Broken Top 9,175' - NW Ridge (08-08-12)

Standing on the summit block of Broken Top

Broken Top had been on my "list" ever since seeing it while hiking up South Sister in 2011. It was so unique looking that I even posed in a picture halfway up South Sister pointing at Broken Top calling it out. "I WILL BE BACK". Of course at the time I wasn't fully sure how I would manage to climb it, since I was just starting to get into mountaineering/climbing.

View from Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway heading West

We decided on doing an "up and back" of Broken Top, leaving the Salem area really early and being back late. It was a day of extremes for us. We hadn't noticed since we were inside the car, but it was a cool 34 degrees outside at the Green Lakes/Fall Creek trailhead. We weren't expecting this at all and by the time we returned to the car that afternoon it was a very hot 80 degrees.

Sunrise over Broken Top from Green Lakes

The green lakes trail was beautiful, and we bombed through it rather quickly. I think it would be a nice trail to take the family on and overnight camp at Green Lakes. After getting small glimpses of Broken Top from the Trail we were delighted to get this view of the mountain near green lakes just before the turn out to the summit trail.

Northwest ridge of Broken Top

I figured the trail leading up to greenlakes would have warmed my body up enough for the ascent to the ridge, but then I slowed down quite a bit and felt winded. It was a reminder that we were in fact gaining elevation again and couldn't continue the pace we had done on the trail. Reality slapped me hard and I handed over a couple pounds of weight to make my ascent easier. Before long we had acquired the ridge.

The dad helping his kid climb the crux

 Making our way up the ridge was fun and exciting. There were a few times where the "path" wasn't obvious and we definitely did some class 3 scrambling to make our way up. After about an hour and a half we came up to the "crux", which is a 10-15' nose of solid rock. Here we encountered a dad with his two sons, and an older gentlemen who had already scrambled his way to the summit. The dad seemed to be a bit in over his head with the kids and so we offered to help. We weren't worried about time and figured it would be better to lend a helping hand then hear a bad story later or worse, have to assist in a rescue. I belayed Mason up the nose and he didn't have time to set protection. For his comfort level it wasn't necessary. Once on top Mason belayed the kids and then the dad up. I followed shortly after.




After the nose climb we traversed along the exposed ramp and over and through the exposed catwalk. The dad decided to clip his kids into his harness (not sure how I feel about this, but I guess it was safer then nothing...unless he slipped of course). At this point there was a really nice exposed class 4 climb up to the summit. This portion was actually the most puckering to me, but it wasn't bad.

At the summit of Broken Top with the Sisters photo bombing us

Down climbing from the summit block

  

Walking back across the catwalk

Thumbs up!

After a successful summit we down climbed from the block and returned back to the nose. Mason set up a rappel off of a sling. There was a HUGE rock to use as a rap anchor. We let the dad rap down first then we tied the kids in and belayed them down. I rapped down and Mason followed closely behind, stopping for a minute to pose. We gathered up all of our gear and made our way partway down the ridge. We quickly realized it would be MUCH easier to skree ski all the way down the mountain so we did. It was a little nerve racking but I went with the flow and we got down in record time.

We refilled our water at green lakes and marched back to the trail head.

Broken Top in the afternoon from Green Lakes after a successful summit

Final Stats:

Summit: Yes
Elevation Gain: 3700'
Round Trip Distance: 12+ miles
Round Trip Time: 8.5 hours

Middle Sister 10,047' - Hayden Glacier (07-22-12)

Laying on the summit of Middle Sister catching some sunshine

This was my first official climb with the Chemeketans. After lots of trouble with weather and scheduling earlier this year (cancelling Mt. Hood trips), I was excited to do a club climb. Usually I only climb with groups of 4 or less, so it was a new and welcome experience.

Heading up the snowfields

We left from the Pole Creek Trailhead around 11am. My pack was roughly 45lbs, but I was feeling strong and being in a group made me forget about the weight. The heat was beating down, with it being 70degrees or more. My brand new Mountain Hardware Stretch Bandana was coming in handy. I ended up using it almost the entire duration of the trip for one thing or another.

Almost 2 hours later, and a few breaks in between we made it to the turn off for the climbers trail. After this point we started hitting patches of snow and crossed a few creeks.

Water carves ice and snow

Things started getting really awesome here, scenery wise. With Broken Top to the south and the Three Sisters popping up it started reminding me why we were out there.

We decided to continue on past the normal place to camp at 6900' and instead climb the snow fields until we reached the toe of the Hayden Glacier, closer to 8000'.

Shortly after arriving we set up camp and found a nice pool of water. We decided to boil it just for safety's sake but I am sure it would have been ok to drink on it's own. After boiling water for the following day and storing it in the tent, I made quick work of a delicious Mountain House. We went over tying in for the following morning and also some basic glacier travel etiquette.

Camping at 8000'

The following morning we got up at 3:00am, roped in, and started a slow but steady climb up the Hayden Glacier. With such a light summit pack I never felt like I was working very hard. It was nice and made the trip more enjoyable. I got to turn around and see the sights quite regularly. One amazing site was seeing headlamps on other mountains around us. There was a group going up North Sister and I saw one headlamp turn on on South Sister's summit.

