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~*CutebutChossy69*~
bluebagprincess



Joined: 08 Jul 2019
Posts: 58 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
~*CutebutChossy69*~
bluebagprincess
PostFri Jul 19, 2019 1:19 am 
Not sure I can top my 1st TR but bear with me y'all... -Dark Peak via Dark Fin Col Approach- Lead a M trip (ya I’ve been indoctrinated with the capital M :P) this last weekend up the sneak route on Dark Peak. Thanks Fletcher and Robinson for your FA beta! Someone give these boyz a piolet d’Or. I heard the swamp creek bushwhack was notoriously awful. Something about the murmurs of, “demonic bushwhack” and, “tree rappels” made the sneak route sound romantic. As a hopeless romantic, I was eager to give it a go and see if it truly was, “better” and, “should be the standard route.” It was somewhat tricky pulling together a team for the trip, apparently my leader permission notes of, “send me a list of the 15+ hr days you’ve had in the alpine” and the inclusion of Fletcher and Robinson’s TR deterred most of the current basic students… Managed to find 5 others (all boyz again siiiiiigh) that were interested in trying this route out. I knew Sean well (remember him from my last TR?); Albert a little bit; had climbed with Honorio before; and had never met Garth or David. (Had to do some PMing of mutual friends to make sure they weren’t weirdos). 7/13 Day 1: Seattle > Stehekin > Cedar Camp As we boarded the Lady Boat, déjà vu hit.. wasn’t I just here last weekend??? I should really get a job if I want to keep shelling out the big bucks for the Lady Boat every weekend. We took the fast Lady, my critiques of the fast Lady Boat are: it is smaller, crowded, and doesn’t have salsa packets! IMO not worth the extra $. I am team slow Lady Boat. I chose the fast Lady because it allowed for an earlier start time from the TH. Landed in Stehekin with a few mins to spare before jumping on the lil red bus. Took a dip in Chelan because it was hot out.
PC: David
PC: David
We saw some familiar faces at the TH and after chats and hugs we left the High Bridge TH. We stashed a small bag of clothes and snax in the bear resistant food locker at the High Bridge camp.
Sean throws down the M
Sean throws down the M
Although it was hot and humid we made quick work of the 9.5 PCT miles to Cedar Camp. Took a few breaks to shove our heads in cold stream water, and as tradition follows- to have a moment of silence for those who have braved the swamp creek bushwhack. Made it to camp in 3.5 hours.
"Ugh I knew I shoulda brought the big container of cream cheese!"
"Ugh I knew I shoulda brought the big container of cream cheese!"
Paying homage to those who have braved the swamp creek bushwhack. May we never experience the truth of which approach is worse.
Paying homage to those who have braved the swamp creek bushwhack. May we never experience the truth of which approach is worse.
Found a good swimming hole, made dinner, and chatted with the PCTers as they trickled into camp throughout the evening. Garth had on quite a “dark” shirt, and was scaring the PCTers with it. Sean noticing the tension asked one of them, “Hey what do you think of his shirt? Pretty cool yea??” I exploded with laughter. One of the PCTers commented, “Aye that shirt’s a bit aggressive no???” Garth defended his OOTD, “This is my fastest drying shirt!” The PCTers kept a safe distance and provided plenty of side eye until Garth retired to his tent for the night.
Before one of the boyz retired for the night, he proceeded to middle himself on the rope for the glacier the next day by sharing his stories as a previous bcc student- buying Chinese crampons that fell apart at a field trip and resulted in a public FB post to students about not purchasing counterfeit climbing gear. “That post was about you!?!?” So much for my participant filter! :P “You have legit crampons with you on this trip right??” (I think he did). 7/14 Day 2: Cedar Camp > Dark Peak A ranger informed me that Hemlock shouldn’t be camped at because of, “insects that are infecting the large trees and making them fall at camp.” Not wanting to crush M participants in the middle of the night with a large insect diseased tree I elected to stay at Cedar and add the 5 miles to our summit day… In hindsight I recommend accepting this risk and just camping at Hemlock… We left Cedar Camp at 4:45a and made it the 2.5 miles to Hemlock Camp in an hour. Took a little break and some of us switched out the trail runners for boots. The TRs we read stated it was best to head up straight outta camp so that’s what we did. We headed up a forested rib, and didn’t find as much “open forest” as I would have imagined. There was some scrub (to be expected) but a lot more deadfall than I expected. I wondered if those pesky insects that the ranger warned me about had made their way up the sneak route over the years and were fuggin’ it up??? Maybe I am forest-soft?
