Nope. From the Fremont it was occasional. The only exception was the move at the col.
I have to say not the standard route? We walked up from the Fremont side. The hardest move of the climb was gaining the ridge at the col above the glacier.
we did the fremont glacier. i've been up a few mountains and this was definitely more than class 2 and in few places a stiff 3 or higher.
although a rope was not absolutely required, maybe only one of our very experienced party would have done it without a rope. not hard climbing but loose - definitely required the use of both hands.
btw - congratulations on fantastic climb!
:>)
The top of the col in the upper right here was where we turned left to go up and over the false summits. We ascended the left side of the slope below the col.
Joined: 16 Mar 2007 Posts: 4553 | TRs | Pics Location: Between a Rope and a Hard Place
Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:41 pm
Good stuff Eric. Tell me, are you ever going to take those photos off of your card (from the last three years) and put them up on Flickr for us all to see?
Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:35 am Logan via Douglas Glacier, 6/14 - 6/16/08
Logan via Douglas Glacier, June 14-16, 2008
Party: Matt, cartman, Dicey
Day 1, Approach
The approach consisted of four parts: 1) up to Easy Pass, 2) down to Fisher Creek, 3) down Fisher Creek to “Douglas Creek,” 4) up Douglas Creek to camp 4700.
Elevation-wise, that’s 3700 feet up to 6550 feet, down to 5200, further down to 4000, and back up to 4700. Thence the problem with Easy Pass for access to this area. It’s the shortest route, but by the time you reach the creek junction, you’ve dropped back down almost as low as the trailhead, so you to climb almost as much to get out as to get in.
(Note: I made up the name “Douglas Creek.” It’s actually a nameless tributary that flows from the Douglas Glacier down to Fisher Creek, but it needs a name for easier reference.)
Trailhead Up to Easy Pass
The lower Easy Pass trail was in good condition, but we hit continuous snow and lost the trail circa 4700 feet. We ended too high on the valley wall, but then got into the snow-covered creek basin circa 5200, and kicked easy steps up to the pass.
9941 Approaching Easy Pass (Mt. Hardy behind)
9942 Forest Service/Park Service boundary marker at Easy Pass, with Logan & Douglas glacier in the distance
Easy Pass Down to Fisher Creek
The trail on the far side of the pass was snow-covered at the top and bottom, but bare in the middle. Starting down, we forgot to make the traverse west at the top, ran into cliffs, and had to go back up and find the trail. In the bare middle of the descent, the many switchbacks were awash with trickling meltwater and blooming with glacier lilies.
Fisher Creek to Douglas Creek
Along Fisher Creek, the evidence of last winter’s exceptional avalanches was everywhere. The basin was completely filled in with leftover snow, which in turn was littered with broken tree pieces. Along every edge of the existing avalanche meadows, fresh decades-old trees had been snapped off by the extra-large avalanches this winter. In some places, islands of broken trunks stood eight feet above us, showing the depth of the snow when the big avalanches came down. On the opposite side of the creek, trees were knocked over in a splash pattern two hundred feet uphill, where an avalanche had come down hard enough to run up the other side.
Circa 3900 feet, where the trail closely approaches Fisher Creek just before Douglas Creek, we dropped to the creek and found a log across.
Douglas Creek to Camp
The hike up Douglas Creek wasn’t too bad at first. Mostly snow under the trees, with occasional logs to hop and bogs to avoid. Then the travel became ugly. The slide alder was still bare, but the ground was covered with jackstrawed trees and branches so thick that at times we were walking not on the ground, but atop a thick mat of broken trunks and branches.
Thank goodness, where the valley climbed more steeply up to the flats at 4700, the creek was still snow-covered for an easier path. Through gaps in the snow, we could see dense thickets of brush, which must be hell to travel without the snow. Worn out from the brush, we dragged ourselves up the final slope about 8pm.
I suppose there should be some way to love every kind of terrain, but this valley just seemed unpleasant and disheartening to me. Everywhere was just avalanche wreckage – debris, brush, and dirt. It felt like more a passage to endure than a place to enjoy.
Anyway, we set up camp with a nice view back to Ragged Ridge and forward to the cliff bands below the Douglas Glacier. I managed to find water by climbing into a hole in the snow and perching on a pile of brush to reach down to a freshet running underneath.
Day 2, Logan via Douglas Glacier
We awoke early at 6am, saw the peaks covered with clouds, and fell back asleep for a couple more hours. Later the clouds began to break. By the time we got going it was 10am. There was another delay while I backtracked to get the gloves I forgot in camp.
Getting above the cliff band can be a pain, but we were lucky. Usually you either have to climb steep slabs on the right, or else traverse far out of the way on the left. We found a fortuitous finger of snow up a gully in the center. It had a few steep spots, but got us above the cliff band quite handily.
Now we roped up and traversed up and west along the Douglas Glacier, curving toward the high Douglas-Banded col. Some bits of fallen cornice provided occasional cairns for our route. At 6900 feet we reached the North Fork Bridge Creek col, with dramatic views south toward Goode.
From here on, the travel was very pleasant, just curving back and forth between a few icefalls, and climbing to every wider views.
The snow at the Douglas-Banded col forms a huge swale, with a giant windblown wall of snow across the far side. A shorter snow ridge let us climb out on our side, without having to climb the main wall.
Our route up the Douglas stretched out far below us as we climbed up some more snow to the narrow rock ridge that forms the summit.
We bypassed a minor rock point and climbed up the next outcrop ahead. It seemed like the summit, but then we looked past the far edge, and it wasn’t. Beyond was a steeper tower. We made it even steeper by ascending the left side, which included a brief fifth class move; probably should have taken the right side. Anyway, finally we made it on top.
A sea of peaks lay spread out below us, with the western crest partially cloaked in clouds.
Sometimes the clouds thickened out west and turned the peaks into a dramatic storm of light and shadow
Logan itself provided some of the most dramatic scenery, with its steep towers and deeply contoured snow crests.
With the day getting late, we did a brief rappel to get off the summit, then headed back down our tracks. I wandered around getting more photos of the steep swale at the col.
Then it was back down our tracks all the way to camp, arriving around 9pm.
Later in the evening, moonlight made the bands of snow below Thunder Peak glow faintly above us.
Day 3, Exit
The brush down Douglas Creek was still there. Crampons helped grip both on hard snow and on stacked tree trunks.
Back at Fisher Creek, we were still 2600 feet below the darned pass, so we hiked uphill as the day got warmer.
Along Fisher Creek, the glacier lilies were doing their wonderful blooming-through-the-snow thing.
Ascending toward the pass, the lilies were starting to open up.
At Easy Pass, we looked back for a final view of the Douglas Glacier.
The boundary marker showed how much the snow had melted in the past two days.
A synchronized ground squirrel team performed for us.
Dicey and I napped in the sun for awhile.
We got some long glissades on the far side of the pass. We proceeded a little too close to the creek this time, but climbed back up a bit into the forest and found the trail.
Back at my car, a mouse had gotten into my trunk and tried to build a nest, again.
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 8568 | TRs | Pics Location: Going to Tukwila
Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:30 am
Nice work all around. Thanks for the TR and great pics, guys!
-------------- "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke
"Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
That was an EXCELLENT photo essay Matt! Loved the photos up high, and was amazed by all the avalanche debris. I suspect there is going to be a lot of it this year. Fantastic trip.
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