[Tom_Sjolseth]

BirdDog and I linked up for a two-day trip to climb Ruth Mountain and Icy Peak in the North Cascades yesterday. The forecast called for mostly sunny skies yesterday after morning clouds. With this forecast, we decided we would bivy on the summit of Ruth on day 1, then head to Icy and out on day 2. At the last minute, I made the [genius] executive decision to leave the tent behind. Light and fast! The road to Hannegan Pass is in OK condition until about 1/3 mile before the parking lot, where the road is impassable due to avalanche debris. There isn't much room to turn a large vehicle around here, so heads up. We left the car just before 10AM under cloudy skies and zero precipitation. The trail up to Hannegan Pass is in abysmal shape due to numerous enormous avalanches that have obliterated the trail (and everything surrounding it). At times, old growth had been uprooted and many of the avalanches went down to the soil and talus. The trail crews have a ton of work ahead of them on this stretch of trail, and I expect it will take some time for the trail to be restored to its previous condition. Instead of going up to Hannegan Pass, there is so much snow up there right now that we headed straight up the headwaters of Ruth Creek to a pass S of Pt 5810. Easy step-kicking in surprisingly consolidated snow allowed us to gain the ridge just after 1:30PM. Around this time, visibility quickly began to deteriorate, and within 5 minutes of arriving on the ridge, we couldn't see anything and it began to drizzle. No problem.. we'll just hang out and wait for the marine layer to burn off and continue up to the summit when it does. Well, it didn't. After laying around in full Gore-Tex for about 4 hours waiting for things to improve, we decided we needed to call it all off due to the fact that some genius decided that leaving the tent at home was a good idea. So we headed down. After dropping about 2000', within about 2 miles of the TH, the birds started chirping and the skies began to clear. It took little time for Geoff and I to agree that heading back up was the right thing to do. We headed back up into the basin below Hannegan Pass and set up camp for the night hoping this was the last of the rain. It was.

Views from camp.

This morning we awoke at 6AM and were moving by 7 after a leisurely breakfast. It took us about 2 hours to reach the summit in gradually softening snow. The higher we climbed of course, the less consolidated the snow became. Near the summit, we postholed up to knee deep.

Just above camp.

On the NNE Ridge of Ruth, looking E.

Geoff on easy snow.

Redoubt dominates.

A neat rock formation below the summit of Ruth.

Geoff on his way up.

BirdDog just below the summit.

BirdDog approaches the summit. The wild Chilliwack River valley behind.

The views from the top are incredible, and it was neat to finally summit this peak after putting it off season after season.

The Ruth Mountain bench mark.

Views from the summit. Blum, Hagan, and Icy.

The Northern Pickets.

Geoff with Shuksan's Price Glacier behind.

Icy Peak and Seahpo.

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The Southern Pickets with Ragged Ridge in the background.

As things began to warm up, the idea of postholing all the way over to Icy Peak seemed like no fun (that and BirdDog had to be in Auburn by 7:30), so we decided to relax on the summit of Ruth and savor the views instead. We were able to glissade all the way down to the basin (>2500') in a very short time. At one point, my watch read 380' per minute descent rate.

Unknown animal tracks on the descent (wolverine??).

From the basin, it took us a little more than 2 hours to reach the TH. Another great trip into the North Cascades, and always a good time hanging out with Geoff. On the way home, driving back on 542, we saw an owl sitting on the side of the road, just watching the traffic go by. I've never seen this before. He didn't look injured. It's the second owl I've seen this month.

[Redwic]

Great job, you guys!!! Holy cow... I thought I was the only person left who uses those same bright yellow LEKI poles!!!

[Don]

Awesome! Thanks for the heads up on the TR! Don

[silence]

fun climb .. one of our faves -- yeah the views are to die for up there .. i'm pretty sure we could see challenger too .. funny we were just wondering about it over the weekend .. sounds like a lot of work getting up there right now with all the avy debris .. glad you got out!

[iron]

fast n light rocks! thanks for the beta on the hannegan pass trail as that solidifies july's plans for me...

[puzzlr]

Ruth in 2007 Ruth in 2008 Ruth in 2009 Ruth in 2010 Ruth in 2011 -- maybe for real time this year. You sure make it look great.

[User-Name]

Dang! ...sorry you got weathered off. Your TR brings back some great memories. In 2005, I soloed the Ruth / Icy traverse in a REALLY long day, but I had a perfect weather window. I still have clear memories of the epic battlle with scree in the section between the peaks...exhausting! Ruth's position affords some absolutely jaw-dropping views of Shuksan and surrounding peaks--the sense of vast geologic scale is almost overwhelming. Thanks for a great report! I went into my dusty archives and found this shot from the traverse. Here's Ruth as seen from the glacier approach to the summit of Icy:

[Jim Dockery]

Tom, why didn't you guys go on skis? I've always wanted to ski up and down the north face of Ruth, avoiding the ridge, and it sounds like the snow is prime for that.

[silence]

yeah .. jd .. i was going to ask if tom saw any turns .. it's a spring mecca for skiers .. but i haven't seen any reports yet here's a pic fm july 2008 .. great weather and snow for climbing -- we went up the standard route, around the "hump" and camped on the saddle at the foot of ruth ... in the morning it was a quick climb to the summit and we had it all to ourselves for over an hour b4 the skiers started up .. camping on the summit would be even better

Ruth at Sunset

more here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33792231@N00/sets/72157606931330575/detail/

[peltoms]

I take it the shot of Geoff on easy snow, has your route up the Ruth Creek valley once leaving the trail behind them. Nice shot of Price and Shusksan, wish it showed all of Price Lake.

[honey badger]

Hey Tom, we were wondering where you were trekking : ) Love the views in that area. Dicey and I were contemplating skiing up there after Sunday's trip was postponed. Ended up enjoying the luxury of Jenjen's fine hospitality waiting for the drizzle to subside -it didn't (Sunday). I too have been neglecting Ruth/Icy. Thanks for the reminder and images.

[Tom_Sjolseth]

@Jim.. I didn't take skis because I forgot Geoff owned a pair and didn't think to ask him about it beforehand. There were skiers up there enjoying some awesome turns, and we were a tad bit jealous of their fun factor. However, in terms of effort spent, with the 2500'+ glissade we made from the summit, I think hiking may have been the easier (and faster) mode of travel. @peltoms.. surprisingly, we couldn't see any of Price Lake at all from the summit of Ruth - it is hidden by Nooksack Ridge. @fwb.. Ruth is awaiting your skis, and now is the time to do it!

[BirdDog]

fast and light...the forecast is never wrong...save weight...spend four hours wrapped in goretex laying on a pad in the rain...good times! i'm glad we turned around and prevailed on this one - beautiful morning on the summit.

Tom leading the 1st pitch of debris

the forecast is never wrong

Ruth from head of Ruth Creek

Tom nearing the summit

Icy from Ruth

The avy destruction was wild. One slide ripped through some old growth snapping smaller trees and denuding the bark from the old ones. Jim D - there's a ton of snow up there; I'd wait a week or two for better corn if you go up. Definitely be a fun ski trip. Fun trip, thanks for company Tom. We need to go back and tag Icy.

[D. Inscho]

Decisions, decisions, weather and gear. I'm glad it worked out, fabulously from the look of those pictures! Thanks for the ride!