We used the slide alder as a handrail, keeping it on climber’s left while we ascended the steep dirt and deadfall through the forest. Only a very small section of devil’s club was waded through. Movement was slow up this section (partially due to some cramps and foot probs in the party). We took a lot of breaks. This part is steep AF- 3,600' gain in 1.5 miles... I think other parties could make quicker work of this section tho. We came to the rock band that is obvious from gps tracks and maps. I had two different tracks from previous TRs, one that went left and one that went right. We elected to go right and it worked well for us.
PC: Honorio
PC: Honorio
Went up some boulders and came out into the open, about a thousand feet below the Dark Fin Col. We ascended about thousand feet of scree and talus and aimed for the path of least resistance to the lower part of the notch on the horizon, north of Dark Fin. Scrambling was loose getting to the top of the col. Took a break here and someone gave themselves a pedicure at the col with utility knife scissors… can you say fresh set??
David said, "Look heroic!" ermmm
David said, "Look heroic!" ermmm
We descended in small groups from the col to avoid rockfall hazard because it was very steep and loose, some nice deadpan dirt with loose scree patches mixed in.
We roped up at a lower snowy talus patch and headed out on the Dark Glacier. I kicked steps in the steep side traverse for the first half of the glacier.
"Does anyone have an extra hair tie?" A con of climbing with group of short haired boyz... PC: David
"Does anyone have an extra hair tie?" A con of climbing with group of short haired boyz... PC: David
We took a break at a snowy talus rib and after a few minutes heard a thunderous sound coming from above- at first I thought it was a thunderstorm making its way to us (it was cloudy, and there were some grey clouds around, but nothing that looked like an imminent thunderstorm), my initial terror of being caught in an electrical storm subsided, but was replaced with the very real horror of watching giant ice blocks and snow tumble down the boot pack track I had just made a few minutes prior. O.O WAT. “MY KICK STEPS!!!” If we had been five to ten minutes slower we would have been in the path of it. I felt sick. And extremely thankful for the incredibly lucky timing to be out of it’s path.
Actual photo of my face from 1:35p on Sunday
Actual photo of my face from 1:35p on Sunday
I’ll switch from cheeky to serious for a moment so bear with me (BORING I kno)- The debris fall was ~25 ft wide and included large blocks of snow and ice. The exact origin of the snow/ice remains unknown. From our break spot there was a rock feature obscuring the view of the source of the snow/ice fall. There were some hidden ledges high above the boot track where I think it may have originated from. Perhaps a glide avalanche, a failing snow patch from steep slabby rock, or a piece of a moat? Looking back at our trip photos, I can't determine what snow/ice feature failed. The high temps that day were in the low 40s at this elevation, the morning had been overcast, and sun was peaking in and out of a mostly cloudy afternoon. We did not observe any other ice/snow failures in the area throughout the day. Given the proximity of time between our travel through the area and the snow/ice fall I question whether we remotely triggered it (seems very unlikely), or were extremely lucky to have barely avoided a chance event. Teams planning on using this W side sneak route (Dark Fin Col) to gain the Dark Glacier standard route should be aware of this possible hazard and plan accordingly. (EDIT: apparently you travel below this section on the standard route as well- take caution either route you take, in this particular area!) It would be better to cross this section much earlier in the day than we did. On our descent we moved quickly through this area. Honorio revisited some of Fletcher & Robinson’s TR photos and found a good one of the possible culprit spot and also made these markings on the GPS track that should be helpful for future parties. Nice work Honorio! Take caution in this area at this time in the season, and day. Sneak hazard on the sneak route!
(4rm F & R TR)
(4rm F & R TR)
We continued up the glacier (free of any additional excitement thankfully) and David kicked steps for the last half of the glacier. The final exit to gain the Dark saddle was very steep. Thankfully we had good snow quality that was not too soft but not too firm and allowed for good boot steps. I imagine doing the traverse of Dark glacier would be extremely sketch with firm snow or ice. Made it to the saddle, unroped, and made quick work of the talus and scramble to the summit. Summited at 3:15p. jfc. Only stayed a short while on the summit, with the snow/ice fall section and descent of the west side of Dark Fin Col in mind… Really wanted to hit Hemlock by dark.
Lichen pointillism
