Forum Index > Trip Reports > South Spectacle Butte 8/13/12
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raising3hikers
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raising3hikers
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PostTue Aug 14, 2012 7:35 pm 
On Sunday night, Mike C, Greg L and I met at a Chiwawa River Road campground to get an early start for a daytrip Monday up South Spectacle Butte. We got to the Phelps Cr TH a little after 6am to start the hike. We would hike the flat trail to the Leroy Basin trail and finally start gaining some elevation. We liked the early start as the sun wasn't on us until we were close to Maude's south saddle. Right before the saddle, I heard a growling noise, a few minutes later, a marmot emerged. I've never heard them make that sound before. I was thinking it was maybe a wolverine at first after hearing Mike C talk about them the night before. There were several marmots at the saddle and they came pretty close to us. While Greg and Mike took a break, I walked up Freezer Pk 8017' to the South for a quick bonus peak.
flowers along the trail
flowers along the trail
a friendly marmot
a friendly marmot
We descended down to the upper Ice Lake and eventually found our way to the lower one. We loaded up on water before the traverse over to South Spec. The lakes and larches have me thinking of going back for a fall trip sometime.
Ice Box above the lake outlet
Ice Box above the lake outlet
Maude above ice lake
Maude above ice lake
After crossing the lower lake, we started to descend into the valley for a couple hundred feet before traversing towards S Spec. There was a big ditch or gully that was interesting to cross at 6400'. It wasn't that big of a deal but at least that was as low as we had to go. From there, we started to gain elevation again towards S Spec's SW ridge. We gained the ridge around 6800' and headed up the scree and boulders. At around 7400', a small buttress was on the ridge. We decided to go up and over but going around would have been much better. It went, so we didn't have to backtrack.
a look back at N Spectacle Butte
a look back at N Spectacle Butte
A few hundred feet higher, we ran into 2 other people coming down the mountain. They had come from the Entiat side after climbing several other pks. We continued up and across several gullies and reached the summit at 1:50pm. It was a long time getting there but we made it.
Mike and Greg nearing the summit
Mike and Greg nearing the summit
7Fingered Jack to Fernow
7Fingered Jack to Fernow
We slowly made our way down and weren't looking forward to the gain back up to Ice Lakes and the Maude saddle. The views were pretty good, so that kept my mind off of being tired. We took another water break at the lower ice lake while enjoying the aqua blue color.
lower ice lake
lower ice lake
We trudged along til we hit the saddle and then it was all down hill from there. We took another short break at Leroy Basin talking to another guy going to climb the next day. We made it to the trailhead as the sun was setting. We made the most of all the daylight we had for the day.
N and S Spectacle Buttes
N and S Spectacle Buttes
Greg getting back to the saddle above the lakes
Greg getting back to the saddle above the lakes
sunset
sunset
22.25 miles 8200' elevation gain-including the side trip to Freezer Pk 14.5 hrs

Eric Eames
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twodogdad
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PostTue Aug 14, 2012 8:00 pm 
Congratulations! That buttress baffled us 2 years ago: we didn't see the ledge. But you are unstoppable. N

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iron
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PostTue Aug 14, 2012 10:38 pm 
that gully crossing is interesting. rock hard dirt there. we found, on the way back, it was better to drop further on the trail and then regain more vert. either way, obviously. surprised lower ice lake is as melted out as it is. such a beautiful area!

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Gregor
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Gregor
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PostWed Aug 15, 2012 10:52 am 
twodogdad wrote:
Congratulations! That buttress baffled us 2 years ago: we didn't see the ledge. But you are unstoppable. N
that first gendarme is really big, almost more like a false summit. On the way up we stayed pretty high and on the right side, it involved a few class 4 moves and some down climbing. on the way down we stayed much lower, still on the right and it was all easy scree slopes and ledges. Up higher it was basically all traversing on the right side of the ridge on ledges and gullies, through several notches to almost the SE side of the peak, then straight up the last few hundred feet up some gullies to the summit. It was a Long hard day but a really beautiful area. We saw a huge Heron at lower Ice Lake. Very strange place to see a bird like that.

