[Matt]

Dates: October 10-11, 2019 Destination: Tatie 7386, North Tatie 7370, Syncline 7580, Cone 7405 (USGS Slate Pass) Party: me This was my imperial color trip of the year: azure sky, argent snow, and golden larches. Short version: I did a criss-crossing loop over and around peaks on the PCT south from Harts Pass to Grasshopper Pass. Day 1: Took PCT to south col of Tatie, ascended to summit of Tatie, made side trip to North Tatie, and camped at Tatie summit. Day 2: Descended to east col of Tatie and dropped pack, traversed over top of Syncline to Grasshopper Pass, returned to pack on PCT and continued to Tatie's south col, then traversed over Cone and back to trailhead. Highlights: Larches in peak color. Snow bright white underfoot but shallow enough for easy walking. Beautiful calm clear evening and sunset. Very windy morning and pretty sunrise. Bonus teaser: I later learned that I was following in the tracks of a famous mountaineer for most of the way.

Hiking south from Brown Bear trailhead

Moonrise from Tatie summit

Sunrise from Tatie summit

Hiking north from Grasshopper Pass

GPS Track

Thursday Brown Bear Trailhead to Tatie (12:10 – 2:30pm) The Harts Pass road was mostly dry and bare, with just a bit of snow in the last couple miles. I was happy to find that the road to the Brown Bear trailhead was also driveable. Beyond the Meadow Campground the road has several inches of snow, but also fresh tire tracks. I parked next to a white truck, little suspecting whose truck it was. The PCT had a few inches up to a foot of fresh powdery snow, but was well tracked in by through-hikers. During the first hour, I met about a dozen of them, all very glad to be so close to finishing with a window of good weather. My initial progress was slow, for one dumb reason and one great reason. Five minutes out, I realized I had left both my water bottles in the car, so had to go back for those. Then I hiked into the first basin, and my progress repeatedly came to a standstill. The trees were so pretty that I had to keep stopping to look around at them and take photos.

Larches above the trailhead sign

Larches & sunshine

Looking back to the PCT traversing drier slopes

Lots of big larches

More larches & sunshine

Larches of all sizes and colors

A giant larch blossom on the snow

Looking back from the first corner to Harts Pass

Last weekend, we left our snowshoes behind at the car, and then hiked a mile back to get them when the snow became too deep. This time I brought the snowshoes along, but the snow became less deep. When the trail cornered around Cone's east ridge, I could see that many of the slopes ahead were almost bare. Still, I decided to keep carrying them till the Cone-Tatie col, where even more bare slopes persuaded me to stash them. Later, it would turn out that this was exactly the right place to put them – I didn't need them any further on, but this would the last place my return path would cross. At the Tatie-Cone col, I left the trail and followed easy terrain up to Tatie's summit. There were several sets of tracks here, and I met three day-hikers coming down from the summit.

Tomorrow's destination, Syncline Mtn

Today's destinations, Tatie and North Tatie, from the Tatie-Cone col

Brown Bear TH to Tatie stats: 2.8 miles, 1060 gain, 120 loss North Tatie (2:45-5:15pm) I dropped my pack on Tatie's summit and ran the ridge north to North Tatie, with about 500 feet of drop the col and a couple minor false summits. The wall of Azurite and Ballard really stood out on the opposite side of Slate Creek.

The Ridge running north from Tatie to North Tatie

Azurite

My tracks, animal tracks, and Ballard

Silver Star and The Needles

The ridge back up to Tatie

North Tatie round trip stats: 2.8 miles, 1060 gain and loss Evening at Tatie Camp I spent the next hour figuring out how I could perch my tent on Tatie's rocky summit area. I considered going partway down to the saddle on either side, but I really wanted to get the unobstructed view in all directions for the evening and morning light. Eventually I managed to wedge the tent in. It was down about 15 degrees at the stern and listing somewhat to port, but after wedging various gear under my XTherm, it was level enough to sleep. The sunset faded out at first, but then had some beautiful afterglow across the sky as the moon rose. Fortunately the air was dead calm, so I could sit comfortably with the summit cairn as a backrest, and enjoy my warm dinner and tea while I watched the light change.

Sun setting behind Ballard

Anti-twilight arc above Osceola, Carru, Lago, Lost

Moon rising

Out west, the clear sky let me enjoy my favorite evening show, watching the sky subtly shift colors from bright glowing colors to rich deep shades to deep black.

Final colors behind Ballard & Jack, 6:27pm

Last light behind Ballard & Jack, 6:42pm

Purely by coincidence, I took almost matching shots 11 hours apart showing special light on Syncline and Ballard. Each photo is lit by a different version of reflected sunlight while the sun itself is below the horizon, at night by the moon and before dawn by the glowing sky.

