Forum Index > Trip Reports > Not Liberty, 5/26/08 (Crosby)
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot



Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics
Location: Shoreline
Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
PostMon May 26, 2008 11:42 pm 
Not-Liberty 5520 Party: Stefan, Martin, Justus, Randy, Matt We set off to climb Liberty. Road 41 was completely blocked just 4.1 miles from the highway. Multiple large trees down, and snow a couple feet deep. That would have meant 6 miles of road walking. We did not go there. Stefan suggested going to Not-Liberty. He even had four photocopies of maps for it all ready. Odd coincidence, hmm? We drove the Money Creek Road to 1800 feet, where the plowing had stopped at a bridge crossing a side stream. From there we walked the road for a couple miles. The goal was to ascend the left side of the stream that drains the basin west of Not-Liberty’s summit. We overshot a little, but should have left the road circa 2600 feet, just a couple hundred yards past the double switchback.
not-Liberty Map
not-Liberty Map
End of the plowed road
End of the plowed road
Slide across the road
Slide across the road
End of county road, at first switchback
End of county road, at first switchback
The route climbs left of the stream until past a waterfall, then circa 3600 goes into the gully, and climbs right of the stream to the wider basin circa 4200. Terrain in the woods was steep but workable, still mostly snow-covered. Once we moved into the gully, it was all snow-filled for straightforward step-kicking. We continued up snow to the 5000-foot col at the head of the basin, then turned right up some steeper snow to the base of Not-Liberty’s summit block. A brief rock scramble put us on top, 5520.
Steep Terrain
Steep Terrain
Snow-filled creek gully
Snow-filled creek gully
Upper basin
Upper basin
Final slope to Not-Liberty summit
Final slope to Not-Liberty summit
Randy & Stefan on Not-Liberty summit block
Randy & Stefan on Not-Liberty summit block
We stayed for over an hour watching the views and clouds. The thrill of it all put some people to sleep.
People standing around on Not-Liberty summit
People standing around on Not-Liberty summit
Person not standing on Not-Liberty summit
Person not standing on Not-Liberty summit
Matt on Not-Liberty summit, with Phelps & Red, ascent basin is below
Matt on Not-Liberty summit, with Phelps & Red, ascent basin is below
More bodies on Not-Liberty summit
More bodies on Not-Liberty summit
Final summit tea of the spring?
Final summit tea of the spring?
Summit views:
Frozen, Persis, & Index
Frozen, Persis, & Index
Lennox
Lennox
Clouds above Lennox
Clouds above Lennox
Garfield & Caroline
Garfield & Caroline
View across the highway (labels anyone?)
View across the highway (labels anyone?)
Daniel to Thomson, plus Lennox (parlty labeled)
8 labels
Daniel to Thomson, plus Lennox (parlty labeled)
The descent was fast down the snow to the road, with some good glissades in the basin, then tedious walking back down the road. Walking along some sections of the creek-side road, it seemed that there were small waterfalls of side streams cascading into the creek almost every hundred feet.
Glissade tracks in the basin
Glissade tracks in the basin
Melt patterns, debris, & tracks
Melt patterns, debris, & tracks
Down the gully
Down the gully
Money Creek
Money Creek
Holiday traffic brought driving to a standstill through the Gold Bar area. Statistics: 7 miles, 3800 gain, 6:30 hours. Ascent 3:30, summit break 1:15, descent 1:45. Special Statistic of the Day: Time spent on roads (driving or hiking), 7.5 hrs Time spent off roads, 4.5 hrs

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



Joined: 13 Feb 2007
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostTue May 27, 2008 12:45 am 
Good job on the stone soup. Was the intended destination Liberty Mountain near Three Fingers? If so, where is this Road 46? I see Road 41 that leads to the Three Fingers trailhead, but no 46.

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wildernessed
viewbagger



Joined: 31 Oct 2004
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Location: Wenatchee
wildernessed
viewbagger
PostTue May 27, 2008 7:26 am 
No Liberty, that sounds like an In-Justus. clown.gif Looks like a dry good time with some views.

Living in the Anthropocene
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-lol-
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-lol-
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PostTue May 27, 2008 8:00 am 

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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot



Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics
Location: Shoreline
Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
PostTue May 27, 2008 9:13 am 
puzzlr wrote:
Was the intended destination Liberty Mountain near Three Fingers? If so, where is this Road 46? I see Road 41 that leads to the Three Fingers trailhead, but no 46.
Sorry, meant to say Road 41.
wildernessed wrote:
No Liberty, that sounds like an In-Justus. clown.gif Looks like a dry good time with some views.
Yes, I had already planned to title the trip report "Liberty & Justus on Memorial Day" clown.gif
2drx wrote:
Matt - How much snow was there on the road by the time you got past the switchbacks? BTW, I think the USGS Topo puts the switchbacks in the wrong place, they really are between the 2 watercourses to the east of where they currently show...
The picture of the "End of County Road" sign is right at the beginning of the switchback, so several feet of snow. There was a bunch of debate about whether the switchbacks are shown in the wrong place on the map. Actually, they seemed right to me looking at the map later, but some of the other guys were watching the maps closer at the time we were there, so they can reply to that.

