Forum Index > Trip Reports > silvertip peak & columbia peak - 2008-09-13
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iron
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Joined: 10 Aug 2008
Posts: 6391 | TRs | Pics
Location: southeast kootenays
iron
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PostTue Sep 16, 2008 7:33 pm 
note-to-self: when walking along a ridge, with class 2 terrain, don't slip and gouge your knee... day 1 my friend mary (llama) and i had originally thought of heading out to do monte cristo peak. given the friable nature of the mountain, combined with a less-than-ideal overnight camping situation, led us to pick some other peaks in the area. my friend fastfeet recommended we do silvertip and columbia - what a suggestion! we entered from the monte cristo townsite side of the mountain. i know there had been some recent talk on nwhikers.net of accessing this area from the blanca lake side, but since we didn't have that much time to explore, we kept things simple. knowing there would be a 4 mile road walk from the gate on the mountain loop highway to the trailhead, we thought BIKES! i had read a recent report on the condition of the road, since this year there had been new damage to it. i guess i should have read more closely.
navigating through the downed trees
navigating through the downed trees
road? what road?
road? what road?
buried train tracks on the way to monte cristo - why are they buried so deep beneath the road?
buried train tracks on the way to monte cristo - why are they buried so deep beneath the road?
monte cristo townsite
monte cristo townsite
llama - aka the powerhouse
llama - aka the powerhouse
with heavy packs (helmets, rope, harnesses, overnight gear) it was tough to bike this area. plus, we had to dismount several times to get past the downed trees or over the washed out bridges. we kept thinking things would improve, but they didn't. instead of that nice fine gravel you hope to bike on, it was more cobbly than anything. on and off the bike for about the first two miles, we deemed it would be faster to stash the bikes and just walk the rest of the way. whoops. about 100 ft after stashing them, the road became glorious and smooth. we kept wanting to turn back, but tried convincing ourselves that it was just a fluke stretch of road that we were seeing. dumb... we got to the poodle dog pass/twin lakes trailhead (#708) and started up the 1000'/mi trail. it seemed quite rooted and rocky for a normal trail, but i guess that's to be expected for a trail semi-cut off from maintenance such as this. once at the pass, we headed right (west) towards silver lake. what a gem of a lake this is! i was immediately pleased upon viewing it's nearly glacier-like colors. we scored a great campsite high above the lake with amazing views. after setting up camp, we headed along the south side of the lake where there were many trails that funneled us up to the ridge heading westerly and then northerly. the climber's trail is easy to follow. from beckey, the route description is pretty spot on: at the base of the 100 ft summit crag, begin on the SW corner, toward a little step. follow heathery rock, working right to bypass a left jutting horn, then back up and left on a slanting ramp, then a final steep 20 ft pitch.
first view of silver lake
first view of silver lake
she's one hot llama!
she's one hot llama!
heading up ridge to silvertip
heading up ridge to silvertip
the last 20 ft is 4th class with the crux being a high step/foot wedge move. the views from the summit are awesome! we were on the summit a little past 6:00p and the evening sun created some blissful views, including a frightening one of the peak we would tag tomorrow - how would we get up all though cliff faces? we opted to rappel down from the summit, although llama was sure we could both handle the class 4 downclimb (i have much less experience than she does). two slings were anchored to some hearty plants and served as our rappel station. back on the ridge, it was an easy walk back to camp, or so i hoped.
how the heck are we getting up that???
how the heck are we getting up that???
a little exposure at this point
a little exposure at this point
scrambling up to regain the ridge
scrambling up to regain the ridge
the summit block with sideways horn
the summit block with sideways horn
a wall with a view
a wall with a view
llama negotiating the crux
llama negotiating the crux
at the top of the crux
at the top of the crux
my turn - all smiles at this point
my turn - all smiles at this point
almost there
almost there
she likes it on top
she likes it on top
see?
see?
a seldom used register in a film canister
4 labels
a seldom used register in a film canister
great views
great views
rappel station
rappel station
making sure all is well
making sure all is well
rappeling down
rappeling down
you know how when you're on bare rock, sometimes your boot slips a little before it grabs? well, mine slipped and kept going this time. i lost my footing and landed my knee on a sharp point of a boulder with full force. can you say puncture wound, because i can. i sat down and we looked at the damage. i guestimated the wound to be 3/8 inch deep. no blood yet, but i could see a lot of white beneath - not sure if it was bone or tendon or what. some gauze and tape and we were rolling again. the pain gradually got worse as we headed down. the darkness and slick heather (in spots) didn't help the cause. fortunately, the weather was as perfect as i could ever hope for and llama has a couscous and curry dish that is to die for. all was well.
the gouge
the gouge
sunset quickly approaching
sunset quickly approaching
sunset on columbia
sunset on columbia
taped up for the night
taped up for the night
day 2 the next day, the knee seemed to be working well enough to summit columbia. we headed back up to poodle dog pass and took the right towards twin lakes. our route descriptions (beckey and smoot) both say that that we'll see an obvious climber's trail branching off the trail towards the left. we did the see the obvious trail - and about 20 others. cairns and well-defined boot prints led us off the main trail a couple times, but eventually reconnected with it. eventually, we said screw it and headed up the main trail some more. eventually, we broke off of it around 5400 ft where there were no prints. this is the obvious last spot to break off the main trail as it veers right of the ridge of twin peaks.
the view from inside the tent
the view from inside the tent
a perfect campsite location
a perfect campsite location
poodle dog pass
poodle dog pass
fall colors along twin lakes trail
fall colors along twin lakes trail
taking the first obvious left
taking the first obvious left
our route rocked! we shot for the lowest point of the saddle and had little problems around the way. at the low point of the saddle, we found a great rock for a lunch spot (i.e. lunch rock) and then immediately found the climber's trail (which appeared apparently out of nowhere). from here, we had a decision to make: one route was to drop down to a boulder field and come up steep heather; the other was to stay high and wrap around to the right and up what turned out to be a gentle grassy area. i added to a small cairn to make it huge and obvious from the ridge so others will find the easiest route. we skirted some loose red rock before regaining the ridge. following the trail again led us to a small snowfield where we entered a loose rock stretch via a v-notch.
our route towards the saddle
our route towards the saddle
a pleasant ridge walk from this point on
a pleasant ridge walk from this point on
the view from lunch rock
the view from lunch rock
see the grassy green slope heading up and right - go that way!
see the grassy green slope heading up and right - go that way!
heading towards the green slope
heading towards the green slope
the green slope
the green slope
views down towards twin lakes
views down towards twin lakes
back on the climber's trail
back on the climber's trail
skirting along the rocks
skirting along the rocks
back on a ridge
back on a ridge
heading towards the depression
heading towards the depression
small snow crossing to v-notch
small snow crossing to v-notch
eventually we reached the crux of the climb and mary opted to head up the class 4 chute closest to the climber's trail. i skirted further right and found my own way, but i think the first one was indeed the easiest. farther up, you scramble up a depression and reach the base of the summit block. at this point, you can go right or left. we went right and the class 3/4 route offered relatively straightforward climbing, though the rock was fractured in places. we signed the register and soaked in the mighty fine views from the summit. again, i could not picture more perfect weather. i was, however, slightly disappointed that we couldn't see blanca lake - blocked off by a sub-peak of columbia. oh well...
up the v-notch
up the v-notch
fun scrambling
fun scrambling
leading up to the crux
leading up to the crux
just a little more
just a little more
summit register
summit register
looking down on columbia glacier - sadly, no blanca lake
looking down on columbia glacier - sadly, no blanca lake
the route LEFT of the summit block
the route LEFT of the summit block
looking down what we came up
looking down what we came up
heading down the crux
heading down the crux
the crux from below
the crux from below
a short glissade if you choose
a short glissade if you choose
a semi boot glissade ::)
a semi boot glissade smile.gif
stay high here and you'll be happy
stay high here and you'll be happy
fall colors along the ridge
fall colors along the ridge
adios columbia
adios columbia
the monster cairn i added to
the monster cairn i added to
coming down, we opted to take the route that went to the left of the summit block. it had better holds, but more loose small stuff. we took our time going down this 40 ft stretch and retraced our steps for the most part. we packed up and headed back to monte cristo. it was another night of headlamps on the washed out road. we opted to push the bikes the entire way back, and the road didn't seem as bad as it did on the way in.
she is "the concentrator"
she is "the concentrator"
trip stats ~15 miles RT (+6 walking and 2 biking along monte cristo road) 7000' 18 hours hiking brought: helmets, ice axes, rope, harnesses, crampons - helmets a plus, rappeling probably not necessary, no crampons or axe necessary at this time of the year

