May 25, 2003, Sahale Arm via Doubtful Lk/Stehekin
5/25/03
WA Cascades East Slopes North
2542
0
Road/ trail from Stehekin to Cottonwood camp was mostly snow free with short patches just prior to and after the wash-out at Glory Mountain on Friday. Temperatures were quite warm, possibly low 70's at 2,670 ft.
On Saturday we scouted above Cottonwood Camp and found the trail to Basin Creek appx. 50% snow covered. Under intense sun and warmth the snow was softening quickly. The Basin Creek bridge is not yet installed but we did find a place to fjord it. Appx. mid-thigh depth and moving very swiftly. Further exploration upstream to appx. 4,400' indicated snow was just too soft to climb higher. We retreated back tp Cottonwood to enjoy the sun. (Note: Both Basin Creek and Stehekin River were blown-out by afternoon). We were glad to see cooling Saturday night.
Rose early Sunday under cool and overcast skies and moved quickly on firm snow to Basin Creek and then to appx. 4,400', where we turned NW climbing (booting up) east of Doubtful Creek to Doubtful Lake (Elev 5,385). (Note: Trail to Cascade Pass was visible in places across Doubtful Creek but appeared too exposed for safe travel through cliff band between 4,400' and 4,800'. Doubtful Creek was running very hard and crossings appeared risky.
Once at Doubtful lake, we crossed Doubtful Creek at the outfall on skis and skinned toward point labled on USGS as 6,263' on lower end of Sahale Arm. Base was firm with 1-4 inches rapidly warming corn on top. Finally had to boot straight up final 200 vertical feet. Quite steep but reasonably stable with temperatures warming fast and occasional sun.
We elected to climb only to about 6,400' on Sahale Arm after becoming shrouded in fog and hearing a thunderous slide let loose toward the SW. Sahale Mtn. was visible most of the time but unfortunately was not in the cards for us this trip as the foggy periods seemed to be increasing on us. Views down the Stehekin Valley were wonderful. We did not see any sign of other climbers/ skiers on Sahale Arm.
We strapped the skis back on for a very steep entry adjacent to the chute we had climbed up and enjoyed somewhat thick turns back down to Doubtful Lake and then more or less down our uptrack east of Doubtful Creek on much firmer snow overlying numerous small creeks and waterfalls down to 3,300' where we climbed back up to the trail through thick slide alder and then down valley to Cottonwood Camp for a much anticipated early dinner under clearing skies.
Appx. 5 hrs up, 2.5 hrs down.
On Saturday we scouted above Cottonwood Camp and found the trail to Basin Creek appx. 50% snow covered. Under intense sun and warmth the snow was softening quickly. The Basin Creek bridge is not yet installed but we did find a place to fjord it. Appx. mid-thigh depth and moving very swiftly. Further exploration upstream to appx. 4,400' indicated snow was just too soft to climb higher. We retreated back tp Cottonwood to enjoy the sun. (Note: Both Basin Creek and Stehekin River were blown-out by afternoon). We were glad to see cooling Saturday night.
Rose early Sunday under cool and overcast skies and moved quickly on firm snow to Basin Creek and then to appx. 4,400', where we turned NW climbing (booting up) east of Doubtful Creek to Doubtful Lake (Elev 5,385). (Note: Trail to Cascade Pass was visible in places across Doubtful Creek but appeared too exposed for safe travel through cliff band between 4,400' and 4,800'. Doubtful Creek was running very hard and crossings appeared risky.
Once at Doubtful lake, we crossed Doubtful Creek at the outfall on skis and skinned toward point labled on USGS as 6,263' on lower end of Sahale Arm. Base was firm with 1-4 inches rapidly warming corn on top. Finally had to boot straight up final 200 vertical feet. Quite steep but reasonably stable with temperatures warming fast and occasional sun.
We elected to climb only to about 6,400' on Sahale Arm after becoming shrouded in fog and hearing a thunderous slide let loose toward the SW. Sahale Mtn. was visible most of the time but unfortunately was not in the cards for us this trip as the foggy periods seemed to be increasing on us. Views down the Stehekin Valley were wonderful. We did not see any sign of other climbers/ skiers on Sahale Arm.
We strapped the skis back on for a very steep entry adjacent to the chute we had climbed up and enjoyed somewhat thick turns back down to Doubtful Lake and then more or less down our uptrack east of Doubtful Creek on much firmer snow overlying numerous small creeks and waterfalls down to 3,300' where we climbed back up to the trail through thick slide alder and then down valley to Cottonwood Camp for a much anticipated early dinner under clearing skies.
Appx. 5 hrs up, 2.5 hrs down.
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