Forum Index > Trip Reports > Dome Peak, Cub Lake (with pics)
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
Jamin Smitchger
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 673 | TRs | Pics
Location: Pullman
Jamin Smitchger
Member
PostMon Jul 03, 2006 5:51 pm 
Dome Peak After resting for about 5 hours but not really getting any sleep, I and my climbing partner, a cool guy named Bala, woke up at 4 am, got our gear together, and headed to the Downey Creek trailhead. The road is closed about 1000 feet before Downey Creek, and a ladder is used to access what is left of the bridge. Once on the other side of the bridge, we quickly found the Downey Creek Trail and reached Bachelor Creek in less than three hours. The distance found by plotting the trail on topo is six miles, but it is probably a bit longer due to uncharted twists and turns. The Bachelor Creek Trail, which begins directly on the other side of the creek, was in almost excellent shape at first, but because it is unmaintained, we soon found ourselves scrambling over quite a few blowdowns. The trail really was not all that bad, and I hiked the entire length of it in shorts. It did take a long time because it would twist and turn so much. At around 3500 feet we started going through a slide alder, salmonberry, blueberry, etc. type brushfield. At most places, the narrow tread was visible. The exception was at the footlog to the other side of the creek. At the creek crossing at around 3900 feet, there is a fork. One fork parallels the creek and eventually ends in the middle of a brushfield. The other fork crosses the creek on a foot log and heads up valley. We had to scout around for a few minutes before we actually found the trail on the other side of the creek. Once on the other side of the creek, there were a few places where avy debris obliterated the trail, but travel was not difficult until we reached the old 2002 avalanche swath at around 4600 feet. At this point, the trees on the entire hillside were obliterated as well as most of the trail. In a small way, it sort of resembled pictures of the Mount St. Helens eruption. The avalanche had swept down the hillside, torn the entire forest to splinters, and then went partway up the OTHER side of the valley. We headed up where the avalanche had scratched the hillside down to nearly bare dirt. We soon found a trail which we followed until I decided to merely head upward toward the pass to Cub Lake. After scrambling over many blowdowns, we reached a small valley where Bala’s altimeter said 5050 feet. He pointed out a green hillside that he said that we needed to go over. I was skeptical. The valley that we were in was uncannily like the hanging valley at the head of Bachelor Creek, which is at 5400 feet. I took a compass bearing and found that I was correct. We reached the pass above Cub Lake at 4:00, six hours after leaving Downey Creek. At the pass, I decided to attempt the traverse on the slope above Cub Lake because I did not want to lose elevation. We had traveled only about 500 feet before we encountered a sketchy section of rock. I crossed it, but Bala balked and said he did not want to continue the traverse. Because it looked like we would be doing some more rock, I decided to descend to Cub Lake, which is 90% frozen. I definitely think that this traverse is doable, but it will probably take more time than merely descending to Cub Lake. At the outlet of Cub Lake, we were able to see Itswoot Ridge. On the ascent of the ridge, both Bala and I were getting tired. We had already done 13 hours with 30-40 pound packs. As a result, we decided to camp on the ridge and get an early start in the morning. The next morning, we woke up at 3:50am, got our gear together, roped up, and were headed toward Dome by 5:00. The route was pretty straightforward, and we could see where we needed to go all the way to the Dome Glacier. One thing that is really important is that we gained the flat part of the glacier via a snow gully on the left-hand side of the icefall. We did not traverse beneath the icefall, which is recommended in some trip reports. Once on the flat part of the glacier at 7600 feet, we headed toward the obvious scramble route up the gully on the left hand side of the main Dome Peak ridge. The glacier was really not all that bad, but there were very few obvious crevasses. Most of them were completely covered by sturdy snow bridges, which will melt out later. It will definitely be more broken up and dangerous later in the season. Once we had gained the summit ridge at an estimated elevation of 8500 feet, we continued up to the summit via easy snow slopes. The ridge became steadily more exposed on the way up to the summit. With only 50 feet more to go, we came to a highly exposed section of rock. The main ridge appeared to be a knife-edge, which we would have to straddle to get up to the summit. The thought of having one leg hanging off into space did not appeal to me so I headed toward a crack that led up to the summit. At that point, I found out that it was overhanging and class 5ish. However, there were a few handholds on a fifteen-foot slab right next to it. To me, it looked better than the ridge, and I could see a rappel anchor in part of the crack. I figured that if I got to it I could merely rappel on the downclimb. Bala did not like the look of it and said that he was going to try to climb along the ridge. He soon discovered that there was an easy 4-6 inch wide ledge nearly all the way to the summit. It was not obvious from where we were. It was highly exposed class three, but it really was not all that bad. We rested on the summit and caught the views. It was an awesome summer day. I could see my nemesis Glacier Peak to the south as well as nearly every mountain within 50 miles. However, because we knew we had many miles ahead of us, we only spent 40 minutes on the summit. Several glissades and long traverses brought us back to our camp on Itswoot Ridge. We packed up and headed down fast. We hit the trail at Cub Lake, where I saw a 10-12 inch trout cruising in the shallows, and gained the ridge, but we soon lost the trail in a snowfield. We then merely headed down to Bachelor Creek through open forest, and hit the trail at around 4500. The rest of the trip was uneventful. We did meet six other people on the trail. All of them were taking four days to do Dome and several surrounding peaks. We did Dome in two. We eventually reached the car at exactly 10:00pm. It had been a long 17 hour day. The entire trip was 28 miles and 11000 vertical feet of elevation gain. Pictures will come soon.
views3
views3
views4
views4
views
views
on final summit ridge
on final summit ridge
peaks
peaks
too much relief
too much relief
views2
views2
views3
views3
heading toward crack
heading toward crack
heading up toward itswoot ridge
heading up toward itswoot ridge
ICEFALL
ICEFALL
more views
more views
mY NEMESIS
mY NEMESIS
nice rock climb
nice rock climb
dome glacier
dome glacier
dome icefall and dome
dome icefall and dome
down from camp
down from camp
glacier4
glacier4
glacier 5
glacier 5
Glacier Peak
Glacier Peak
Another of Glacier
Another of Glacier
at camp
at camp
Avalanche debris from 2002 avalanche
Avalanche debris from 2002 avalanche
bachelor creek crossing
bachelor creek crossing
Baker
Baker
cub and itswoot lakes from pass
cub and itswoot lakes from pass

