[iron]

WARNING: there's not much hiking or climbing to talk about in this report, more a story. if you like stories, read on. heading into the weekend, i was super pumped about the forecast. each day i was trying to will the avy forecast down to all 1's, but it didn't quite happen. a last minute decision between attempting snowking and snowfield was made, and hotpantz and i opted for the field-trip. we left seattle at 4:30a and were at the trailhead for pyramid lake by 7:30a. there was certainly a nip in the air to remind us of the fact it is february and it still does get cold. off we went with our heavy packs, hoping to make it to the big flat spot on the neve glacier at 7600'. my biggest concern heading into the trip was the traverse beneath the east face of pyramid. getting to the lake seemed slow. the forest was interesting: initially, it was littered with small trees and salal, but then almost instantly changed to moderately sized trees with deep green mosses. the small creek coming down from pyramid lake was incredibly soothing and almost dead silent in spots, despite obvious flow. patches of ice covered the trail, but nothing to think about. the lake was frozen solid with an interesting crack in one spot and suspended trees at the outfall. hotpantz' pictures captured this well.

big tree destruction

peaceful creek on the way out

flowing ice on the branches

just before dropping down to the lake, a faint climber's trail starts. we followed this for possibly 800-1000' vertical until it was buried in snow. parts of this trail were solid ice and with the steep terrain, crampons came out. occasional cliff bands, which held immaculate ice sculptures, warranted a reroute from our otherwise straight up trajectory. the slope of the mountain turned and led us into the broad ridge. on the ridge, ice turned to deep, unconsolidated sugar snow. i imagine in the summer, the climber's trail makes for short work of this stretch, but this day, the snow proved frustratingly challenging as most spots were difficult to negotiate since there was very little firm snow. instead, it was a step, bear weight, break the crust, fall backwards kind of thing for quite awhile. add that the ridge had way more ups and downs than on the map and enough minor cliffy areas with dense tree spacing, and going was slow. i was tiring out, more mentally than physically, but enough of both to sap out some of my pre-trip excitement. eventually, runnels started to appear and they provided a firm enough surface to not want to go postal anymore. once views of the vast snow ahead emerged, excitement came back. by the time we reached the high point of the ridge, just before the NE face of pyramid, things were good. then we looked at the gully looming over the traverse we needed to make. damn. we had our beacons, probes, and shovels, but no test pit would convince us to traverse this slightly convex slope with a semi-shaded gully with overhanging cornices 1000' overhead. while researching the trip, i knew this was the crux. but, i mistakenly thought that the gully would be steep enough high up that substantial snow would not be able to stick. i was wrong.

pickets

winter shadows

clean arc

ripples

slopes converge

so much snow

low angle shoein'

sun starting to set on colonial

we opted to camp nearby at the high point of the ridge. my day-earlier-exuberance disappeared because of the tough snow conditions and failure to proceed forward towards the summit. hotpantz kept a positive attitude; i tried to, but struggled. camp was cold, but the sunset we were honored to witness was breathtaking. i learned a good lesson that in the winter, one should probably select an overnight location that has a southern exposure. we were shaded in by 3:30p. i also had difficulty with my sleeping pad system as i could feel cold air in my inflatable big agness which was atop a closed cell foam thermarest. i tinkered with the idea of letting out some of the air in the 2.5" thick pad, but wasn't sure that'd work. hmm...

shuksan at sunset

pickets

more pickets

still more

magenta skies

little bit of alpenglow on colonial

more magenta

hotpantz searching for more layers - the skirt just doesn't cut 20 degree temps

happy with more layers

after 14 hours in the tent, i was awoken (for the 3rd time) to the sound of a climber's "OFF BELAY". huh? who else is out here and what the heck are they climbing. we unzipped the tent, peered over to the NE face of pyramid, and there they were. later in the day we'd see another group climbing the north face of colonial. at this point, we were feeling like noobs and pretty meager. but, those other two trips were on different aspects, likely more with ice, and without a traverse across a gully which might hold unstable snow.

OFF BELAY at 7:30a

somehow, pyramid's northeast face is climbable in the winter

look closely and you'll see climbers on colonial's north face

i see you

little people in a big snow world

we took one more look at our would-be traverse, shrugged, and headed home. fortunately, the sunlight on our prints was a thing of beauty along this ridgeline of pure snow. i was again giddy, especially since i was taking, what i thought, were some awesome pictures with my new dslr. i would later find out that my ISO setting was set on 3200, which is pretty much death in daylight like this. it was a second crushing blow to the trip, not summiting being the first. at least we were able to help the other group of climbers with their pyramid attempt. they said they didn't think they'd have made it without our trail breaking.

