couple and their dog had spent the night on the summit along with two other climbers. The dog turned out to be a puppy that was friendly but protective. The couple and the dog headed back down the mountain unroped and the other two climbers headed on to summit nearby Icy Peak.
Our initial plan was to also summit Icy Peak but the temperatures were rising quickly and we didn't have a lot of time. It was sooo hot up there and getting hotter by the minute. Continuing on wouldn't be too smart. We decided to head back down and we were glad we did because by the time we packed up our camp and were headed back down it was blazing hot walking on the snow.
Of note is that we glissaded down a small gully during our descent and darn near glissaded into a hole with a 15 foot drop into some very sharp rocks and running water. It would have ruined our day for sure. I have a better appreciation for the advise that you shouldn't glissade down an area unless you climbed up that area.
y
Norman - Jun 28, 2016 8:50 pm Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2016
Ruth
Two of us wanted to climb Sefrit on Saturday, but the Ruth Creek crossing was going to be a challenge. We would have been more motivated if the weather had been better. No rain but everything was wet. The clouds were low. So off we went to the more familiar Ruth Mountain. Snow from Hannegan Pass on. Views were very limited, but short opportunities to see Shuksan were good enough. First summit for me this year.
NWNav - Jan 18, 2015 3:44 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2013
Great for New Climbers
Did this with a rope team that had practice, but had never done glacier travel actual. This was a great trip for them to experience being roped up, and gave me piece of mind with two inexperienced climbers.
EastKing - Jul 13, 2014 2:57 am Date Climbed: Jul 12, 2014
On the summit for three hours
Nice climb. Sketchy on a side traverse along 5920' but other than that a long hot fun day. Views cleared for smoke from a forest fire in the morning to clearer sky in the afternoon.
Mike Lewis - Jul 13, 2014 2:30 am Date Climbed: Jul 12, 2014
H Pass. Stunning
EastKing and I stayed at the TH overnight and went up early hoping to beat some of the heat. We paced our way up the snow (5,000') which was beginning to melt with temps never making 0c. A little worrisome traversing the North-East side of P5930' with bad run-out but the snow conditions were perfect summer snow. Made the summit by 11am with sun and bad smoke that eventually blew away. The views went from good, to great to amazing and by the time we got to the top I was shouting with joy with that amazing view of Shuksan. We spent 3 hours taking it in and chatting with others before glissading down and then the heat hit us. Back on trail, we jumped under cataracts to stay cool. Ruth is an awesome peak that delivers the whole way.
Curtissimo - Jul 9, 2014 1:46 am Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2014
Happy birthday USA
Snow constant from just before the pass. Some snow bridges across gullies on approach to pass require some considerable effort or risk, OK for mountaineers but still dangerous for casual hikers.
Beautiful mountain more majestic than it's somewhat humble stature would indicate.
Nice day with Magellan and the Maintenance Man.
JLuthanen - Oct 27, 2013 1:19 am Date Climbed: Oct 26, 2013
First North Cascades success
After attempting Rainier 2x and Church 1x, tagged my first legit North Cascades peak today. Weather was bluebird though the coast has been shrouded in fog for 10+ days, no wind. Snow was punchy but held well in the morning. 7:30am arrival, 5pm depart (after hour long summit lunch @ 12). All reward for views - fun climb!
belowfellow - Oct 28, 2012 1:00 pm Date Climbed: Sep 22, 2012
fun trip
we were above a sea of clouds for the majority of the trip. it there was a lot of smoke in the air, which diminished views, but a great trip nonetheless
sprosseda - Sep 14, 2012 6:03 pm Date Climbed: Aug 9, 2012
SE face
Instead of going up the Ruth glacier solo, I contoured below the glacier to E ridge, then to SE face and went up snow slopes to hit final crest 50 feet from summit. Fantastic panorama and mountain was not as challenging as I was expecting.
Snofzig - Jul 16, 2020 7:07 am Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2020
Introductory Glacier ClimbGreat beginner glacier climb. No major crevasses at this point in the year, and snow bridges seemed fairly strong. Trail is in fairly good condition overall, and views are stellar.
huskertriguy - Jul 2, 2020 2:14 pm Date Climbed: Jun 29, 2020
Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge...Mountaineers climb led by Alina B. This was an alternate to Baker due to weather.
Be informed there are mice at the trailhead who are aggressive when it comes to entering your vehicles. I had my windows cracked while sleeping but I am betting they crawled in through the air ducts. Thanks to these rodents I only got 90 minutes of sleep at the trailhead the night prior to our climb. One other person had them in their car, as evidenced by some gnawed-on snacks.
