April 24-30, 2019, Pickets Traverse
4/24/19
3127
10
Our party of three did a N-S traverse of the Pickets starting last Wednesday, more or less reversing the route proposed in the Voelken book. Didn't get to do any real summits due to an unfortunate combination of weather (primarily) and motivation (secondarily).
Itinerary:
Day 1: long car shuttle (6 hrs), Dairy Queen, permits. Started hiking Hannegan Pass Rd at 2pm. A few miles of intermittent post-holing and dry trail, then lots of soggy skinning up Ruth and an icy traverse to camp at Chilliwack Pass. ~12 hrs (6 hrs skiing)
Day 2: booted up a long couloir on the N side of Mineral Mountain. Pleasant skinning to the summit then a fast, carefree slush descent to Easy Pass. Traversed Easy Ridge, did a high crossing of Imperfect Impasse (aka perfect couloir) and sloppy skinning/booting to camp at Perfect Pass. ~11 hrs
Day 3: traversed Challenger Glacier to Challenger shoulder. Nasty wind, clouds, and rime precluded a climb to summit. Spied some awesome moderate couloirs off Big Beaver Peak but couldn't motivate to go ski it. Descent into Luna Cirque was nerve-racking, huge avy exposure. Climbed up to Luna Lake for camp. ~6.5 hrs
Day 3, bonus: a couple hours reinforcing our tarp shelter in the dark when the winds changed and heavy snow started up.
Day 4: Climb up to Luna col in blowing snow. At the col, 30mph gusts and low viz both indicated climbing Luna was out. Once a few hundred feet down from the col, viz improved for the descent. Long climb back toward Fury to access the McMillan Cirque drainage. Another massive descending traverse (8" of powder!) to the gulley called out in the Voelken book. Skied the gully down and followed the looong slide path to the bottom of the cirque. Camped in dry creek bed near some bear tracks. ~10 hr day
Day 5: Blue skies to start our long avy debris skin, then boot, up to a forested ridge, where relatively pleasant skinning commenced. This climb went on and on. Popped over the ridge between McMillan and Elephant Butte and started a long, hot traverse. Camped at 6k on Stettatle Ridge after long search for wind sheltered spot. A brief snowshower as we set up camp, then clear. Our coldest night. 10.5 hr day
Day 6: Sunny. Did the Stetattle skidaddle before dropping off the ridge to meet the Sourdough trail. Fairly definitive snow line at around 4100', so hiked the trail from there. Saw the first other humans in 5 days. Lunch at Cafe Mondo in Marblemount then retrieved the second car at Hannegan TH, back to Bham and Seattle. 4 hrs ski/hike, 6 hrs driving.
Notes:
-Even in the deep bowels of McMillan Cirque, AM radio from Snohomish and Vancouver came in loud and clear.
-Weather/snow: you name it, we saw it (except rain!) If I were to do this route again, I would insist on a perfect weather window (maybe later season?) As it was, we accepted the best forecast that was in our small window of overlapping availability.
-We had minimal walking and pretty much no bushwhacking
-Compared to other traverses I've done, this felt far more serious and higher consequence, with luck a larger factor in a successful outcome.
-Wild, almost fairytale-like terrain in the cirques back there.
Thanks to Josh and Dan for another safe outing and great companionship, and also to the trailhead gods that kept our vehicles unmolested while we were gone.
Happy to answer any questions, there's mystery to spare on this one.
This is my first TR so not sure if the photos will show up. If not, I'll try another method.
Pics:
(edit: here's a link to online album)
1. climbing to Luna Lake
2. climbing out of McMillan Cirque
3. finish in Diablo
Itinerary:
Day 1: long car shuttle (6 hrs), Dairy Queen, permits. Started hiking Hannegan Pass Rd at 2pm. A few miles of intermittent post-holing and dry trail, then lots of soggy skinning up Ruth and an icy traverse to camp at Chilliwack Pass. ~12 hrs (6 hrs skiing)
Day 2: booted up a long couloir on the N side of Mineral Mountain. Pleasant skinning to the summit then a fast, carefree slush descent to Easy Pass. Traversed Easy Ridge, did a high crossing of Imperfect Impasse (aka perfect couloir) and sloppy skinning/booting to camp at Perfect Pass. ~11 hrs
Day 3: traversed Challenger Glacier to Challenger shoulder. Nasty wind, clouds, and rime precluded a climb to summit. Spied some awesome moderate couloirs off Big Beaver Peak but couldn't motivate to go ski it. Descent into Luna Cirque was nerve-racking, huge avy exposure. Climbed up to Luna Lake for camp. ~6.5 hrs
Day 3, bonus: a couple hours reinforcing our tarp shelter in the dark when the winds changed and heavy snow started up.
