[Matt]

Dates: May 16-17, 2009 Destination: Welcome-Excelsior Traverse, with side trip to Damfino Party: Matt Burton, Mike Torok, Barb Ellers, Lynn Graf, Richard Burt Itinerary Saturday we started at the Welcome Pass trailhead, hiked to Wecome Pass, made side trips to Points 5933 & 5854, and then followed the ridge west to camp on Point 5830. Sunday we made a side trip to Damfino (Point 6145), then continued to Point 5930 & Excelsior, and descended to the Excelsior trailhead.

Route Map (Red flags have 400-foot prominence, except Excelsior)

Saturday Welcome Pass Trailhead 2400 to Welcome Pass 5200 I’ve been to Welcome Pass three times before, but always in winter, when we had to hike from the highway. So it was a pleasure today to be able to drive the ¾ mile to the trailhead. I was surprised to discover that there’s a small dam on the creek just past the trailhead, almost entirely filled with silt. Hiking up the trail, we hit patchy snow circa 3800 feet and solid snow circa 4200. The snow was firm enough to hike without snowshoes up to the pass. On the ridge crest, there was about a foot of fresh snow, with a somewhat breakable crust underneath, so we wore snowshoes for all the rest of the trip.

Trailhead Dam

Break at Welcome Pass

Side Trip to Point 5933 We dropped our packs for some side trips. Mike went west and north to Point 5854, since he hadn’t been there before. The rest of us went east to Point 5933, where the others hadn’t been before. The warm snow packed down fairly well underfoot and made for good travel. This section of the ridge rolled up and down entertainingly along the way, especially without the weight of the packs. As I wandered along the ridge, I realized how extraordinarily privileged I had been on my first visit here in January 2008, when the whole crest had been wind-sculpted by winds into fantastic waves and curls of crusty snow, new shapes around every corner and rise for over a mile along the way. You just never know what the mountains will give you. My first visit here was completely cloudy; the next magically wind-sculpted; the next a sunny day with multiple sets of companions. Today we had mostly cloudy skies and dimly lit snow so far, but who knows what more would come as we traveled.

Hiking toward 5933

Snow doughnuts

Photos and Footprints

5933 Summit Shot

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Everything we traveled south of 5933

From 5933, we could also look far west along the ridge and see our goal for the day, the flat crest of 5830 far west in the distance. Sunbreaks began to light up a few of the peaks. Shuksan’s head emerged from the clouds. As we neared the pass, we could see Mike standing on the summit of 5854. As he hiked back down the crest, he amused himself kicking off snow to cause surface slides on the side of the peak.

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Hiking back toward the pass, with camp crest at upper right

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Sunlight on Point 5933

Hiking by Shuksan

Mike kicking slides off 5854

Welcome Pass to Camp 5830 Now we had to pick up our packs and continue onward to Point 5830, where we hoped to find a high flat crest for camping. Mike had already carried his pack a half mile ahead to the turnoff for his side trip. His tracks were so even that it felt like he had paced them with a metronome. Traveling up the crest was harder work in the softened snow.

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Our packs at Welcome Pass bottom left, campsite toward upper right

Following Mike’s tracks away from Welcome Pass

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Further along, with the ridge to 5933 behind us

Still further, with the junction to 5845 behind us (plus Tomyhoi)

As we neared camp, the clouds broke up more. Baker came out. We even began to cast shadows.

Baker emerges

Hiking over the first 5800-foot contour

Casting shadows

View back to Point 5933

Sea of peaks east of us

High Camp I love camping up on a high crest with a territorial view. It’s so wonderful to be able to stay awhile and relax overnight in such a fine place. And to watch how the light moving around the horizon from sunset to sunrise highlights everything in different directions, angles, and colors. We set up our tents on the flat crest, dug a comfortable dining room into the snow, and enjoyed the thoroughly enjoyed the evening. We even had warm temperatures, no wind, and clearing skies.

View north from camp to Damfino & Tomyhoi

View west from camp

View SW from camp to Shuksan

View SE from camp to Baker

View east from camp

REI should pay me for this one

Sunset A thick band of clouds covered the horizon, but the sun still provided some nice color as it dropped lower.

