[Mike Collins]

Stefan and I were together to climb Mineral Mtn. on Sat and he will undoubtedly offer a trip report for that outing. On Sunday morning our party of four broke camp at 5600' on the northern arm of Ruth Mtn to go separate ways. He to climb Icy/Ruth and Dave C. and I to traverse the Nooksack Ridge to climb Nachaktsen (6966') and Mt. Sefrit (7191'). We traversed the Ruth Glacier to connect with a saddle at 5600' between Ruth and Pt 6596. There was only a small area of firn ice exposed and our crampons stayed stowed in our packs as we climbed around this section. We traversed to the north of 6596 and 6760 by kicking innumerable steps into the soft snow. Our next waypoint to reach was the saddle between 6760 and 6295. When looking from above we saw nothing but air. Downclimbing for a better view revealed a line of trees on the west side of 6760 which was our best line of descent. We zigged and zagged through cliff bands and safely reached the trees and then the saddle. We hiked on the southern slope of 6295 and it was a pleasure to feel the warm earth beneath our feet again. This brought us to the south ridge of Nachaktsen which was our easy route to top. We quenched our thirst on the snowmelt water in our Nalgene bottles and even got a wink or two of rest before heading off for Sefrit, our primary objective for the weekend. We connected with the saddle at 6440 and dropped our heavy packs. This was immediately above our planned descent route back to the Hannegan Pass trail. Travelling with a single daypack was a welcomed relief. We skirted to the north of 6640 and 6810 before crossing the ridge into the Nooksack drainage on the west. From there to the summit of Sefrit we were either directly on the SE ridge or a little to the west. There are a couple of short Class 4 sections but they offered firm handholds. Our visit was the first since 5/1/04 when Jim B. and party signed in. We descended and picked up our packs for the butt chilling glissade down toward Ruth Creek. Sefrit is guarded on the northern slopes by formidable cliffs. On the upclimb to Hannegan Pass we determined our descent route and fixed landmarks in our mind to direct our descent. The only possible route is the area between the two watercourses east of Sefrit shown on the map. This still has plenty of mossy slab and vine maple but it works. It got us safely back to Ruth Creek and the crux manuever of the weekend, the fording of the creek. The hot weather brought a torrent of snowmelt water into the creek. There are no large trees adjacent to the creek so logjams and log crossings just aren't there. We spent 1 1/2 hrs looking downstream and then upstream for a possible (i.e. least life-threatening) ford. We settled upon an area adjacent to a 10 inch diameter log that offered a handheld anchor for half of the ford. With helmets on and packs unfastend we were ready to go. We faced each other and held onto the other persons shoulder straps to slowly cross the waist deep water. Dave saved me once and I returned the favor. A trail never looked so good as the one we met on the other side. We damn near were crossing the river Styx and were pleased to have dry clothes back in the car 1 1/2 miles away. We left camp at 0700 and reached the car at 1930.

[wildernessed]

incredible, makes my knees hurt and I think you gave me blisters !

[naturealbeing]

Mike Collins, Thanks for posting your most enjoyable TR. I'm glad you were able to bag your intended peaks and get across the creek without any incidents. When I read or here about people crossing creeks/rivers in the wilderness it reminds me of how important it is to have a plan and to be firmly focused during the crossing. The dangers of getting caught up in the current and carried down stream into a pile of debris can take ones life away very quickly. With the amount of water pressure on ones body against a log jam or being pinned under water there is little chance of getting out alive. I only bring this up as a reminder for those that need to here this.

[Mike Collins]

We had looked downstream to make sure there weren't any "strainers" (areas of accumulated branches and trunks) which are the cause of many water deaths. So if we had fallen in we could jettison our pack and not worry about being caught in the deadly hold of the branches. I had waded into the water a short distance without my back to test the flow and the footing. The helmets would protect us against being knocked out when hitting any of the numerous rocks in the creek.

[naturealbeing]

Thanks Mike for posting your method for crossing the creek. This is very important information to take into account before and during a creek/river crossing. Your valued comment may be the difference between some ones life or death.

[Tazz]

nice work Thanks for the TR Did you hear or see any avalanches? I've heard other reports of sluffing in that area in the past couple of weeks.

[Mike Collins]

We were looking forward to avalanches off the north face of Shuksan as we had a front row seat for the show but didn't see/hear any activity. Minimal sloughing of snow along our routes which was close to eight miles of snowslope over two days. I expected more with the heat.

[naturealbeing]

Mike C, Based upon your recent experience of the N side of Sefrit and Nachakten, would you care to speculate what the snow conditions and amounts might be on the N side of the Goat Peaks. Thanks.

[Tazz]

thanks mike.