[iron]

iron: "this is the most tired i've ever felt in the mountains." hotpantz: "yeah, me too." left seattle at 4:15a after not much sleep. we met up with baddog and headed for road 1570 off the cascade river road. shortly after crossing the cascade river, i was more than thankful to be driving baddog's subaru. my car would have bottomed out and died right there. we got to the fork in the road and our fork went right, but was bouldered off. a couple miles of road walking and we were at the start of the trail. it seemed to start off steep, but mellowed out a bit after that. first snow was seen around 3700' and crampons were put on right around then as well. we could no longer follow the trail, but occasionally came across bootprints from a party from 2 weeks ago. around 4500' where the terrain flattens out, we tossed on the snowshoes and would have them on until about 20' shy of the summit. now on the ridge, it was time for the rollercoaster ride. it was a strange ridge indeed. i can't recall anything else that goes up and down so randomly. there were several enjoyable boulder basins to dance our way through. parts felt like a fun maze to me as often times, the boulders would be melted out on the far side and require a backtrack and different route.

snowy boulders

baddog and hotpantz

trying to stay afloat

texturized

finally, we hit the saddle after pt 5110 and got a view of our target. wahoo! what a sight. just breathtaking. at that instant, my pace probably doubled (until i later realized i need more oxygen for that rate).

our first view of the king

more texture

a maze of snow rocks

approaching a snowbridge

baddog questioning my mad route finding skillz

alternative ridge route from north side of cyclone lake

just wonderful conditions

simplicity

just loving the maze

hotpantz and eldorado

fresh blanket of fun

the king's three summits

up, down, up, down, and then mostly up. traversing on the west side of pt 5860, we crossed a small natural avy release, likely from meltwater from the trees above. the main ridge leading up to the summit was broad and thoroughly satisfying. snow conditions on this portion of the trip were near ideal.

first view of our ridge to the summit

cornice ridgeline with mutchler peak in the background

smooth (pick up) lines

fresh out from a dip in cyclone lake

1 label

gnarly cirque walls

small natural avy release (5' x 30') on part of our traverse (Q3 sheer rating)

this chia pet needs a shave

it's tough to snowshoe with only one leg

ah, that's better

approaching the final ridge

looking back to pt 5860

cyclone lake

yum

the reverse duck foot snowshoe method

shadowed slopes

hotpantz soaking it in

all smiles

natural slab avalanche on SE facing slope (R2D1) with crown spanning between two exposed rocks on a convex slope

hotpantz and mutchler

whitecaps everywhere

mutchler (foreground), dome (background)

seductive slopes

only a little more to go

found and snowking lakes

broad ridge

hello summit

the final 20' up to the summit was booted up. i went straight for a notch that takes you directly to the top via 45-50 degree slopes with some crusty snow and ice underfoot. placement for the axe was not ideal. alternatively, one could stay south and traverse up to the summit via it's ridge. initially i wanted to avoid that because of the cornices looming overhead, but later, i deemed the conditions were quite safe this day and we descended closer to that route.

leading the way up the crux

the crux of the trip as seen from the summit

baddog en route

5 labels

snow. lots of snow

the king's other summits with three fingers and whitehorse in the background

basin forming ilabot creek, sluffing observed on west-facing slopes at exposed rock locations

mutchler peak

hotpantz coming off the summit with a falling traverse

starting off on the falling traverse

the way home

the return trip was taxing. downhill = good. the second we had to start going uphill again, i was spent and my legs were talking to me (something that doesn't really ever happen). we were unable to beat darkness before we got to the cramponed section, so finding the trail initially proved challenging. we'd occasionally lose the trail as well, but eventually found it for a smooth ride back. 14 hours later, we found the car under clear, cool skies with stars shining down upon us. depending on what source you trust, this trip could range from 5700' to 9000' gain. at a minimum, i know it's >6400' since that's the net difference between the summit and where you park. most nwhikers TRs would tell you 9000' and 15 miles, and i'd have to concur. we'll see what that feels like later this summer when the lakes are all melted out. overall, just a killer trip on the best day of the year. can't really ask for much more than that.

success

blue, green, and white - my personal primary colors

[HundsSolo]

Great trip, great pic's. Nice

[kyle d]

Wow, looks amazing in winter. Way to make use of a sunny early March day. Snow at around 3700 feet sounds about the same as it was in mid-July of 2008

[silence]

sweeeeet

[Sadie's Driver]

Nice job, all! That's a mega-day hike even in August! s.d.

[TrailPair]

Awesome photos! Like most trips, it is prettier in the snow.

[wildernessed]

Wow, that's incredible to get back in there so early. Great pics, and effort.

[GaliWalker]

Fantastic photos (although for this place I'd say it's nicer when melted out)! I'm curious: that ridge has some mighty deep fissures in places; were they a problem/concern, given that they may have been hidden by the snow?

[Michael Lewis]

If you look at the photo labeled "hotpantz and eldorado" you can see Flow, Gimpilator, Mark and me in the background climbing Eldorado. I know that legs talking feeling. There was plenty of that on Saturday. Flow will elaborate on his TR. Nice pictures to capture an epic hike. Wish we could've got some night shots but the end of a trip is always the hardest part. (cuz you have to say good-bye to the mountain -- and the last of your energy)

[Josh Journey]

Nice work Iron! Well done, I'm gonna have to come here one of these days, wish I could have joined, but I was on another mountain near by.

[BadDog]

Thanks to Iron and Hotpantz for having me along on this trip. This was a hard trip for me, not only from the physical challenge of it but also feeling very intimidated by the company I was in. Hotpantz is the female equivalent of Iron and the two of them together are simply formidable. Although I have plenty of stamina and endurance, I don't have the speed so I felt like I was the an anchor on the trip, slowing them down while at the same time busting myself trying to keep up. Though Iron describes meandering through the boulder field as pure joy, I was freaked out when I looked down from a "one snowshoe wide" snow bridge into the gaping chasm below created by a twenty foot high "boulders' on each side of the snow bridge. I guess I'm just a chicken sh## and always will be. From looking at Beckey's guide the night before I also figured I would not make the final pyramid but it turned out the snow conditions were just perfect for traction. I got within 10 vertical feet of the summit but did not attempt the short traverse on the 60 degree snow, mostly because Iron and Hotpantz were already starting down. I'd have had to fiddle around to get me and Holly safely up there and I felt too hurried and knew I'd be slowing them down on the way back too. In retrospect, despite all my swearing at my snowshoes and crampons on the way down, it was a fun trip. I love that feeling of crawling into bed, dead tired and feeling my cramped muscles wake me up through the night and then slipping back into a contented sleep-there's simply nothing better.

[Backpacker Joe]

Really great work.

[EastKing]

Excellent TR and photos.

[Backpacker Joe]

While these pics (and the accomplishment) are beautiful, it falls way short of this area in the summer. Near paradise in the summer time.

[Don]

While I would agree that late season offers up a beautiful palette for this area, I am blown away at what winter offered for this trip- very nice! I would have to say that winter is pretty special too. Nice images iron!