Forum Index > Trip Reports > Chatter Creek, Grindstone Mtn 6/4-6/6-14
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contour5
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Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 2962 | TRs | Pics
contour5
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PostMon Jun 09, 2014 1:52 pm 
Made a trip up Chatter Creek and tried to climb Grindstone, sort of. My GT map was surprisingly inaccurate. I started off expecting to intersect the old road and trailhead, but just kept climbing and climbing-confused and perplexed, until I finally passed the wilderness boundary sign. There were tons of flowers along the steep lower portion of the trail. Met a couple of people out for a short walk on the lower trail, and then didn't see anyone else for the rest of the day
The upper valley has a huge swath of avy debris which has obliterated the trail from 5,000 ft to about 5,600 ft. Ended up climbing the hillside a ways to get over most of the mess. Found and lost the trail multiple times in the partly snow filled forest section. Due to a late start, I ended up making a very rough camp in the debris forest at about 5500'. Kinda spooky in there.
In the morning I bashed my way out of the forest and managed to find the switchbacks that lead up to the bottom of a half-mile snow traverse. After the big snowfield I mistakenly followed my map all the way to the waterfall and ended up climbing a bunch of ridiculously steep rock with my giant load of overnight gear. After that it was a fun walk on nice snow up into the upper basin.
Top-of-Switchbacks
Top-of-Switchbacks
Upper-Basin1
Upper-Basin1
Upper-Basin2
Upper-Basin2
North-of-Pass1
North-of-Pass1
Cashmere6
Cashmere6
Camped on a little knoll in the basin. I'm not much of a snow camper, but conditions were perfect and it worked out pretty well. Could have used a second pad, or a better one than I brought, but I managed to sleep ok.
Camp1
Camp1
Crater1
Crater1
Crater4
Crater4
Grindstone3
Grindstone3
CashmereSunset10framev2
CashmereSunset10framev2
CashmereSunset3
CashmereSunset3
CashmereSunset4
CashmereSunset4
GrindstoneMorning
GrindstoneMorning
TentDoorSunset4
TentDoorSunset4
Tower1
Tower1
Tower2
Tower2
Grind15
Grind15
Pass-Ridge1
Pass-Ridge1
Grindstone18
Grindstone18
MarmotFumarole
MarmotFumarole
Snow-Camp7
Snow-Camp7
Cirque7
Cirque7
Moon4
Moon4
I climbed to the pass the first afternoon, then tried to climb Grindstone the next morning. The snow was perfect and I suppose I could have easily followed the single set of tracks that led up the left side of the steep snowfield to the summit. But I didn't. The humungous cornice overhanging the route gave me the heebie-jeebies, and the route itself looked insanely steep, with a runout leading to a giant cheese-grater cliff band. The climb up to the low spot on the summit ridge basically pushed me to the limits of my comfort zone, so I contented myself with lazing about on the ridge and scrambling the little knob above the pass. Mostly shot video for some reason, feeling irked that I was missing out on half the views to the west. So, a fail, but a fun one, as usual. It was an excellent week to be in the Icicle.

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polarbear
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Joined: 16 Dec 2001
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Location: Snow Lake hide-away
polarbear
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PostMon Jun 09, 2014 8:12 pm 
Holy cow! I had to check the date to make sure this report was from this year. Nice flowers! up.gif up.gif up.gif and mountains, and moon! up.gif up.gif up.gif

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wildernessed
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Joined: 31 Oct 2004
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Location: Wenatchee
wildernessed
viewbagger
PostMon Jun 09, 2014 8:19 pm 
up.gif Nice !

Living in the Anthropocene
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



Joined: 13 Feb 2007
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Location: Stuck in the middle
puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostMon Jun 09, 2014 9:53 pm 
That is a luxuriously sized tent to haul way up there! But I bet it's nice after all the work is done.

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contour5
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contour5
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PostMon Jun 09, 2014 10:08 pm 
Quote:
That is a luxuriously sized tent to haul way up there! But I bet it's nice after all the work is done.
It's only 2½ lbs. Floor plan is the size of a coffin. I was glad I brought it- the bugs are out early this year. Lots of mosquitos on the lower trail, black flies all the way to the top. Flicked a tick off my leg while resting on the switchbacks. Almost waited to see if it would crawl on to my permethrin treated shirt and explode, but finally got squicked out and flicked him off the cliff. The main purpose of the tent is to prevent the rodents from gnawing on me as I sleep.

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RichP
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RichP
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PostMon Jun 09, 2014 10:21 pm 
I had an ill fated attempt on Grindstone some years ago for the same reasons. A snow squall was added to the mix as well. I never did return for another try. Sure is a pretty mountain though.

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Magellan
Brutally Handsome



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
PostMon Jun 09, 2014 10:23 pm 
Gorgeous. up.gif

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mehitabel
archyologist



Joined: 23 Mar 2009
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mehitabel
archyologist
PostThu Jun 15, 2017 5:34 pm 
Anyone been up there this year yet?

toujours gai toujours gai
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jdk610
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jdk610
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PostSat Jun 17, 2017 10:35 pm 
Yes, TR recently posted on WTA. (Not me)

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