Sat Aug 18, 2007 12:53 am Tupshin & Devore (8/8 - 8/10/07)
Dates: August 8-10, 2007
Party: Matt, Greg L (gregor)
Destination: Tupshin (8320) & Devore (8360) via Devore Creek & Bird Creek
This trip ascended Tupshin & Devore from Bird Creek Camp on the Devore Creek trail. We had planned to climb each peak on a separate day via the standard but brushy Bird Creek approach. Instead, we were able to make a loop that avoided Bird Creek and climbed both summits in a single day.
* Tupshin’s summit was a straightforward face of ledges and clefts to thread upward.
* Devore’s summit was a longer ridge of obstacles and false summits to weave around.
* To get there, we dodged upward through brush, splashed around in lakes, and stumbled downward over talus.
* Along the way, fires smoked, creeks sang, and flowers smiled.
Summit Day, Short version:
16 hours, 8.7 miles, 6600 feet gain, 0 belays!, 5 rappels, 2 Top 100 summits.
Day 1
When we caught the Lake Chelan ferry at Fields point, smoke covered the lake and firefighters lined the dock. Bad news for anyone going to Holden. The Domke fire had closed access to Holden. Fortunately we were going to Stehekin.
On the ferry, we met two pairs of climbers who had changed desintations due to the fire. One pair was going to try Bonanza via Dark Peak. We’d meet them again later. Another pair was Tom Sjolseth and his father, who were going to Agnes and various other destinations. Tom had two pieces of advice that impacted our trip. First, he recommended a place where we could borrow a canoe to cross the Stehekin River. Second, he suggested descending from Devore via West Fork Devore Creek.
After docking at Stehekin, we needed to reach the Devore Creek trailhead. The trailhead is just across the head of the lake, near the Weaver Point campground, but it’s on the far side of the Stehekin River. How to get there? The sure but slow way is by land, taking the bus upstream to Harlequin Bridge and then hiking back downstream 3.7 miles to the trailhead. The fast but chancy way is by lake, hoping to find a boater at Stehekin who will run you across the lake. Tom’s suggestion let gave us a sure and fast way, by river.
Even though we were complete strangers, Tom’s friends let us borrow their canoe and leave it on the far side of the river till we returned. Wow, small-town generosity is wonderful. (I’d thank them by name, but I don’t want to indirectly invite hordes of people to their canoe without asking their permission first.) Once across the river, it was just a short bushwhack to the Devore Creek trailhead (1150 feet).
The trail switchbacked up a thousand feet through open timber to the park boundary, then traversed above Devore Creek. Beyond the boundary, there were occasional downed logs and frequent brush encroaching on the trail. It was passable but tiresome, with the brush constantly pushing and tugging at my righthand side. I suppose a good mountaineer can find pleasure in any terrain, but I found this section of trial to be boring and unpleasant, just traversing miles of brush and junky forest down in the valley with no views. Eventually the trail entered mature forest, with a pleasant camp at Bird Creek (4150 feet). The approach hike was 5 miles, 4 hours, 3100 gain.
Musical Water
With time to spare, I wandered for a while near Devore Creek, where the water was chattering across series of rapids. When I listened closely, I was amazed at what I could hear. The stream wasn’t just a random rush of noise, but a many-voiced chorus of sounds created by each movement of the water. Standing on a slope above the creek, I could pivot my head and hear the distinct pitch and rhythm of sound from each different place that the water danced around the rocks and through the air. Up and down the stream, every fall, splash, whorl, rill, and cascade of the water sung out its own unique melody, the sounds all overlapping and intertwining just like the flow of the water itself.
Day 2
For route info, we used summitseeker’s “Summit Routes,” which was brief but accurate. We also used Klenke’s route descriptions for Tupshin & Devore from summitpost.org. Klenke’s info was very detailed, which worked fine as long as we used only the details that fit and ignored the many that didn’t. Klenke’s color-coded annotated photos of the routes were especially helpful.
At 6am, we started upward along Bird Creek, but kept trending rightward where there was less brush and fewer cliff bands. Circa 5400, we moved back partway left and crossed a minor creek, filled up on water, then continued upward left of the creek till we reached the ridge crest circa 6900, right on target for approaching Tupshin. Then we traversed solid talus into the debris field below the peak, ascended loose talus to the base of the peak at 7600, and took the lowest right-angled ramp up to where the climbing starts.