Moonlight on Syncline & Ballard, 7:40pm

Morning glow on Syncline & Ballard, 6:48am

Friday Morning at Tatie Camp Overnight the wind came up. By great good luck, I had positioned my tent with its tail exactly windward, so it stayed very stable. In the morning, I could run outside for photos, duck back inside for shelter, and even cook my tea and breakfast in the vestibule while the wind channeled neatly around me.

Promise of sunrise

Sun rising behind Cone Mtn

My tent waving a greating to the wind

Hot tea and breakfast in the vestibule (Also, the larch-crested ridge in the background will be my exit route)

Then the sun came up and neatly highlighted all the highest peaks on the crest south of me.

First light on Azurite & Ballard

Sunrise highlighting the nearby peaks (Syncline & North Tatie) and the high crest beyond (Needles, Tower, Golden Horn, Azurite, Ballard, Crater, Jack)

The wind encouraged me stay in place an enjoy the dawning day for a couple hours, until the strengthening sunlight raised temps a bit. The wind chill was rather fierce. Here's the changing light on the same basin across two hours of time:

Larch basin with Tower & Golden Horn, pre-dawn, 6:53am

Larch basin with Tower & Golden Horn, sunrise light, 7:15am

Larch basin with Tower & Golden Horn, golden light, 7:38am

Larch basin with Tower & Golden Horn, daylight, 8:58am

My Copper Spur UL1 tent really was remarkably stable for a lightweight tent. Even though it has only one pole, the branches at the head and foot and spreader bar in the middle give it a lot of torsional stability. I saw that when I finally took it down. When I unclipped one end of the fly, it flew straight out sideways, fortunately still tied to a rock. And when I released one corner of the poles, it immediately tried to twist itself flat. By while it was all assembled, it barely vibrated in the wind. Syncline Mtn Loop ( 9:00am - 2:00pm) I followed the boot path down Tatie's south ridge and left my overnight pack at the Tatie-Syncline col. For Syncline Mtn, I decided to traverse over the top to Grasshopper Pass and then hike back through the larch basins on the PCT. Going up, I found one set of tracks to the summit, so at least one other person had visited these peaks solo recently. Who could it have been? The farther crest was untracked, so I enjoyed one stretch of finding my own route.

Looking up Syncline from the Tatie-Syncline col

Larches along the way, with Handcock Ridge, Silver Star, and Needles

The PCT curving below Taite & Cone, with Robison beyond

Azurite & Ballard

The only photo I remembered to take of myself

the view north from Syncline

the view south from Syncline

The ridge down to Grasshopper Pass, and looking up to Tower, Golden Horn, Hardy, & Black

At Grasshopper Pass I returned from barren high slopes to golden larch groves, and enjoyed a delightful hike back through glowing sunlit groves.

Grasshopper Pass & Azurite

Larches all over the sky

Larches along the trail traversing back toward Tatie & Cone

Tall larches along the trail

Larchy basin

And more larches

Ridge up on ridge of larches and peaks

Stats: 4.6 miles, 990 gain, 1470 loss Cone Mtn Traverse (2:00-4:00pm) I picked up my pack at the Sycline-Tatie col and took the trail across to the Tatie-Cone col, where I added the additional weight of my stashed snowshoes. Cone's far ridge looked potentially cliffy, but I wanted to traverse over Cone for two reasons. It would let me have done connecting loops over and around all three of the peaks. And I wanted to walk along the level larch-crested exit ridge that I had seen from Tatie. Multiple tracks led up Cones west ridge, for a moderately steep but straightforward scramble. I was happy to find that the tracks traversed onward down the steeper east ridge. It was a potentially slippery mix of rock outcrops and snow, so I was reassured to have footprints in place to show where the angles and holes were.

Looking up Cone from the Tatie-Cone col

My shadow ascending Cone

My shadow passing a rock outcrop on the far side of Cone

My shadow passing another rocky outcrop

My shadow on a larch, with the inviting exiting pathway a few hundred feet below

Eventually the ridge became a steep slope directly above the enticing larch ramp. Deeper fresh powder allowed for plunge-stepping down this northern slope. Hiking along the lower ridge was a thorough pleasure – a wide white aisle of white snow bounded by bright larches. I continued to the next col, then dropped down a forested slope to meet the PCT just past where I had started.

Entering the wide ridge aisle (with Slate Peak lookout centered beyond its high point)

The route down from Cone

Farther view of the Cone's rocky east ridge and snowy north shoulder

My shadow preparing to descend to the last col and trail

Back at thePCT

Stats: 2.7 miles, 620 gain, 1100 loss. Trip Total: 12.9 miles, 3740 gain. Postscript A few days later, I found out who had made the solo tracks ahead of me. The famous Fay Pullen had visited Tatie, Syncline, and Cone as a day trip on Thursday, just a few hours ahead of me.

[Backpacker Joe]

Awesome as usual Matt. Thanks for posting. How far were you able to drive up the road?

[Brushbuffalo]

Always a thrill to follow Fay to an obscure summit. As far as the road, quoting Matt:

[Stefan]

I am happy for you imperial Matt!