Mount Shuksan
Dan really wanted to climb Mount Shuksan. When he decided to come out for a visit and to try his skills in the Cascades, there was no doubt what peak he wanted to climb. I suggested a few other climbs but this was only to go through the formalities. Mount Shuksan it was so we both began reading about the route and studying the map. From the descriptions we read, the glacier was fairly gentle and the summit pyramid was 3rd class. One of these statements proved to be way off. Dan arrived in Seattle Friday night and we spent the evening packing up and getting everything ready to go. We left the following morning around 7:15 and arrived at the ranger station in Sedro-Wooley at about 8:45. We asked for permits to camp on the Sulphide Glacier and the ranger told us that they just filled up. So, we faced what we thought was our first mini-crisis. The ranger did say that we were allowed to camp in the National Forest (but not the National Park) which was about 1000 feet below. So this wasn’t a big deal. We headed out looking for places to eat and ended up in a little breakfast joint in Concrete. It was nice to have a good breakfast before starting our hike. We then drove up to the trailhead, which was quite full, and headed up.
We started off at 2500 feet on the awesome Shannon Ridge trail. The National Park boundary was up on Shannon Ridge so our campsite would be there; we were hoping that it would be open enough for some views. Often in the North Cascades, you’re in thick trees and brush for so long that you begin feeling claustrophobic and longing for views. In Colorado, you generally don’t have to worry about this. Anyway, the trail was nice and gentle for a couple of miles or so and then began turning steeply up. The weather was mercifully overcast so it was cool but we couldn’t see the high peaks during the occasional glimpses through the trees – we only saw the fringes of snow on the lower slopes. At times the trail was loaded with roots and the brush was occasionally quite thick but we had a lot to be thankful for – like the trail! Soon, we broke out on to Shannon Ridge and saw that the trees were becoming more sparse. We’d certainly have some good views once the clouds cleared. In front of us, we could see the base of Mount Baker. Then I happened to tilt my head more skyward and saw that part of the clouds had parted revealing more of Mount Baker. What a HUGE mountain! The view was awe-inspiring and we quickly made our way up to the National Park boundary and our campsite.
Our campsite was indeed awesome (above), on top of a knoll with views of Mount Baker to the west and Mount Blum and the North Cascades to the east. After resting and getting some food, I decided to hike up to the col about 400 feet above us. I thought maybe I could get a view of the next section of the route. The clouds were beginning to clear and it appeared that there was blue sky beyond the col but there were still low clouds passing silently above us. Without a pack, I was able to get to the col really quickly and I could see the next part of the route. I memorized the crucial landmarks since we had to traverse this section of the climb in darkness early tomorrow morning. So, I headed back down and we spent the rest of the time taking pictures and enjoying the awe-inspiring views. This campsite was definitely one of the most scenic that I’ve ever had. The clouds cleared more and we had great views of Baker. The setting sun masked some of the detail on it but the peaks to the west were crystal clear. We set our alarms for 2am and turned in around 9:30. We left the tent open (with the mosquito netting of course) and enjoyed the last light of the setting sun.
I recall having dreams that I was at a summer camp or something and was trying to go to sleep yet someone was snoring. I wonder if this had any bearing on reality! The next thing I knew, Dan was trying to wake me up – we’d somehow slept through two alarms and it was 2:50. Opening the door to the tent, I noticed that it was a clear and calm outside. I looked up at the silhouette of Mount Baker and witnessed a shooting star over it. Awesome. As we got ready, we saw several others. We had a quick breakfast and headed out around 3:15. It was pretty easy going up to the col and beyond since I’d checked out the route the day before. We made good time. At the col, the route turns to the left and traverses around a basin and then hooks back to the left again around a rocky buttress. After maybe 50 more feet, we arrived at the base of the glacier. We continued up a little farther without crampons and though it was not steep, it was slick so we made our way towards a small rock outcropping and put on our crampons.
It was much easier going with our crampons obviously. We crested a ridge and saw a couple of the tents. So, this was where we would be camping if we had gotten a permit. In retrospect, I was very happy with the was things worked out. Though we had to deal with the bugs, we were at least in a more inhabitable place; glaciers are just so unbelievably hot in the daytime. We went beyond the tents to a second crest then roped up. At this point the sun was just barely starting to come up. We continued up the glacier which was almost like a giant rounded staircase. We would head up a steep slope which leveled off for a while, then would climb the next slope that eventually leveled off as well. We passed a few crevasses but they were easy to spot. High on the Sulphide Glacier is pretty safe regarding crevasses. The dangerous terrain naturally gravitates towards the center slopes below.
