[b00]

russian butte 6-12-10

three_cossacks_on_russian_butte

i can't count the number of times i have looked over at, talked and thought about russian butte. i figured i would eventually find a way to get to the top and pretty much assummed it would be with the beste man, fastfeet jt, jb, the med, t-man, iron and whichever of our buddies we could get(trick) into joining. unfortunately fastfeet is dealing with plantar fasciitis. the beste man is trying to do easier trips more appropriate to a septuagenarian( i think he is afraid another day hike like either our witches tower or buckhorn/boulder ridge pk trips last summer, would do him in:>) he really did not seem that tired on those trips. when i called jb he just said yes without much debate. i guess he figured i would need adult supervision. unfortunately jb's fiance got a little too wild, sprained her ankle, so jb had to cancel off the trip to attend to her. iron was planning a great overnight trip to image lake, a trip he had been jonesing for a long time. reading his trip report tells me he was feeling the same way about image lake as i was for russian butte: "so... heading into this trip, i started getting the 'crap! i'm really really excited about this trip' feeling. you know, the kind where you're at work and it's pretty much the only thing you can think about and your stomach churns a little like when you have butterflies when just starting to date someone" since gabriel had done the route, i called him to ask him about the summit block. i knew he would not sandbag me. he was down in arizona hiking, but was nice enough to call me back. he let me know the steep heather on the ne side was steep, but not scary. thank you! gabriel had done an approach from the south, up past granite lakes and onto the south ridge. i wanted to come in from the north using the old pratt river trail. i had wanted to go this way, but had some really bad info that there was a problem with getting to the pratt river trail and i am sure you still do have a problem, if you go the wrong way. i luckily found a report from someone who had done that portion of the trail (https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7983536). i know dave, i was fortunate enough to do lewis pk with him so i knew his info would be more than right on. also while researching the trip, i found out my buddy mike c had made an attempt via the pratt. i called mike and although he was really busy, he called me back and gave me all the info he could. preparation is great, but luck trumps preparation as you will see as the story unfolds. the beste man had talked this trip over many times with superwoman and neher-man. when i emailed neher-man, he about had a heart attack from excitement. superwoman had just had her climbing plans trashed by a terrible avy forecast and was so happy to get a chance to climb a peak for the beste man. it was now up to only the neher-man and superwoman to provide the adult supervision. would they be up to the task? the plan was to start out at the middle fork trailhead, head down to the pratt river trail, head up the pratt river trail to ~1600', drop down and cross the pratt(this is where mike c had said it was pretty easy to cross), pick russian butte's e ridge, then do a rising nw traverse and pick our way up to the summit. i was estimating about 16mi. the neher-man suggested we meet earlier than our 6:30am rendevouz. i said no, we should be able to do it in the 14hrs of daylight left. famous last words. i am one of the most lucky people around. i tell my friends this, but they often don't believe me. well it happened again. my biggest worry for this whole trip, was getting across the pratt. the creeks were all swollen and the pratt would be too. within minutes of starting sw down the middlefork trail we ran into a guy with 4 dogs. we found out he, jan g, too was headed up russian butte. he and i started talking and found we had a number of peaks we had done in common. not only that, but he had done russian butte over ten times and from many different approaches and as luck would have it, he was doing the same approach as we were. better yet, he had found a great crossing down much lower on the river than i expected to cross. i visited with him and we walked together down the middle fork trail to the pratt trail and then we all headed up the pratt trail to the sign pointing to the big trees. jan led us over to the pratt giant, big tree, and then headed off-trail leading us down to the pratt where he showed us the crossing, gave us some route advice and left us to set up his camp. the crossing was fantastic. one huge easy log led to an island in the pratt

this huge easy log led from an island in the pratt to its west bank

and another big easy log led us from the island over to west shore of the pratt. taking jan's advice, we headed up the pratt, staying close to the river (but not too close), avoiding the temptation to ascend too early, found some old roads that paralleled the pratt (without ascending too early). we had spent a lot more time, even with jan's pratt crossing, to get to this point than we had expected. we knew we have to do everything right to get back before dark. but we all knew that our turnaround time would be when we summited. this crew was experienced and understood the situation. we continued past the main stream crossing and onward until we could get see we could gain russian butte's east ridge. we then headed up the ridge. not minutes after starting our ascent of the ridge, who do you think we see? if you knew how big and remote this area was, you would understand the coincidence. it was jan. he then led us up the very nice and not too brushy ridge. by now it was 2:30 and we all knew that summiting and getting back to the cars before dark was not in the cards. we continued on the forested ridge until we ran out of trees and into brush where he took us climber's left and up until we reached a talus field. we ascended the talus field as it jogged a little right and then worked back left. we exited the talus and ascended steeply to the ridge. we moved along the ridge to where it met the main mountain. there we found a snowmelt stream to fill water. it was here jan discovered one of his dogs was missing. he then tied up two of his remaining dogs and took one of them along with us. we then did a traverse climber's right and ever so slightly uphill to get around the base of some cliffs and then headed up westerly the very easy snow slopes/gulley that led us to within a couple hundred feet of the summit on the summit's ne side. jan then showed us a weakness in the cliffs that mostly connected by snow. there was a 10' section with no snow that was steep, wet, slippery, but had some vegitation to grab. it was tricky but doable. 50' below the summit there was also a short section, without snow, that was tricky that led up to the final ridge(we were able to avoid that section on descent as i found a route, that jan had never done, walking down the north ridge 40ft until we could easily regain the snow).

this should be called jan's russian butte :>)

up on the summit of russian butte i put up a new register next to the old mason jar register. we put the beste man's name in first. after we got back and told him about this, the beste man did not like the fact that we wrote his name in there without him climbing it. so for the record, the beste man did not climb it, his friends did it for him. we quickly dropped our packs, took some hurried pictures, drank some water and i scouted out for a different descent route.