Lichen pointillism
Scrambling to the summit
Scrambling to the summit
Albert looking chipper on the summit
Albert looking chipper on the summit
Sean with last weekend's mtn behind him
Sean with last weekend's mtn behind him
6th bulger together... Sean claims he's not a bulger-chaser... perhaps a bulger-chaser chaser? :P
6th bulger together... Sean claims he's not a bulger-chaser... perhaps a bulger-chaser chaser? :P
The views were beautiful, it was nice to see last weekend’s objectives (Bonanza & Martin) from a new perspective just a few days after summiting them as well.
PC: Albert
PC: Albert
Made it back across the Dark Glacier without any breaks or excitement and unroped below the col. We found a measly trickle of water and Sean heroically filled several liters of water for the team. Water is sparse after Hemlock camp so be sure to plan accordingly. This was the only source we found.
PC: Sean
PC: Sean
Headed up the col and gave some of the boyz a lesson in front point kicking steps in deadpan dirt… what fun!
Sean doing his own thing in true Sean fashion- choosing a diff line up to the col
Sean doing his own thing in true Sean fashion- choosing a diff line up to the col
We broke up into groups of three to safely descend the thousand foot scree/talus line from the col and made plans for a meetup spot within sight. David, Sean, and I had possibly the best scree ski of my life as we laughed and hollered down, plunge stepping talus, skiing scree, complete with some jump turns in there. A highlight of the trip for me. David called me a scree bunny. An endearing nickname I could accept.
Looking almost as wild as I feel. PC: Garth
Looking almost as wild as I feel. PC: Garth
Once we were altogether again we headed down the forested rib, aiming for Hemlock Camp. Went down roughly the same way we ascended, with a few exceptions. There was a fun steep “stick gully” I went down and had to face in downclimb kick steps in dirt/pine needles to get out of.
Veggie belays were v helpful on descent
Veggie belays were v helpful on descent
Made it down to Hemlock as darkness fell. Took a break, switched to trail runners, donned headlamps and headed for Cedar Camp. Made it back to camp tired and hungry at 11p. What a day! An 18.25 hour day to be exact. Day 3: Cedar Camp > Stehekin > Seattle We slept in a bit and left Cedar Camp around 7:45a. On the 9.5 miles descent back to the TH, handfuls of huckleberries (and even a few blueberries) were consumed. David found some king boletes and graciously gifted them to us! (What a treat).
Gotta keep ur huck hand strong
Gotta keep ur huck hand strong
I put in my headphones and listened to a musical assortment to spice up the monotonous trail. Someone was trailing along behind me and later commented that while they were, “…just trying to ignore the pain and make it back to the bus, I look up and Rikki is literally dancing down the trail.” (- . -) One man’s death march is another woman’s dance party. When we got back to the TH Garth exclaimed he figured out a good team name.. "Rik's Vic's, vic's is short for victims!" Oh... uhm... y'all had that much fun huh?.. :P
What a bunch
What a bunch
Lots of treats were purchased at the Stehekin Bakery. I got one cinnamon roll, a side of potato salad, a coffee, & two pieces of pizza, to be exact. I had a moment of hysterical laughter while listening to two tourists behind me remark about Garth’s boots (La Sportiva Nepal Evos).. “Oh my god what are THOSE, oh NO those do NOT look comfortable at all, what do you think those are for???” “Those look so hot! They must be so heavy, oh myyyy!” I was imagining what Garth’s feet looked like, I knew they were in disrepair yesterday so today’s feet must have be something fierce… We stumbled back into Stehekin. Sean’s 11th essential is his swimsuit (although I have a feeling he doesn’t bring all 10, its probably something more like his 4th or 5th essential) and he jumped into Chelan while we waited for the Lady Boat.
Pic by Albert
Pic by Albert
The Garth beta for the Lady Boat is to: remove the boots your feet have been festering in for the last three days to expose your leukotape mummified feet to the public. It was a great tourist deterrent, and Garth got a whole row of seats to himself on the boat! I really wish I would have snapped a photo of the looks of horror from other passengers.
Who knew dirty pack towels made such great pillows?
Who knew dirty pack towels made such great pillows?
"Dark Peak was 'fun' "
"Dark Peak was 'fun' "
Had a breakfast of king bolete+egg+Stehekin Bakery cinnamon roll the morning after, a breakfast fit for a queen. Albert's watch told us our stats for the weekend were 35 miles and 9,200' gain. No wonder my hikies were sore this week. ~*~*So bottom line- is the sneak route truly better? I will never know because Dark Peak is a one and done for me. Perhaps some poor tortured soul should go test out both routes and report back, won't be me! :P

