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Trip Reports
Here's where you peruse WACer trip reports and post your own for everyone to see. Remember: Never let the truth interfere with a good story! | Trip Reports |
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| GuideBook | Summit Routes, SummitPost, Beckey |
| Weather | From miserable to superbe |
| TrailConditions | Variable |
| Owned By | SusanAshlock |
| Mailed to WacList | |
| RowId | 494 |
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| Mountain |
Elevation |
Summitted |
|---|
| Austera Peak |
8334 |
true |
| Klawatti Peak |
8485 |
true |
| Dorado Needle |
8440 |
true |
| Eldorado Peak |
8868 |
true |
| Primus Peak |
8508 |
true |
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| Report |
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Summary:
Waiting out a rainy day in camp turned out to be well worth the rewards of amazing peaks in outstanding country.
Who:
Gerhard "X-ray vision" Schneider, Mike "The Organizer" Daly, Emma "Marmots!" Sando, Courtney "measuring water is my superpower" Kreller, Jeff "miniature pack" Dietz, and Susan "Cornice Bulldozer" Ashlock.
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/sets/72157624497831680/
Route:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4797724937/
Timeline:
July 2
Gerhard, Courtney, and Jeff leave Seattle to obtain permits at Marblemount ranger station.
July 3
5:30 - Susan, Mike and Emma leave Seattle.
8 a.m. - arrive TH.
9 a.m. - depart TH
4 p.m. - arrive camp.
~5 p.m. - clouds start to clear, giving us a view of Eldorado, Klawatti, Forbidden.
7 p.m. - leave camp to summit Eldorado
9 p.m. - summit Eldorado
10 p.m. - back at camp (in the clouds)
July 4
7 a.m. - We awake to being completely socked in.
11 a.m. - Mike et al descend.
I spend the morning fortifying our walls as the wind continues to blow and gust. Some precipitation starts. Gerhard
12-2 p.m. - Gerhard and I nap.
2:30-3:30 p.m. - I continue work on our walls. Gerhard continues to nap. Rain continues off and on. The wind increases.
3:30-6 p.m. - I dig a snow cave as backup shelter in case my 3-season tent doesn't survive the high predicted winds. I manage to get my down jacket a bit damp. The camera that I bought on Friday decides that it's had enough of the wet and dies completely.
When I return to camp after my digging work, I meet David and Milda, who arrived recently, cold and wet. We would run into them several times over the next 4 days...
July 5
2 a.m. - Gerhard is convinced that the weather is clearing and that we should head out. I merely roll over and grunt.
6 a.m. - We wake up for real.
9:30 a.m. - Gerhard and I leave the Eldorado camp in a whiteout with plans to move to Klawatti Col. ~12:30 - We arrive at Klawatti Col
2:35 p.m. - Start our ascent of Klawatti via the southeast face.
3:45 p.m. - Summit Klawatti.
5 p.m. - Back at camp.
July 6
3:15 a.m. - Alarm goes off. The sky is perfectly clear!
4:15 a.m. - We're roped up and headed back to the Austera-Klawatti col.
4:35 a.m. - Klawatti-Austera Col
5:15 a.m. - Arrive at top of gully in Austera towers in begin "shortcut".
7:00 a.m. - finished with gully, not saving any time at all.
7:30 a.m. - at base of Primus. We unrope, don crampons (the snow is firm enough that it might have been tough going without them)
7:55 a.m. - start ascent of Primus.
8:35 a.m. - at the summit of Primus
8:55 a.m. - start descent
9:30 a.m. - at base of Primus. Re-rope and re-pack.
11:45 a.m. - At the base of the summit block of Austera.
3 p.m. - Done with summit of Austera.
4:20 p.m. Back at camp
8 p.m. - Lights out! (Well, it's still light out, but we're sound asleep)
July 7
1:15 a.m. - I wake up, bladder ready to burst. I fail to fall back asleep until...
2 a.m. - Alarm goes off
3:15 a.m. - Camp is packed and we're on our way to the Dorado Needle.
4:15 a.m. - At the saddle amongst the Tepeh Towers.
