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Matt Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:09 am
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Exceeding the Daylight on Chokwich & West Twin
Date: January 11, 2012
Destination: “Chokwich” 5662 & West Twin Peak 5840 (USGS Bedal)
Party: Matt, Dicey, Yana, Gabriel, Lindsay
The trip ascended Chokwich Peak and the west summit of Twin Peaks, approaching from Perry Creek. We used the same route reported in Stefan’s trip report.
We hiked up Perry Creek, then continued east to the 5450 high point on the ridge above Perry’s headwater basin. This point is actually a Y-shaped junction between the ridges extending north to Forgotten, south to Twin Peaks, and east to Chokwich. From there we took the east branch down to a col and back up to Chokwich. Later, returning back to the Perry Creek side, we traversed south and up to the Twin Peaks col and climbed West Twin Peak.
For ease of reference, I am assigning names to the features where we spent most of the day:
• The long north-south ridge at the head of Perry Creek connecting Twin Peaks & Forgotten is “TwinGotten Ridge.”
• The 5450 junction point is “ChokTwin Point.”
• The col between ChokTwin Point & Chokwich is “Chokwich Col.”
Chokwich & West Twin Track Elevation Profile
Chokwich 5662
“I’ll just stay in your footsteps” (Dicey, descending to Chokwich Col)
Dickerman TH 1889 to Perry Creek Waterfall 3350 (7:00 – 9:00am)
We started before dawn from the Dickerman trailhead. It was cold enough that my car’s trunk still held the frosty handprints that people had made while we were loading up in Seattle. As we walked the 1.25 mile connector trail to the Perry Creek trailhead, we were treated to glimpses of the moon setting behind Hall and pink alpenglow lighting up big Four.
Frosty handprints still on the car from Seattle Moon setting behind Hall Peak, from the Dickerman/Perry connector trail Pink dawn on Big Four from the Perry Creek Road Cookies at the Perry Creek trailhead
The Perry Creek trail has only an inch or two of snow, but it was frozen so hard in the open areas that we had to don crampons. Those stayed on for the rest of the day.
Perry Creek Waterfall to ChokTwin Point 5450 (9am – noon)
The northern cliffs of Dickerman made an impressive wall on our right. Flurries of spindrift periodically swirled down. Beyond the Perry Creek waterfall, we angled up and right across open slopes, crossing to the headwall of the basin just above a waterfall coming down from the Dickerman/Twin col. This whole upper Perry basin was wide-open avalanche terrain; I wouldn’t want to be here in anything but very stable conditions.
Little spindrift avalanches off the east cliffs of Dickerman Hiking snowfields out up from Perry Creek Suggestive ice formation (it was the women, not the men, who pointed out the anatomical analogy)
To ascend the basin headwall, we ran from lower right to upper left, angling just below a rock band, and then up through small trees up to the lower-angled band circa 4900 feet.
Looking back at the Perry Creek valley between Dickerman & Stillaguamish Route up the ridge – angling below rock bands from right middle up to center top, then over the high point in the center
Unfortunately, Lindsay wasn’t feeling well, so she and Gabriel stopped here and went back to the car. The rest of us cached our snowshoes in the upper basin and continued. There was a hard crust under the newer snow, and I wouldn’t have trusted the snowshoes not to slip on steeper slopes.
As we neared neared the crest, the sun finally appeared, as a hazy ball through the high clouds. The opposite side of TwinGotten Ridge was wildly corniced and cliffy.
Clouded sun behind the corniced crest Kicking steps up toward the crest Wildly corniced east side of the crest
ChokTwin Point 5450 to Chokwich Col 5200 to Chokwich 5662 (noon – 1:20pm)
Yikes! How do we get down off of that? We very carefully poked our heads over the edge near trees till we found a spot north of the point where we could cross between cornices. Then we had to make our way down the steep crest to the col, working around rocky outcrops. Stefan’s group didn’t mention any problems, but it was quite intimidating to us, with cliffy drops below and cornices hiding the edges. The snow was stable, but there was a hard crust about a foot down, so we placed every step carefully, because a fall would have been very difficult to arrest.
Getting around a steep outcrop Working down the ridge, with ChokTwin Point behind A bit of an aręte, with Chokwich ahead
From the col, it was much easier terrain up to Chokwich on the far side.
Chokwich Summit (1:20 – 2:40pm)
The broad summit ridge of Chokwich was a welcome relief from the edgy travel.
Looking back at TwinGotten Ridge, it was impressive to see how steep and deeply cut the terrain is in this area.
