June 7-9, 2003, Glacier Peak Traverse
6/7/03
WA Cascades West Slopes Central
4175
5
Glacier Peak Traverse TR
June 7, 8, 9
Mike Beck and I took advantage of the last good days of the hot weather spell to climb up the Sitkum Glacier, cross the upper Cool Glacier, descend alongside Gerdine Ridge to the lower Suiattle glacier, and ski down to the lower Whitechuck Glacier. There were no crevasses open at all on the Sitkum and those on the Cool could be easily seen and circumvented from above. There was a slight icefall to cross at 9160 feet passing under Disappointment Peak, and it seemed like carrying ice axes, crampons, rope, harnesses, carabiners, ascenders, etc might be justified after all. But in the end we could pass all obstacles with skis alone.
Once we turned south from the Sitkum the snow was pleasant sun softened corn. Lower down skiing was marred by the sticky, slow pollen covering the snow. Perhaps someone can tell me what magic wax resists the pollen.
The extensive highland region south of Glacier Peak is sublimely beautiful. The upper Suiattle and Whitechuck Glaciers, and White Peak, a little farther on, are all very attractive ski destinations, and make worthwhile a 4 or 5 day extension of the basic trip. We planned on 4 days with a day spent skiiing White Peak and environs, but woke up Monday morning, camped in the highest trees of the Whitechuck, in a dense fog. At 10:30 it was still socked in so we started down. An hour later the skies did clear but we were well on our way. Given the rain this morning Im glad we bailed when we did. The long hiike out would have been truly miserable in rain. We skiied down the broad, open valley left of the Whitechuck, approximately on the summer trail, to 4800 feet. Then, we turned the corner, on the trail, suddenly ran out of snow, and hiked snow-free switchbacks steeply down to the Whitechuck. It was an unusually clean and perfectly placed transition from skis to hiking.
Somehow hiking down the trail with lighter packs than we had going in was much harder than the climb. Im not sure why - perhaps cumulative fatigue. I both hiked and skiied in the same boots - Salomon Raids, and Beck changed to ski boots at the trail junction. I used waxless skis and he didnt, but given the sticky pollen covered snow lower on the Whitechuck there was not much difference. Despite the long hike this trip is worth the trouble. Its really beautiful and varied, with an unusually extensive high altitude region for the Cascades.*
June 7, 8, 9
Mike Beck and I took advantage of the last good days of the hot weather spell to climb up the Sitkum Glacier, cross the upper Cool Glacier, descend alongside Gerdine Ridge to the lower Suiattle glacier, and ski down to the lower Whitechuck Glacier. There were no crevasses open at all on the Sitkum and those on the Cool could be easily seen and circumvented from above. There was a slight icefall to cross at 9160 feet passing under Disappointment Peak, and it seemed like carrying ice axes, crampons, rope, harnesses, carabiners, ascenders, etc might be justified after all. But in the end we could pass all obstacles with skis alone.
Once we turned south from the Sitkum the snow was pleasant sun softened corn. Lower down skiing was marred by the sticky, slow pollen covering the snow. Perhaps someone can tell me what magic wax resists the pollen.
The extensive highland region south of Glacier Peak is sublimely beautiful. The upper Suiattle and Whitechuck Glaciers, and White Peak, a little farther on, are all very attractive ski destinations, and make worthwhile a 4 or 5 day extension of the basic trip. We planned on 4 days with a day spent skiiing White Peak and environs, but woke up Monday morning, camped in the highest trees of the Whitechuck, in a dense fog. At 10:30 it was still socked in so we started down. An hour later the skies did clear but we were well on our way. Given the rain this morning Im glad we bailed when we did. The long hiike out would have been truly miserable in rain. We skiied down the broad, open valley left of the Whitechuck, approximately on the summer trail, to 4800 feet. Then, we turned the corner, on the trail, suddenly ran out of snow, and hiked snow-free switchbacks steeply down to the Whitechuck. It was an unusually clean and perfectly placed transition from skis to hiking.
Somehow hiking down the trail with lighter packs than we had going in was much harder than the climb. Im not sure why - perhaps cumulative fatigue. I both hiked and skiied in the same boots - Salomon Raids, and Beck changed to ski boots at the trail junction. I used waxless skis and he didnt, but given the sticky pollen covered snow lower on the Whitechuck there was not much difference. Despite the long hike this trip is worth the trouble. Its really beautiful and varied, with an unusually extensive high altitude region for the Cascades.*
A classic trip, Steve.
Thanks for sharing it.
Did you get any pictures?
Thanks for sharing it.
Did you get any pictures?
Yeah, the White Chuck Glacier - Suiattle Glacier - Honeycomb Glacier Traverse has been on my list for a long time. Nice job.
I've tried repeatedly to load a stripped down, web ready photo into here but haven't yet succeeded. It shouldn't be so hard. I've copied the photo then tried to paste it into this reply (I also tried to paste it into the original post). Why doesn't that work?
You need to post the photo somewhere else on the web and then the link to it goes where the "URL" is inside the img code. If you don't have a place set up I'll post it where I post my photos and link it for you if you like. Just email it to me.
He did and I did.
Nice shot:
Steve indicates this photo is looking south from the climb up Glacier Peak, showing the Suiattle Glacier.
He did and I did.
Nice shot:
Steve indicates this photo is looking south from the climb up Glacier Peak, showing the Suiattle Glacier.
Guess I should have put the pic in a new post so the thread would come up again so everyone interested could see Steve's pic. Oh, well, this'll do it :)
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