The rock on Tupshin had the positive qualities that make for an interesting climb or an interesting friend – slightly flaky but generally solid. There were lots of slightly protruding edges that made superb positive handholds. Staying below the crest, we followed the path of Klenke’s description, while ignoring all the distracting specific details. (Klenke’s “5.hard” flake gave us pause, but we bypassed it by moving right on some 2-inch ledges that had good handholds above.) Step by step, we kept going up, angling wherever the terrain looked easiest, and finding reassuring holds for the brief sections where it became sketchier in between. And then we were on top, with all the climbing gear still in our packs. I had been so enthralled by the climbing that I never took any pictures along the route. It was a thoroughly enjoyable challenge to piece together a steep by secure path up the rock unencumbered by the rope.
Tupshin had a comfortable wide summit. The view was dominated by Devore to the south, with its pretty lakes basin dividing the cliffy waterfall below from the cliffy summit above. Everything eastward was smoky, but we could see all the way down to the Stehekin River delta where we had left the canoe.
After half an hour, we descended via down-climbing and five single-rope rappels, and then traversed back to the divider ridge at 7000 feet. We were level with Devore Lakes, but the valley of Bird Creek lay in between, so we had to angle downward another 700 feet to cross the head of the valley and then scramble 700 feet back up an unlikely-looking route through the cliffs right of the waterfall.
Devore Lakes provided a respite from all the steep terrain, an almost flat plateau of blue-green lakes and scattered larches amid wide fields of glacial debris. I enjoyed a brisk swim in the biggest lake, and then we hurried onward to Devore.
The route up Devore was less technical, but junkier and much longer, since it ran along the broken crest of the east ridge. We stayed on or left of the crest, except for going right of the twin towers that Klenke called “The Bottles.” The fourth-class step on the false summit was steep but had enough holds if you looked for them.
When climbing with Greg, you can tell how difficult the route is just by listening. The more troublesome the route, the more running commentary he provides. On this trip, Tuphsin’s summit produced only occasional conversation about route choices. The descent into Bird Creek and climb up the waterfall produced more frequent comments. Devore’s summit provoked ever-increasing diatribes at its falseness, as each step failed to get us to the end. The fourth-class step led to a ledge, the ledge led left around an exposed corner, the corner led back right to a steep notch between summits, the notch led down a gully, and then a steeper looser longer gully finally led up to the true summit.
The Devore summit was narrow but dramatic. Northward cliffs fell straight down to the blue-green lakes, and then Tupshin rose up on the far side. Southeast, the fire smoke had blown away, showing the upper Devore Creek valley with Castle & Flora peaks.
We returned to the 7500 col with one rappel on the false summit. Along the way, the lower sunlight cast pretty highlights across the peaks.
At the col, we turned south and descended via the West Fork Devore Creek valley, hurrying to get down before dark. The upper slopes were all talus and scree. To avoid cliff bands, we traversed to the other side of the valley head circa 6800 and came down meadowy/brushy slopes to the head of the creek circa 6300. Meadows led down the left side of the creek, with occasional forest detours. We got into steeper forest at one point, but found a dry washed out creek gully that channeled us like flood waters tumbling steeply down the rocks the valley bottom.
We hit the trail just before full dark at 9pm. After a break, we hiked the 1.5 miles back to camp by headlamp.
This trip beat me up more than most. I was tired and sore and done with hiking when we reached camp. The hurried descent down the rockfields especially beat up my feet. Even my gear was torn up. I ripped my favorite 15-year-old mesh shirt on the approach, tore several holes in my pants while climbing, gouged the rand of my boots on the rocky descent, and dropped a glove off Tupshin.
Flowers Amid the High Rocks
Earlier in the day, as we traversed high fields of talus or scrambled rocky ridges, small flowers would magically appear among the stony terrain. It’s always amazing to find such colorful outbursts of life amid what seems to barren rock. They brighten the terrain like an unexpected thrill of hope or a spontaneous laugh of joy.
Flowers Down the Hillsides
It fascinates me to watch how the flowers change with elevation, aspect, and moisture.
High on the talus south of Devore’s east col, the rocky expanse was dotted with widely spaced orange paintbrush flowers. Lower on the hillside, we found clusters of bright pink paintbrush in the brush. Down by the creek, the paintbrush was more red and mixed with other flowers. There were dozens of other flowers in different locations along the way, but I’m not botanist enough to identify them. Low on the hillside, I was also impressed to find dense crowds of columbine in the brush, the most I’ve ever seen together.
Day 3
I hiked out slowly. My feet were sore and I somehow missed one of only two switchbacks on the upper trail, following a game trail into the brush. Back at the river, we found the canoe, crossed back, and enjoyed a long conversation about various Tuphsin/Devore climbs with the woman who had loaned it to us. Then we hung out at the bakery and enjoyed delicious salads for lunch. I think the Stehekin Pastry Company might be not just the best restaurant in Stehekin, but the best restaurant anywhere in the Cascades.