Yana arriving on Chokwich Dicey arriving on Chokwich, with Sloan beyond Looking back at the terrain from Chokwich: Twin Peaks is at upper center, Perry Creek is at left, the ridge we descended to get across the dividing wall is right in the middle (below Twin Peaks)
Views from Chokwich summit:
Three Fingers crest Shadow of Chokwich on the Sauk Valley below Pugh Bedal, Sloan, and Slodal Twin Peaks, and our approach ridge Lunch & Monte Cristo Group Chokwich summit tea
I tried to take a group photo. On my first attempt, a wind gust blew the camera off of the pole just as the timer went off. It caught one frame of the sky, one frame of the approaching snow, and eight frames of darkness after landing lens-down. After some time cleaning out the snow, we made a successful group photo.
Camera Fall Summit Dance
Chokwich to ChokTwinPoint to Snowshoe Cache 4900 (2:05 – 3:15pm)
On the way back, with the steps already kicked in, I had the luxury of taking more photos of the route.
Retracing the connecting ridge across Chokwich Col:
Departing Chokwich Gotta climb back up across that Our tracks on the connector Re-crossing the aręte On the aręte (Yana needs a brighter jacket)
Crossing the ridge:
Suncloud over Twin Peaks Looking over the cornice line to Big Four & Dickerman Dropping back to our snowshoes on the Perry Creek side
West Twin 5840
“I like sunset summits.” (Yana, proceeding to West Twin)
Snowshoe Cache to Twin Peaks Col 5630 (3:15 – 4:05pm)
Above our heads, the sun crossed a line in the sky. All day till now, the clouds had been a hazy bowl overhead. But now the sun dropped below the cloud edge out west, with clear sky all the way down to the horizon. Fine prospects of evening light and alpenglow! We decided to continue onward for a sunset climb of West Twin Peak.
Sunshine! ChokTwin Point, Chokwich, and the tip of Sloan Hiking past walls of icicles
We raced the sunset in a shadowy traverse south across the basin. At Twin Peaks col, we crossed back into the light as tinted toward evening color.
Approaching the col Crossing into sunlight My shadow from the col onto East Twin Late light on Forgotten, Whitechuck, ChokTwin Point, Chokwich & Sloan
Twin Peaks Col –West Twin Summit Notch 5800 (4:05 – 4:30pm)
We traversed westward below the summit rocks to reach the large gully that is directly below the summit. At the top of the gully we veered briefly left up the steepish, and then went up right into a narrow gully with trees. This brought us to the crest at the notch between the summit on our left and its eastern fin of rock on the right. Just beyond our feet, the corniced edge opened onto a thousand foot drop down the other side.
The light deepened and intensified from shining gold to molten orange.
Traversing below West Twin Dicey leading up the gully to the summit area Yana ascending the gully Turning a steep corner Climber in the last orange light
We popped out onto the crest just in time for the pink blaze of alpenglow across the surrounding summits.
View through the notch: Forgotten & Whitechuck View through the notch: ChokTwin Point & Chokwich in shadow, Pugh in alpenglow Sloan East Twin & Glacier Monte Cristo Peaks
West Twin Summit 5840 Belay (4:30 – 5:45pm)
We geared up and anchored around a dead tree. The sun was below the horizon below we started up.
The summit pitch was short but awkward, because snow coated and masked the rocks, but wasn’t deep enough to kick steps. So it was a lot of kicking and hacking at the snow to clear off the rock enough to make a path. Coming down was even more awkward, trying to pivot and slide-step down a bulging rock in the middle.
Gearing up Sun gone behind Big Four
We went up one at a time to tag the summit. The photos below were long exposures using the last bit of indirect light from the sky.
Looking down the belay line Summit View looking east Looking north down to our tracks
Dicey and Yana made their ascents by headlamp, as the evening dropped to full dark.
Dicey’s light near the summit Dicey descending
Exit (5:45 – 9:00pm)
Then we had the fun of packing up and following our tracks all the way back down in the dark.
Packing our gear at the notch Down into darkness
We arrived at the trailhead to find my car just as we had left it – all alone in the darkness in the big empty parking lot. First in, last out. A note from Lindsay and Gabriel indicated that they had found a ride home. We started the car and began changing gear. Then I turned the headlight switch, and the car went totally dead. No electricity, not even a faint beep. Now it felt really cold and dark and late. But then I remembered that I hadn’t had the right wrench to fully tighten the battery clamp when I put in a new battery recently. I wiggled the loose clamp, and everything came back on. Hooray for light and heat and transportation.
