[Josh Journey]

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." -John Muir "Me and Pavel like to Travel Glacier Peak is not for the weak, but a trip of hard endurance As we slog through the snow, we say again "here we go" As I sweat and soak my garmets, I see I am in a land of Marmots The mice at camp come to steal in attempts to get a nice meal That night we slept quite well, and by morning I felt quite right Over the snowy pass we go, not a single blade of grass By now I feel quite tired, but at the same quite wired... for the adventure that is As we travel for hours to the top, I see around we are surrounded by rock towers We soon reach the top, and are over joyed and hop Going down was quite tiring, but atleast by camp the stove was firing The food gave me what I need, to finish the deed Getting back was quite long, but alteast nothing went wrong. I had such a blast, that I wish it had not been so fast." -Glacier Peak Adventure Who Went: Pavel and I (later two other guys we met up with) Time: 3 days : July 6, 2010 -July 8, 2010 : Tuesday -Thrusday Elevation Gain: 11,000 feet? (I read this on a trip report) Distance: 32 miles? Route: South Route/ Standard which goes up the North Sauk This was my longest adventure yet... in distance that is, but it was an awesome one! After having a fun party on the Forth of July, I was offered to climb Glacier Peak. Michael was too sun burned from Sahale to join. Before the trip, my boots were still soaked from my previous adventure, so I had to go outside and use a hair dryer to dry out my boots. At 7 a.m. Pavel arives at my house to pick me up. On the way we stopped at the ranger station to investigate the route better (which was a great call, the route we had lined up possibly had a washout with river crossing). From here we still had not fully made up our mind on which route to make, but later at White Pass made the choice. On the way to the trailhead of the North Sauk Pavel buys boths of us some nice breakfast which was very generous.

Day 1: At the trailhead we put on our packs, which were quite heavy. For some reason going to White Pass did not sound like much "it's only 9 miles" I thought after traveling 1/2 a mile. After a while the pack and the heat made it more tiring, and energy draining, but we both were doing good. The North Fork Sauk River reminded me of a jungle because there were leaves a few feet across, it was hot, and very humid. At first the bushes were nicely cut, but later we had to plow through (the trail was obvious) some tall grass and such.

When we reached snow, we followed some foot prints which lead to nowhere. I decided to look around for the route, Pavel used his GPS and found the trail to our left. I decided it was time to throw on boots (to prevent my feet from getting wet), which was a good call. There were a few creek spots which you have to traverse under, but isn't that bad. We saw a few marmots and some marmot holes. At White Pass we decide to take the standard route, considering there was an easy to follow boot path.

We traverse the bottom of a mountain and get to the next pass. From here we get our first glimps of Glacier Peak. Blow was The Plug, or as Pavel says "Ze Plug". We had to go off the route by going down hill, and then up hill, but it was worth it. There was a nice place to camp with a 360 view around. I could see two marmots, one racing the other, and another on the way up. One could call this place the land of Marmots. As the sun fell behind the ridge, Pavel cooked dinner, and gave me some hot chocolate. When I burped, I told him "If you mind me, let me know" but he was polite and told me "It's a Free Country". By this time, I really felt like I was in true alpine lands. There were few people within a 10 mile radius. We had the whole spot to ourselves. Evening was also nice. Soon we went to sleep.

Day 2: We woke up some what late the next morning, the sun had already made the outside air warm. We packed up our gear, and headed down the Plug to the next pass. It was a new feeling of mountaineering, going up 1,000 feet no longer felt like much of a deal like it had in the past. We met Mark and Chris (we met them the night before) and agreed that perhaps we should be close together when traveling on glacier. Once we passed Glacier Gap, they found a nice camp sheltered from the wind. Now Glacier Peak was right in our faces, and we could see Mount Maude as well as many others. One could say this was our "relax day".

Day 3: Sleep did not come as easy this night due to the rocks under the tent, although I managed to get some sleep. Mark and Chris woke us up at 3 in the morning to get ready and climb to the summit. There was already a little morning light. I only needed my headlamp for a short time. There was some winds on the lower ridge, which forced me to layer back up from a short sleeve shirt. We decided the best route for going up would be to traverse under and around the Disappointment Peak. We roped up, and it was interesting to see we had to travel through some avalanche debris. Only a few crevasses had to be passed, from here we were below the summit. On the other team, one of the guys crampons kept falling off. "I knew I should have not brought the free crampons" said one of them. Fortunetely they got it figured out, and we were able to head on to the summit. I only recall one steep spot, which Pavel told me to low dagger it which I did so. Soon we reached the top.

