[iron]

ever since last spring when we climbed reaburn, i've been thinking about jack's headwall. how could one not, with such beauty as this?

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weather windows opened and closed often this year, as they're known to do in the cascades. due to availability and what i assumed would be the end of "good snow" for the route, this weekend was effectively the last chance for a 2013 summit. this time, the weather worked out just right, so hotpantz, r3h, and i set off for a relatively unclimbed route. i like drawing lines on maps and going for a trip without much additional beta; this was one of those trips. we left our car camp at the canyon creek trailhead and drove over to the ross lake trailhead. 5 pickets, a handful of what turned out to be unnecessary rock pro, a 60m rope, and glacier gear accompianied us as we walked down the 1.2 mile, 650ft vert trail to the ross lake resort phone. oh, and 4 beers, 0.5L of port, and lots of chocolate. the morning was overcast, but threatening to go blue. we didn't mind a little cloud cover as going steeply uphill would only be nicer with a cool start to the day. our boat taxi dropped us off at the may creek campground. the lake still probably has another 15ft to go until it's full. around 8:15am, from the campground, we took the connector trail up to the east bank trail where we turned south for ~100 yards. here, we found a faint and shortlived tread (100ft) and we headed uphill

the forest was surprisingly nice. lots of little springtime flowers popping up here and there. a few mosquitoes, but none that were biting too badly. we basically headed straight up until reaching a cliffband at EL3600 that is very obvious when taking the boat over or when looking from nearby peaks.

we first headed right, but then opted to swing back to the left, hoping for better contours. it was a tedious process and not all that great with the heavy packs. eventually, we found a nice deer or goat trail which took us through the worst of the cliffs and back onto easy, though steep, terrain. once at EL5000, we took a break on a flat snowy ridge just after noon that gave us some of our first views of jack and the glaciers above. we then contoured into the may creek basin, avoiding the steep ribs and rocky outcrops which guard the ever shrinking nohokomeen glacier. if you ever want an opportunity to see obvious signs of glacial retreat, this would be a good place to go.

snow was fairly continuous around EL5200, but it was only a few feet deep and will be gone in a week or so. crossing the may creek S tributary was easy. then, we ascended a lateral moraine to about EL5800, where snow took over for good. there were abundant camping opportunities down low in the EL5000-5400 range, and then again some nice ones starting around EL6100. the best might have been around EL6400, but we had already dropped gear.

it was around 3:00pm at our camp spot, so we had ~6+ hours to summit and get back from the 3000ft up/down trek ahead of us. of course, we were slowed by the incredible views of icefall, gaping crevasses, and just generally awesome terrain. it also wasn't too shabby to look back behind us at the prophet range, pickets, hozomeens, and the super awesome sourpatch.

we roped up for the glacier travel and r3h put on his big boy pants and big boy step destroying shoes and led us up. staying on the left side of the glacier and under the N ridge, we had easy, unincumbered travel. we crossed what seemed to be only one spot where a crevasse will open in the next few weeks.

as we neared the headwall, i began to get worried that there might not be enough snow as there were a few more rocky sections than i had hoped for. hotpantz was nervous about the steepness of the headwall snow, but was convinced that she was more than able to handle the task at hand. r3h just stood there patiently, likely thinking to himself: "this'll be a piece of cake... why do we need a rope?"

we got as close to the headwall as possible and gave r3h all the pickets. he would lead out for the first running belay. the first crux was to get over the moat. fortunately, we had about the only remaining continuous line of snow between glacier and headwall exactly were we wanted it. in another few weeks, this will likely become impassable. from there, it was more or less straight up.

the snow was almost perfect. while we wore crampons, we probably didn't need to. however, not once did the crampons ball up, so we really had no reason to not wear them. r3h placed all his pickets and then was able to get to a little rock outcrop where he slung an anchor and belayed us up. we decided to play leapfrog and i led the rest of the way up to the ridge since i had all the pickets slung to various parts of my body, some of which seemed to be cutting off circulation to my brain. that, combined with wearing shorts and leg-tights, made me look like a real newb. either that, or just some hardcore dude. i think it at least served up some laughs for the group. the upper half of the headwall felt and looked a bit steeper than the lower half. tough to say since i followed the latter and led the former. in any case, i think the snow angle ranged from 45-50 degrees for about 600ft vert and was on par with something like the north face of buckner. near the ridge, it felt like i was starting to punch through a little more. was it a cornice? dunno. so, i went left and cautiously up and over the jagged edge of the ridge. wow, what a site! not only that, but it was out of the biting wind. i got to a safe spot, then had to take out my camera which i had packed away since it sits in a chest-mounted pack. poor r3h was freezing, but like always, patient and kind. the ridge was perfect. enough snow for almost a continous walk-in-the-park to the summit, but not so much that cornices were a real concern. i slung a perfectly placed rock for one final anchor and walked to the summit. clouds billowed and ripped past the NW ridge making for a beautiful, though cold, show. we huddled on the summit rather uncermoniously as we were all a bit chilled by the wind. we didn't take the time to dig for the register, and instead, headed down.

the descent of the headwall went a little faster than the ascent, but it was still time consuming. our steps had consolidated a bit and partially refroze, even though they were in direct sunlight. soon, we were back at the base, got back into glacier travel mode, and bombed down. it was 9:00pm and we had 2000ft to lose to get back to a camp that was not yet set up. fortunately, snow was perfect and we made it back in under 30 minutes. r3h and i leveled a spot in the snow for the tent, while hotpantz got dinner rolling. it was a cold and windy night - definitely not summer sleeping bag worthy. hotpantz and i shivered through the night, while r3h proved smarter and less affected by the extra pound of weight of his sleeping bag.

