Forum Index > Trip Reports > Kololo, Kopeetah, Gorgeous Day Peak, and more 4/30-5/2, 2016
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Gimpilator
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Gimpilator
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PostMon May 02, 2016 7:42 pm 
video link With good weather and a stable snow pack, we agreed that it was time to go for Kololo Peaks 8200'. I have heard that the White Chuck Glacier basin is a mess of sucking mud in late season. Another benefit to an early season climb of Kololo is that we didn't need to bring any glacier travel gear.
Sloan
Sloan
Johnson
Johnson
Johnson again
Johnson again
White Pass
White Pass
White Mountain
White Mountain
White Mountain
White Mountain
White Chuck Glacier Basin
White Chuck Glacier Basin
Black Mountain and Pugh
Black Mountain and Pugh
camping below Baekos
camping below Baekos
Jacob the camp guard
Jacob the camp guard
sun pillar
sun pillar
There are two washouts on the way to the trailhead, but I was able to drive over both of them with my Subaru. The first day we hiked to White Pass and then the upper White Chuck basin below Glacier Gap where we made camp. That first night we saw an unusual phenomenon known as a sun pillar or solar pillar.
Kololo west face
Kololo west face
Glacier Peak
Glacier Peak
Baekos
Baekos
our shadows
our shadows
Upper Suiattle Glacier with Kololo summit at center
Upper Suiattle Glacier with Kololo summit at center
Josh on Kololo west summit
Josh on Kololo west summit
Glacier Peak
Glacier Peak
going to the higher east summit
going to the higher east summit
Indian Head
Indian Head
Kololo summit
Kololo summit
The next morning we climbed up two small glaciers on the west face of Kololo Peaks and then crossed the northwest ridge right before the summit. The east summit seems a little higher than the west but we went to both.
Kopeetah Divide
Kopeetah Divide
Glacier Peak and Kopeetah
Glacier Peak and Kopeetah
scramble rocks
scramble rocks
Tenpeak
Tenpeak
Gorgeous Day Peak above
Gorgeous Day Peak above
Glacier Peak again
Glacier Peak again
Kopeetah summit panorama
Kopeetah summit panorama
Buck
Buck
Kopeetah summit
Kopeetah summit
returning from Kopeetah
returning from Kopeetah
Gorgeous Day summit ridge
Gorgeous Day summit ridge
looking down on Kopeetah
looking down on Kopeetah
new register
new register
page 2
page 2
We descended down the Honeycomb Glacier and then scrambled up Kopeetah Divide 7723'. Then we retraced our steps and went back up to check out Gorgeous Day Peak 8018'. My buddy Matt Below stumbled onto an old 1974 register there and likely made the 2nd ascent. He claims the original register named it Gorgeous Day Peak, not Glorious Morning Peak and he later made contact with the original 1974 party. Franklin Bradshaw heard about Matt's ascent and went up shortly thereafter for the 3rd ascent and he brought a replacement register. I was hoping our group might be the 4th to check it out, but we discovered that Lindsey Malone and company beat us to it. tongue.gif After Gorgeous Day Peak we traversed the Suiattle Glacier to tag Glacier Gap Peak 7739' before returning to camp. On day 3 we hiked out, and thanks to a few long glissades it only took us half a day.
Glacier Gap Peak
Glacier Gap Peak
Glacier Gap Peak summit
Glacier Gap Peak summit
Heather happy on summit #4
Heather happy on summit #4
Kololo alpenglow
Kololo alpenglow
leaving White Chuck Glacier Basin
leaving White Chuck Glacier Basin
glissade chute
glissade chute
Maps per request:
White Pass Map
White Pass Map
Peaks Route Map
Peaks Route Map

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wildernessed
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PostMon May 02, 2016 7:49 pm 
up.gif Nice !

Living in the Anthropocene
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awilsondc
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PostMon May 02, 2016 8:05 pm 
Soooo... jealous... ! Looks like fun! Couldn't have had much better weather either from the looks of it. Very nice!

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Kenji
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PostMon May 02, 2016 8:43 pm 
up.gif up.gif

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Distel32
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PostMon May 02, 2016 10:41 pm 
up.gif

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contour5
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PostMon May 02, 2016 10:49 pm 
Beautiful!

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Fletcher
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PostTue May 03, 2016 12:33 am 
So jealous, nice work!

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puzzlr
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PostTue May 03, 2016 12:48 am 
Clearly the title line limit needs to be longer to allow for all the peaks you do in a single trip. Great work!

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RichP
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PostTue May 03, 2016 7:56 am 
Great trip! Kopeetah Divide has the best views of Glacier Pk I've ever seen.

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wolffie
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PostTue May 03, 2016 10:17 am 
Were there other parties going to Glacier Gap? I'm thinking of soloing there Memorial Day weekend, but a solo snowshoe track is not corgi-friendly (the dog has to hop from one footprint to the next like a berserk furry zigzag sewing machine, else I have to make tedious close-spaced steps). Kind of hoping for a track to share. You think? I would expect plenty company on Memorial Day. Al got to 9200' one August, but the S ridge was dry and too rocky, and he doesn't do glaciers unroped.

Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't.
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Frodo Barefoot
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PostTue May 03, 2016 10:28 am 
Wow! Epic! up.gif

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Gimpilator
infinity/21M



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Gimpilator
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PostTue May 03, 2016 3:38 pm 
Alright, this report is now finished. I just added the video at the top.
awilsondc wrote:
Soooo... jealous... ! Looks like fun! Couldn't have had much better weather either from the looks of it. Very nice!
Thanks! Hey, I didn't know you were on NWH, but I recognize your name from SP.
puzzlr wrote:
Clearly the title line limit needs to be longer to allow for all the peaks you do in a single trip. Great work!
lol.gif Thanks! It would be nice if there was a bit more room. Worst case scenario is I leave off the date of the trip.
RichP wrote:
Kopeetah Divide has the best views of Glacier Pk I've ever seen.
It certainly is an amazing vantage point. I wonder how often people go there.
wolffie wrote:
Kind of hoping for a track to share. You think?
As it is currently, I wouldn't suggest it. For all appearances, we were the first to reach White Pass this year, or at least for some time. There were a couple of other parties skiing around up there but they were all climbing straight up to Red Pass to access the White Chuck basin.

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HitTheTrail
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PostTue May 03, 2016 4:19 pm 
Great effort and nice shots. Good to see Josh is back in full form. Just can't keep a good man down! up.gif

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Bryan K
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PostTue May 03, 2016 4:26 pm 
Nice looking trip with great weather!!

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raising3hikers
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PostTue May 03, 2016 6:45 pm 
up.gif very nice. kopeetah divide is one of my all time favorite view points in the cascades, good job getting there this early in the season.

Eric Eames
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Forum Index > Trip Reports > Kololo, Kopeetah, Gorgeous Day Peak, and more 4/30-5/2, 2016
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