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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Stefan
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PostTue May 27, 2008 4:10 pm 
Thanks Matt for the pictures and report!

Art is an adventure.
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Randy
Cube Rat



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Randy
Cube Rat
PostTue May 27, 2008 4:47 pm 
Great report Matt, thanks for putting it together. With the snow, our route up the mountain was actually pretty cool. Good times.

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JimK
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JimK
Member
PostTue May 27, 2008 5:07 pm 
Nice report. As far as titles go I like "Not Liberty" or "Liberty And Justus" better than "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death". What with the near assassination on Lincoln and the dogs and guns this is getting to be a sceery place.

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Mega-Will
country bumpkin



Joined: 22 Dec 2006
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Location: Olympic Peninsula
Mega-Will
country bumpkin
PostTue May 27, 2008 8:40 pm 
Looking at your topo, it appears you passed dangerously close to Crosby's Boner in your pursuit, following the stream of Money to Justus and Non-Liberty. -1 maturity points for me...

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Martin S
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Martin S
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PostTue May 27, 2008 9:16 pm 
Here's our GPS track from walking that section of road. The GPS map puts the road in the same place as the topo map, but the actual track (the green line) shows the switchback to be farther east. So the map is wrong.
CrosbyGPS
CrosbyGPS
And here are a few other random shots from Crosby:
Stefan approaching upper basin on Crosby
Stefan approaching upper basin on Crosby
Crosby
Crosby
Randy approaching upper basin
Randy approaching upper basin
Justus on the way to Crosby
Justus on the way to Crosby
Stefan on Crosby
Stefan on Crosby
Red BM, Red
Red BM, Red
Frozen, Index
Frozen, Index
Justus descending Crosby
Justus descending Crosby

"nothing's for certain" took the elevator down while "anything can happen" climbed the stairs - Ryszard Krynicki
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Beave
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Beave
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PostTue May 27, 2008 10:33 pm 
Excellent trip guys. I guess I better start asking what the Backup Plan is. I lost interest in Liberty but have been bloodthirsty for Crosby for awhile. I was inspired enough by your report to take my last day off and hike up there to check things out. I hiked the road to the switchbacks in question and beyond. Just before the switchbacks, your guys' boot tracks had melted out enough to make following them difficult. I darted into the woods for a couple minutes before deciding that I may be in a bit over my head, at least from a solo perspective. I may have continued if I had a cell signal, but as it was, it didn't really "feel" smart to continue. So I slogged the road back and had lunch at a particularly scenic section of rapids. Looks like I will need to drum up support for a second attack on Crosby. The conditions looked great. Out of curiousity, did you guys see or go beyond this pond on the N side of the road, after the switchbacks?

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Justus S.
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Justus S.
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PostWed May 28, 2008 12:04 am 
This was a excellent trip aside from the long time spent on the road and even that wasn't too painful. Even though Liberty didn't come together Crosby was one I have wanted to do for awhile. The route was nice for a peak I thought might be a bit more difficult.
Quote:
No Liberty, that sounds like an In-Justus. clown.gif
Good one W lol.gif Don't worry, Justus will prevail. Yeah, I think Matt had high hopes of writing that whole Liberty and Justus storyline. doh.gif Here are some more pictures
Falls off Lennox
Falls off Lennox
The gang heading up the gully
The gang heading up the gully
Lennox
Lennox
Brief rest in upper basin on the way up
Brief rest in upper basin on the way up
Stefan working up
Stefan working up
Palmer and beyond
Palmer and beyond
This is why we climb
This is why we climb
Crosby Lake
Crosby Lake
The gang on top
The gang on top
Matt having some soup
Matt having some soup
Index
Index
The Reds
The Reds
Matt glissading down
Matt glissading down
Matt descending the gully
Matt descending the gully

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Justus S.
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PostWed May 28, 2008 12:30 am 
Beave, wish you had come. I don't remember seeing that pond. Were you at the pond below Lake Elizabeth? As Matt said, we went a bit too far on the way up. What you want to do is hike about one third of a mile past the switchbacks. If you begin heading up where there are a bunch of deciduous trees (alders?) and a pit of some sorts (on the north side of the road) this should get you on the right track.

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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot



Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
PostWed May 28, 2008 12:44 am 
Justus & Martin, nice shots from both of you of people along the route. For those who've inquired, the route seems to be in excellent condition right now. The snow makes for extra road walking, but makes travel uphill and upstream much easier. As Justus said, I remember an area of more widely spaced deciduous trees at the spot on the road where we came down. We were some distance west of the stream, so you have to keep angling right as you go up.

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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Layback
Cascades Expatriate



Joined: 16 Mar 2007
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Layback
Cascades Expatriate
PostWed May 28, 2008 7:53 pm 
Nice pics guys. Had a feeling the road would be a problem but it looks like you found a worthy objective nonetheless. Cloud formations in the late afternoon on Monday were pretty cool, no?

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