[Eric Gilbertson]

Eric and Duncan, April 27-28, 2019 Saturday – leave Seattle 10am, push bikes up Rankin Creek road, ski/snowshoe to camp 6:30pm Sunday – 4:30am leave camp, 6am start route, 9am summit, 2:30pm back at camp, 5pm back to truck Link to full trip report and pictures.

The approach

The route

Pushing bikes through the snow

Last October I finished climbing the Bulgers, then by mid-November I climbed six of the seven other peaks that would have been on a stricter 400ft prominence definition of the Bulgers but were excluded. I just had Lincoln left for the Washington Top 100, but by then the winter snows had started and conditions got too dangerous for Lincoln. Safe conditions for Lincoln never seemed to line up with free weekends until late April. We decided to approach via Rankin Creek because it looked slightly shorter than the heliotrope ridge approach, wouldn’t require any ascending on the way out, and also most likely would not have the crowds of heliotrope. We left Seattle at 10:15am Saturday morning and by 2pm we reached the second switchback (2,650ft). The road quality was deteriorating and we weren’t sure if there would be a turnaround spot any higher, so we parked there and packed up. For future reference a normal truck or SUV would have no trouble driving to the third switchback (2,780ft) that has a good turnaround spot, and a jeep with high clearance or a carefully-driven truck could make it to the fifth switchback (3,420ft) with another good turnaround. Beyond that point the road is too overgrown for most vehicles. We biked and pushed our bikes up starting around 2:30pm as it was still snowing. By the fifth switchback the road became very overgrown with slide alder and the snow got deeper. We continued pushing the bikes but by the 6th switchback (3,700ft) the road ended and we ditched the bikes. From there we were basically bushwhacking through slide alder, though there was a lightly-maintained route through the middle where someone had cut occasional branches. Before long we rounded the bend and the road opened up again, though it was covered in feet of snow.

Skiing the upper road

Our first view of Lincoln in the clouds

Sunset from camp

I switched to snowshoes and Duncan to skis and we followed the road up the Rankin Creek valley to near the road end. From there we bushwhacked up through mostly open forest to the ridge on our right, then followed the ridge up to the edge of treeline. We traversed a broad open shoulder around 6,000ft to reach the very highest trees on the edge of a cliff. Here we got our first views of Lincoln and it looked intimidating. Most of the route was stuck in the clouds, but the lower route looked like either steep ice or snow. We’d have to wait til morning to get a better look, if the weather cleared. By 6:30pm we found a flat sheltered spot in the highest trees, pitched the tent, and went to bed. We were woken up around 2am by very strong winds shaking the tent. The winds persisted until 3:30am, then abruptly ended. We officially started getting ready soon after, and were moving by 4:30am. We went a bit up the ridge past the cornices, then dropped down and traversed at 6,100ft. We then ascended the snow slope left of a huge ice cliff and kicked steps up a long slope. The snow varied between hard neve and shallow windslab, but was never deep enough to be concerning. By 5:30am we arrived just below the bergschrund. Steven Song and Matt Lemke had climbed Lincoln last May and at that time the bergschrund was quite difficult to cross, involving climbing 80 degree ice. However, this early in the season the bergschrund was almost completely filled in. I could only barely detect its presence by a thin crack on the edge. We kicked out a snow platform and geared up with 5 pickets and two technical tools each. I carried a tag line and Duncan carried a 60m half rope. The beginning pitches looked easy enough that we decided to solo them to move faster.

Approaching the schrund

Climbing above the schrund (photo by Duncan)

Traversing the lower basin

We started up around 6am, soloing up over the bergschrund then angling up and left until we hit a sort of snow arete above a rock outcrop. The climbing was very secure, but I was getting a bit nervous about the exposure and we decided to pull the rope out. We had 5 pickets, so should be able to get pretty far simul climbing before needing to regroup, so figured we could still move fast. Duncan led the way, putting a picket in every rope length and using micro traxions to attach the rope. This way if I fell following I wouldn’t pull him down. We traversed the lower basin this way, encountering mostly icey neve crust with occasional ankle-deep wind slab pockets. At the left end of the basin we ascended up a narrow gully that was the steepest slope of the route. For reference I noticed a few slung horns at the bottom of the gully, and at least one or two cracks one could stick a cam in if one were so inclined. Duncan reached a knife edge snow arete at the top left end of the gully and belayed me up from there. By then I had all the pickets, so I climbed a little higher, pounded in a picket, and belayed Duncan up. Duncan then led up to the very top of the snow arete, then traversed left across the upper basin. It was a bit steep transitioning from the arete to the basin, but the snow made for solid tool and crampon placements. We traversed left to the “leaning tower of Pisa”, then ascended up the obvious gully. Here the slope angle decreased and our progress was faster. At the top of this gully we reached a corniced saddle, then plowed our way through huge crumbling rime ice feathers up a final steep snow pitch to the summit. Duncan peeked over the edge while on rope and verified that the true top was somehow not a cornice, though everywhere around was.

