[iron]

fisher creek drainage

cartman has long raved about the beauty of graybeard. hotpantz and i, being smart enough to heed the advice of a noble sage, headed out to investigate. a pleasant car camp with the sounds of granite creek and some light rain offered peaceful sleep. we were the only ones in the parking lot that night, and only one other car would show up at the easy pass TH the next day. the trail was mostly in good shape. a few small trees across it, but nothing major. we found snow at 4200', deep and consistent at 4400'. after some careless mistakes erring too far right to try to keep the trail, we made it to the beautifully broad easy pass. it's like walking in a whole new world.

morning mist on the branch with tower looking on

fisher creek valley looking at snowfield group

avalanche zone / tree zone

from the pass, we walked the ridge until ~6800' where we began a level traverse. snow was not continuous, so we found some steep sections of downclimbing to facilitate easier travel.

traversing above easy pass, mesahchie looking on

graybeard

steep step

soon, we reached a basin below the summit. so: ridge to the right or snow finger straight ahead? cartman's beta said they did both routes. gaining the ridge looked problematic with nearly discontinuous snow and steep bands of rock. snow finger it is.

finally in some good snow

lots of cragginess in here

looking back

steepening up the snow finger

up, up, up. going smoothly. then, 100ft below the summit, no more snow; it petered out after reaching maybe 35 degrees on the left-most snow finger. i opted to head immediately left up a 5.0 crumbly step or two. hotpantz chose to scramble up a 4th/5.0 narrow chute, maybe 3-5ft wide, coated with slickness. my route was over in a few moves; hers lasted a bit longer. neither was fun. we were hoping for an alternative way down.

running out of snow

in the gully of lose death

not the safest spot to hang out

reaching the summit was a good sense of relief, though temporary. views here are spectacular. up front and personal with black, goode, ragged ridge, and so many more. views extended easily to the dome peak area, southern pickets, and all the chelan sawtooths. stellar.

logan and douglas glacier

sinister, dome, and the mighty goode

black and black west

ragged ridge, easy pass, and pickets

buckner, ripsaw ridge, sahale, and part of boston

mcmillan spires

summit expanse

franklin's cairn

then down. ugh. uncomfortable. we opted for hotpantz' route due to slightly less exposure. after clearing out a few thousand pounds of loose stuff, we descended. wet sand on downsloping slabs was awesome. eventually we made it and were happy to be on snow. no crampons this time.

looking back down for our descent route

from the top of the snow finger

happy to be on easy terrain

snow finger

the descent from easy pass was uneventful. we opted to stay E of the drainage down to 4200' where i left my shoes on the trail. much easier travel here.

success

snowfield through colonial

walkin' out

great trip, but bring a rope and gear to rappel. there were a few rap stations. a 30m rope should get you past the worst parts. leave the pro at home as it's unprotectable. or, go when the hwy first opens and snow is stable. 8.5mi 4800'

[Jetlag]

Timely post with beautiful pictures. I'm heading into that area tomorrow for a few days. Looks like Easy Pass to Thunder Creek to Park Creek Pass to Cascade Pass might be fun...or maybe that long, long snowy arm up to Logan. You didn't use crampons at all? Where would you two like to wander in that area if you had the better part of a week with these conditions?