Forum Index > Trip Reports > Armstrong Mtn Survey, Windy, Arnold, Topaz, Haig, Caprock, Chopaka, Hurley, Snowshoe, June 12, 2021
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Eric Gilbertson
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Eric Gilbertson
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 9:46 am 
Nine WA Top 300 Peaks Car to Car – Armstrong (8,140ft), Windy (8,333ft), Arnold (8,091ft), Topaz (7,785ft), Haig (7,865ft), Caprock (7,858ft), Chopaka (7,881ft), Hurley (7,808ft), Snowshoe (7,818ft) Eric Gilbertson 48 miles, 15kft gain June 12, 12am – 9:30pm (Results summary: Highpoint of Armstrong massif is unnamed point in Canada, 1-3m taller than named point on US side) The list of top 200 highest peaks in Washington currently has one wild card peak – Armstrong – that has a bit of controversy around whether it should be included or not. The problem stems from the true location of the summit. Armstrong Mountain straddles the US-Canada border and has two candidate summit locations about 2000ft apart, one squarely in each country. Armstrong is high enough (8,140ft) and prominent enough (1,001ft) to be in the top 200 list of Washington. However, if the true summit is in Canada then the peak isn’t really in Washington, and might not qualify for inclusion on the list.
The view west along the border swath on Armstrong
The view west along the border swath on Armstrong
The route
The route
Taking measurements from US summit of Armstrong looking towards Canadian summit
Taking measurements from US summit of Armstrong looking towards Canadian summit
The topographic maps show both candidate summits enclosed in small 2,480m (8,136ft) contours, with the US summit surveyed at 2481m (8,140ft), but the Canada summit unsurveyed. As far as I’ve researched nobody has carefully determined which peak is higher. Generally climbers working on the Washington Top 200 list go ahead and climb Armstrong (both summits), just in case it should be included. I’d actually already made two trips to the Armstrong area in the past, but never took careful measurements. In October 2019 I did a big 59 mile 28 hour car-to-car loop tagging what I thought were all the top 200 peaks in the northeastern Pasayten. At least, I tagged all the peaks on the official Bulgers WA top 200 google doc. I skipped Armstrong at the time because it was 10pm then, I was 19 hours into the trip, postholing in knee-deep fresh snow, and didn’t feel like tagging on optional bonus peaks. But within about a week or so of me posting a trip report the official list got updated to include Armstrong. That was unfortunate, since it would have only been a mile or so detour, and I would have done it had I known. So I had to go back. Fred and I returned in January 2020. That time we did a huge 53 mile 32-hour car-to-car ski trip getting first winter ascents of Armstrong, Arnold, and Horseshoe and the second winter ascent of Windy Peak. I unfortunately didn’t think to take any measurements to settle the controversy on Armstrong. It probably wouldn’t have been possible anyways since the summits were in low visibility at sunset then.
Topo map of the different summits of Armstrong
Topo map of the different summits of Armstrong
The excellent new trailhead map at Iron Gate (wasn't there in Jan 2020 when I was there last)
The excellent new trailhead map at Iron Gate (wasn't there in Jan 2020 when I was there last)
Sunrise going up south slope of Chopaka
Sunrise going up south slope of Chopaka
Recently John Roper convinced me it would be a worthwhile mission to try to take careful measurements and settle the controversy on Armstrong. There was a nice weather window predicted Saturday in eastern Washington, and I thought maybe I’d go pay Armstrong another visit. But it felt like kind of a short day to just hike out to Armstrong and back. I played around on caltopo for a while and figured out a big 48 mile loop that would tag six new peaks for me on the Washington top 300 list. I could make short side trips to throw in Windy, Arnold, and Armstrong and get nine of the top 300 Washington peaks in one push, which sounded fun. The loop would require some significant off-trail travel for at least 20 miles. It was hard to tell in advance how fast this would go. The above treeline portions could be slow going on talus or fast in grassy meadows. The below treeline portions could be very slow going in recent burn zones, and a tossup in non-burn zones. Caltopo shows historic fire zones and I would definitely be passing through some. I planned to start at the Iron Gate trailhead and hit Armstrong about 2/3 of the way through the loop. This way if my bushwhacking speed was slower than hoped for I could bail