The gully above the lower basin (photo by Duncan)

Traversing the upper basin to the leaning tower of Pisa

The final gully

We pounded our tools in and sat down to enjoy the view. It was 9am, and had taken us about three hours up from the bergschrund. We could see dozens of skiers on heliotrope ridge and many other climbers on the Easton Glacier heading up Mt Baker. I kind of wonder if anyone saw us, but it’s probably unlikely. This summit was my final Washington Top 100 peak, and seemed a fitting one to end on. We hung around for about 45 minutes, and joked about excavating out the summit register, but it was probably buried under several feet of snow and ice. By 9:45am we started heading down. The upper sections were easy enough that we just solo downclimbed to the leaning tower of Pisa. There the route got more exposed, so we simulclimbed across to the steep snow arete. Duncan wanted to solo downclimb the entire route for speed, but I’m not as strong a climber so I requested we do some rappels. We decided the best compromise would be for the steep sections I rappel down 60m on a single strand, then build an anchor with pickets and belay Duncan down as he downclimbed to me. Then for the traverse sections we simul climb. This was actually very efficient, and didn’t require leaving any gear on the mountain. We eventually got down to the lower basin. Most groups rappel the waterfall, but we weren’t sure if we could get a good anchor above it, so decided to just return the exact way we’d come.

Topping out (photo by Duncan)

The snowy summit

Good views of Baker and Colfax

We simulclimbed back across the basin, then started doing diagonal rappels and downclimbs aiming for the bergschrund. At one point the whole mountain got socked in a whiteout and it started snowing, but by then we were close enough to the base we had no trouble navigating. By 1:15pm we returned to our stashed hiking poles at the base of the schrund and the weather cleared up again. Somehow we had been efficient enough on the descent that it had taken 3.5 hours, only a bit longer than the ascent. We packed up the tools, then hiked back to our camp an hour later. By then it was sunny and warm, and we were glad to be off the route before the rime-ice plastering the rocks had a chance to melt and fall off.

Descending in a whiteout

Skiing out

Biking out

By 3pm we were packed up and heading back down. We skied and snowshoed to the start of the ridge, then plunge stepped all the way back to the road. Interestingly on the way we noticed a set of rabbit footprints followed by fox tracks followed by wolverine tracks all on top of our tracks. I joked that maybe next we’d see sasquatch tracks following the wolverine tracks. We hiked back to our bikes, then had an amazing bike ride back to the truck by 5pm. It just started snowing again as we finished, but by then we were packed up and driving out. I think this makes me the youngest (32yr9mo) and fastest (1yr8mo8d Aug 20, 2017 – April 28, 2019) to finish the Washington Top 100 (TCxCCCCP). Though I bet Matt Lemke or Josh Lewis will soon become the new youngest finishers. Gear notes: 5 pickets, 3 screws (unused), 60m half rope, 60m tag line (unused), 2 tools each.

[xuanxier]

Congratulations Eric. Very happy that you get this one done, and timed it in as perfect as it can ever get. The bergschrund, many giant runnels and icy conditions had made our ascent in May very challenging last year.

[iron]

looked like fine bootable snow, especially for lincoln.

[geyer]

Great job on Lincoln and finishing the top 100 list!

[Stefan]

great job!

[Jake Robinson]

Congrats Eric Can't wait to see what's next for you.

[raising3hikers]

nice work you guys on a serious mountain. but, the airy traverse looks so mellow without multiple 6' deep runnels. you picked a great time with the lowering temps and stable snow. congrats on finishing the t100!

[PeakJunkie]

Well done and congrats!

[Malachai Constant]

Good work, looks like you hit the catbird seat to do it