[Tom_Sjolseth]

Iron and I linked up for a great trip up Booker Mountain today. We set out from the Cascade Pass TH at 7:10, making quick time up to the last switchback (34 if you're counting - we actually did). From here, we left the trail and continued up, cross-country, to avoid having to go all the way to Cascade Pass then up the Arm. We continued up on snow (no crampons) and heather all the way up to Sahale Camp - ~7400’. From here, the route goes down to the Davenport Glacier, and the basin S of Mt. Buckner. We traversed this basin on a snow bench at ~6400’, before crossing a saddle on its E side that leads to Booker’s S gullies. Easy snow walking led us up to a col, where we found a convenient ledge that dumped us out into another basin on the S side of Booker's summit block. We traversed this basin to just below the summit, and finished via a direct ascent on class 2-3 talus. The W summit is highest, and that's where we found the summit register. Booker sees about one ascent per year. In fact, this year was the first year since the register has been placed (2003) that the mountain has been climbed by more than one party. The views today were spectacular! There is still a ton of snow up there for August, it’s almost unbelievable. Puffy clouds made for some good photography, and I know Iron got a lot of shots (I got a few). After spending a full hour on the summit enjoying the views and gorgeous weather, it was time to head back down the way we came. The trip out was uneventful, and we were back at the car at 6:30. Stats: -15 miles -8000’ gain -11:20 RT -1 hour summit time

Iron on the summit of Booker.

Iron relaxing on the summit. Sahale, Boston, Forbidden, and Buckner behind.

Peering down Booker's steep N Face.

Booker N Face.

Storm King and Goode sit watch above the Park Creek Valley.

Bonanza to Dome.

Iron, all smiles.

View to the S.

Trapper Lake.

Mt. Logan and the Fremont Glacier. Park Creek Pass below.

N Face of Booker.

Impressive.

Trapper Lake.

Trapper Lake.

Johannesburg.

Buckner.

[Nietzsche's Horse]

Color me green with envy. I look forward to the pictures. The north face of Booker, which your route clearly avoided, is one of the more impressive and forbidding displays of relief I have seen with my own eyes (once, from Park Creek pass). Were you able to at least peer down that abyss?

[Magellan]

Awesome! You guys rawk.

[Redwic]

Nice job! I am considering this peak for a future trip.

[silence]

i'd never heard of booker so i looked it up .. needless to say i'm looking forward to your pix guys! nice going too!

[Stefan]

you dudes are smoking fast!

[Andy D.]

Nice going guys! We just missed each other at the trailhead. The best part of Booker is peering over the edge of that face Doesn't seem to get climbed much. When I did it in 2009 I made the mistake of descending across Horseshoe Basin...that turned into a 22-hr day.

[Don]

Strong outing and excellent pics, Tom!

[iron]

great day. great snow. and always fun to hike with the man. i definitely enjoy the alternative route up to sahale camp!

firm n shiny snow

eldorado and beyond

j-berg and cascade river road area

green among white

topping out around sahale camp

finding the ridge down to horseshoe basin was easy having been there a year before. we nailed the route and it felt like it took hardly any time at all to drop that 1000ft.

looking down for access to horseshoe basin

scrambling down

walking down steep gully to horseshoe basin

gully

still a lot of snow in horseshoe basin, though it was looking uniformly thin and could melt out quickly with a few more days of sun.

horseshoe basin; buckner near, booker far

lots of water, so leave it at home and carry none.

pure fresh water

sahale and boston

the route beneath the rib was straightforward and fast.

exiting horseshoe basin beneath a rib

horseshoe basin traverse

snow in the gully made for easy travel.

up the gully just after the rib

more gully

gully with stehekin river below

nice day to be out

the man in black

at the top of the gully

great views all day long.

buckner

tom's keen eye nailed the next traverse rather than running the ridge. it worked well, especially with the finding of a nice rocky ramp.

next traverse from top of gully after ramp (traverse goes to the R, out of the picture)

our ramp between the top of the gully (after horseshoe basin traverse) and the traverse to booker

trapper lake and ptarmigan traverse

dome and sinister

traversing

soon, on the summit.

summit

hozomeen and jack

logan

park creek basin

park creek basin

black and storm king

goode

mutchler through snowking

three fingers, whitehorse

3 labels

other stuff

tremendous dry-side flowers on the final rocky stretches heading up to the summit. also saw some large larch trees in this next of the woods.

nice bouquet

and a nice return.

back down

more refreshment

spying our sahale camp access gully

gully and ridge leading back to sahale camp

sparkly

horseshoe, buckner, and a bit of booker

it's doubtful it'll melt out this year

sahale arm

[Backpacker Joe]

Krazie Klimbers! Way strong work, AGAIN! Great pics too.

[silence]

wow .. now that (the pix) really puts everything in perspective .. you guys are animals ... sick animals .. awesome photos .. spectacular scenery ..

[tommytownsend]

We spend a day at Park Creek pass a few weeks back (see cascadetraverser post) rained out looking at Booker. We were thinking about going over the Buckner coilour (damn spell no help on that) but were worried about a cornice at the top and the steep decent into horseshoe so we slogged out Thunder. Any report on this area?

[iron]

here's a good shot of the route from dome/sinister from a week earlier. essentially, connect the two uppermost continuous level traverses of snow beneath both buckner and booker and you're there

buckner and booker

[Dayhike Mike]

Truly awesome... Booker's a long dayhike! Yowza. You two are animals.

[raising3hikers]

Very nice guys! Wished I could have gone, but I'll definitely have to visit Booker to get those great views of Buckner to Dome.