sizing up the potential traverse

hotpantz and pickets

lots of snow

lines

artwork

i didn't know you could drive up here

vroom vroom

doing the slide method

the route down the cliffs

so my dilemmas on the trip were threefold: 1. super high expectations leading into the trip 2. a bit of an ego associated with leaving MY prints in untouched snow and writing a burly trip report 3. proper decision making let me explain: 1 & 2 feed into 3. 1 is pretty obvious with the highly abnormal weather pattern and good snow forecast for a february trip. given that i've had quite a few awesome winter trips this year alone, i just sort of expected this one to work out as well and expected to be bootin' through endless fields of snow. 2 is interesting to me because i am generally a low-key, laid back guy that doesn't mind if i need to turn back from something to a) protect the group, b) ensure my/our safety, or c) just because something doesn't feel right. i think over the 1.5 years i've been on nwhikers, i've developed a small ego with being able to post reports that garner me praise, and i thought in doing this monster trip, i would surely get some more. i also have an ego with breaking trail. i mean, sure, i love it and i love the feeling i get from it - both endorphins and being able to see an untouched winter playground in front of me. but on this trip, i could totally visualize what it would have been like to have my steps leading us all the way to the summit and being able to photograph it all and that deep desire to do so nearly affected my decision making. 3 was the result of the struggle with 1 and 2. on sunday morning, after waking up to yet another perfect day in the mountains, we stood at the saddle just before the traverse. at this time, i declared that i would totally do the traverse now, even though the circumstances had not changed (we'd have to come back on the same traverse after the snow had time to warm up through the day). ultimately, i had to shelve my ego and expectations and make sure that we would return home safely. one thing i need to remind myself of is that, while i'm a generally intelligent guy, i only really have 1.5 years of mountaineering experience under my belt, and no matter what, mountains win. if there's any one take-home message hotpantz and i got from our avy level 1 course the previous week, it is this: you can't be in an avalanche if you're not in avalanche terrain. and so that statement governed our decision. the good thing is that we'll be able to share adventure and love for each other and the mountains on trips like this for years to come. but damn, that snow would have been fun to play in...

i chose the road less traveled

[Matt]

Iron, This report is even better than your trail-breaking, and of course your trailbreaking is outstanding. You do an excellent job of describing the tension between expectations and ego on the one hand and wise decision-making on the other. I've run into the same feelings myself. and I expect many of us have, but sometimes haven't been as honest about acknowledging it, or smart about judging what to do. And you also tell the story well, and have some excellent photos from your high camp. Well done.

[raising3hikers]

Thanks so much for this TR! Snowfield Peak has been on my mind for the past year. It sounds like where you guys stopped is where I've also thought it would be too risky to cross in winter. Way to make the right call even though it wasn't what you wanted to do I know how hard it is to turn around sometimes but sometimes it must be done. Anyways, nice scenic camp spot and pics Thanks again for the report! I really hope to go there this year

[Tom_Sjolseth]

Sounds like you guys made a good decision. The mountain will always be there. You guys enjoyed a great, sunny weekend in the mountains and that's what it's all about! I didn't think the snow conditions would be as tough this weekend as they turned out to be.

[cartman]

Glad you made the smart choice. Probably the best advice you can take from any avalanche course is to not let your desires override good sense--don't let your heart rule your head. You still had a good experience in a great place, and some excellent pics, too.

[GaliWalker]

The day I turned around for the very first time due to iffy conditions is one I always look back upon with pride, even though at that point I felt pretty wimpy. Very nice report. However, I really feel for you with the ISO issue; those pictures, nice as they are, would have been just gorgeous. Fret not, hopefully you'll get many more such chances.

[BirdDog]

No, the mountain did not win - you did. You made it back, and with great pics. Very nice TR!

[EastKing]

Good call and great TR Iron!! Your stock in the climbers went from extremely high to ultra extremely high. There is an invitation in your PM on mountain you have not done but want to do.

[puzzlr]

Enjoyed the TR and the introspection. You are good at picking apart the threads of thought.

[Go Jo]

I always enjoy the read, the photos and your desire to experience all that a trip has to offer. Keep it up ~Jo

[peltoms]

That is always a harder route to the top of the ridge than expected. That chute and the following slope int he traverse to Colonial are right at the angle for easy triggering of slides. That was a great campsite in nice weather. I hope that is enough to satisfy you looking back.

[BadDog]

You got some fantastic views and shared them with the most important person in your life. Sounds like a perfect weekend to me.

[Hikingqueen]

hotpantz is making me cold. I still do the easy stuff and I turn around alot. But I'm alone alot so I don't take big risks, I want to do this for MANY more years. But you kick ass from what I read. Amazing pics! Keep up the good judgement and trail breaking.

[Layback]

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've f'd up the ISO thing. I've gotten into a habit of checking it every time I turn on my camera but accidents still happen. I probably turn around in situations where others don't. It's either paranoia or a 6th sense from getting into a few epics in my day. IMHO, better safe than sorry. Nice stuff dude.

[twodogdad]

Did you even consider going up Ladder Creek instead of the normal rte? It's famously brushy and there probably wouldn't be enough snow this year but with your "ego" for breaking trail all you need to become a complete trail breaker is a machete Pm me next time you decide to attempt Snowfield. N