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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



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puzzlr
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PostWed Aug 15, 2012 11:05 am 
Huge day. Hard to believe you would just throw in a side trip to Freezer! Is it possible to draft behind r3h on the trail?

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iluka
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PostWed Aug 15, 2012 12:41 pm 
We did this route several weeks ago. We actually found that once you drop below Lower Ice Lake traversing over to the peak at 6,200 feet made for a pretty straight forward route. In particular, the gulley crossings were not that bad. Occasional thick brush bash but overall, it went pretty quickly. Once on the climb itself, we found that there were generally strategically placed cairns which showed which notch to go through as you moved to the right of various blocking features on the ridge.

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bobbi
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bobbi
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PostWed Aug 15, 2012 7:40 pm 
r3h "While Greg and Mike took a break, I walked up Freezer Pk 8017' to the South for a quick bonus peak." up.gif no biggie....it's only a walk up! your flowers along the trail photos is called old man whiskers or if you are in oregon, hippie hair lol.gif

bobbi ૐ "Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
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silence
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PostThu Aug 16, 2012 6:43 am 
Wow .. nice work guys! There sure is a lot of snow still ..
Bobbi .. those are "mopheads" -- the seed heads of the Western pasque flower (Anemone occidentalis) "old man whiskers" are Geum triflorum -- I've seen a lot up on Buckhorn Pass

PHOTOS FILMS Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb. – Bob Dylan
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Tom_Sjolseth
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PostThu Aug 16, 2012 10:10 am 
Nice work once again, Eric. And what better company to have along than Mike and Greg. Keep on tearing it up!

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wildernessed
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PostThu Aug 16, 2012 12:10 pm 
up.gif Very Nice !

Living in the Anthropocene
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Roald
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PostFri Aug 17, 2012 1:08 pm 
Sweet. Funny how memory plays tricks. I recall S. Spec. Butte fondly, remembering the free-form scramble up the face. I mentioned this recently to my buddy who was there, and he recalled the rock as loose and reminded me of the unpleasant walking at the base of the scramble. Whatever. I would like to get up to that area some day with overnight gear - don't you think it's too gorgeous to blast in and out so quickly?

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raising3hikers
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raising3hikers
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PostFri Aug 17, 2012 2:57 pm 
Roald wrote:
don't you think it's too gorgeous to blast in and out so quickly?
I fully agree but with only 1 day to do something, gotta move on through. However, I know I'll be back to do N Spectacle sometime and I will definitely camp at Ice Lakes. It looks like a great place to be when the larches turn yellow

Eric Eames
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Gregor
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PostFri Aug 17, 2012 6:28 pm 
don't you think it's too gorgeous to blast in and out so quickly? Definitely a really beautiful spot to camp, and i would love to spend more time there. But unfortunately my time available for climbing is limited these days, so if i can do a trip like this as a daytrip, it sure beats not doing it at all.

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Roald
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PostSat Aug 18, 2012 5:33 pm 
"...don't you think it's too gorgeous to blast in and out so quickly?" Eric and Gregor - In re-reading and re-gazing at your TR, Eric, I realized that my comment might have seemed critical. In no way was this my intent. I fully agree with, and applaud, your decision to max out on your available time. (And I admire your ability to do so!) What I meant was more wistful than anything - the feeling I had when I passed through the Ice Lakes area on a day outing to SS Butte and wished I had time to linger (although we did enjoy a leisurely dip in the lower lake - ahh). That summarizes a fundamental tension with the mountains: the pull to explore more and longer, balanced against the pull toward other good things back in the world of pavement, like family, job, etc. Since lately I have been spending more time in the world of pavement, I especially appreciate reading about trips like yours.

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Randy
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PostMon Aug 20, 2012 3:56 pm 
Good to see Mike out there tucking in more Top 100s!

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