5 a.m. - We reach the saddle just to the south of the Dorado needle. Time to head up again!
6 a.m. - At the base of the Dorado Needle. Time to start climbing!
8:30 a.m. - At the summit.
10:30 a.m. - Off rock, heading back across snow/glacier.
12:30 p.m. - Back at Eldorado camp.
5:30 p.m. - Back at car.
Story version:
When Mike told me that he was organizing a student trip to the Eldorado area over the 4th of July weekend, my ears perked up. I had some unfinished business to take care of there, and a trip that I wouldn't have to organize was sounding attractive. But 12 people would be signed up. I decided to take something for my large-group allergies and sign up.
For better or worse, by the Wednesday preceding the trip, we were down to 6: five instructors and one Boe Alps '10 student. Somehow we had scared off the audience we had originally been selling to. Hmm…
As the week proceeded, Gerhard and I continued to debate the merits of bringing skis… or not. "It's just weight" reasoned Gerhard. "But you know how I hate exercise" I countered. It wasn't until the morning of car #1's departure that we actually shouldered our packs (with climbing gear and food for 4+ days) that we decided that we could wait until later in the month to get our carries for July. (To be part of the carries-all-year club, that is).
Courtney, Jeff, and Gerhard went up to the ranger station and trailhead on Friday evening to maximize our chances of getting a permit. It turns out that worrying about permits wasn't necessary. There was only one other car at the Eldorado Creek trailhead! However Gerhard, Courtney, and Jeff did learn by going to the ranger station that a party of 5 was planning on doing a traverse from the north side. Gerhard and I would run into them 2 days later at Klawatti Col…
The creek crossing was not a problem at the trailhead.
The biggest navigational challenges on the approach to camp were the first boulder field (we were expecting it to start higher up) and the traverse above the treeline to Hammock ridge in < 50' visibility. With the help of altimeter (and the cheater GPS) the discovery of the gully that we needed to descend to the glacier was surprisingly quick.
Shortly before reaching the glacier proper, we ran into a friendly ranger who checked our permits. It turns out that he skis with one of our fellow WAC friends. 'Tis a surprisingly small world in the mountains!
The snow continued to be soft en route to camp, a theme that would be repeated often in the following days. (Thank you, Mr. Ranger, for the steps!)
At camp, we ran into the ranger again and he radios back to headquarters to have our permits changed from the Inspiration Zone to the Eldorado Zone so that we can stay there for the night. The ranger explained that he was at the camp to do some maintenance on the composting toilet. If he hadn't mentioned it, we might not have learned about and enjoyed The Toilet With Stellar Views of Forbidden That Requires a Class 3 Mantle Move to Obtain a Seat on Top of it. "The Toilet", installed in the fall of '09, is truly a great gift to climbers. http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4795699328/in/set-72157624497831680/
As we started setting up camp at the base of Eldorado's east ridge, the clouds started to clear. I took advantage of the opportunity to get some firsthand beta on the current conditions on Klawatti http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4776716294/in/set-72157624455059378/ and the route there by walking a few hundred meters north of camp and snapping some photos. On the way back I noticed how clear the way up to Eldorado was. Ah, if only I could convince someone to head to the summit that night, I thought…
It turned out that while I was thinking this, Gerhard and everyone else everyone else decided to do just that! So after fueling up on Casa de la Montana, Berghaus, and other savory meals, we roped up and headed upwards to seek our fortune on Eldorado.
In the last vertical hundred feed or so we placed pickets along the ridge for protection. The summit was a bit corniced and only two of us (Gerhard and I) sat on the summit proper, due to a rapidly setting sun The winds were rather strong out of the north/west once one popped over the ridge. Not coincidentally, a group of Mountaineers had turned around from the last 50' the weekend prior.
The lengthy day guaranteed sound sleep for all that evening…
The 4th of July (Sunday)
Independence Day dawned cloudy and moist. No one was interested in trying to get over to the Dorado Needle to make a summit attempt, so Mike, Emma, Courtney, and Jeff decided to return home a day early. Gerhard and I decided to stay put at camp and save our energy and dry clothes for future days. Gerhard's weather radio told us that the weather was supposed to clear the next day (Monday) but that the winds would potentially be high that night. The forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday sounded beautiful, so we scavenged some extra food from Mike et al so that we could extend our trip to 5 days without starving.
