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don b
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Joined: 22 Feb 2006
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don b
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PostMon Sep 03, 2007 9:43 pm 
Let's begin with this disclaimer; no pics as I lost my camera. Luckily there are honest and good people out there such as Tom of Olympia who found it and is sending it back! Many thanks, A 4 day trip over the holiday was cancelled Friday morning so I was looking around for other options when it occurred to me that I hadn't spent much time around "home", the ALW. Summit Chief was a worthy goal but not in the way that Randy has described it. He had a one day epic largely caused by bad weather so it seemed that 2 days in good weather would suit me just fine. The Pete lake trail was too familiar so I decided to head up Tired Creek, down to Waptus Pass and up to Escondido Lake. From there it was a scramble up the largely dry creek bed up to the Escondido Tarns (more mudholes now). This was a good route although it was about 1.5 miles longer with more elevation as it avoids the long Pete Lake trail and the endless switchbacks up to the Escondido's. In it's place you get a trail to yourself that climbs the way a proper trail should, largely straight up. As I was walking along the first Tarn the ground seemed to explode under my feet. There must have been a hundred tadpoles with tails and emerging legs desperately racing for deep water. Very fun. The PCT was then followed south to the Vista Tarns, located at the top of the before mentioned switchbacks. Once over the pass above the Vista Tarns you enter the Summit Chief basin that was so well photographed by the "9 Days" group. It seemed virtually untouched, no trails, campsites, cairns or firerings. I spent the night at Summit Chief lake sleeping lightly on heather in the bivy sac as there wasn't even that much bare soil to be found. 6:30 on Sunday found me scrambling up wonderfully solid rock and heather fields towards the summit. One steep snow patch was climbed because I wanted to use crampons over my running shoes. Higher there is a final snowfield below the key notch where I had to do some fancy dancing to avoid the goat that was dropping rocks from above. From the notch it was simple scrambling to the registerless summit. On the descent I saw another person headed up the peak and we had a nice chat about things. Hopefully he will be joining the group as he has been looking in for some time. Descent back to the PCT and out to the parking lot was routine and dusty. In the parking lot I saw a car belonging to a NWH member with Orygun plates. Wonder what you did?

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Magellan
Brutally Handsome



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics
Location: Inexorable descent
Magellan
Brutally Handsome
PostMon Sep 03, 2007 10:09 pm 
Thanks for the TR Don. Sorry about your camera. At least it is coming back home. Fess up Orygun!!

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Dayhike Mike
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Joined: 02 Mar 2003
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Dayhike Mike
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PostMon Sep 03, 2007 10:27 pm 
Thanks for the TR, Don!

"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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Bryan K
Shameless Peakbagger



Joined: 29 Sep 2005
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Bryan K
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PostTue Sep 04, 2007 1:20 am 
I have a friend from Olympia name Tom, maybe he is your camera return man. Glad you're getting it back. biggrin.gif

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CC
cascade curmudgeon



Joined: 13 Sep 2006
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CC
cascade curmudgeon
PostMon Sep 10, 2007 11:02 pm 
summit chief
It had a register last year. Apparently the register gremlins have struck again.

First your legs go, then you lose your reflexes, then you lose your friends. Willy Pep
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TPayne
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Joined: 06 Dec 2006
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Location: Olympia
TPayne
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PostMon Sep 10, 2007 11:39 pm 
Bryan wrote:
I have a friend from Olympia name Tom, maybe he is your camera return man. Glad you're getting it back. biggrin.gif
Not this Tom, but glad to hear you're getting the camera back. I may have snapped a few pictures though. Along the hike, of course. up.gif

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dicey
custom title



Joined: 11 May 2004
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Location: giving cornices a wider berth
dicey
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PostTue Sep 11, 2007 12:14 am 
CC wrote:
It had a register last year. Apparently the register gremlins have struck again.
Nope. Had a register on Sunday. smile.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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don b
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don b
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PostTue Sep 11, 2007 7:01 am 
I guess I was in such awe of the views that I didn't look hard enough!

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Monkey Del Mar
Class 2 my ass!



Joined: 04 Sep 2007
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Location: On the wrong gully
Monkey Del Mar
Class 2 my ass!
PostSat Sep 15, 2007 2:02 pm 
Hello Don. It was nice to meet you on my way up Summit Chief. I am at home sick, so am finally able to register and post. Also, thanks for suggesting a route up through the upper snow field of SC. Of course I had to try (and fail - including an unplanned glissade...ugh!) two different ways up before I went back to following your tracks up the snow. Even after doing so, I chose to exit the snow a little early, and found myself pulling a class-3-butt-in-the-air spiderman move on the moat. Lesson learned: listen to don! (and bring crampons; kicking steps in steep snow got tedious.) Not much to add to the recent reports on this summit (and I didn't take any pictures), so hope no one minds me adding some observations: - I thought that the scramble was not as easy as advertised in some guides (i.e. no way a class 2), but I may well have taken a wrong way up the upper rock. I just went straight up after the snow, angling right and left. I never went "over the notch" onto the gully on the other side of the ridge. There appeared to be a path from the top, but chose not to follow it on the way down. - I was able to glissade down both snowfields, as the snow was soft enough later in the day. 1 hour up, 3 minutes down... - Car-to-car vertical as per my altimeter (from Pete Lk TH) was 7,240' total, over 2 days. - Saw my first bear in the wild! (Which made me go back to camp at Vista tarns where I knew there would be company, instead of my original plan to bivy at SC Lake). - Yes, those last 4 miles back were not fun. Especially in the dark. - And yes, I did find the summit register. wink.gif Did I mention the amazing views? Cheers, MDM

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don b
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don b
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PostSat Sep 15, 2007 3:43 pm 
MDM, Welcome to the group, you'll find lots of good people here. Don

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