early and take a trail back directly from Horseshoe basin nearby. If I was making good time I could continue the loop hitting a handful more peaks. I planned to do the loop counterclockwise. This had the advantage that I could do a long trailed below-treeline section early in the dark and hit my first above treeline section around sunrise. Satellite images showed very little snow in that area, and I was kind of excited to do my first trip completely in trail runners since last October. Skis definitely didn’t make sense, but I brought microspikes and gaiters. I drove out Friday afternoon, reaching the Iron Gate trailhead around 8:30pm as it was lightly snowing. There were two trucks in the lot, and based on the trailhead register the three of us were the first ones there this season.
Looking back at Juniper point
Looking back at Juniper point
Fresh snow on Chopaka
Fresh snow on Chopaka
Chopaka summit
Chopaka summit
I got a few hours sleep, then was up and moving by midnight. The rain and snow had stopped as expected and I was treated to clear starry skies above. The boundary trail was in good condition, but the deer park trail was full of fresh blowdowns that slowed me down. Near the 14-mile recreation site I took a short cut on an abandoned road, requiring a tricky crossing of the north fork toats coulee creek in the dark, but I soon popped out on FS 39-100. After a quarter mile up the road I arrived at a trailhead with a magnificent wooden trail map. I saw a trail going directly up Corduroy Creek to Cold Springs trailhead, which was on my route. That trail wasn’t on the quad and I was a bit skeptical it was maintained and followable at night. I started up to test it out, and it was indeed very difficult to find in the dark. So instead went back to the road and followed my planned, though much longer, route. The road was soon gated, but I continued up to the Chopaka Mountain Trail, where I turned off on the right. This trail was in good shape and looked wide enough to ride a four wheeler on. I was technically in the Loomis Natural Resources Conservation Area, which probably gets all kinds of different uses. By sunrise I reached the Cold Springs trailhead and took my first break.
Looking down at Palmer Lake
Looking down at Palmer Lake
Hurley Peak summit.
Hurley Peak summit.
Looking west from Joe Mills peak. Windy is a long way in the distance
Looking west from Joe Mills peak. Windy is a long way in the distance
I soon followed a jeep trail north from Cold Spring, then when it veered left I continued up bushwhacking through mostly open forest. Above treeline I encountered small fresh snow drifts from the previous day and a fresh dusting on the rocks. The summit had a massive register, and had great views to Palmer Lake below. I could see peaks farther west were stuck in clouds but I was in the sun. I dropped down the gentle north side, then hiked up to Hurley Peak by 6:30am. This one had a smaller register and only a few sign ins in the past few years. I returned to the Hurley-Chopaka saddle then followed an old road west . I made an unplanned side trip to tag Joe Mills Peak, then dropped back down to the road. I roughly followed the old road down Olallie Creek, then started bushwhacking up the southeast ridge of Snowshoe.
Snowshoe Mountain
Snowshoe Mountain
Typical bushwhacking terrain
Typical bushwhacking terrain
Easy travel above 7000ft approaching Arnold
Easy travel above 7000ft approaching Arnold
The blowdowns were pretty bad down low and progress was slow. But above 6800ft the terrain opened. I finished with some fun talus scrambling to top out on Snowshoe a little after 9am. By now clouds were hitting the summit of Chopaka. I hoped they held off for Armstrong so I could get some good measurements. I dropped down the north ridge then bushwhacked down to Snowshoe Meadow and back up to the east ridge of Arnold. Travel was easy above 7000ft in mostly open meadows. I continued in the meadows up the east ridge to Arnold. The last time I’d been to Arnold was at 11pm in deep snow in October. It was a much more pleasant experience this time.
Arnold summit looking south towards Horseshoe
Arnold summit looking south towards Horseshoe
Approaching Armstrong
Approaching Armstrong
At the Canada border
At the Canada border