morning came and the sun was out. because i was so cold lying on the ground, it seemed to make sense to just go outside in the sun. it worked well

we broke down camp and i finished one of the beers from the night before. nothing like a buzz to start the day. must be taking after tom_s... instead of heading straight down, we actually went uphill for a bit on a snowy rib. we wanted nicer views of the ice under daytime sunlight. they didn't disappoint one bit.

we then retraced our route down and back into the may creek valley. hotpantz found herself the perfect rock chair where she napped in the sun with a light breeze and birds chirping. r3h and i headed further down valley to fulfill our peakbagging obsession with a trip up to angel wing. we found an easy log crossing on may creek - which is surprisingly not that big - and headed steeply uphill to the saddle. there was no snow until we hit the ridge. and boy what a ridge it was. this place is littered with potential campsites. even if you have no intention to climb jack, getting up angel wing is worth your time. plus, there appears to be a rather direct way from the lake, though we never verified that and probably never will.

views were superb and it would have been nice to linger longer, but alas, we had a boat to catch. a combination of boot glissades and downhill running got us back to where we met up with hotpantz in the basin in <2 hours roundtrip. now, time to say goodbye. instead of replicating our up route, we'd hoped to find an easier way down through the cliffs on skier's right. r3h nailed it and we were able to follow game trails the whole way down through the cliff bands. we knew r3h would be faster than us, and surely wanted to get his pack off, so we let him go off ahead and took our time going down. even though we were only a few hundred feet north of our up route, the trees and brush were noticeably worse including one section of nasty vine maple + downed logs.

persistance paid off and we were back at the boat launch at 4:40, about 40 minutes after r3h got there. we finished off the port, at pretty much all the unused food, and waited for our 7:00pm boat. hotpantz and i took a swim in the lake (she swam, i got in and out as fast as humanly possible), and r3h must've had his little girl pants on now as he only dipped his legs in. it was a great trip and i'm super thankful for partners as patient as r3h (who could probably day trip this peak) and as determined, and pleasant as my wife. we nailed the trip we had all long been thinking about. total stats were roughly 15 miles and 11,000ft. (PS: i'm still learning my new camera. viewing the pics on my work monitor makes them appear contrasty and oversaturated. please PM me with feedback. they look fine at home on the computer...)

[RichP]

A great read, iron. I'm sure this trip report will inspire others to try this awesome route.

[Gimpilator]

You just won the best-trip-report-of-the-weekend award.

[IanB]

Very nice write-up and photos - thanks for sharing!

[Stefan]

wow. two days! great pics!

[wildernessed]

Nice, and great pics !

[cascadetraverser]

Awesome trip! Way to go guys!

[b00]

wow!

[Redwic]

Great TR, approach, and photos! I have been mentioning this possible route approach to multiple people for several years, and each time the notion basically got poo-pooed as not very feasible. I'm glad to see you prove the naysayers wrong! It looks like a great route (when favorable conditions exist), with a lot of fantastic scenery! This TR should rank very high on the "must read" lists. AWESOME JOB!!!

[Jetlag]

Sensational TR and photos - penciled in now as a trip for next Spring, but for 3 days, not 2!

[raising3hikers]

This trip was one of the best ones I've been on in recent memory. It had everything I could have hoped for - great partners, glaciers, a big mtn, good weather, and another near by peak to climb to look back at our route from the day before. When we finally got to the ridge and could see Jack for the first time, it gave me an extra boost of energy. Walking along the glacier that is still a mile long was a highlight of the trip.

a little tree in front of the Nohokomeen

hotpantz and iron on the glacier

It was an awesome plan that iron and hotpantz had to climb Jack on the first day. The snow was perfect and we had just enough time to get it done. The headwall was extremely fun except when I starrted to freeze after belaying them up and iron took over placing pickets. The clouds were fun to watch swarming around at the summit. Looked like the North ridge might have also been doable.

heading up the headwall

looking back at the clouds and the ridge

hotpantz and iron at the summit, it was cold

back on the glacier

The down climbing of the ridge went very well and went quicker than we thought and were back down to the glacier with about 30 minutes of daylight left to get to camp. We coasted into camp with light to spare!

sun setting behind the clouds

last light on Jack

It was fun exploring the glacier a bit in the morning before heading off to Angel Wing.

looking up at clouds swarming around Jack above the glacier

time to check out the ice

Angel Wing doesn't look like much but the views from it are superb. Jack and the Nohokomeen glacier were right in front of us. It's a nice little summit that deserves more attention.

iron reaching the Angel Wing summit with Hozomeen in the distance

this is the view I was hoping for from Angel Wing

this was one of the smallest glacier lilies I've ever seen

the forest was pretty at times but seemed to have gotten a lot brushier in the past day

[Magellan]

Love the creativity! Excellent TR.

[GaliWalker]

Awesome! Some great shots there, iron! Yeah, I also see a contrasty/oversaturated tint there, which I haven't noticed from your photos before, but even so I really like the photos. Some of the compositions are particularly nice. You'll probably figure out the new camera usage problem soon (sorry, I have no clue as to what it could be).

[Goats Know]

Really nice you guys. Really nice. We went up May creek and climbed the north ridge over three days about 15 years ago and I only bring that up so that I can say I know how much ground you covered. To do that in two days is really something. Then to throw in a side peak. You're kidding right! Top it all off, Iron, your pictures are incredible. How did you do that while you were running? Very cool.

[DIYSteve]

Great route and TR Fantastic! Gotta get the skis up there one of these days.