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
kycooyo
Member
Member


Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 163 | TRs | Pics
kycooyo
Member
PostMon Jul 03, 2006 5:55 pm 
I'm impressed that you were able to pull this off in two days. up.gif Great TR... can't wait for the pictures!

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker



Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
PostMon Jul 03, 2006 6:23 pm 
Absolutely impressed. Ill be waiting for them pics. up.gif

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Don
Member
Member


Joined: 25 Apr 2005
Posts: 2013 | TRs | Pics
Location: Fairwood, WA
Don
Member
PostMon Jul 03, 2006 10:01 pm 
Excellent JS! up.gif How did you like that summit traverse? hockeygrin.gif While sitting on the flat, angled summit, did your mind began to recall how the original summit simply "fell off" back in '85? BTW - I have never heard of traversing below the icefall. It would serve no purpose in my mind. Good call on your part. Impressive work!

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore



Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 14152 | TRs | Pics
Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore
PostMon Jul 03, 2006 10:57 pm 
You a nut, man. Excellent pics. Glad you found someone to do the trip with. Why is glacier pk your nemesis. I met a man at the Mt Higgins Lookout site who insisted Cub & Itswoot are frequented by the Sasquatch on a regular basis. He has recordings and everything.

"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate." Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Justus S.
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 1298 | TRs | Pics
Location: WA
Justus S.
Member
PostMon Jul 03, 2006 11:41 pm 
Nice job in getting your first top 100. Great pictures too. up.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Tazz
Member
Member


Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 7902 | TRs | Pics
Tazz
Member
PostTue Jul 04, 2006 9:11 am 
up.gif great job!!!! OK so are you feeling it? Or are you one of those robots who can do this kinda push and not feel a damn thing rolleyes.gif ? You have to be at least tired...right? Glad you made it safely. Great images too.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Jamin Smitchger
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 673 | TRs | Pics
Location: Pullman
Jamin Smitchger
Member
PostTue Jul 04, 2006 3:49 pm 
I am still feeling it. I have worn a good bit of skin off my feet, and they burn when I stand on them. It was definitely one of the toughest hikes I have ever been on. I would definitely recommend three days to anyone who takes this trip.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Don
Member
Member


Joined: 25 Apr 2005
Posts: 2013 | TRs | Pics
Location: Fairwood, WA
Don
Member
PostTue Jul 04, 2006 8:31 pm 
Didn't someone recommend you budget three days? Let me look back thru the archives... biggrin.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Dayhike Mike
Bad MFKer



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Posts: 10955 | TRs | Pics
Location: Going to Tukwila
Dayhike Mike
Bad MFKer
PostTue Jul 04, 2006 8:48 pm 
Three days is not just easier on the body, but gives you more time to enjoy your surroundings.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke "Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Jamin Smitchger
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 673 | TRs | Pics
Location: Pullman
Jamin Smitchger
Member
PostTue Jul 04, 2006 10:38 pm 
I agree. However, both I and my partner had only 2 days off. I really enjoyed most of the trip though. Glacier Peak will be next. My brother and I failed on that one in 2004.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker



Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
PostTue Jul 04, 2006 11:15 pm 
Id like to see more pics of Cub and Itswoot ifn you have them. I agree, impressive trip. up.gif

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Jamin Smitchger
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 673 | TRs | Pics
Location: Pullman
Jamin Smitchger
Member
PostWed Jul 05, 2006 7:24 pm 
Sorry, I posted pretty much all the pics I recieved from my partner. We were too tired to take any more.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker



Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
PostWed Jul 05, 2006 8:10 pm 
Jamin Smitchger wrote:
Sorry, I posted pretty much all the pics I recieved from my partner. We were too tired to take any more.
Hey no problem. You guys were bloody supermen anyway. Good job.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
yew
non-technical



Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 1173 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bellingham
yew
non-technical
PostThu Jul 06, 2006 1:21 pm 
Thanks for the TR!
Thanks for the TR! I really want to get into that Dome Peak country but the approaches look long, brushy and rough. Your TR is much appreciated! up.gif smile.gif

"I aint jokin woman, I got to ramble...We gonna go walkin through the park every day." - Led Zeppelin
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trip Reports > Dome Peak, Cub Lake (with pics)
  Happy Birthday MFreeman!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum