Forum Index > Trip Reports > Holliway Mtn 6/17/17
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raising3hikers
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raising3hikers
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PostSun Jun 18, 2017 2:50 pm 
On Saturday, Distel32 and I headed up Highway 20 for a trip to Holliway Mtn via Swamp Creek. We started hiking at 7am and instead of crossing the road to head up, Distel asked why no one crosses the creek along the highway before heading up. I didn't have a good answer and thought he had a great idea to start on the West side of the creek to avoid the creek crossing in the woods. It worked out great! Travel was good on the West side of the creek and soon we began heading up the open slopes below Hardy Mtn. After the burn area, we hit snow and it was very firm. Crampons were put on as we began traversing below Hardy to head towards Methow Pass. We traversed at 7300', it was the easiest line despite the extra gain. We then dropped down a steep slope on the way towards the pass.
Black Peak
Black Peak
As we made our way towards the pass, we headed down towards the West Fork Methow River just before Pt 6818. A nice slope and ramp dropped us down to the valley to where the snow covered PCT is. At times, we could tell we were on the PCT because of the occasionally cut log sticking up through the snow. We headed North for a couple miles and finally found a bit of dry dirt (4680'). It was short lived because it was just before Golden Creek, which we would go back off trail and look for the easiest way up towards the Nugget Lakes. We found a nice spot to cross the creek (5100') and fought a little brush. The snow coverage helped but it was still kind of slow going to the lakes. We made it to the snow filled lakes with an impressive view of the North side of Golden Horn. From there, we spotted the gully we would need to take to Holliway.
Golden Horn
Golden Horn
Nugget Lakes
Nugget Lakes
We started off on the rib next to the gully to avoid a waterfall. As soon as the gully was constant snow, we jumped in and followed it to within 150' of the ridge. The snow stopped and we scrambled up loose but easy rocks to the ridge. From there, we scrambled to the left and reached the summit 6hrs after starting our hike.
a nice snow gully to the summit ridge
a nice snow gully to the summit ridge
Distel heading up with the lakes far below
Distel heading up with the lakes far below
The skies weren't the best but we could still see hundreds of peaks from the summit. We had great snow conditions and I believe climbing this one with snow would be much better than the sandy loose stuff when melted out.
the Needles
the Needles
Tower and Golden Horn
Tower and Golden Horn
the gully back down to the lake
the gully back down to the lake
Although we had reached the summit, we still a bunch of elevation loss and a lot of gain to get back. The plunge stepping down to the lake was nice and quick and so was getting down to the PCT. Then it began to feel a little bit of a slog to get back to the upper slopes of Hardy. I could tell I was getting tired but progress isn't made standing still. So, we kept trudging along and were happy to see highway 20 again, even if we were still way above it. We traversed the upper slopes of Hardy 100' below where we had done it earlier in the day. The lower one traverses, the steeper it is and more gullies are encountered. We pretty much followed our route the rest of the way down to the road. A fun and tiring trip! Thanks Luke for joining 15.25 miles 9300' elevation gain 11hrs 20min

Eric Eames
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Distel32
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PostSun Jun 18, 2017 3:04 pm 
R3H covered everything; all I can say is thanks for a unique and indeed tiring trip! Some pictures from my blog:

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Matt
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PostSun Jun 18, 2017 3:18 pm 
That's a long trip for one day!

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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fourteen410
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PostSun Jun 18, 2017 3:22 pm 
Oh you know, just 9300' gain in a day. No big deal. tongue.gif

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Fletcher
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PostSun Jun 18, 2017 3:29 pm 
Nice! Funny to see this pop up, as we were thinking about going in this way to get Azurite and Holliway this week! Decided on something else though.

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Gimpilator
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PostMon Jun 19, 2017 3:07 am 
Excellent report guys. Holliway has been on my mind, so it's really nice to see you two made it up there. up.gif I can confirm that we were planning to climb this peak today, but as often goes with trip planning, we changed our minds.

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iron
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PostMon Jun 19, 2017 9:43 am 
so much talk of late about "tired" and "slogs". you must be getting close to 40 or something. at least your over halfway there for your goal...

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Stefan
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PostMon Jun 19, 2017 9:50 am 
holy. 9300 feet of gain! wowza you two!

Art is an adventure.
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mbravenboer
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PostMon Jun 19, 2017 4:43 pm 
up.gif Distel32 always looks way too happy when he's climbing a steep slope.

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raising3hikers
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PostMon Jun 19, 2017 5:34 pm 
@iron age 40 is already in my rearview mirror, oh well smile.gif

Eric Eames
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Distel32
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PostMon Jun 19, 2017 8:47 pm 
lol.gif only when someone else is kicking steps for me! up.gif

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iron
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PostMon Jun 19, 2017 8:53 pm 
raising3hikers wrote:
@iron age 40 is already in my rearview mirror, oh well smile.gif
well, the lack of gray in your beard makes you look younger...

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Tom_Sjolseth
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PostTue Jun 20, 2017 9:55 pm 
Thanks for the good memories, Eric. Nice timing and way to crush it in a day.

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wildernessed
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PostThu Jun 22, 2017 6:48 am 
up.gif Wow, someone had their Wheaties ! Did I see a pair of Vasque Breezes in that one pic ?

Living in the Anthropocene
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Brushbuffalo
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PostThu Jun 22, 2017 7:17 am 
raising3hikers wrote:
@iron age 40 is already in my rearview mirror, oh well smile.gif
Maybe so, but r3h, you can't see old age ("advanced middle age") even with a telescope! shakehead.gif

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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