At Stehekin, we met the two guys who had tried to approach Bonanza via Dark Peak. They said the brush was incredibly dense and they gave up at the waterfall. Dark Peak (link) is definitely a destination for earlier in the year, before the brush has leafed out, and ideally while it’s still partly snow-covered.
The fire smoke had shifted to the south end of the lake, with the sunlight tinting the ferry’s wake glow gold under the brown pall.
Total trip 18.6 miles, 9800 gain.
Return to Devore Lakes (Edit: correct name is Bird Lakes)
Devore Lakes was too attractive for such a brief visit. I’ve already decided I want to go back sometime (though I probably can’t fit it in till next year). I want stay overnight at the lakes, see the larches turn golden, and pick up some of the orphan summits we bypassed. Ideally I’d do the trip in late September or early October for the larches. From a high camp at the lakes, bonus summits could be White Goat plus Wy’East and Wy’North (which are really the 8280 and 8202 southern summits of Devore). Let me know if anyone’s interested.
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
I’ve been trying to actually publish a complete TR all at once for a change, but I’m just too slow and people have been asking about this trip, so here’s the short version. There was more interesting stuff along the way, so I hope to have the rest of the report soon. Along with finishing some even better stuff from the Goode TR, and publishing the Gabriel TR that's still unfinished from June, etc.
Awesome work guys! That's a BIG day. Those are two remote and wonderful peaks. Not many ascents, but they seem to be growing in popularity -- well, relatively speaking. I've posted a link to your TR on my website.
-------------- "Find out who you are and then do it on purpose."
www.summitroutes.com : Guidebook to the 100 highest peaks in Washington
I finally finished the rest of the report and edited it into the original post.
Yet wrote:
Sounds like you need an assistant!
Actually I mostly need an editor to keep me focussed.
Mesahchie Mark wrote:
Nice! So, with only 6 to go, what's left, Matt? Also, which "list" are you using (I understand there's some conflict when it comes to prominence)?
I'm referring to the Bulger Top 100 list. Since it was the original list, I think it's appropriate to finish everything on their list before claiming to have matched their accomplishment. My remaining summits are Azurite, Bonanza, Clark, Luahna, Sherpa & Colchuck. I'd like to still squeeze in Azurite this September if I can recruit any companions. Bonanza will be next July. Colchuck will be last, since it's most accessible for a party on the summit.
However, the Bulger list includes some peaks that aren't legitimate distinct summits, becuase they include named summits that lack prominence. Therefore overall I prefer summitseeker's list, which goes solely by prominence. By that list, I'm at 92/100, and I also need to finish Ballard and Castle. If weather allows, I want to do Castle in late September as a larch trip.
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
BPJ,
If you say they're called Bird Lakes, then I'm sure they are. Makes sense, since they're at the head of Bird Creek.
I confess to just calling them "Devore Lakes" out of convenience, since I didn't want to type "the lakes on the north side of Devore" every time.
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
Superlatively fantastic and even better than that! Many thanks for bringing in the catch. Every time I went up Lake I wanted to see more of these two peaks...and never did. What a revelation these photos are. Love the lakes and remnant glacier. Oh, so sad the fire occurred and worse for your photo ops. Hope Domke recovers... Any chance at labeling some of the pans from summits...like if Bonanza is visible, etc.? And...Super Wow! The photo of Dome and Sinister!
Matt, I am amazed at how much detail there is in your TR, especially since the complete version is posted two weeks after your trip! So many things grab me, but if I addressed each and every one of them, I'd probably end up writing something longer than your trip report.
Here are just a few of my thoughts:
*I can't help but notice your facial hair. Surely, that didn't come from just 3 days in the mountains? At any rate, it suits you.
*I spent some time re-reading your paragraph about the musical water and looking at the pictures, imagining the sounds you described.
*Greg has a warm smile; I like his pretty orange rope.
*I loved your description of the rock on Tupshin and your experience climbing it: ...The rock on Tupshin had the positive qualities that make for an interesting climb or an interesting friend – slightly flaky but generally solid....Step by step, we kept going up, angling wherever the terrain looked easiest, and finding strong holds for the brief sections where it got harder in between. And then we were on top, with all the climbing gear still in our packs. I had been so enthralled by the climbing that I never took any pictures along the route.
*Your photo "Last light on the summits above" is spectacular! It looks like the mountains are on fire.
*I'm not sure how an editor can help; your TRs are a product of your own experiences colored by your own perceptions and interpretations, which you turn into something beautiful for everyone to read.
Excellent TR, Matt. Looks like you guys had an awesome time up there. I know what you mean about wanting to spend more time.. it really is a great place to visit.
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 8568 | TRs | Pics Location: Going to Tukwila
Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:19 am
Wow! Very very nice! Love all the details in the completed report. Thanks!
-------------- "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
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