[Tom_Sjolseth]

WOW.

For anyone who has gazed up in amazement at Johannesberg Mountain from the Cascade Pass parking lot, it is a sight to see.  Waterfalls and glaciers cascade down 5000' of sheer cliffs in a chaotic display of objective hazard.  Booms and thunks from falling rock and ice comprise the soundtrack of Cascade Pass.  It is a sheer, massive, intimidating mountain - no doubt, the epitome of N Cascades mountaineering.

A prior trip into climb the NE Buttress had us reconsidering our options not 5 minutes out of the parking lot.  On that day, wet brush forced us to go to plan B, and we wound up summitting via the C-J Couloir.  When it comes to vertical brush, I prefer mine dry.

Fast forward to Monday when Steph Abegg and I connected for what would become a fabulous trip into the mountains.  We arrived at the relatively empty Cascade Pass TH at 7AM, and embarked on the 30 minute approach shortly thereafter.  We ascended the C-J Couloir for ~800’ before trying to find the best route up dirty slabs to gain the route.  After our first attempt fell short due to ugliness, we backed off and reconsidered.  Eventually, we found another way that worked.  Barely.  I led up on some super sketchy, jungle slab with downward sloping holds and abundant lichen.  Pro was sparse, and I had to be creative to find it.  After about 30 tense minutes, I was able to pull through and belay Steph up.  From here, it looked like a steep brush bash with good green belays, so we decided to put the rope away.  It never came out of our packs again the entire trip.

Lots of steep (vertical) bushwhacking ensued.  It was hot, and carrying a full pack made it quite strenuous.  Routefinding was tricky, but we managed to find a great, direct line through the dense brush and cliffbands.  About 1500’ later, we emerged from the vegetable abyss onto steep but sublime heather slopes and class 4 rock.  The rock was solid, and we felt entirely comfortable climbing without the rope.  After about 500’ of this, the buttress steepened even more, to some vertical walls.  This is where we had heard (from prior trip reports) of loose chimneys and sketchy snow couloirs.  We crossed a gully to our right, gained the 1957 (western) rib and proceeded to climb straight up the crest on surprisingly good rock.  Could this be our bivy site?  It was!!  We were amazed.

The position of our bivy site was unreal.  3500’ below us was the parking lot.  I could see my car and people walking around.  Across the valley, peaks like Forbidden, Boston, Eldorado, and Buckner beckoned.  Being in camp so early (3PM), we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy the views.  We melted snow in Steph’s pack cover, taking advantage of the sun’s energy to supply us with the vital fluid.  By 8:30PM, Steph’s camera was operating at warp speed, as the sunset cast an array of beautiful colors on the surrounding peaks.  This is what mountaineering is all about!!

We awoke at the leisurely hour of 6AM this morning to finish the climb.  By 7:20, we were cramponing up the beautiful snow arete that leads almost directly to the summit.  An hour later, we were on the summit, enjoying excellent views into the heart of the rugged N Cascades.  Upon signing the register, we noticed two parties had climbed the route in the past 4 days.  This is a mountain that rarely gets climbed by any route, and here we were looking at three ascents in four days of the NE Buttress – one solo.

We spent about 30 minutes on the summit before heading back down.  Since I had already done the descent down the E Ridge before, I had the descent dialed.  Less than 3 hours later, we had downclimbed the entire ridge and were standing on terra firma below C-J Col.

The hike out to the TH via Doug’s Direct was long, but we eventually made it, returning to the cars at 4:30, 9 hours after we left our bivy site.

There are trips into the mountains that are great, and then there are those that are perfect.  This trip was definitely perfect – one of the best trips I’ve ever been on.  Thanks again to Steph for being such a strong partner.

Looking over to C-J Col from high on the NE Rib.

Looking up at the upper portion of the route.

Looking down.

That's the parking lot down there.

Steph, ever the photographer.

Nature's perfect tanning bed.

The snow arete leading up to the summit from camp.

The upper part of the mountain from just above the bivy site.

Trying to keep up with Steph.

Still.

Steph making the last steps up the final slope to the summit.

Steph at the col just below the summit.

Steph approaching the summit of Johannesberg.

Johannesberg as seen from the traverse to Doug's Direct.

The wild and impressive Middle Fork Valley.  The other Middle Fork, Dayhike Mike.   

The Triplets.

Trip Stats:

TH to Camp: 1 mile, 3500’ gain, 8 hours
Camp to summit: .3 miles, 1100’ gain, 1 hour
Summit to C-J Col: .5 mile, 1400’ loss, 3 hours
C-J Col to TH: 7 miles, 4500’ loss, 1500’ gain, 4.5 hours
Total climbing time: 16.5 hours

[EastKing]

Excellent TR!! Way to go Tom!!

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I am addicted to summits! I can't eat, drink or breath without them. Life without mountains would really suck.

http://www.myspace.com/climbandsurfmackg | http://www.summitpost.org/user_page.php?user_id=894

[Jason Hummel]

Your still killing it Tom. As my ski season ends, your climbing season is just beginning...not that you let winter slow you down.

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Photography: Alpine State Of Mind! | Trip Reports: Cascade Crusades! | FACEBOOK

[-]

good stuff. glad to see it went safely and with ideal weather. eagerly awaiting the pics...

[Magellan]

You guys are amazing climbers!     Looking forward to Steph's pictures.

[Josh Lewis]

Awesome!    I want to climb this some day! I always love the huge look Jburg has!

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· TrailTopo

[Bryan K]

I can't wait to see the photos from this adventure. I'm still humored by the comment you made at the social when you said that you consider yourself just a hiker 
Your trips are epic and help me aspire to improve my abilities and expand my comfort levels.
As something you mentioned in another thread, I'm going to ask what you meant by the following sentence in your post:

[gyngve]

[Dayhike Mike]

[mtn.climber]

You're both amazing.

Great trip!!  

[puzzlr]

Awesome. I'm thinking I'll probably never see the top of J-burg myself. I'll have to enjoy it vicariously through reports like yours.

[StephAbegg]

[gyngve]

[veronika]

[peakbagger]

WOOOHOOOO!!!!!! Nice work! Wish i could have been there! 

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The liver is evil.......and it must be punished!