I was quite excited when I reached the top, we took some photos, had some food, rested and such. I could see all the way from Mount Stuart to Eldorado Peak. But we had to get down, the sun was melting the snow, and we did not want to travel back with tons of slush. I found out on the way down there were more crevasses than I had noticed, even near by our snow prints. We saw a skier heading up solo, which we all though was a little crazy, but I suppose he was experienced. The other rope team kept cracking up jokes, which I found entertaining, I almost wish I had a recording.

We got to camp, which I was feeling quite tired. I took a nap for a while, Pavel boiled some water, and gave me some food. We packed up the tent, and said good bye to the other climbers, it was now time to head home. Heading back was harder than heading there, the sun was just making the place feel so hot. I drank plenty, applied sunscreen a lot, but it just did not seem like enough. I call this part of the traverse "the oven", even though it is snowy, it was very hot. I took off my Sun glasses for half a minute, and realize how quick sun blindness could get to you, it was just all white around. Miles and miles of slogging through the snow, but as always, regardless of the difficulty, I was still having fun.

When we reached the plug, the skier we saw passed us, although he had to stop at the top of the hill and decided to spend the night above. When we got to White Pass, I was excited, "only 9 more miles" I thought. Turns out those nine miles dragged on for a long time. Fortunately Pavel had a filter which we filtered some water for the rest of the way. Going down kept going on and on, even when we were the last few miles from the car, I was amazed at how long 1.5 miles can feel when your tired. We reached the car by 11 p.m. Pavel then drove me home. At 1 a.m. we went out to find a resturant, which most were closed. "What is this Russia?" Pavel said as we kept looking for places to eat, but fortunetely Denny's was open. After this, he dropped me off home, and off to bed I went. This was an amazing adventure, Pavel was an awesome partner, and he was very generous, I hope to go with more trips with you in the future. I would recommend this trip for anyone who likes long back pack trips, just be sure to know glacier travel, or take the Disappointment route. A classic trip! See Pavel's photos here. To see my photos in gallery mode, click here.

[ajax]

I like the poem. It made me read your post--I don't read many. Thanks for the description and report. I'm feeling anxious to finally climb this mountain for myself, but I have a ways to go yet.

[Dayhike Mike]

Looks like you guys had a good time. Thanks for the well-written trip report and pics.

[EastKing]

This is a great report!!!! Pavel sounds like a good climber. Hopefully we will all group up for a climb. I only wish I was on it. Good luck on Rainier next week!

[Michael Lewis]

Cool man.

[Spotly]

Nice TR and pictures. Looks like you had a good time in the hills,

[grannyhiker]

Beautiful pictures, Josh! IMHO, the Glacier Peak area is one of the most beautiful places in the Northwest! I'm glad the trip went well for you. Isn't it strange, when you're on your way back from a long trip, how that car seems to keep getting farther and farther away as you get closer to it?

[peppersteak'n'ale]

Great stuff - loads of photos, lots of detail in the TR. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this account. Hope you enjoy many other successful outings in the future and keep posting. BTW - Pugh, Sloan, Three Fingers et. al. seem diminutive when viewed from up there, but somehow Pilchuck still dominates the skyline. Glad to see it was a success and a good time

[BirdDog]

Well written Josh! Great set of pics. Very enjoyable TR.

[Dean]

Well done, both report and pics. Of course, I am jealous since we were just a few days ahead of you and got crap weather that kept us off the peak. I shall return.

[BearQueen]

Good job Josh!!!

[mtn.climber]

Good job Josh & Pavel! Excellent TR, Josh. And excellent photos, as usual.

[Redwic]

You, sir, must be an impostor! This cannot truly be a Josh Lewis trip report without some major calamity! Good job on a successful summit, and trip.

[Pass-n-Thru]

Those are some nice shots. I did not read the whole post yet.

[Go Jo]

I have held back from posting on your reports of late, watching quietly and hoping to see something great come out of your trials & tribulations. This trip report simply could not pass by without comment. I am thrilled that you achieved an amazing summit in wonderful weather with a competent & enthusiastic partner. Your photography was also a joy to peruse, bringing Glacier Peak to life on my screen. I hope that this trip is an example of both the solid decision making and thoughtful writing we will continue to see from you in the future. Well done Josh ~Jo