Home > Trip Reports > Mt. Ruth, 7/20/08

Mt. Ruth, 7/20/08

7/15/08
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
5755
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Posted by jd on 7/21/08 4:38am

Mt. Shuksan the night before

Another day in paradise up on Mt. Ruth. Eric and I drove up the night before and camped at the trail head, Greg rolled in later.
 

Good snow (best around 3), gorgeous views, superb napping conditions. Quite a few folks up there enjoying the day, but we stayed long enough to have the summit to ourselves for quite a while.
   

We made 2 runs up top . . .
             

. . and a nice bonus drop into the basin below the pass avoided the dreaded steep climbers path.
   

I think Einstein said that time and space are relative, and the hike out proved it, what had been a pleasant cruise in the cool of the morning stretched on for ever in the hot afternoon.
   

The only bummer was stopping at the Beer & Pizza Shrine for over priced mediocre pizza and poor service, then a long drive home in the dark.
Did your bonus basin drop follow the obvious leftmost gully visible in your third last photo or did it go off of the ridge?

Your photos are making me rethink my plans for later in the week.

Alan

Big Snow, the gully we skied is off the other side of the ridge, not visible in the picture you are referring to. I wouldn't drop down this side which would entail steep talus and brush at this point in the season.

Instead of following the normal climber's traverse we cut NE and dropped into the basin on the other side of the pass. We couldn't see if the snow was continuous (you can if you walk down the trail from the pass a short distance) until we skied down to it. We did hit some rocks lower down, and did a short carry between snow fields. A short walk on snow got us back to the trail that climbed a few hundred feet back up to the pass.

This picture is taken half way up the trail back to Hannigan Pass which is up out of sight to the right, the regular route traverses the horizontal snow slope below the rocky ridge and descends a steep path in the low trees below.


    I give your report an A ! Nice footage with the 'surfing spray' shot and the one of the snowboarder/poles (with the stellar background) that could be worth a magazine shot. Powder Mag. likes those kinda shots.

author=skimtner link=topic=10693.msg43623#msg43623 date=1216774949]
    I give your report an A ! Nice footage with the 'surfing spray' shot and the one of the snowboarder/poles (with the stellar background) that could be worth a magazine shot. Powder Mag. likes those kinda shots.


jd's photos are consistently wonderful and often publication-worthy. An older sunset shot of Larrison Ridge is stuck permanently in my brain.

Very nice shots as others have remarked.
Next year Ruth is on the must do list for me mainly because those rocks look so comfortable to nap on...it seems that everyone that does this trip sleeps on those rocks.
Oh and that ski line smack dab in the middle chute is enticing too...
Excellent report.

Hi there, just looking for a bit more beta on this route... thinking about heading up saturday afternoon, camp at the pass, then summit, ski, and get out on sunday. Having a hard time finding route information beyond hannegan camp though. What are the times like headed up to the summit from the camp? Any useful info on the route? Think it'll still be worth skiing after the rain this week? Thanks!

Colin,

There should be plenty of snow up there for a decent run through August.

If I were camping on the mt. I would go beyond the pass (views are not that good) to camp on the ridge above, or even the summit of Ruth - which would reward you with an incredible sunrise/sunset. Hannigan Peak, not far up the other side of the pass from Ruth, might also be nice, even if it is in the wrong direction.

The standard route should be pretty easy to find - there are often footprints leaving from the pass towards Ruth. You'll soon drop a bit down to a saddle, the steep climber's path is on the left side of the big hillside close to the timber. The snow traverse below the cliffs of the ridge is quite obvious from there - crampons/axe advised in firm conditions. Times of course will vary for everyone, considering load etc.

Have fun.

thanks jd! I guess I'm just trying to get an idea of distance from the lower camp to the summit. Sounds like a fun trip and not too tough either...

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mt-ruth-7-20-08
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2008-07-21 11:38:29