Heading up Hayden Glacier

Crux picture courtesy of Mike Pennington

When we reached the top of Hayden Glacier, we un-roped and took off our ice-axes/crampons. We scrambled up some poor scree/rocks until we were at the base of the crux move. The crux is a ~40degree pitch that most people bang in protection on. Being that it was a Chemeketan climb, there was no way we were doing without a few snow pickets. There were nice footsteps all the way up the pitch and quite honestly I felt safer here then some parts of my Mt. McLoughlin climb. Perhaps it was just knowing we were clipped into a rope, or maybe it was because of the club atmosphere.

Washington, Three Finger Jack, and Mt. Jefferson

Once we reached the top of the crux we unroped and did another scree climb til we reached the summit. We got out sweet summit photos and proceeded back down to camp. There was a group of Mazama's heading up as we were heading back down. After breaking down camp I threw my rain gear on and had a fun glissade, which seemed to save lots of time. After we got off the snow it was a long slog back to camp. I really enjoyed this trip and wish to be on future Chemeketan climbs.

Chemeketan team summit photo!

Final Stats:

Summit: Yes
Elevation Gain: 4747'
Round Trip Distance: 12+ miles
Round Trip Time: 24+ hours
FULL PHOTO ALBUM

Henline Mt. (4650')

Henline Mt. in the Opal Creek Wilderness is a pretty straight forward hike. Unfortunately, when you attempt in in mid-April during unusual snowfall the "straight forward hike" becomes much more difficult. Last April we attempted to reach the summit only to fall short.

Looking West back towards Salem

Fast forward to July and now the trail and the summit are completely snow free. We parked at the trailhead and left the car around 6:45am. At the Henline Mountain Trailhead 3352 you must fill out a free Wilderness Permit. I have seen reports (after we hiked) that you also need a Northwest Forest Pass, but we didn't have one in my car and I didn't get a ticket.

You start gaining elevation pretty quickly heading up the trail. We were in 60+ degree weather so we started out in shorts/shirt and opted out on gaiters. There are a few small rock outcroppings that you can get great views towards the west from. There are also some loose rock slide areas that help break up the trail nicely. When you reach the old lookout tower be sure to soak in the sights and also eyeball the true summit. After getting hydrated and eating a small snack we continued up towards the summit. This is not an official trail but honestly it would be hard not to follow the stomped down trail in the bear grass and dirt. After seeing some bear scat and lots of trees with bark scraped off I was actually starting to worry about bears.

Jefferson stands above

We reached the summit (2700' higher than the trailhead). Since the summit isn't above timberline we didn't feel the need for any great poses. We trotted our way back down the mountain and made it before it got too hot. I still sweat a ton and almost finished off the 2.5L I had brought. Overall this was a great conditioning hike and it felt great to be outdoors again. My next report will hopefully be about my summit of the Middle Sister with the Chemeketans.

Here is my GPS output for Henline Mt

Final Stats:
Summit: Yes
Elevation Gain: ~2700'
Round Trip Distance: 7.6 miles
Round Trip Time: 3.75hours

Mount McLoughlin 9495' (06-11-12)

Redemption!

A feeling of redemption, followed by a wolf cry, was what came out as soon as I reached the summit of Mt. McLoughlin. After a failed attempt last March due to deep snow and lack of snowshoes, it felt great conquering the mountain. Sure, it isn't the highest peak in Oregon, or even in the Top 5, but it is still a peak, and it is now on the bagged list.

At the trail head

Seeing a window of opportunity in the weather, we decided we had better strike while we could. This year has been pretty miserable with the weather always seeming to get in the way of our peak dreams. Regardless, we made the 4 hour drive down to the Sky Lakes Wilderness area. The unmaintained road to the McLoughlin trail head was interesting. Huge ruts, meant we were driving slow and careful not to bottom out the car. I would recommend being in a high clearance vehicle for the drive up.

The trail was clearly marked until you split away from the PCT. We had to do some map/compass navigating but mostly just kept the ridge in view. Someone had laid out some markers on the trees but more often than not we would lose sight of them. A huge storm must have rolled through at some point this winter because there were trees down everywhere. This of course just made the bushwhacking more fun.

Camp at 7200'

We decided to make camp right around the 7200' level. We found a place in the snow that was somewhat flat, but more importantly we had an unimpeded view of Mt. Shasta!

We watched the shadow of McLoughlin get bigger against the trees. Darkness descended on the valley around us, while Shasta still had the sun beaming on it. We had perfect cellular coverage at this point, mostly due to having a direct line of sight to Four Mile Lake/Klamath Falls.


The alarm went off at 3:30am and we were leaving camp, head lamped, around 4am. The temperature only dropped to 37degrees but the snow was nice and crunchy. Within 10 minutes we switched from trekking poles to ice-axe and crampons. The ridge was getting steeper and switching out made life a lot easier. We were able to climb straight up the ridge with no problems. Occasionally we would see the official trail but mostly we were zigzagging around rocks and trees.