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run4cache
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Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 137 | TRs | Pics
run4cache
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PostTue Sep 16, 2008 8:35 pm 
Great trip report and pictures. Sounds like a classic adventure with biking, hiking, scrambling, repelling -- a bit of everything (including a little blood). Way to go! up.gif

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Magellan
Brutally Handsome



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics
Location: Inexorable descent
Magellan
Brutally Handsome
PostTue Sep 16, 2008 10:30 pm 
Sweet trip, and a great writeup! Thanks for the TR and beta. up.gif

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Justus S.
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Justus S.
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PostTue Sep 16, 2008 10:41 pm 
Iron, sounds like a great trip, besides the slight injury. cool.gif Thanks for the report. One of these days I'll venture up there.

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b00
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b00
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PostTue Sep 16, 2008 10:45 pm 
up.gif up.gif up.gif

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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



Joined: 13 Feb 2007
Posts: 7216 | TRs | Pics
Location: Stuck in the middle
puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostTue Sep 16, 2008 11:58 pm 
Thanks for writing this up. Not many reports for these peaks.

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Dayhike Mike
Bad MFKer



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Posts: 10958 | TRs | Pics
Location: Going to Tukwila
Dayhike Mike
Bad MFKer
PostWed Sep 17, 2008 1:07 am 
Wow...what a great day! Nice work, you two! up.gif up.gif

"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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EastKing
Surfing and Hiking



Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Posts: 2082 | TRs | Pics
Location: 77 miles from Seattle!
EastKing
Surfing and Hiking
PostWed Sep 17, 2008 5:33 pm 
Great TR and photos!! up.gif up.gif up.gif

YouTube | SummitPost Saw the depths of despair. Now I am salvaging what time I have left on Earth.
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Jeff R
Closet hiker.



Joined: 10 Apr 2005
Posts: 972 | TRs | Pics
Location: Everret
Jeff R
Closet hiker.
PostWed Oct 21, 2009 7:57 pm 
Came across this somehow? this picture caught me eye tho. Maybe it was from this trip https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11383

Ebrace life!
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