Forum Index > Trip Reports > Gamma Ridge 8/3-5/2018
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 7:12 am 
Thanks to inspiration from Snailmail's trip report of 7/30, with a number of options I chose to do Gamma Ridge. It is an incredibly beautiful destination but also a very strenuous trip made more difficult by the trails which probably entail perhaps 200 log crossings/negotiations. The trails are in good shape until Vista Creek except for the one brief miserable crawl under (with a large pack) at the mudslide 2 miles in from the TH. I stayed the first night after a 3pm start at Vista Creek. It would be a bit of a risk to ford Vista Creek at this time. The log is bark-less and pretty rounded but about 18-24" in diameter. Falling off the log at 4-5 feet above the creek could be an ankle breaker so I straddled and crossed. The crossing is only about 15'. The continuing upper Suiattle trail is good but for one problematic work around of a log mess until where the old Suiattle ford branches off. Beyond there are a good number of downed logs, but just step overs. The start of the Gamma ridge trail is very obvious but would not make a good campsite. The Gamma Ridge trail is in good shape to the 3400' campsite. There is definitely water nearby. When I got to the campsite I could see there was no visible sign of trail beyond. A route was flagged, I thought to water. The stream splits in a Y and I followed that until there was an obvious steep headwall and then worked right spotting a very meager path (deer) traversing up and right. I followed this for quite a way before it was obvious I was too far right and then traversed left perhaps 200 yards until I saw a cut log slightly down and left. The deer path stayed below the actual trail, which is actually an incut trail, and very obvious; however, the start is not. From the right branch of the creek the trail is actually on the well defined rib 100' right and is obvious if you climb that rib about 100' where there is flagging high on the trunk of a tree marking the route. The switchbacking trail up the steep slope is quite easy to follow and in pretty good shape until it nears the ridge crest at 4500'. Beyond, the trail is in poor shape but flagged. I found it is easiest in many places, because of log messes, just to keep track of the flagging but to make my own way perhaps a 100' away. The trail becomes important and well defined as it climbs in switchbacks the very steep slope climbing to 5500'. Initially here, find the trail at the base of the steep slope on the far right before it begins its switchbacks. The camp at 5600' is good and there is last water just a hundred feet down in the draw on the east side. Beyond, there is a footpath that is mostly easy to follow; but it would be easy to make one's way without it to break out at 6200', if careful to stay near the crest. The campsite at 6200' has very little snow left. I camped at about 6500' and two large snow patches there will last in that area for perhaps two more weeks. Otherwise, one would have to drop a few hundred feet into Gamma Creek for water. When I left, the forecast called for the slight possibility of convection and I watched some cloud buildup as I got up to the high country around 2pm. By 3:30pm clouds on high peaks all seemed to beginning to dissipate so I moved up onto the ridge. I set up camp and walked around a bit to enjoy the views. By around 6pm it became dark and threatening over Fortress Mountain and not longer after it began to rain between it and Miner's Creek. Soon after that an intense lightning storm with mostly cloud to cloud lightning formed over primarily Fortress Mountain and heavy rain began to fall in the area. Although moving very slowly, the storm appeared to be moving down the Suiattle and towards Miner's Ridge. It appeared I was safe, but barely, although I was right on the edge of a towering cumulus. It next began to rain over the Butterfly Glacier and down the upper Suiattle. But this time ever darker nimbostratus enveloped the High Pass Napeequa area and I was concerned once again. I considered my options but they appeared to be few and rain and some hail quickly forced me into my tent. Heavy rain followed and then lightning. A massive lightning storm moved right over the top of me and it rained very heavily for a couple of hours. Most of the frequent lightning was cloud to cloud but it appeared Glacier Peak was struck half a dozen times. The closest flash was about 2 seconds away which I believed may have been Gamma Peak. At one point my foot and leg began to cramp, I felt discomfort in my neck, and my teeth felt strange. A moment later a massive cloud to cloud lightning bolt flashed directly above. Around ten o'clock the storm began to let up. This "storm" seemed more than a few scattered thunderheads as it was black throughout the entire area, and luckily, I think, heavy rain fell everywhere I could see. On the hike out the ground was wet to Canyon Creek, and beyond in places, though not to the TH. I would imagine much of the area near the Cascade Crest north of the Sauk saw rain that I would estimate from my experience to be 1-1/2". The views from Gamma Ridge were amazing with classic Glacier Peak meadows and the great glaciers of Glacier Peak and I planned to layover one day after my effort. However, overnight pretty thick smoke moved in on south winds from Oregon and California. I deliberated and then hiked out, knowing the wet meadows and bushes on the trail would soak me.

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Malachai Constant
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 7:43 am 
Maybe we spoke with you on the way in, we’re you carrying pickets and a helmet?

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 7:47 am 
Also worth mentioning were two incredible areas of old growth Western Red Cedars and Douglas Firs between the Suiattle bridge and Dusty Creek. Some of the firs reach 10' in diameter and the cedars nearly that and must be approaching 1000 years old. But where are all the hikers? When I returned to the TH last night there were only two cars. Meanwhile the bushwhack up Downey Creek and Bachelor had about ten cars.