We started moving at 7:30 a.m. Between the trailhead and Hannegan Pass are multiple snow crossings over streams. The snow bridges are getting quite thin but were still solid enough to cross in the morning. In fact at least 1-2 snow bridges collapsed before our return trip, requiring us to bushwhack 20 feet uphill for safer crossing on the way down.
The last reliable water source for us was shortly before Hannegan Pass. This is also where continuous snow still blankets the entire route to the summit. At 4800' we ascended directly up a snow-covered slop avoiding the last switchbacks to Hannegan Pass. We arrived at the pass at 10:30 a.m.
From the pass we descended ~100' to a small saddle before ascending around the north side of the last bump before the ridgeline to Ruth. This was a short and steep effort that required kicking in steps but the snow was perfect for it.
At 6000' we roped up and donned crampons and ice axes. For us it was snow all the way to the summit block, requiring minimal walking on scree which was nice. We reached the summit at 2:30 p.m. Low clouds obscured some summits but in general we were presented with exquisite views of Nooksack Cirque/Shuksan, Icy Peak, the Chilliwacks, et al.
Shortly before Hannegan Pass we were passed on the trail by 2 skiers who had planned to skin up at the pass and summit Ruth Mountain from there. After the pass, however, we saw no trace of them. Concern was growing until, 1000' short of the summit, we looked back and saw them ascending around the bump below us. It turns out they had mistakenly descended a mile or so down a bowl before they realized their error and had to ascend back up. They caught up with us at the summit and of course descended much faster. This is the only other party we saw all day.
At 6000' we stowed ropes and crampons. We were able to make good time descending back to Hannegan Pass plunge-stepping, minus some minor traversing and the short 100' ascent from the saddle. We were back at the trailhead at 7:30 p.m.
It was a very chill pace with top-notch leadership and a good team of folks.
cascadescrambler - Aug 15, 2019 2:23 pm Date Climbed: Jul 4, 1976
Ruth and HanneganSpent the 200th anniversary of our country bagging peaks
DawnchaserTheAdventurer - Mar 7, 2019 7:01 pm Date Climbed: Sep 14, 2018
Hit the summit at 11:30 am, to epic viewsAscent to glacier was about the same as I remember from a previous ascent in 2014. Brushy, steep (at least immediately after Hannegan Pass), dirty. Ridge arm to the base of the glacier is nice and open, and there's loads of great campsites up there. Glacier seems to be receding bit by bit, so I'm not sure how long the upper part of the ascent will be an easy glacier walk. But for now just crampons and an ice axe is all you need to make the summit.
texas->PNW - Sep 17, 2018 11:01 pm Date Climbed: Sep 14, 2018
Late season ascentA friend and I Climbed Ruth Mountain via Hannegan Pass. We were successful in reaching the summit and enjoyed the trip despite limited views. Snow levels were low and the glacier had many exposed crevasses, but was navigable by following the obvious ascent route.
Unfortunately we had poor weather conditions, with rain for most of the trip and constant cloud cover. The snow started once we hit about 6000' and was actually a welcome change from the incessant rain. We were unable to see Mt. Shuksan or any of the other classic Cascade vistas, but captured plenty of pictures featuring classic PNW fog-laden forest valleys.
A timeline of our trip is included below, in all we were gone for 8 hours.
06:00 - Began hiking from Hannegan Pass Trailhead
08:00 - Arrived at Hannegan Pass. There is a steep mud gully shortly after reaching this point that really sucks, especially in the rain.
09:15 - Reached bottom of the glacier. Roped up and put on crampons
10:30 - Reached the summit and celebrated with fermented beverage. It's worthy to note that the summit at this time was loose rock and especially difficult to navigate with a fresh dusting of snow.
12:30 - Arrived back at Hannegan Pass
14:00 - Arrived back to the parking lot
Joshabrink - Oct 8, 2017 1:24 pm Date Climbed: Sep 9, 2017
Mountaineering 101Had a great time learning mountaineering basics this summer. Incredibly hot, still blueberries in season, saw a bear chillin' near camp, beautiful campsite, perfect climb. Made a short movie...enjoy! https://youtu.be/zCnUM0uadTU
rtgomez90 - May 21, 2017 4:51 pm Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2015
RuthCheck
Mooner - Aug 20, 2016 3:50 pm
Up I Go2016-04-23 via Ruth Glacier with Natasha and Benjamin
fekjpk24 - Jul 25, 2016 10:37 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2016
Loved this Climb!Started out intending to climb Eldorado but couldn't get permits. Reluctantly we settled on Ruth Mountain. It turned out to be blessing in disguise. We had a great climb.
We hiked up the trail to the base of Ruth before we jumped onto the snow. It was a fairly easy and pleasant hike with lots of small waterfalls along the way. We climbed up to the saddle between Ruth and a small peak immediately north of Ruth Mountain. The snow was soft and we easily kicked steps without crampons.