A few doughnuts trying to escape the cornice

Evening snow toward Church

Evening camp looking west

Evening camp looking east

Evening camp looking SW

Enjoying the evening

Later, after the sun had dropped behind the clouds, the last light reached overhead to light up bands of red and orange.

Baker

Glowing clouds over Church

Damfino & Tomyhoi

Statistics for Saturday: Welcome TH 2400 to Welcome Pass 5200: 2.5 miles, 2800 gain, 3 hours. Welcome Pass to Point 5933: One way 1.4 miles, 150 loss, 900 gain. Round trip 2.8 miles, 1050 gain, 3 hours. Welcome Pass to Camp 5830: 1.6 miles, 150 loss, 800 gain, 1.5 hours. Sunday Sunrise I got up early to watch the sunrise. In the middle of the night, the sky had become clear black pricked with bright stars. Clouds had reappeared by morning, but the sun made a pretty bloom of light behind puffy clouds in the east. I got the stoves going and woke up the rest of the bunch. Evaporation and melting were slowly mutating the shape of the snow doughnuts.

Sunrise

Morning tea

Breakfast

Breakfast doughnuts

Camp to Base of Damfino To get to Damfino took several steps. Each step pretty much went down then up to a crest. Follow a ridge north toward Point 6087. Bypass the southernmost bump of 6087 on its left side and then regain the crest. Curve down and right to cut a corner past the main summit of 6087 on its SE side and gain the east-west ridge to Damfino. Make another dip and traverse around the righthand side of an intervening fin. Arrive at the western base of Damfino, and hope the route looks easier close up.

Route to 6087 & Damfino

The trek down from camp and up the left side toward 6087 was easy running on the undulating ridge crest, although it dropped us to 5300 before climbing back up.

Heading off the ridge from camp

Starting to head back up toward 6087

Traversing past the southernmost bump of 6087

We reached the crest south of 6087 and could see the big snowy basin beyond, requiring us to make a big traverse down past the cliffy side of 6087.

Traversing past 6087

Looking back near the end of the traverse

Looking back after traversing past 6087

Then we made a smaller traverse past the fin between 6087 & Damfino The fin included a wild fang of cornice on one edge.

Preparing to traverse past the fin.

Damfno Summit Oft-times a peak looks very difficult from a distance, but close up it reveals an easier path to the top. Damfino didn’t work out that way. Barb decided to stay below and watch. Reports claimed most of the rock as 2nd/3rd class, but today snow covered much of the face. Parts of the snow were damned steep. Each step required not just stomping a foothold into the snow, but much kicking and digging at the snow face to clear enough space for stepping forward onto the step.

Our tracks up the face.

Near the top, with the fin and 6087 below

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The last rock stretch

The summit was a snow arête, so we could walk around on it. Lower at the far end, Mike was sure that an outcrop represented the rock summit. He dug in, and sure enough found Fay Pullen’s summit register.

On the summit, not lined up evenly by size

Me above the ascent route

Me with the Welcome-Excelsior Ridge & Baker behind

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Looking across to our camp

Mike with the register

180 degree pan of the summit area

For descending, we downclimbed the top and bottom third, but rappelled the middle snow where it had been steepest.

Descending

A trench on the upper part

Rappeling the middle of the summit block

Back to Camp We retraced our tracks back to camp.

Shadows and tracks back to camp

Our tracks back to Damfino

Walking the camp ridge cornice (Barb is actually farther back than she appears)

Along the way, we could look left and right and see our whole ridge run along the Welcome-Excelsior crest.

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The Welcome-Excelsior Crest

Round trip to Damfino, 4.4miles, 300 net gain, 2300 cumulative gain, 7 hours. Camp to Excelsior The trip from camp to Point 5930 to Excelsior was straightforward snowshoeing on the ridge crest. First we went down and up to 5930.

Looking ahead from camp to 5930.

