A very sunny Chewuch River Trail
Log crossing near Chewuch/Tungsten intersection
Sean slowly being driven mad by mosquitos. We had both neglected to bring insect repellent or screens of any kind. We both slept very poorly. The mosquitos were relentless and it never cooled down very much overnight. We were up by 430 and hiking by 530.
Return to sanity on BR
BR summit area
SE Ridge of Wolframite
SE Ridge from summit
Apex and Remmel from Wolframite (photo by Sean)
Looking North from slope of Apex. Despite the dry appearance the first couple hundred yards from Apex Pass are still quite squishy.
North side of Cathedral
Obligatory shot of the US-Canada mow line
Looking north into Canada, eh. Easy to spot by eye, but not showing up in the photo so well is boundary obelisk #95 right above the most sheer cliff on Pope's North Peak.
SE Buttress is in. Didn't see anyone on it.
Sheep (photo by Sean)
Weather getting a little ugly
After an hour or so of light mist and rain blue skies came out and so did the smiles
Pano from Bald Mtn
More squishy adventure down the WNW shoulder of Bald Mtn returned us to the BT which was occasionally a bit faint
I think there was about 3 feet of snow here
Approaching Sheep under low clouds and rain showers
Beautiful open country, looking back towards Bald Mtn, Remmel, Amos, Andrew, Fred's Mtn...
Heading up Sheep
Snow shower at the top of Sheep, brought on by Sean's rakishly cool demeanor
Weather was much improved for the trip south to Larch Pass (photo by Sean)
Sean had a lot to say here
We used a convenient snow finger for the descent from the unnamed pass N of Larch Pass. Corral Peak and Two Point now in our sights.
We dropped out packs at Larch Pass and sprinted up to get Two Point. Fun almost-scrambling and snow patches along the way sped our progress. RT from packs was about 1 hour.
At the top of Two Point with clouds and showers rolling in
In retrospect Larch Pass or maybe the green meadow we passed in the way down afterwards might have been a better camp site. We pressed on and found few options. With weather and darkness closing in we settled on Widowmaker Camp around 6200' near the junction of 502 and 532. Before snapping this shot I asked Sean for an expression of his feelings at that moment.
Between rain squalls, enjoying the finest trail cuisine that can be eaten from a bag (photo by Sean)
It rained all night and was snowing by morning. I was moving by 5 up the NW Ridge to get Skeptical Butte while Sean made sure we both got enough sleep. It's almost like I woke up this morning on a different trip.
North face of Skeptical
After bypassing a scrambly bit on the NW Ridge on the right side around 7600', I went up snow covered talus and scree to the summit area where the wind was blowing and the snow was falling. No shot of the summit. Descended talus to the snow slopes and booted down.
Packed up and moving before 8. Here's some rain and a swamped out bit of trail.
North face of Billy Goat Mountain near the pass in mixed rain/snow