I descended the west slope down to Snehumption Gap then kicked steps up a snow slope to the US summit of Armstrong Peak. I breathed a sigh of relief that visibility was good and I could take some measurements. I whipped out my surveyors level, layed down on the US summit, and pointed toward the Canada summit. The elevation was really close, but I did detect a slight inclination up to the Canada summit. I took a picture of the measurement so I could zoom in later and see the exact number (it was about 0.3 degrees). Next I packed up and hiked over to the Canada summit. I looked back toward the US summit and measured a very small declination. I took a picture of the measurement and later determined it was about 0.1 degree. The measurements should theoretically be the same, but of course there’s some human error that will lead to slight differences. But the measurements were consistent that the Canadian summit is a bit taller. Given that the summits are 607m apart, using some trigonometry this means the Canadian summit is 1-3m taller.
Looking from Canada summit back to US summit
Looking from Canada summit back to US summit
A very distinct border swath, looking towards Cathedral
A very distinct border swath, looking towards Cathedral
Caprock summit
Caprock summit
I was a little disappointed since I kind of wanted the US to have claim to Armstrong Mountain. Maybe some future group will need to go build a 4m tall cairn on the US summit to claim the highpoint. It's unclear to me now, based on this measurement, if Armstrong should be included in the WA top 200 (aka top 217) list. It was about 12:30pm then and I was doing good on time still, so I decided to continue with the loop. I dropped down the southwest face of Armstrong then followed the boundary trail west, following a set of fresh boot prints. I soon diverged and hiked up to the summit of Caprock Peak. This one had a fun little boulder scramble on the summit. I bushwhacked back to the boundary trail, followed it a bit farther west, then left when it diverged south. I postholed up some soft snow to gain the southwest ridge, then tagged the summit of Haig. Views were great to the west looking at snowy peaks in the Cathedral and Amphitheater area.
The view from Haig
The view from Haig
I had kind of a decision to make for the next leg of the loop. I originally planned to bushwhack straight across the valley to Topaz. The area hadn’t burned in recent decades, so could be fast going. But it could also be really slow. I could also hike back along the boundary trail to Horseshoe Pass. That would be about 3 times longer, though, and went through recent burn zones. I decided to go for the bushwhack. I descended straight south, and encountered easy open terrain to Horseshoe Creek. On the other side the bushwhacking got pretty dense and my speed slowed considerably. I decided to make a beeline toward the Windy Peak trail, which I knew was at least followable back in 2019 when I’d done it before. As I got higher the trees opened up a little bit, and I eventually made it to the edge of the burn zone.
Looking across my bushwhack route to Windy and Topaz
Looking across my bushwhack route to Windy and Topaz
Looking west towards Cathedral and Amphitheater
Looking west towards Cathedral and Amphitheater
Finally done bushwhacking, looking back from near Topaz
Finally done bushwhacking, looking back from near Topaz
From there I decided to skip the trail and just go through the burn zone. I hiked up to the Topaz-Windy col, then plunged through some snow to the summit of Topaz by 6pm. A few summits looked similar height, so I whipped out my surveyors level and confirmed I was on the highest. I scrambled back down, then met up with the Windy Peak trail. It was a relief to know I would be on trail for the rest of the day. By 7pm I topped out on Windy, my final peak for the day. This was actually my fourth time summitting Windy, and the first that was not in a snowstorm! There were fresh boot prints and I looked in the summit register, but it was such a jumbled mess I didn’t bother trying to find a scrap of paper to sign.
Descending south ridge of Windy
Descending south ridge of Windy
Typical trail conditions (yes there's a trail in there!)
Typical trail conditions (yes there's a trail in there!)
Final view back to Windy Peak near Iron Gate at sunset
Final view back to Windy Peak near Iron Gate at sunset
To hike out I continued south, crossing a big snowfield, to 7,000ft, where I turned off on Clutch Creek Trail. Around 5,800ft it got really slow going crawling through a jungle gym of blowdowns. I passed by a group of hikers camped out near the Middle Fork Toats Coulee Creek, and they were the only people I saw all day. By 9:30pm I reached the car and scarfed down some pasta I’d left myself. I started driving 5 minutes later, and made a slight detour to Cathedral Driveway trailhead to say hi to Jason before he started his Bulger project the next morning. Unfortunately I was supposed to be in Seattle by Sunday morning, so I started the long drive home that night. I took a nap at Blewett Pass and made it home by 7am. Link to more pictures.