IMG_4269.JPG

i knew we did not have time to waste, so i did not get a chance for lunch. it was now past 4:30 and we needed to get down and find the logs and get across the pratt before dark. this would be no easy task. we were all a little worried about jan's missing dog. good fortune smiled and he was back at the stream waiting with the other two dogs looking totally worn out. this was a tough situation. jan had a camp waiting at the pratt so he had more time, but getting a worn out dog down would be no easy task. we had a lot farther to go and little time to do it in. if jan would have asked for our help, i would have stayed as i am sure my friends would have too. but fortunately for us, he did not ask, so we headed down as quick as we safely could. we later learned he needed to leave the dog up there, go back to camp that night and come back up and retrieve him in the morning. we made really good time down the ridge, but light was becoming less and less our friend. it was not until 9:00 that we crossed the logs over the pratt.

crossing the pratt on the big log

sunset hit and we were not back to any trail yet. time stood still. both our newer gps units were having trouble getting info on this valley floor. we were flying by instruments and the instruments were not working. we stumbled our way by hook and crook back to the pratt giant. we then stuggled with following the trail back to the pratt river trail. after finally getting on the pratt river trail we moved slowly by headlamp along the middle fork trail. we spent probably an hour looking for the rainy creek log crossing. the trail that was easy and obvious by day was not so by headlamp. i got everyone to sit down, relax, drink some water, eat and rest. we determined our probable location, determined where we thought the log crossing should be, took out the compass and bingo, we figured out where the trail was hiding and then found the crossing and continued back to the car. a few extra details: we found plenty of water all the way up to and following the pratt. once we reached started ascending from the pratt valley we did not find any until some snow melt creeks up high. i would not count on these once the snow is gone. also the brush was not as bad as i expected, except where we lost our way in the dark. most of this trip was off-trail with very little underbrush. still, we all left pretty scratched up. no real rock scrambling was needed. route finding was the crux and the three of us were all actively involved.

both neher-man and superwoman said it was the trip of the decade. all i can say is, i am glad it did not take a decade. thanks a bunch for another great day in the mountains and thanks even more to jan g without whose help we probably would never had made it on our first try :>) references: all the russian butte tr's on nwhikers(thanks guys!), http://www.yellowleaf.org/scramble/g/r/2005-07-01--02-The-Butte.html, mike c, gabriel, dave's pratt river giant tr: https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7983536 equipment: ice axe, helmet, gps, brought crampons but did not use stats: leave car 7:49am on summit 4:22pm leave summit 4:38pm arrive back to car 2:31am car to summit 8:33 on summit 0:16 summit to car: 9:53 total time: 18:42 ~21.5mi, ~6700' gain (according to the gps - including ups, downs, routefinding, etc...)

on the bridge over the middle fork minutes from the car :>)

ps - hey brad, pleased to meet you at the trailhead. your website http://middleforkgiants.com/ is excellent!

[Spotly]

Excellent read. Sounds like an adventure to remember. The pic near the trailhead says it all about what a grunt it must have been

[b00]

[huron]

That swollen Pratt's a cold one. Fell in there once. Brrrrr. Great work all!

[Mesahchie Mark]

Russian Butte. 18 hrs. Sounds about right. Great trip, great route and congrats! BTW: Ran into Jan and his pack on Preacher a couple months ago. That guy gets around!

[Magellan]

Ridiculous! You are all very manly men. Except of course for the woman.

[Sabahsboy]

I am exhausted just contemplating this adventure! You are brave souls! And, of course, Russian Buttes is a soaring place, a landmark peak and a trophy! Take that, Garfield!!!

[Dayhike Mike]

Wow! Great trip! Thanks for posting the details and topo, b00!

[puzzlr]

Thanks for the report. I'll stay away from that route!

[dicey]

Wow, now THAT is a LONG day

[MiKE.B]

thanks for the gps/map i am gonna try this in the AM

[canyonwren]

[Tom_Sjolseth]

Nice work, b00. I enjoyed your TR.

[Mike Collins]

A friend and I went on a recon hike today and followed the route used in this report. The logjam used for the Pratt is no longer in place. The Pratt is a torrent from the snowmelt and the recent rain. It cannot be forded at this time or likely into June. I will be going back in July for a repeat endeavor. It looks to be much easier to stay on the trail to where the number "5" appears on the map to the south of the trail and then just follow the line of gravity to the Pratt and ford there. When up high on the north bank I had a good view of that route.

[puzzlr]