We had clear views of the summit pyramid at this point. The Sulphide Glacier is really really big but we made great time over the gentle slopes. We passed the exit for Hell’s Highway and took a break before heading up the final snow slopes that led to the base of the summit pyramid. Earlier on, we’d seen headlamps up on the summit pyramid. Apparently, someone else had a much earlier start than we did. There was a second snowfield past about 100 feet of rock on the summit pyramid so we decided to leave our crampons on. The rock section wasn’t too hard until we came to a five foot wall that we had to heave ourselves over. The second section of snow was much steeper but nothing to worry about. At the end of the snowfield, we took off our crampons and unroped. We decided that we could just leave the rope here and go as light as possible. I guess we could have left our crampons too, but we didn’t.
We began what we thought was a 3rd class scramble. The terrain quickly became quite hard. It was easily 4th class, and if it were up to me, I’d rate it as hard 4th class. We had to wind around a good bit to find the safest route up. It didn’t help that I had my bulky camera case in front of me but I wanted to take pictures! After about climbing 100 vertical feet, we realized this would be no easy climb, in fact, it would be quite difficult. Dan decided to ask the party behind us (who happened to be camped near us) to bring our rope up to us in case we needed it. This was a wise move. We had to wait a while but at least we had our rope now. While we were waiting the group that we’d seen earlier up on the summit pyramid were coming down. They were a guided group and had a complete set of rock gear. The were rappelling the entire route. I talked briefly with the guide and then continued up. I was pretty far in front of Dan and ended up in front of another chockstone. Instead of climbing it, I opted to climb a small fin up to a ledge that appeared to connect back with the gully we were in above. Plus, the guide indicated that it would hook back up with the gully. Dan continued up the standard route.
Soon enough, I realized that I was not going to be able to get back into the gully. I moved 10 feet in the other direction and realized that I was on the ridge. In front of me, the terrain looked hard, exposed, but doable. I was a bit nervous about this but went up anyway. I was about 50 feet below the summit on a smooth, fairly steep face. This was easily 5th class and my heart was beating hard as I carefully made my way up. Fortunately, it became much easier about 20 feet up. The footing was much more secure although it was still hugely exposed. Finally, I arrived on the top. I saw Dan coming up a steep section in the gully. We’d both picked much harder routes up to the summit. By far the easiest way up to the summit once you’re about 50 feet below the summit is to move on to the ridge to the left (northwest). This is only 4th class and the difficulties are very short. Anyway, we were both on top. This was a much more difficult climb than we were anticipating! We realized that we’d need to rappel at least two sections of the climb in order to descend safely. We stayed on top for at least thirty minutes and then started down. We ran into the party of three that brought up our rope and they offered to rappel with us down the hard sections. We planned on tying our ropes together so that we could rappel the longer sections easily.
We descended about 40 feet down the “easy” ridge to the rappel station. Dan and I ended up free climbing the descent since it wasn’t very hard. There were other parties heading up now and I’d say that at least 2/3rds of the people were using a belay to climb. The middle section was a little easier so we down climbed that as well. The rest of the group decided to belay each other, which was probably smart, but we felt pretty comfortable. However, we knew we’d need to rappel the lower section. We tied our ropes together and I started the rappel down to the second snowfield. It was a pain at times since I naturally had to untangle the rope but we all made it down without incident. Once we got all the was down to the base of the summit pyramid, we sort of felt home free, though we still had a long hike in front of us.
The hike back to camp was indeed a long one but not that bad. After all, the views were incredible. For one, the sun was high enough in the sky now that the North Cascade peaks weren’t washed out but were brilliant and clear. We took off our crampons once were were past the crevassed area and glissaded the steeper sections back down to the base of the glacier. We made it back to camp pretty fast. We were really tired back at camp and we were looking forward to a bit of time for relaxing but the bugs were pretty bad. I opted for jumping in the tent just to get out of the sun and away from the bugs. It was hot but at least there was a little breeze. I didn’t stay long and the bugs were attacking Dan so he was ready to head out. We packed up and headed out. The hike out seemed quite long. A lot longer than I remembered. Finally, we made it back to the car and I gave Dan the congratulatory handshake for our successful climb of Mount Shuksan and his introduction to the North Cascades.
Tags: American Border, Dan, Shuksan, Singhisen