Stats: 11 miles, 5480 gain, 14 hours
Historical Footnote, Twin Peaks 5/9/2004
Back in May 2004, I had climbed Twin Peaks with mtnmike by approaching from the south. To reach West Twin from the Twin Peaks Col, however, we hadn’t traversed over to the gully that we used today. Instead I remembered scrambling up onto the rock and traversing on a ledge to get to the notch below the summit area. Why the difference? Looking back at old photos, I could see why. In late spring or summer conditions, the gully snow was broken, but the rock was dry. However, now in winter, the rock was icy, but the gully was snow-filled.
Twin Peaks summits from the south. Yellow line is summer route. Blue line is winter route. Green line is summit finish for either. West Twin summit and routes viewed from East Twin. The ramp that cuts around the eastern fin of West Twin.
Either way, West Twin’s short summit pitch was awkward, especially that one big smooth rock below the summit. Without snow, you had to just hand onto the edge and slide your whole body down it till your feet hit the step below.
West Twin summit without snow Looking down at the West Twin belay Awkward with or without snow
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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yukon222 Member
Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Posts: 1893 | TRs | Pics
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yukon222
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:09 am
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Another stellar trip by you and your crew! I really like how you always take the time to snap pics throughout the entire adventure - even at tricky spots where photography is difficult. The full picture set tells the complete story of the day.
Well done!!
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Magellan Brutally Handsome
Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics Location: Inexorable descent |
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:30 am
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Awesome adventure right in the middle of winter. Another high quality trip report Matt. Thanks for writing it up.
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BarbE Member
Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics
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BarbE
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 3:33 pm
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Many of Matt's TR's inspire to follow in his footsteps. Most of them, including this one will stay out of reach for most of us.
How exciting to live vicariously through his story telling and pictures.
Thanks Matt, for another great one!
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puzzlr Mid Fork Rocks
Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 7220 | TRs | Pics Location: Stuck in the middle |
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 4:27 pm
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Evening in winter scares me, and I hurry down before dark. You seem to thrive on winter climbs well beyond dusk! I think I'll do these some sunny September.
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iron Member
Joined: 10 Aug 2008 Posts: 6392 | TRs | Pics Location: southeast kootenays |
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iron
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 5:25 pm
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hooray for the return of the summit sunset series!
and yes, anatomically pretty close
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popzeus Member
Joined: 18 Apr 2011 Posts: 136 | TRs | Pics Location: Kenmore, WA |
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popzeus
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:40 pm
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Wow, that looks like an awesome day (and night).
You parked at the Dickerman TH? Is the MLH open again?
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Matt Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:44 pm
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popzeus wrote: | You parked at the Dickerman TH? Is the MLH open again? |
Sorry, I'm catching up on previous trip reports, so this was on 1/11/12. Currently the road is closed a the Deer Creek gate.
puzzlr wrote: | Evening in winter scares me, and I hurry down before dark. You seem to thrive on winter climbs well beyond dusk! |
If I have to descend in the dark, I prefer winter, because there are tracks in the snow to follow.
And I do enjoy sunset summits. But the other explanation is that I'm just slow; Stefan's group did this same trip plus East Twin in much less time.
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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Yana Hater
Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 4212 | TRs | Pics Location: Out Hating |
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Yana
Hater
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Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:35 am
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Great trip report as always, Matt!
I particularly enjoyed the feature names and the comparison photographs from your 2004 trip!
PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
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Mike Collins Member
Joined: 18 Dec 2001 Posts: 3096 | TRs | Pics
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Go Jo of the lykkens
Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 2248 | TRs | Pics Location: Around The Bend |
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Go Jo
of the lykkens
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Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:34 pm
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Fantastic write-up of what sounds to be a great mountain experience!
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popzeus Member
Joined: 18 Apr 2011 Posts: 136 | TRs | Pics Location: Kenmore, WA |
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popzeus
Member
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Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:04 pm
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Matt wrote: | popzeus wrote: | You parked at the Dickerman TH? Is the MLH open again? |
Sorry, I'm catching up on previous trip reports, so this was on 1/11/12. Currently the road is closed a the Deer Creek gate. |
No, my bad, it is the first thing written in your report. I was too mesmerized by that slide show...
Even if I could get to the trailhead, doing this in the snow is a bit above my comfort level. Maybe after I have a bit more experience under my belt.
A very inspiring trip report nonetheless.
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