The morning was consumed by wall enforcement, eating, and snow-woman building. http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4776756480/in/set-72157624455059378/ After a mid-day nap, I built my first snow cave in case my 3-season tent didn't survive the night. Special thanks to Gerhard for his loan of a dry jacket after I got a bit damp during the construction projects.
The evening passed quickly and before we knew it, the sun was setting, the precip was turning to snow (we got a couple of inches overnight), and it was time to sleep again… Ah, life at the freezing line! http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4795065681/in/set-72157624497831680/
The 5th of July (Monday)
Despite visibility that varied between just 50 and 200 feet, Gerhard and I decided to move camp to Klawatti Col with the help of our GPS. At that point we weren't sure if we'd head to the Dorado Needle. Or perhaps take a run at Klawatti… Milda (who we met the night before) recommended that the north ridge of Klawatti was an easy scramble, but I hadn't read about that in the various beta I've collected. We chatted for a while with Dave and Milda, who turned out to be Bulger-chasers who live just a half mile from me.
We eventually navigated our way around crevasses and through the whiteout and intermittent snow showers to Klawatti Col. There weren't any tracks for us to follow, but over the next few days several parties would take advantage of the tracks we left… We arrived at the Col just as visibility started to improve and a party of 5 from Colorado departed. This was the group that had traversed from the north. We took advantage of the work they'd done to build walls and were able to quickly set up camp. (Note that later the shoddy construction work done by Coloradans unfamiliar with Cascade snowpack resulted in a good deal of wall-fall).
It seemed to make sense to attempt Klawatti (instead of the Dorado Needle) that afternoon, since that was the most convenient climb from camp. We weren't sure about the safety of the snow (it has been fairly soft all day) but agreed that we'd turn around if it seemed sketchy and try the north ridge as a second option. The snow was soft, but not too bad since there hasn't been much solar radiation that day to really soften things up. In a theme that would later be repeated during the trip, I led up via a very direct route through some rocks and a 60 degree slope. We realized our error as soon as we reached the ridge and took a more mellow route along the ridge on the descent.
Gerhard, with his x-ray vision, managed to find the tiny summit register stashed under some rocks. After hearing from Milda that morning that Fay Pullen has summited an incredible 1500 cascade summits, we were amused to find that she was the one who brought the summit register to the summit in 2006. Next to sign in on the register was Lee "Old Man" Adams! Snow flurries continued off and on as we enjoyed partial views from the summit. Ah, life at the freezing line!
After returning to camp we decided we weren't sufficiently tired and curious about Austera and Primus, so we headed over to the Klawatti-Austera col, discovering a pretty awesome rock/snow slide that hemorrhaged off the west side of Klawatti recently. http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4795068539/in/set-72157624497831680/ We looked at the north ridge of Klawatti but didn't see an easy way of getting up there, despite what Milda had said about the route… Austera looks very far away from the col, discouraging us from considering making an attempt that evening.
We instead decided to get to sleep as early as possible and get an early start (4 a.m.) the next morning to hopefully find some firm(er) snow.
July 6 (Tuesday)
It's amazing how early in the morning one can see light in the sky when at 8000' on the 6th of July. It was no later than 3:15 a.m. that we started to see light to the east. The snow wasn't as firm as we had hoped when we started at 4:15, but we do find some sections of very firm snow on the Klawatti Glacier, North Klawatti Glacier, and on Primus.
In an attempt to save some descent and re-ascent (thus repeating the "direct route" theme), we decided to lower/rappel down a gully along the Austera ridge. http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4795071447/in/set-72157624497831680/ In the process, Gerhard lost his GPS, but fortunately, during his rappel he uses his x-ray vision to find it again in the moat between the snow and the rock. Of course, it turned out that the rappel took us about twice as long as it later did to hike around the end of the ridge.