Before the last 700' or so of elevation, we noticed some nice boot prints from the day prior. These made for good steps the rest of the way up the steepest portion of the climb.

 I felt really good during this portion. Our packs were light, I would say under 20lbs, which helped I am sure. I made extra emphasis to walk correctly with my ice axe and was implementing the "Whittaker Wheeze" as to not run out of breath.

I was actually somewhat surprised when I reached the top. I was expecting there to be "more" of the mountain left. I wasn't complaining though. I made my way around to the true summit accomplished and excited. We summited at exactly 7am, which is usually when I would be clocking in for work. Let's just say I was much happier to be on top of Southern Oregon's tallest peak!

Everything went relatively smooth on this trip. I honestly can't think of a single thing I would do differently (other than wrap my feet). All of my gear worked perfectly the way I wanted it too.


Final Stats:
Summit: Yes
Elevation Gain: ~4000'
Round Trip Distance: 10.5 miles
Round Trip Time: 23hours (This includes overnight camp)

2012 Prospectus (Updated)

Here is a look at the climbs I would like to do this year. 3-4 of my trips are scheduled to be with my climbing club, the Chemeketans. The other trips will most likely be with only 2-3 people.

April 2012 

- Chemeketans Climb School (Completed 04-15-12)

May 2012 

- Training Hike with the Chemeketans for Mt. Hood
- Mt. Hood (via South Side) - 11,239' Cancelled due to weather

 June 2012 

- Mt. McLoughlin (round 2) - 9,495' (Completed 06-11-12)

 July 2012 

- Mt. Adams (via Mazama Glacier) - 12,276'
- Middle Sister - 10,056' (Completed 07-22-12) 

August 2012  

- Broken Top (NW Ridge) - 9,175' (Completed 08-08-12) 
- Mt. Washington

September 2012 

- No climbs

Bird at Devil's Lake Campground

South Sister 10358' - South Side (09-16-11)

The South Sister stands at 10,358'.

On my second attempt for a "big summit" I found myself down in the Three Sisters Wilderness sizing up the largest and youngest of the three. At 10,358' the South Sister is the safest and most climbed. There is no technical ability required to reach the summit in the summer, only determination, patience, and strong legs.

On the day before attempting South Sister we set up camp at the Devil's Lake Campground. Admittedly, we were so set on climbing mountain's that we forgot to look at the lake itself! We decided to take a nice short day hike over to "The Wife" (will write something on this later) where I snagged the picture above.

Headlamps are the way to go.

The next morning at 4am our alarms went off and we woke up and got ready. Frost lay upon the ground and the tables as it dipped down to about 34 degrees (in the middle of September). Headlamps adorned to our heads we ate a quick meal and set out on the trail. Within about 3 minutes we ran into our first issue, a large stream. We hunted around and found a few downed logs to use as a bridge. Back on our way we ran across the highway and began on the trail. This portion was surprisingly steep, especially considering we were no where near the mountain. If you struggle too much on this portion, you may consider turning around as the mountain is much more difficult.

Broken Top during sunrise.

After about 1.5miles you reach a plain and are faced with a crossroads. Stay heading towards the South Sister Summit. This was one of the most awesome parts of the hike. The sun was just beginning to rise behind Mt. Bachelor and you could see the outline of Broken Top. I fell in love with Broken Top and plan to reach that summit in 2012/2013. We were also able to see the South Sister in all her glory just waiting to be climbed. A pink, rosy hue illuminated the summit for about 15 minutes, something everyone should experience at some point.

Our hike up continued  and members in our party were having a difficult time so while it slowed us down, it also gave us time to appreciate our surroundings more. I couldn't help myself and kept turning around to see Mt. Bachelor and the valley getting further and further away.

Mt. Bachelor above the blanket of fog in the valley.

Fresh lake near Lewis Glacier

 We reached the saddle near Lewis Glacier and admired the fresh lake that was formed. I have been told that if you wanted to go ultra-light you could filter water from this lake instead of packing too much water all the way up. Either way it was beautiful and we stopped to eat/drink before the mile of cinder ridge.

10,000' and loving it

 This is the steepest portion of the trail and as you reach altitude you may start feeling it's effects. We happened to get ahead of the rest of our party so I figured I would celebrate crossing the 10,000' mark for the first time by posing for a shot.



Once you reach the false summit, you have another 1/4 to 1/2 mile left. You can cross the glacier or walk around the ridge to the true summit. You will notice rock structures made by climbers to deal with wind. I was really hoping to see Teardrop Pool, which forms in the crater, but it never showed in 2011 so we weren't able to see "Oregon's Highest Lake". From the summit you can enjoy views of Middle and North Sister, Broken Top, Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Washington, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, Mt. Saint Helens, and Diamond Peak.

Final Stats:

Summit: Yes
Elevation Gain: ~5000'
Round Trip Distance: 12.4 miles
Round Trip Time: 12 hours