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Gimpilator infinity/21M
Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 1684 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, WA |
In October of 2013, Matt Below and I took a crack at Cadet Peak. Unknown to us, a September snowfall had left some white stuff on the upper slopes of the peak. Micro-spikes were not sufficient on the icy slopes, so we bailed. Crampons would have worked.
October 2013 October 2013 bad snow in October 2013 bad snow in October 2013 trying to avoid the snow
Yesterday I returned with Heather and Chandler to complete unfinished business. Being familiar with the route, we made good time. Chandler and I rode bikes on the road east of Barlow Pass while Heather ran. She had a head start on us and we were not able to catch up to her, but we regrouped at Monte Cristo.
first time some berries a frog a bit of pyrite house size boulders
We hiked up the waterfall slabs trail to Glacier Basin and then turned left at the house sized boulders. I found a chunk of pyrite which was pretty exciting. We crossed the basin and then ascended the steep talus slope, keeping to the right of the blown-out gully.
Wilmans Spires talus and blown-out gully
At the top of the talus slope we traversed left on more solid rock ledges and then some loose rock to access the hidden start of a solid rock gully. There were some loose rocks in this gully so we stayed close together and wore helmets. Near the top of this gully we found the climber’s path through the trees which ascends the west ridge and slope.
starting the solid rock gully the Wilmans Glacier Silvertip
The climbers path is often well defined, but sometimes faint, especially around obstacles. For instance, there’s a point at which you clamber over some tree trunks and then it seemingly ends at some steep rock slabs. You can either descend below the slabs and climb up a rotten loose gully, or cross the top of the slabs while grasping onto tree branches and scant heather bushes.
traversing
There’s one thing that’s constant about the route above the basin and that is it is steep! We came to the point where I had turned around before and 6500 feet and then we started looking for the blocky gargoyle gendarme formation mentioned in various route descriptions. It’s important to traverse north below this formation or the route likely becomes technical climbing through the cliffs.
easy class 3+ step above the deep gully
Thanks to a route photo from MidLifeHiker, we traverse in the right place over towards the deep gully and found the class 3+ step. It was nice and solid with minimal exposure. However, the area above the step had some loose rock and a greater exposure factor. It appears that different parties ascend various ways through this section of slabs, minor cliffs and steep exposed heather slopes. After a few hundred feet it was over and we were back on simple terrain.
ptarmigan nest and one dud simple terrain
The summit black was now visible above us. It looked like a good scramble, but ended up being more of a walk. With all this good weather, the haze has been building to epic proportions. Despite that, I found great joy in the scene all around me. No doubt Cadet has some of the finest vistas to be had anywhere on the Mountain Loop Highway.
summit Rover and Sloan Sloan Gothic and Del Campo Gemini Peaks Kyes and Monte Cristo Glacier Big Four Wilmans Spires East Wilmans Peak and Columbia 81/100
After a snack and signing the register, I left Heather and Chandler to enjoy the summit so I could explore the north peak which carries the nickname Rover Mountain. I crossed through some hidden notches in the connecting ridge. One of them had an old rusty prospectors shovel which was split in two.
looking back at Cadet main peak Rover and cliffs barring way prospector shovel
I came to a larger snowfield and rather than descending I entered the moat. A direct line between the peaks is blocked by cliffs on Rover, so I skirted the base of those inside this moat. It had one tricky section with class 4ish rock and I stemmed that part with my back against the snow.
start of the moat stemming a glacier down on the east face looking back at Cadet ridge toward Foggy
On the west side of Rover I found a nice heather ramp up through the cliffs. There was another Mountaineers register, this one dating back to 1973. I counted the entries since the dawn of the millennium and I was the 18th ascent, roughly 1 per year. If I had to guess, probably half or more the ascents are due to the fact that the USGS maps are wrong and show the north peak to be 11 feet higher than the south peak.
Chandlers photo of me on Rover summit with Pugh behind Chandlers photo of me on Rover summit with Sloan Rover register 1973 Chandler standing on the summit of Cadet Heather on the class 3+ step Chandler Heather Glacier Basin
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awilsondc Member
Joined: 03 Apr 2016 Posts: 1323 | TRs | Pics
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Looks awesome! How was the heat up there?