Around 9:30 a.m. we ran into Dave and Milda at the base of the Austera Towers. By this point the snow had softened enough that on the east-facing traverse we were kicking of lots of pinwheels and some small slides. We retrieved the pickets that we had repelled off of at the top of the gully amongst the towers and continued upwards.
The summit block of Austera was described as "class 4" by at least one guide, but we protected it. Perhaps after the snow melts out the difficulty is no longer class 5… The chimney w/ chockstone took us a while, as we're both relatively new to the alpine rock thing. We rappeled the route, leaving a cordelette. On the summit, Gerhard used his HAM radio to make contact with another HAM operator, who in turned called Gerhard's wife to let her know we'd be returning Wednesday night instead of Tuesday evening as originally planned.
As we were leaving the summit block of Austera David and Milda arrived. Gerhard lended them the cam we used (for courage) and explained that we just left a cordelette that they should use for the rappel. We met a couple of guys who had decided to camp next to the false summit of Austera.
After sweating in the oven that the glaciers had turned into, lounging at camp at 5 p.m. in shorts, t-shirt , and bare feet with a slight breeze and the sun at a lower angle felt glorious. It wasn't long before Milda and Dave returned. We decided to try the alpine start again the next day in hopes of more firm snow and the alarm is set for 2 a.m. More stories were shared and good times were had until our 8 p.m. bedtime.
July 7 (Wednesday)
Just as forecast, we had another beautiful day on our hands. Unfortunately on this night the snow never really firmed up since it was so warm the day prior. It was a bit of work to get through the snow, but we plodded our way over to the Dorado Needle. Once at the Tepeh Towers saddle we buried our extra gear (marked with wands) and started the descent/ascent to the base of the Dorado Needle.
There was enough snow around that we don’t have any troubles getting on the rock. http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4795073373/in/set-72157624497831680/ The most exciting part of the climb was the au chaval portion. Gerhard led, adriotly avoiding the chaval move in the hopes that he might thereby avoid adopting children in the future. I opted for the chaval, which made me feel more secure, but caused me to resemble a beached whale in the process.
While on the summit, we saw Dave and Milda start to climb the base of the route. I heard Dave complaining that he can't find a spot to place pro… so I called down to explain that the standard route was around the corner, if that's what they were looking for. (It turns out that they were.) We later ran into the pair at the top of pitch 1.
We downclimbed back to the top of the first pitch and leave some green webbing for the rappel from there. By far the most interesting part of the downclimb was once again the chaval section: http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4795074925/in/set-72157624497831680/
From the base of the climb, we proceeded relatively quickly to get off of the glacier. However, we did stop at camp and pick up some extra fuel bottles and a shovel that we had left there. We discovered that my snow cave was still in good shape: http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanashlock/4795708550/in/set-72157624497831680/
Once off the glacier we found some running water and ate some well-deserved lunch. While fetching water, Gerhard takes a shower, so at least one of us didn't feel like a roasting turkey.
The crux of the routefinding for the day was joining back up with our trail around the treeline. There were bootprints everywhere and we had come up through this section with little or no visibility. We eventually decided to cheat and use my GPS track to get ourselves back on route.
After roasting on the snow we were very disappointed with how warm it is even in the shade of the forest. Gerhard's feet appeared to be very very sore. It was time for some soaking in Eldorado Creek!
On the trip home, we stopped at the Buffalo Run Restaurant (on the left when heading west out of town), which served better food in a cleaner environment than in some other Marblemount establishments that claim to have good food!
Gear:
• 3-season tent
• Pickets
• Rope (60 m 7.9 mil)
• Nuts
• A few cams
• Ice axe
• Whippet
• Crampons
• Helmet
• Slings
Gear used on Austera:
Lots of slings + Black Diamond C3 (Red, size 1)
Gear used on the Dorado Needle:
Dorado Needle:
· Set of Nuts
· Black Diamond C4 Size: 0.75
· Camp-USA ball nut (red, size #2)
· Lots of double length runners
Gear used on Eldorado:
6 pickets
No gear used on Primus or Klawatti
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