We spent the night at about 6800 on the saddle. It was a clear and warm night in the 50s with a small gentle breeze out of the east. The night sky was fantastic.
We got up the next morning about 5 and were climbing by 6 or so. We used crampons and roped up to go up the Glacier to the summit. There were 3 of us. We only saw one small crevasse along the way and probably didn't need to rope up, but we wanted the practice of roped travel.
The climb was easy and by 730 we were on the summit. Our lead on the rope was greeted by a growling dog at the summit. A couple and their dog had spent the night on the summit along with two other climbers. The dog turned out to be a puppy that was friendly but protective. The couple and the dog headed back down the mountain unroped and the other two climbers headed on to summit nearby Icy Peak.
Our initial plan was to also summit Icy Peak but the temperatures were rising quickly and we didn't have a lot of time. It was sooo hot up there and getting hotter by the minute. Continuing on wouldn't be too smart. We decided to head back down and we were glad we did because by the time we packed up our camp and were headed back down it was blazing hot walking on the snow.
Of note is that we glissaded down a small gully during our descent and darn near glissaded into a hole with a 15 foot drop into some very sharp rocks and running water. It would have ruined our day for sure. I have a better appreciation for the advise that you shouldn't glissade down an area unless you climbed up that area.
y
Norman - Jun 28, 2016 8:50 pm Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2016
RuthTwo of us wanted to climb Sefrit on Saturday, but the Ruth Creek crossing was going to be a challenge. We would have been more motivated if the weather had been better. No rain but everything was wet. The clouds were low. So off we went to the more familiar Ruth Mountain. Snow from Hannegan Pass on. Views were very limited, but short opportunities to see Shuksan were good enough. First summit for me this year.
NWNav - Jan 18, 2015 3:44 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2013
Great for New ClimbersDid this with a rope team that had practice, but had never done glacier travel actual. This was a great trip for them to experience being roped up, and gave me piece of mind with two inexperienced climbers.
EastKing - Jul 13, 2014 2:57 am Date Climbed: Jul 12, 2014
On the summit for three hoursNice climb. Sketchy on a side traverse along 5920' but other than that a long hot fun day. Views cleared for smoke from a forest fire in the morning to clearer sky in the afternoon.
Mike Lewis - Jul 13, 2014 2:30 am Date Climbed: Jul 12, 2014
H Pass. StunningEastKing and I stayed at the TH overnight and went up early hoping to beat some of the heat. We paced our way up the snow (5,000') which was beginning to melt with temps never making 0c. A little worrisome traversing the North-East side of P5930' with bad run-out but the snow conditions were perfect summer snow. Made the summit by 11am with sun and bad smoke that eventually blew away. The views went from good, to great to amazing and by the time we got to the top I was shouting with joy with that amazing view of Shuksan. We spent 3 hours taking it in and chatting with others before glissading down and then the heat hit us. Back on trail, we jumped under cataracts to stay cool. Ruth is an awesome peak that delivers the whole way.
Curtissimo - Jul 9, 2014 1:46 am Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2014
Happy birthday USASnow constant from just before the pass. Some snow bridges across gullies on approach to pass require some considerable effort or risk, OK for mountaineers but still dangerous for casual hikers.
Beautiful mountain more majestic than it's somewhat humble stature would indicate.
Nice day with Magellan and the Maintenance Man.
JLuthanen - Oct 27, 2013 1:19 am Date Climbed: Oct 26, 2013
First North Cascades successAfter attempting Rainier 2x and Church 1x, tagged my first legit North Cascades peak today. Weather was bluebird though the coast has been shrouded in fog for 10+ days, no wind. Snow was punchy but held well in the morning. 7:30am arrival, 5pm depart (after hour long summit lunch @ 12). All reward for views - fun climb!
belowfellow - Oct 28, 2012 1:00 pm Date Climbed: Sep 22, 2012
fun tripwe were above a sea of clouds for the majority of the trip. it there was a lot of smoke in the air, which diminished views, but a great trip nonetheless
tcingrum - Sep 21, 2012 1:00 am
Ruth via Hannegannice day trip great area
sprosseda - Sep 14, 2012 6:03 pm Date Climbed: Aug 9, 2012
SE faceInstead of going up the Ruth glacier solo, I contoured below the glacier to E ridge, then to SE face and went up snow slopes to hit final crest 50 feet from summit. Fantastic panorama and mountain was not as challenging as I was expecting.
setrent - Oct 21, 2011 12:32 am
North SlopeA great spring ski!
MMclimbhigh - Oct 4, 2011 8:32 pm
Four times...Climbed Ruth glacier a handful of times. To ski, summit bivy and on the way to Icy. Great views!