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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 7:51 am 
Malachai Constant wrote:
Maybe we spoke with you on the way in, we’re you carrying pickets and a helmet?
No, I didn't talk to you. I was carrying a tripod. By chance the one guy I met on the way in had just come off Gamma Ridge and had flagged the route. The flagging is not superfluous. On trail to maintain a trail flagging in my book is OK. And you would be toast if you didn't find the trail coming off the ridge at 4500'.

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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 8:34 am 
Another interesting point is that at 6500' I kept hearing Marmots but with many nearby holes there was nothing to indicate there was recent presence in this one particular area. There was however, one location where a big area 12' by 6' had been dug out to a depth of about 2-2-1/2' and part of a Marmot hole exposed. The dig was with vertical walls whereas I noted that Mountain Goat wallows were generally rather shallow - like 8-10" deep and rounded on the edges. Having seen Grizzly Bear digs elsewhere in the Canadian Rockies this was very reminiscent. There was another strangely deep dig nearby. I suspect these were both Grizzly Bear digs of unknown age. There were not soft, sandy soil as with goats. I thought that I could see vertical eroded lines on the side of the cut as if, perhaps made by claws. How long ago, though, I don't know.

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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 9:28 am 
No photographs?

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DIYSteve
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 10:43 am 
cool up.gif

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gb
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 12:57 pm 
Ringangleclaw wrote:
No photographs?
If you want I can send you an image of both holes. Just PM me.

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cascadetraverser
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 1:32 pm 
Nice! Thanks for the update. I am heading up there in a year or so and this beta will be quick useful.

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Fletcher
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 1:55 pm 
Wow Gary, sounds like quite the night up there. With all your years of experience in the mountains, would you say this was the most intense storm you have ridden out?

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mbravenboer
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 1:59 pm 
That storm sounds scary! Glad you made it out there, and sorry to hear about smoke shortening your trip.

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raising3hikers
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 4:14 pm 
i was in the vicinity, too. it was quite the storm!

Eric Eames
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PostMon Aug 06, 2018 4:23 pm 
Fletcher wrote:
Wow Gary, sounds like quite the night up there. With all your years of experience in the mountains, would you say this was the most intense storm you have ridden out?
Unfortunately not, Fletcher. I've seen similar four other times, most recently in 2014 at Warm Lake. A thunderstorm was parked right over me for three hours. It was raining heavily and there was actually almost a lake of water under my tent which would mean ground shocks. My legs kept bothering me repeatedly and I knew that was static charge buildup. This time most of the lightning was cloud to cloud, although who knows? There certainly were some ground strikes, noticeably on Glacier Peak. You can see the flashes through the walls of the tent. Also, I was camped on pumice and it is hard to imagine a ground shock traveling through pumice so it would have taken a direct hit and I was in a slight recess. You can be sure my tripod was a good 150' away from me. In the final analysis what can you do when it is pouring rain? A couple of decades ago I was camped on a treeline dirt covered outcrop on the south side of Mt. Adams when a thunderstorm moved on me around 1:00 am and parked overhead for again about three hours. I got out of my tent with half of my clothing and moved into a draw a couple of hundred feet below my tent and pulled a plastic garbage bag over my head. That time lightning struck within about 100 yards of me and was striking on all sides. So, I sat in a crouched position, sitting on my pack. That was miserable.

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Arthur
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PostFri Aug 17, 2018 11:26 pm 
Quote:
The Gamma Ridge trail is in good shape to the 3400' campsite.
We spent 5 days at the end of June cutting blocking logs and lots of brush in the first 1 1/8 mile of the Gamma Ridge trail. Nice to hear it’s getting some use. Others have also been cutting brush. If you’re one of them, PM me and maybe we can coordinate a little. Thanks. Arthur

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PostSat Aug 18, 2018 5:00 pm 
Geez, Gary, your backcountry adventures make my one bad day in Vietnam, on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive, seem mild by comparison! I was in an urban area, in Saigon, and was able to climb down, on my own, from my rooftop location, after being wounded by a sniper, by using my left leg only (the right leg was shattered from knee to ankle). After some first aid, to stop the bleeding, I was put in the back of a jeep while my army buddies drove to me to a nearby army general hospital, with me holding a .45 automatic, to cover any attacks from behind us. I underwent surgery in an hour or so, while the hospital was under attack, and was evacuated to an army hospital in Japan the next day, for a two-week stay. I flew back to the states in a long series of flights, in a leased Braniff plane, filled with stretchers, via Manila, California, some place in the midwest, east coast, etc--and, since our plane had a problem with its landing gear (it had to be cranked down manually, for every landing), there was the added excitement of trying to figure out, if we had a bad landing, how we non-ambulatory stretcher cases would self-evacuate the aircraft. I'll bet you've had far more close calls in your many decades in the mountains than I had in Vietnam--and you are still a regular at Vertical World--see you there soon!

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