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Jetlag Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2010 Posts: 1410 | TRs | Pics
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Jetlag
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Sun Aug 21, 2016 8:30 am
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Great to see a Cadet report!
I agree that the close-up views of the Glacier Basin peaks make the slopes of Cadet one of the best viewpoints in the Monte Cristo area. Glad you had time to climb Rover as well. (Didn't know that extension of Cadet had a name)
Cool chunk of pyrite!
There are easier early season routes up the peak, but like you say, on this route it's important to traverse left to the blocky gendarme to avoid the steep and hazardous climbing encountered when going straight up. Somehow I had forgotten this when I was climbing with my son in 2010 and introduced him to some really awful Cascade crumble.
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kitya Fortune Cookie
Joined: 15 Mar 2010 Posts: 842 | TRs | Pics Location: Duvall, WA |
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kitya
Fortune Cookie
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Sun Aug 21, 2016 8:47 am
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Are you sure it is really perite? The area is more likely to have arsenopyrite, highly toxic.
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neek Member
Joined: 12 Sep 2011 Posts: 2329 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle, WA |
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neek
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Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:28 am
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Great peak. I found it much steeper and more complex than anticipated. Can't believe we were the last party on the north peak 2 years ago. It's definitely worth the side trip.
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Fletcher Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Posts: 1870 | TRs | Pics Location: kirkland |
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Fletcher
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Sun Aug 21, 2016 10:37 am
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Looks like fun. How did a high traverse over to Foggy look?
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Jetlag Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2010 Posts: 1410 | TRs | Pics
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Jetlag
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Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:25 pm
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Kitya, on ascent routes up gullies to the north peak, we have found pyrite, the arsenopyrires you mentioned, lots of galena, quartz crystals and even a bit of silver. The glittering rocks midway up slow down the ascent rate considerably.
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Schroder Member
Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 6696 | TRs | Pics Location: on the beach |
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Schroder
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Sun Aug 21, 2016 2:35 pm
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Nice to see a register I placed 43 years ago.
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Schroder Member
Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 6696 | TRs | Pics Location: on the beach |
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Schroder
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Mon Aug 29, 2016 8:00 pm
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..and a piece of pipe I pulled out of my Dad's workshop back then
Gimpilator wrote: | Rover register |
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Gimpilator infinity/21M
Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 1684 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, WA |
awilsondc wrote: | Looks awesome! How was the heat up there? |
It was hot, but not unbearable. We started really early so as to avoid the worst of it.
kitya wrote: | Are you sure it is really perite? The area is more likely to have arsenopyrite, highly toxic. |
Certainly a valid concern. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. The first time I hiked to Gothic Basin there were signs along the old road to beware of arsenic polluted soils and to this day, I never drink any water from the area.
Some further research reveals that pyrites often form in cube patterns while the arsenopyrite is more grey and less gold colored and forms in monoclinic symmetry and triangular prismatic crystals. There are some cubes present in the sample I collected, however this is not conclusive to the point which I consider safe. I have taken precautions to isolate the sample and will no longer be touching it with bare hands.
Perhaps more troubling is the fact that we found a much larger sample weighing several pounds. This was present along the side of the trail when we went up the peak, but had been taken by some other party and was gone when we returned. Hopefully whoever took the sample isn't exposing their household to poison without the knowledge of it.
Fletcher wrote: | Looks like fun. How did a high traverse over to Foggy look? |
From North Cadet it's difficult to discern which point is actually Foggy since the Gemini Peaks are more prominent. From what I could tell, it's probably a lot of steep unpleasant talus traversing and I think the way Stefan did it with some snow is probably a better choice than going in late season.
Schroder wrote: | ..and a piece of pipe I pulled out of my Dad's workshop back then
Gimpilator wrote: | Rover register |
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I noticed your last name as one of the placers and I wondered if it could be the same guy from NWH. Pretty cool!!! You've been bagging peaks for a long time.
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