Day 4: Climb up to Luna col in blowing snow. At the col, 30mph gusts and low viz both indicated climbing Luna was out. Once a few hundred feet down from the col, viz improved for the descent. Long climb back toward Fury to access the McMillan Cirque drainage. Another massive descending traverse (8" of powder!) to the gulley called out in the Voelken book. Skied the gully down and followed the looong slide path to the bottom of the cirque. Camped in dry creek bed near some bear tracks. ~10 hr day
Day 5: Blue skies to start our long avy debris skin, then boot, up to a forested ridge, where relatively pleasant skinning commenced. This climb went on and on. Popped over the ridge between McMillan and Elephant Butte and started a long, hot traverse. Camped at 6k on Stettatle Ridge after long search for wind sheltered spot. A brief snowshower as we set up camp, then clear. Our coldest night. 10.5 hr day
Day 6: Sunny. Did the Stetattle skidaddle before dropping off the ridge to meet the Sourdough trail. Fairly definitive snow line at around 4100', so hiked the trail from there. Saw the first other humans in 5 days. Lunch at Cafe Mondo in Marblemount then retrieved the second car at Hannegan TH, back to Bham and Seattle. 4 hrs ski/hike, 6 hrs driving.
Notes:
-Even in the deep bowels of McMillan Cirque, AM radio from Snohomish and Vancouver came in loud and clear.
-Weather/snow: you name it, we saw it (except rain!) If I were to do this route again, I would insist on a perfect weather window (maybe later season?) As it was, we accepted the best forecast that was in our small window of overlapping availability.
-We had minimal walking and pretty much no bushwhacking
-Compared to other traverses I've done, this felt far more serious and higher consequence, with luck a larger factor in a successful outcome.
-Wild, almost fairytale-like terrain in the cirques back there.
Thanks to Josh and Dan for another safe outing and great companionship, and also to the trailhead gods that kept our vehicles unmolested while we were gone.
Happy to answer any questions, there's mystery to spare on this one.
This is my first TR so not sure if the photos will show up. If not, I'll try another method.
Pics:
(edit: here's a link to online album)
1. climbing to Luna Lake
2. climbing out of McMillan Cirque
3. finish in Diablo
Heck of a trip! Pics aren't showing on the two devices I've tried though
Hey Porter, this is Peter! You and I need to get another good ski in this season. Hope your track/schoolwork is winding down soon!
I think I worked out the pics, maybe I'll do a public album as well.
I think I worked out the pics, maybe I'll do a public album as well.
Good news is my schoolwork wound down a few years ago, however the bad news is I'm a different Porter than you know... Haha funny coincidence though in a relatively niche hobby
Those photos are great! Would love to see any others you're interested in posting. Amazing part of the Cascades
Those photos are great! Would love to see any others you're interested in posting. Amazing part of the Cascades
Legit first TR, awesome!
seriously. first trip report? well, everything is downhill.
ha, funny Porter. I met another Porter M. on Shuksan this season and jumped to a conclusion. Congrats on finishing school anyway!
I added a link to a google album so hopefully that works and satisfies your picture request.
Thanks guys for the comments. You are right, probably just downhill from here. But I like downhill.
I added a link to a google album so hopefully that works and satisfies your picture request.
Thanks guys for the comments. You are right, probably just downhill from here. But I like downhill.
What a great trip, thanks for the report, thanks for figuring out how to make your pictures work, keep the good stuff coming. TAY needs you! THANKS!
So rad.. thanks for sharing! Trips like that are major tests of equipment.. wondering what lessons you learned, or specifically what you brought and valued, didn't bring and wished you had, etc..
Wow! Awesome. What a trip. The photos are fantastic. Surprised you went that deep without a tent. I liked the photo showing an ice axe lashed to a ski pole. Great report.
Thanks again.
As far as gear, at times I wished I'd had ski crampons, but since neither of my partners have them, I left mine at home. We still skinned some pretty steep, icy slopes, but the ski crampons would have let me/us relax a bit more.
Dan had an edge start to blow out on the 5th day; seemed to be a freak thing and it was near the tip of the ski in the rocker area, so it wasn't too significant.
I skipped bringing down booties and initially though this was a mistake when Dan pulled his out, but our running shoes were actually really nice to wear around camp and warm enough, surprisingly.
The tarp worked well enough but we spent quite a bit of time each night digging a shelter and getting it set up... And you are always guessing about which way the wind will come from during the night. I'd personally be willing to carry an extra pound or two next time for something less fussy to set up. On the positive side, it was light (7oz) and condensation was never an issue.
Josh has a tiny AM/FM/NOAA radio that was awesome. We checked each night and had a few stations to choose from (only AM though), which was surprising and great for morale. We jammed to some sweet 80's music in McMillan Cirque!
We each brought a second set of skins but didn't really need to use them. I'd still bring them though, cheap insurance.
As far as gear, at times I wished I'd had ski crampons, but since neither of my partners have them, I left mine at home. We still skinned some pretty steep, icy slopes, but the ski crampons would have let me/us relax a bit more.
Dan had an edge start to blow out on the 5th day; seemed to be a freak thing and it was near the tip of the ski in the rocker area, so it wasn't too significant.
I skipped bringing down booties and initially though this was a mistake when Dan pulled his out, but our running shoes were actually really nice to wear around camp and warm enough, surprisingly.
The tarp worked well enough but we spent quite a bit of time each night digging a shelter and getting it set up... And you are always guessing about which way the wind will come from during the night. I'd personally be willing to carry an extra pound or two next time for something less fussy to set up. On the positive side, it was light (7oz) and condensation was never an issue.
Josh has a tiny AM/FM/NOAA radio that was awesome. We checked each night and had a few stations to choose from (only AM though), which was surprising and great for morale. We jammed to some sweet 80's music in McMillan Cirque!
We each brought a second set of skins but didn't really need to use them. I'd still bring them though, cheap insurance.
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