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ozzy The hard way
Joined: 30 Jul 2015 Posts: 475 | TRs | Pics Location: University place, wa |
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ozzy
The hard way
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Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:00 pm
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I talked to fellow peak bagger bros, Hans and Bryan, a few days prior to link up and hit Mt Clark in the Royal basin area! It was definitely a peak I wanted ever since hittin Deception last year. Bryan was on that trip too, and we were excited to get back into the area. The plan was to combine it with a climb of Johnson as well, but peak bagger laziness set in and we had a sweeeet long day meandering in the high country! Lol. So with the general theme of most of our trips this year we set out to get a nice alpine start to maybe catch a sunrise somewhere up high, we didn't! We made it to the Dungy river trail around 1230am and were on trail by 1am! The trail seems to wander on quite a while under headlamp, we made it to royal lake in just under 3hrs. This was where lack of sleep and laziness set in lol. We figured the cloudy skies wouldn't make for much of a sunrise so we bundled up and passed out for an hour or so! After shivering our asses off on the ground we were up and moving by 530am. After the lake, the meadows and views of the alpine were getting better and better! The stoke slowly began to wake us up minute by minute! When we arrived in the upper royal basin the lake up there was mindblowing! Wow, what a serene place! By this time all the clouds had lifted and the day looked grand. The wildflowers in the area were abundant. After we soaked in these views we made our ascent to the west up to surprise basin. We picked the route of least resistance and dealt with a little scree up towards the top of the ridge. Ridge top is around 6200ft.
early views upper meadows Hans and fog Deception looms fog down from whence we came the upper lake so freakin sweet, looking up at surprise basin the way up to surprise basin, lookin down almost there, Bryan comin up surprise basin, Clark right of saddle Hans scoping the route, below east face of Martin
At the ridge we could see the route to the saddle between Johnson and Clark. Clark looks pretty burly from here and we all had a good laugh knowing there was a scramble somwhere on its flanks. Thanks to Matt(nwhikers) and his detailed Clark/Johnson tr we knew it definitely existed, lol! So we dropped a 100ft or so and made our way to the saddle that sits around 7000ft. The partly melted tarn in the basin was cool lookin. When I got close to the saddle it was obvious where the ramp was to access the route. The snow all the way up was nice and firm. We ditched pons and axes at the saddle and made our way up the ramp. We didn't need to step on snow from here to the summit. After a 100ft of gain the ramp turns into more of a gully, full of that sweet Olympic choss!! Stay to the left of the huge boulder halfway up and climb the gully to the notch in the ridge. At the notch the views are superb, now you look for a crack that drops down on the north side. It's pretty obvious too when you find it, it slants down and to the left. That was a fun downclimb, maybe class 4ish for about 30ft. After that we kinda corkscrewed around the north side of the upper reaches until we hit a lingering snow patch that ran all the way up to the summit! The snow was easily avoided by either moat-ratting or sticking to class 3-4 rock climber's left! About 40ft below the summit you follow a little class3-4 crack to the top, so badass. The scramble on Clark instantly became one of my favorites, the exposure with the fun route was awesome! When we all topped out we were in awe of course! The clouds were all around except for the immediate area. Made for some moody/dramatic views. Damn! The Needles are a gnarly little group! It was on this precipitous summit we all made the decision to not go forth with climbing Johnson. The views and scenery and aura drew to us and we proceeded to dwell on said summit for almost 3hrs!! The early start alowed for plenty of naps and endless gazing! Wow what a place! For Hans, this was only his 2nd year of hiking and he said this was one of the hardest peaks he's done, stoked for him! We relished in the days journey. Good job boys!
up surprise basin Bryan at the saddle between Johnson and Clark the chossy ramp boys comin up ramp the boulder is just under the spire, stay left and climb to the notch in the ridge boys about ready to join me on the notch Hans on the notch the steep down climb in the crack from the notch lookin back up the crack moat rat almost to the summit the reg walkinshaw upper royal basin my perch for the next hour needles towards Deception clouds moving on walkinshaw Johnson in awe
After our summit fever was quenched we looked towards Johnson and its prowess, we vowed to return and conquer that beast another day! Fletcher made it seem a little easier in his tr, ,as he always does! Needless to say we weren't disappointed to have to return to this area someday, amazing place it is! We down climbed everything with ease and made it back down to the snow pretty quick. We made it across surprise basin and down to upper royal lake while takin our time to enjoy this wonderful rocky flower filled paradise! The slog after royal lake took forever but we made it back to the car around 530pm. I'm guessing it was around 17mi roundtrip, about 5000ft gain, with a leisurely pace at 16.5hrs. Man oh man what another sweet day in the hills! Thanks boys for the trip and cheers to all yall!
comin down sweeeet summit Bryan walking along the void climbing back up the little crack at the notch Bryan follows yewwwww surprise basin in awesome light
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
zimmertr
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
zimmertr
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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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Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:43 pm
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That’s an excellent peak. Nice!
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puzzlr Mid Fork Rocks
Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 7216 | TRs | Pics Location: Stuck in the middle |
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
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Wed Jul 29, 2020 10:58 pm
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You stirred up some fond memories. That's such a fun peak to climb.
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silence Member
Joined: 25 Apr 2005 Posts: 4420 | TRs | Pics
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silence
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Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:06 am
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Nice!
PHOTOS
FILMS
Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb. – Bob Dylan
PHOTOS
FILMS
Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb. – Bob Dylan
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raising3hikers Member
Joined: 21 Sep 2007 Posts: 2343 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, Wa |
Cool trip, Jake and I left Johnson as well. Gotta go back and get it someday.
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Geezer Member
Joined: 10 Apr 2015 Posts: 25 | TRs | Pics
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Geezer
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Sat Aug 01, 2020 1:51 pm
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Nice trip report and photos. I am planning to do Clark and Johnson about mid August, but with these old knee's, I will do a 2 night, 3 day trip.
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Gimpilator infinity/21M
Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 1684 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, WA |
Ozzy, man. I'm really diggin your reports. Keep it coming, please!
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ozzy The hard way
Joined: 30 Jul 2015 Posts: 475 | TRs | Pics Location: University place, wa |
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ozzy
The hard way
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Mon Aug 03, 2020 12:21 pm
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Thanks Adam! And thanks for all of your awesome trip reports, I've used them countless times over the years! Cheers man!
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
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