BensonM, awilsondc, Cyclopath, Alpine Pedestrian, sooperfly, reststep, RichP  GaliWalker
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Brushbuffalo
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 11:14 am 
Another if your mind-blowing treks. Your energy level is astounding along with your ability to cope without adequate sleep!
Eric Gilbertson wrote:
Hurley Peak summit.
Hurley Peak summit.
All-stars.

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still

Mesahchie Mark
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reststep
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 11:29 am 
Astounding. Thanks for sharing.
Eric Gilbertson wrote:
48 miles, 15kft gain June 12, 12am – 9:30pm
How long does it take you to recover from one of these?

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
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Stefan
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 3:02 pm 
Uh. That would be a 5 day trip for me. so many miles!

Art is an adventure.
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neek
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 3:16 pm 
We should exchange Pt Roberts for Armstrong

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MangyMarmot
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 3:19 pm 
Nice trip. Cool photos!

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raising3hikers
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 4:53 pm 
good stuff! nice to get the armstrong summit settled, it's been debated for quite a while. snowshoe peak surely sucks, a couple weeks ago, i was post holing past my knees while battling all of the down logs. way to do a big trip and bag a bunch of peaks up.gif

Eric Eames
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MangyMarmot
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 5:20 pm 
Perhaps that's the reason it's called Snowshoe Peak. smile.gif

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Eric
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 6:55 pm 
Nice to see the efforts to resolve these unclear highpoints with field work. I recall Lord Klenke vetting Boundary and Barber and determining both were foreign; however, I can't find anything pertaining to Armstrong from him. But I am pretty sure that buried in my emails somewhere is an analysis of Armstrong conducted years ago by someone that reached the same conclusion.

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Eric Gilbertson
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 9:29 pm 
Thanks!
Quote:
How long does it take you to recover from one of these?
I guess I usually take a rest day Monday after the weekend then am pretty much recovered. The biggest thing to recover from for me is not sleeping much I would say. Though last summer I strung together about a week of days like this just sleeping a few hours per day and it somehow worked out, but I then slept for about 20 hours straight afterwards.
Quote:
We should exchange Pt Roberts for Armstrong
Haha. I think Pt Roberts might be even harder to access than Armstrong now with the border still closed.
Quote:
snowshoe peak surely sucks, a couple weeks ago, i was post holing past my knees while battling all of the down logs.
Yeah it was pretty bad down low even without the postholing. I saw your name on Hurley and wondered if you'd gone on to Snowshoe. Too bad there's no register up there. I did stumble upon some surprisingly high quality game trails up higher on the ridge on Snowshoe. Snow is basically gone there now.
Quote:
But I am pretty sure that buried in my emails somewhere is an analysis of Armstrong conducted years ago by someone that reached the same conclusion.
That would be great if you could find other analysis! I know there's a note in the bulgers top 200 google doc about measurements being taken in sept 2016 up there, but I haven't seen any details about the results so I guessed they were inconclusive.

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Route Loser
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PostMon Jun 14, 2021 9:45 pm 
These reports are great. I enjoy anything that combines trig and mountains. Thanks for doing the legwork, and what a terrifying amount of legwork you seem to accomplish.

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Bluebird
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PostTue Jun 15, 2021 1:50 pm 
I've decided to border trespass to the higher summit twice biggrin.gif just for fun, which it is. It did seem higher to me so not surprised to learn this is true.

jared_j
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rstoddard24
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PostTue Jun 15, 2021 9:07 pm 
Im curious if just because the true summit is in Canada, does that preclude it from being on the T200 list anyway? Sure the US summit has <40' of clean prominence, but it still has 1000' prominence over any other peak in US. I guess it doesn't really matter, I guess aspiring T200 climbers will climb it anyway because of precedent. It is fun to debate tho wink.gif I was thinking about a similar question when making seattle optimistic 100P list during covid lockdown last april, and decided to include some with <100P if they had 100P over anything in else in seattle (https://caltopo.com/m/D42U)

Brushbuffalo
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iron
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PostTue Jun 15, 2021 11:29 pm 
tip #1: don't take advice from roper. it'll always get you in trouble.

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Eric Gilbertson
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PostWed Jun 16, 2021 7:39 am 
Quote:
just because the true summit is in Canada, does that preclude it from being on the T200 list anyway?
I think there is precedent for inclusion since it appears from the quad that the named summit is the point on the US side with low prominence and the highpoint on Canadian side might not have an official name. In this case it is in a similar category to Horseshoe, a Bulger Peak with low prominence but a name on the map and sufficient elevation. Though it seems odd to me the intent was to name a sub summit and not name the highpoint of the massif. Btw I like your caltopo map hitting p100 peaks in seattle. Looks like a fun bike ride.

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Forum Index > Trip Reports > Armstrong Mtn Survey, Windy, Arnold, Topaz, Haig, Caprock, Chopaka, Hurley, Snowshoe, June 12, 2021
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