[Tom_Sjolseth]

This winter has been great for mountaineering/hiking/climbing. Little snow, good avalanche conditions, pretty good travel conditions, and fair weather. Somehow I've gotten lucky and made the best of the marginal forecasts. With today's forecast of 40% chance of showers before 4PM in the North Cascades, I decided I liked my chances anyway and went with Davis Peak at the head of Ross Lake in the North Cascades National Park. The South Ridge route is entirely cross-country, and takes off from Gorge Creek overlook on HWY 20, just North of Newhalem. I got to the overlook parking lot at 7:15, packed up my stuff (snowshoes, crampons, 60m rope, harness, mountaineer's axe, ice tool), and headed out just before 7:30. I was the only car in the parking lot. Immediately after crossing the bridge, I cut uphill and ascended on a well-defined tourist path. The path wanders up a small ridge before traversing the forest for about 1/4 mile. The brush here is not bad, mainly salal. About 1/4 mile up Gorge Creek, I headed due N and ascended on a faint game trail. The path peters in and out, but for the most part it leads you in the right direction. The idea is to gain the South Ridge of Davis at about 4,000'. I worked my way up the steep forest through gradually increasing brush and weaved my way between mossy, wet slabs. My ice axe, strapped to the back of my pack, snagged just about every branch between the forest floor and tree line, making things slightly irritating for me. Before long, though, I was at snowline (~4200'), and things were looking pretty good; the sun was shining over Mt. Ross, there was zero wind, and the temperatures were comfortable (low 30s). The rock just below snowline was iced over with verglas, so I had to pick my route carefully. Soon I was walking on continual snow. Down low (still in the trees), the snow was fairly firm with a morning crust. I was able to boot it about 400' before postholing got the better of me and I decided to put on my snowshoes. With snowshoes, I was still sinking 6-12" in most places. In other places, there was a crust which I could walk on top of (I would say 90% postholing, 10% crust). The South Ridge is really scenic, with great views to Colonial/Pyramid/Snowfield area, Big Devil, Ross Lake, Diablo Lake, both dams, and Mt. Ross. There were huge cornices off to my right. On certain aspects there was a wind slab layer, and I saw evidence of recent avalanches, but for the most part the snowpack was stable this morning. The views came into and out of sight as clouds swirled by. The sun was out for a brief period of time, but then went into hiding for the day at about 5,200'. The ridge goes up and over Pt 5892, before descending roughly 200' to a notch. Then, the route gets interesting, and a steep step appears. This time of year, the step is about 45 degrees right off the bat, with icy, rocky steps interspersed. I was glad to have my ice tool for the mixed steps, and I felt confident when it sunk to the hilt in solid ice. The step traverses right, across steep slopes (45 degrees still), then steepens below a cornice. The cornice was nearly vertical, but luckily not overhanging throughout its entire length. I was able to thread through a spot at the right side of the cornice that went about 65 degrees in weak snow for a short time. I was cautious here as the drop below is steep and cliffy. Once I got above the cornice, the ridge was just a pleasant hike to the summit. I imagined the views I was missing as I strolled along the ridge. I topped out at 12:15, 4 hours and 45 minutes after I began. I stayed on the windless summit for about 25 minutes, waiting for it to clear, but it was nearly whiteout the whole time. The way down was quick, despite postholing pretty much all the way down to snowline. The snow had softened as the temps warmed, but in spite of that, I kept my crampons on. I had slight route-finding issues on the way down through the forest, and descended too far to the right before getting cliffed out. The cliffs were mossy and very slick, so I was very careful to stay away from them entirely (in the summer, they may not be as bad to cross on ledges). I almost gave in and made a rappel, but then found a viable route to circumvent the cliff bands. I regained 400', went over the top of the cliffs, then traversed back left. By this time, light snow was beginning to fall and, as I descended, it turned to light mist. I got back to the car (and a still empty parking lot) at 3:30, 8 hours and 5 minutes after I began. Ordinarily this trip would be very scenic, but the clouds obscured much of the views today. I did catch the occasional glimpses of Ross and Diablo Lakes and dams, but I never saw the Pickets or anything to the W other than Mt. Ross. Still, it was another very satisfying trip into the rugged North Cascades. To see what views I missed, see the following TRs here and here. Stats 6 Miles ~6700' gain with my routefinding mistake 25 minutes on the summit 8:05 RT two ptarmigans with winter coats and one mountain goat

Sunshine over Mt. Ross.

Backbone Ridge.

The beginning of the snow (4200').

Looking down while climbing the step.

Looking back towards Pt 5892.

From the step looking SW to Backbone Ridge and the town of Newhalem.

The NE Ridge of Davis.

Pt 5892.

Nearing the summit.

The summit of Davis Peak. I know there are views up here somewhere!

Part way down the step. What are we looking at here???

Downclimbing the step.

More downclimbing.

Clouds on the descent. Colonial/Snowfield group in the background.

More clouds!

[cartman]

Strong work yet again, Tom. Excellent time, especially since you were kicking all your own steps. This season has been amazing for access to interesting peaks.

[Sadie's Driver]

Nice job, Tom! Too bad you couldn't join us on Red yesterday - only 5000' + gain, however! s.d.

[Opus]

Nice! Curious, since I'm not the most experienced mountaineer, how useful is a rope and harness when one is traveling solo? I assume for short rappels but are there any other uses?

[Tom_Sjolseth]

Opus, I just brought the rope along for rappels. I had a full 60m rope with me and one picket, so I could have made 30m raps if I needed to. The snow was soft though, and digging an anchor seemed like more trouble than it was worth, especially in light of the fact that I had two axes. You can also rope-solo something, which people do. @Sadies Driver - You guys made quick work of Red.. you must have wore Iron out because he had a sudden wedding to go to today!

[Justus S.]

Wow, and I just got back from an easy trip. Your training is paying off

[Magellan]

You are crushing it Tom! Strong work, keep it going!

[Matt]

You're too strong, Tom.

[Don]

Excellent Tom! My thoughts and curiousity were on your trip today as I ran in the rain. Fun to hear that the weather, though not perfect, was accomodating for your climb! Strong effort.

[EastKing]

This year has been great access to peaks usually snowed in. I will probably be heading to St. Helens and Hood in February if everything keeping going the way it has. Excellent job Tom! Keeping crushing them.

[wildernessed]

[Guiran]

x2

[silence]

awesome as always tom ... i feel lucky you grace us with your great climbing reports and pix .. they're riveting and give much insight to the "high worlds of the mountain climber" ..

[GaliWalker]

I have to whole-heartedly agree. I don't know much about that world, so don't usually comment on your reports, but I do enjoy them a lot.

[Tom_Sjolseth]

Thanks for all the kind remarks. I think on a nice day, this is a great winter snowshoe that people should get out and do! Even if you don't do the last bit to the summit, the views are spectacular (I think ).