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Stefan Member
Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Posts: 5091 | TRs | Pics
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Stefan
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Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:40 am
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McClellan Peak. 4/24/05
With only Sunday free and the forecast not looking so good, I decided to head east for this top 100 peak. Meeting time was to be 4:00a.m. in North Bend, but Greg did not show up and Juan was there. So we called Greg--he was still in bed because of the accidental am/pm alarm setup. Juan and I decided to go, walk slowly up Ingalls creek, while Greg would come across Highway 2 and go as fast he can up the trail.
Juan and I started up Ingalls creek at 6:20 and were were walking about 1 1/4 hours up Ingalls creek when low and behold Greg shows up!
About 1/2 mile before the Falls Creek trail intersection the trail is gone because the main channel of Ingalls creek now swallows up the trail--this lasted for about 200 meters and bushwacking was in chore on the section. Shortly after crossing the creek on the trail that exits from Fantasia Pond (or the main drainage directly south of McClellan Peak) we went up the west side of the drainage staying mainly in the trees. At times there are numerous rock buttresses along this route, and we always went around the east side of the rock outcroppings, but on the way down we decided to go down the west side of these outcroppings--after doing both ways, we recommend the west side of the individual buttresses becuase there is less rock scrambling and the duff is soft. We went through several burned areas. We were always several hundred meters to the west of the Fantasia Pond outlet stream.
Around 5800 feet we dropped down into the Fantasia Pond outlet stream proper and headed up and in the drainage basin. This is where the snow started. The snow was mushy and soft but for the most part was just above shin depth. We did not make it directly to Fantasia Pond but to a small flatish area with a large boulder at 7400 feet just SW of McClellan Peak. We went up a snow chute and up to the ridge. We were in the clouds at this point and so finding the actual summit was difficult, but we managed and we eventually went up the class 2 east side of the peak to the summit at 1:20.
Juan had said Chris Robertson had a plan to climb Colchuck and Dragontail on Saturday and McClellan and Enchantment on Sunday--we never saw any signs of him.
The summit has a small notebook register with only two parties signing in at this time. We eventually stayed for about 1 hour on the summit with the weather increasingly becoming better as well as the view into the Enchantments. We did a little bit of glissading too. At one point I glissaded into a pointy stump hidden by the snow. I will spare you the details, but right now I am sitting with one butt cheek on my chair becuase my tailbone is very sore.
We got back to the cars around 6:45 making this just over 12 hours round trip. About 16 miles round trip and over 6500 feet of elevation gain.
Stefan
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Quark Niece of Alvy Moore
Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 14152 | TRs | Pics
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Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore
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Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:49 am
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Nice TR. Thanks for info re: trail conditions.
Sorry to hear your butt's in a sling.
It seems on all Stef-related trips, someone always has an AM/PM problem on their alarm clock. I'll have to pull up others to determine a pattern, if any.
"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate."
Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate."
Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
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wildernessed viewbagger
Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 9275 | TRs | Pics Location: Wenatchee |
Awesome ! so if you had to generalize what would you say is the average snow depth between 5800' - the summit, is it 7400' ?
wildernessed
Living in the Anthropocene
Living in the Anthropocene
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Stefan Member
Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Posts: 5091 | TRs | Pics
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Stefan
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Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:21 pm
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I usually have a very early start. I have people not show up though....
Snow depth from 5800 to 7400 feet was anywhere between 1 to 3 feet deep maximum (2 feet was average). Above 7400 feet snow was always less than 1 foot in depth. This was on south facing slopes in a drier locale.
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wildernessed viewbagger
Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 9275 | TRs | Pics Location: Wenatchee |
Thanks, I am thining about doing something tomorrow, gonna have to be a day slam, if you get around PCT and east of, let me know, I wouldn't mind getting out with you guys. You seem to get HIGH alot, bunch of TRAILHEADS !
wildernessed
Living in the Anthropocene
Living in the Anthropocene
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Dean (aka CascadeHiker)
Joined: 02 Mar 2002 Posts: 1967 | TRs | Pics Location: ex Kennewick, Wa & Lehi Utah |
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Dean
(aka CascadeHiker)
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Tue Apr 26, 2005 9:47 am
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Congrat's on getting McClellan via Ingalls. Nice report.
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