Closer to 5930

Looking back from 5930

Then we went down and less up to Excelsior, which is the lowest summit along the ridge, despite being the only named peak. Excelsior’s summit was somewhat wind-crusted. Beyond Excelsior, ridges continued toward Church mountain, beckoning the possibility of a further traverse sometime.

Looking ahead from 5930 to Excelsior

Nearing Excelsior summit

Excelsior summit break, with Church mountain beyond.

Excelsior summit group

The genesis of this whole trip had been a winter trip to Excelsior in 2004, which was also the first trip I ever used a digital camera. We stood on the summit looking east and wishing we had time to continue 5930. Later trips at to Welcome Pass left me wishing to continue east to 5930. This trip finally connected the gap.

2/1/04

5/17/09

On Excelsior’s summit, we were glad to find plenty of tracks, which led us down the snow to the trail. We dropped off our high ridge and back down into the forested depths. About 3800 feet, we ran out of snow and finally took off our snowshoes.

Mike dropping off Excelsior

Camp to Excelsior: 2.8 miles, 1150 loss, 1050 gain, 2:15 hours. Excelsior to trailhead: 4.7 miles, 3900 loss, 2:30 hours.

[GeoTom]

Beautiful Matt. Looking forward to the update and some more photos.

[Layback]

Mmm. Breakfast doughnuts and summit tea. Hey Matt - where did you get those? Damn if I know!

[wamtngal]

Very nice Matt - you have some beautiful photos!! Sorry to have missed this one.

[BarbE]

The moment I set eyes on Damfino from our ridge camp the night before I knew I would leave its summit to the big boys and girls. I was more than happy to content myself with the narrow ridge line at the base of Damfino, enjoying the sun and the amazing scenery. Just watching them do the climb was thrilling, exciting and scary as hell. Knowing and seeing how competent they were eased my worries enough so I could actually relax and get some climbing action pics. I know my fear of falling will never allow me to climb anything like that but I'm very much in awe of people who can. While being drawn to high places I'll stick to walk-ups or easy scrambles. And Damfino ain't no walk-up for sure. Fortunately the ridge walks, the other high points plus Excelsior Mountain offered outstanding views in all directions. A strenuous but most excellent weekend, a spectacular campsite, and great company.

Point 5933 in sunlight

American and Canadian border

Canada

Large avalanche

Final traverse towards camp

Happy hour

Warm enough for my Rainbow tarp tent

Baker sunset

Kitchen views

Last light

Reflections

Matt taking pictures of tomorrows destination

Tea time for Matt

Damfino route

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Our ridge camp

Heading toward Damfino

Beautiful morning

Shapes

Route to Damfino

South side of Damfino

Almost there

All on the summit

Matt's rappel

Almost down

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Damfino ridge

Matt arriving at Excelsior

[Tazz]

"almost there" is an awesome shot Barbe!! you have some nice ones! Another stellar report Matt!

[Go Jo]

[cartman]

Nice pics you two, those action shots are great. Damfino looks interesting. Matt, you and I went east from Welcome Pass to do Peak 5933 last winter: https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7964606 (or maybe you meant it was just the other three who had not been there before).

[gone]

Ahh, so this is what you were talking about last night, Barb. Not sure how I missed this report. What a great adventure, and beautiful pics! And soooo much snow!

[dicey]

I love camping up high with views. You guys got some great shots! Another trip from last weekend I wish I could have been on.

[rdyhiker]

[GaliWalker]

Wow, Matt and BarbE, what lovely shots. If I had to pick a single favorite from each (amongst many nice ones) it would be Matt's "Breakfast doughnuts" and BarbE's "Last light".

[Magellan]

That peak looks a little hairball. Nothing like steep exposed snow!

[the Zachster]

Matt and company...I've been waiting for this report ever since we met half of your party at the Excelsior parking lot on Saturday! Glad we could assist you with some tracks out from Excelsior Pass! What a FINE campsite you had...just spectacular! Great photos...all of them. BarbE's "Heading for Damfino" is particularly beautiful and inviting. A definite wish-I- was- there kind of shot!

[puzzlr]

Looks like a fine trip. Looking at those cornices makes me think how the snow is just rotting away up there in this weather.