Choss is a girl's best friend

wallorcrawl
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Brushbuffalo
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Brushbuffalo
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PostFri Jul 19, 2019 9:04 am 
~*CutebutChossy69*~ wrote:
Not sure I can top my 1st TR but bear with me y'all...
Pretty dang intertaining, plus full of useful beta for Darkers. Providential you weren't wiped by the ice blocks. Fortunate timing!

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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Fletcher
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PostFri Jul 19, 2019 10:59 am 
Excellent! Glad the new route worked out for ya!

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honvales
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honvales
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PostFri Jul 19, 2019 11:24 am 
Thanks for putting the climb together! I found that Eric Gilbertson has done both approaches, so we should ask him. Dark Peak seems to be one of those Bulgers that you only climb once and tell people how awesome it is.
Buckner? from the LoL
Buckner? from the LoL
Views from the end of Dark Glacier
Views from the end of Dark Glacier
The horror! The horror!
The horror! The horror!
A better view of the scree field below Dark Fin col
A better view of the scree field below Dark Fin col

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Downhill
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PostFri Jul 19, 2019 11:32 am 
Thanks for another informative and entertaining TR Scree Bunny! Keep 'em coming!

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Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren



Joined: 06 Apr 2022
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Location: Tacoma
Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren
PostThu Jul 14, 2022 3:21 pm 
~*CutebutChossy69*~ wrote:
“Hey what do you think of his shirt? Pretty cool yea??” I exploded with laughter. One of the PCTers commented, “Aye that shirt’s a bit aggressive no???” Garth defended his OOTD, “This is my fastest drying shirt!” The PCTers kept a safe distance and provided plenty of side eye until Garth retired to his tent for the night.
HAHAHAHAHAH Garth is a good friend of mine, he wore that shirt when we went up Revolution in February of this year and I also remarked on it. It's a pretty whoopin' shirt, indeed! I'll be climbing up Horseshoe and Buckner with him this weekend, I'll report back if he's rocking it again!

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Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren



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Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren
PostMon Jul 18, 2022 1:55 pm 
UPDATE: Garth had the shirt on!

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