Forum Index > Trip Reports > Hozomeen 6/29-30/13
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cartman
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cartman
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PostTue Jul 02, 2013 8:40 pm 
Hozomeen dominates the north end of Ross Lake, and I'd been wanting to do it for years. Recruited Mike B., who's been wanting to do it for...days. Actually, this was to be Mike's first North Cascades summit. Route info can be found in Matt's excellent trip report. All I'll add is that the Silver/Skagit Road is in very good condition and there are zero blowdowns on the Skyline II Trail. The Hozomeen Ridge Trail runs the whole ridge all the way up and over Monument 74 Peak (~6500') to the border. Weather was fantastic as we hiked the Skyline II Trail the 7 miles to Hozomeen Ridge.
First views
First views
Hozomeens
Hozomeens
Plenty of flat spots to camp along the ridge. Plenty of skeeters, too. Left camp at 6am heading south on Hozomeen Ridge. The ridge runs up and down, then up and down, then up and... ...finally Monument 74 Peak comes into view.
Monument 74 Pk
Monument 74 Pk
Don't try to go around, it will cliff out. Just go over it. Besides, it has ~700' of prominence, so you get a bonus Canadian summit. agree.gif Past the bonus and part way up the 6000' closed contour is the border marker.
Border
Border
Up and over this bump and now it's all up.
There it is
There it is
Getting closer
Getting closer
Mike approaching
Mike approaching
Moon shot
Moon shot
Despite Hozomeen's formidable appearance from a distance, the route laid back considerably as we headed up the slopes.
Route lays back
Route lays back
As we neared the top of the lower snowfield, I was surprised to see two climbers downclimbing the rocky ridge, as we had seen no one up to this point.
Ruffians
Ruffians
Scalawags
Scalawags
Turns out it was Crispin Prahl and David Salinger, another pair of temporary ex-pats spending the weekend slumming in the Great North. They'd come up the border swath from Ross Lake and camped near the base of the summit. Crispin said the swath was a marvelous schwack. They enjoyed it so much they came out our approach and hitchhiked back to their car. The crux of the climb is gaining the rock ridge once we left the snow. The rock is more sound than not, with many holds, but the climbing is mostly class 4 and completely unprotectable. If doing this route, leave the rope and climbing gear at home, there's nothing to anchor to. Also from this point on the route was all on rock, so we stashed axes and crampons. We didn't like the direct route up to the ridge with the 2000'+ drop off the other side, so we traversed on rock (class 4) about 30' left and Mike found a slot (low class 5) which widened after about 20' to a chimney (class 3/4) we used to gain the ridge a little higher, where the ridge is less steep and wider. From here it's straightforward class 3 to the summit, but still requiring care.
Mike tops out
Mike tops out
Decent amount of room up top to hang out and check out the register,
Register
Register
and admire the views.
Summit
Summit
Mike on summit
Mike on summit
We went down the ridge to our chimney/slot and very carefully downclimbed back to the snow. Sorry, no pics of the rock climbing, we was kinda preoccupied. About 200' of mostly backing down to the connector snow ramp,
Off the rock
Off the rock
Downclimbing
Downclimbing
got us to the lower snowfield and easy terrain. Looking back we could clearly see our route:
Tracks
Tracks
Up Monument 74 Peak; my second, and Mike's first, Canadian summit.
Bonus peak
Bonus peak
Views were as persistent as the mosquitos in camp.
Castle
Castle
Border swath
Border swath
Thanks to Mike for a great trip in a spectacular area and a whole lotta driving. That is one fine first North Cascades summit! ~23 miles, 9600' gain Eric J. Johnson

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dicey
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Joined: 11 May 2004
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dicey
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PostTue Jul 02, 2013 9:11 pm 
cartman wrote:
They'd come up the border swath from Ross Lake and camped near the base of the summit. Crispin said the swath was a marvelous schwack. They enjoyed it so much they came out our approach and hitchhiked back to their car.
Ha! lol.gif

I'm not always sure I like being older but being less stupid has advantages. http://www.flickr.com/photos/32121172@N00/sets/
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RichP
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RichP
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PostTue Jul 02, 2013 9:53 pm 
Awesome cartman. Good to see you posting again.

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ree
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Joined: 29 Jun 2004
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ree
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PostTue Jul 02, 2013 9:54 pm 
Oooh, nice report! I'd love to do Hozermeen someday. Bozomean? Whatever!!! "Choss Dog Millionaires"... pretty funny. Too bad about the mozzies. Ugh. I guess it's that time of year. Who knew the border swath was anything more than a golf fairway? clown.gif

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Magellan
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Joined: 26 Jul 2006
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
PostTue Jul 02, 2013 10:47 pm 
Like a boss. up.gif

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iron
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iron
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PostTue Jul 02, 2013 11:09 pm 
the man is back! glad you got this need-to-do peak checked off. in 1+ day, you'll be starting off on your no. 1 all time (?) desired trip. hooray for summer!

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puzzlr
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Joined: 13 Feb 2007
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostWed Jul 03, 2013 3:14 am 
Back with a big one! Huzzah for Hozomeen.

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cascadetraverser
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cascadetraverser
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PostFri Jul 05, 2013 10:40 am 
Nice job!!

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