Home > Trip Reports > Dakobed Range, July 18-21

Dakobed Range, July 18-21

7/15/08
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Posted by skifish on 7/25/08 12:58pm
Peter Kelemen, Mark Blatter and I embarked on a modest adventure in the Glacier Peak Wilderness last Friday through Tuesday.  We had splendid weather, good skiing/exploring, and some quality cascades suffering.  We will definitely be back to further explore this wondrous region.  The photos for this trip are found here

We slept at the White River Trailhead Friday night, then up to Boulder Pass on Saturday.  PK and I did some laps on the north side of Boulder Pass, above the Napeequa River.  Coverage a bit limited, but solid summer skiing.  The next morning, we skiied, skinned and bootpacked up to the ridge to the west and were rewarded with entrance onto the Walrus Glacier (called the Clark on some maps).  The line was obvious, so we spent the day climbing Clark Mountain and descending the Walrus back to camp, about 2700 vertical.  It was very nice, but we wanted more. 

Having exhausted options near Boulder Pass, we elected to drop into the Napeequa Valley and try to traverse over to the north side of Tenpeak to scope out the North Couloir  (see Ryan€™s recent TR, nicely done!).  We were going to then go up the Honeycomb to the col above Lightning Creek, then back down to the White River.  After arriving at Moth Lake below the eminently skiable Moth Glacier.  Alas, when we tried to force our way to the lake below the north side of Tenpeak, we were foiled by lack of snow cover, a huge gorge with a collapsed snow bridge, and the steepest lupine slopes I have ever had the pleasure to traverse.  It was clear we would have to descend into the green hell of the Suiattle, then back up to the honeycomb, a daunting prospect considering the effort already expended.  We returned to camp at Moth Lake.  After a modicum of morning skiing, we schlepped our way back down the Napeequa. Back up to Boulder Pass, then down to the White River and warm PBR and pretzel sticks at the truck. 

Looked like a good adventure in a wild place.  Some amazing snow formations.
TRs like this remind us of how special a part of the world we live in---so much gnarliness so close!

What a great trip. Too bad you couldn't complete the loop, but I guess that gives you a(nother) reason to return. Did you see the party of three on sunday who were making their way to Glacier? I think they said they had climbed Clark. Moving really fast but didn't seem too familiar with the area (when asked from where they started one guy told me the Nisqually river) Anyway, nice job getting back there.

Maybe I'll see you out there one day......

Brian's summary of the trip is accurate, but hardly does justice to the effort, frustration, beauty and hilarity we experienced.  I remain convinced I was sandbagged to accompany skifish to the base of Tenpeak so he could nab the north couloir.

It was the wrong thing to do, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  Thanks, Brian

8)  I love the Napequa, I backpacked through there last summer and up the North fork (right-ways) to High Pass.  Did you go right where the north fork goes left??

Those peaks are spectacular lookin',  I'm envious :D

Great work guys.  Sorry that you didn't complete the loop, but, hey, at least you got to hang out at Moth Lake.  I hope to sometime return to the area and ski the Butterfly and Moth Glaciers, maybe earlier season when the S side of Clark has some snow on it.  Thanks for the TR.

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dakobed-range-july-18-21
skifish
2008-07-25 19:58:23