[Gimpilator]

Paul invited me to join his party on Miners Ridge. I looked at the map to see what else I could get in the area. The Phelps Creek approach jumped out at me with the possibility of Cloudy Peak and North Star Mountain. Also Josh and Michael were going to that area and Heather was already there. I gave the Lewis brothers a ride and we stopped along the way to see Heather for 5 minutes at her camp.

Spider Glacier

Lyman Lakes below

Cloudy and North Star at right

Chiwawa

Bonanza

Martin

lower Lyman

Josh and Michael hiked with me over Spider Gap and we went our separate ways at lower Lyman Lake. I hiked up to Cloudy Pass. It was bitter cold and windy all day long. I stashed some overnight gear at the pass and prepared for Cloudy but then it started to snow and the sky looked threatening. I knew a rumor of class 4 on the summit block so I changed my plans and traversed around Cloudy to do North Star instead.

North Star traverse

looking back at Cloudy

Bonanza west peak

I traversed broad flattish meadows and found a boot path between cliffs leading around the corner of Cloudy. Then I made a long ascending traverse on snow to the saddle between the two high points of North Star. At the saddle I was surprised by ruggedness of the southern point and I was glad I hadn't tried to follow the top of the ridge.

North Star and Bonanaza

talus summit block

the southern point

Needle, and Dark

Bonanza west peak

Sitting Bull

On the summit I had intimate views of Needle Peak, Dark, and Bonanza. It was very cold above 8000 feet. I didn't stay long. Back at the pass I dropped down to the cutoff trail and over to Suattle Pass. I camped in a meadow on the other side. When I woke up the next morning there was ice inside my bivy and frost on the outside. I was surprised I had been able to sleep considering my bag was only rated to 40 degrees.

Fortress northwest shoulder

frosty bivy

Glacier

adit

deer above

Kololo

Tenpeak

Clark and Luahna

I hiked past collapsed miners cabins and scrambled up to one adit on my way over to Image Lake. At the lake I met the large group and spent some time socializing with several people I have looked up to for a long time including but not limited to Martin Shetter and Silas Wild. Silas told me that if I post a trip report "make sure to let them know I could use some bikini babysitters for senior citizens".

Image Lake

Bannock

Finisher #2

9 labels

our group

After the lookout gathering we hiked up Plummer Mountain which had a fun spicy finish and then the point directly above Image Lake. The following morning Eric joined me as far as Cloudy Pass to inspect the possibility of a previous lookout location.

Plummer

Sitting Bull

Dome and Sinister

Eric scrambling

Eric on the loose ledge between the false and true summit

Craig on the ledge

Dome and Sinister

Glacier and Image

Plummer with cool lighting

Cloudy Pass

I continued solo up the southwest ridge of Cloudy. At the summit block I followed an exposed dirt path around the east side of the block and then the north ridge. I scrambled up near the summit. From there it would have required real climbing to cross the knife-edge to the summit.

Cloudy

Sitting Bull east face

Dome and Sinister

Agnes

Fortess

Chiwawa and Lyman Lakes

I back-tracked to near the beginning of the dirt ledge and scrambled up a steep loose gully with bad footing and scant handholds. Half way up I decided the gully was too loose to descend safely considering a fall could potentially dump you over the east face cliff. I decided to search for a better way down.

start of dirt ledge

North Star from the summit

the hidden chimney

From the summit I looked around and found a hidden 10 foot chimney leading to a ledge. It seemed like the only alternative so I dropped my pack into the chimney and climbed down, hoping it wasn't a dead-end. This ledge is just a bit north of the loose gully I ascended, and about 12 feet above the dirt path. A single class 4+ traverse move brought me back to near the bottom of the loose gully. I was glad to be off the top of that peak and my adrenaline was running high.

back up to Spider Gap

Spider Glacier

I hiked back to Cloudy Pass and then down to Lyman Lakes where I met the Lewis brothers. Together we hiked back over Spider Gap and out Phelps Creek.

[fourteen410]

How were the bugs at Lyman?

[Gimpilator]

On the first day when it was cold and windy, there were none. One the last day, they were about average for this time of year. Plenty of mosquitoes.

[Rainie Too!]

Surprised at the snow still around over there,...and the cold temps. May have to plan something over there after this great TR!

[Paul M]

Thanks Adam for joining us last weekend. You sure covered some ground in an area worth visiting! Great trip report also.

[Distel32]

[Backpacker Joe]

Awesome trip GL. Great pics too.

[Magellan]

Nice work, G and company.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Great pictures. Looks closer to a typical mid June there than anywhere else I've been recently or seen TRs for.

[neek]

Drool...

[Redwic]

Sounds like a great trip, overall. I was excited to meet people such as Silas, Jeff, and Virginia, each of whom I had never previously met but heard a lot about. Friday was COLD even west of where you were, which is a big reason why I kept hiking until midnight, all the way to the camp near Image Lake, rather than bivy from the approach I was taking. Thanks for sharing the photos and story.

[puzzlr]

It's fun to see all those people in one place. I'm surprised a big UFO didn't show up to play the nwhikers.net theme.

[wildernessed]

[Michael Lewis]

Thanks for giving us that ride for our Bonanza attempt Gimpilator! Your trip looks real cool.

[Obi Tony Kenobi]

Nice trip report! Any snow at the campsite at the knob below Spider "Glacier"?