Nesakwatch Spires, Mount Rexford
Nearly two years earlier, Michael and I had tried our hand at this trip. Somehow, misinterpreting the beta, or perhaps relying on incorrect elevations, we lost the way and spent a lot of time scurrying around on the logging roads searching for the trailheads. Eventually, we did find it, but it was so late in the day that we decided to bail and go climb Tomyhoi Peak.
I always wanted to come back so I enlisted Ari. We left from my place in Kirkland under poor auspices:
- A car nearly ran into us on the highway
- At Everett, I realized I didn’t have my passport so we turned around.
- While turning around, I smacked into a concrete block. Fortunately, my car was undamaged.
- I realized I also I left my water back at home.
- Another car nearly ran into us.
- We nearly ran out of gas.
- I missed the turn to Sumas.
Once getting to Canada, things started go our way. I parked in the same spot for Slesse and we made the long hot hike up the road past the Slesse trailhead. It must have been at least three miles before we found the turnoff. I found the same orange ribbon the Michael and I finally found, though it was a little more buried in the brush now. The trailhead itself was easy to find and we were on our way in the sweltering clear-cut. Another hour of the clear cut would have been too much. We were hiking along this steep dusty path during the hottest part of the day. The forest must have been 15 degrees cooler and we took a well deserved break. I was surprised at how well-defined the trail was in the forest. I expected more of a climber’s trail. The trail was steep though, much like Eldorado. We crossed a narrow granite gully which would be the last running water we’d see on the trip.
More forest followed, but not for long. The trail slowly breaks out of the forest and hugs the north edge of the small valley along a huge granite wall the resembles the town walls of Index. The trail climbs steeply and becomes more dusty and loose the higher you go. It eventually terminates in a large talus field below the Nesakwatch Spires and Mount Rexford.
We figured we’d camp just below the north spire, the leftmost peak, if there were water, but finding none, we pressed on to a higher basin beneath the south spire and Mount Rexford. We found a large granite boulder to camp on. There was already a fire ring on top of it. I was surprised at how extensive the camping area was. There were several trails leading all around to various camping sites. I was tempted to hike just a couple of hundred yards east to the top of a knoll where we’d have dramatic views of Slesse. But, there was no water nearby and since the slab was level and smooth and next to water, we stayed put. The fire ring gave us an idea and I started gathering deadwood as Ari started melting snow.
Fires are comforting. We sat around the fire chatting for quite a while. We grilled a couple of salami slices over the flames, which tasted just excellent. We still hadn’t decided on exactly what we wanted to do. I felt happy to do just Rexford. Besides, the guidebook indicating that the South Nesakwatch Spire true summit required a 5.7 offwidth didn’t really entice me. We resolved to decide in the morning.
We awoke very late at 8am. I have really been a bum this summer. Ari made the decision for us – we would try the traverse. Alright, let’s head out. We made our way back down the talus and then ascended to the base of the north spire and scrambled to the ridgecrest at a good spot to belay. However, the climb directly up from here looked hard. It was mossy and difficult to protected. Not feeling comfortable, I suggested that we scramble up and around to the right to start the climb. We found a good place to start. We roped up and I headed out on lead. The beginning featured some goofy face climbing that required some careful moves. Higher up, the climbing turned into a long slog over third class granite boulders. We simul-climbed along this terrain. The climbing steepened at a beautiful but short handcrack that I jammed briefly before arriving at more blocky terrain. At this point, we were near the summit. The climbing looked significantly harder and being in favor of speed, I moved left and climbed up 5th class terrain on easy cracks and ledges. A steep wall blocked my path so I moved left again, this time out over the exposed east face. The final pitch to the summit was a fun exposed 5.4 ramp that protected beautifully. For fun, I arrived at the summit by crawling through a small tunnel.
The route to the next spire looked easy – mostly third class before the route steepened. The right hand side of the south spire is very steep but looks really clean. There’s probably the opportunity for a new 5.10 route there. Amazingly, we spotted another party on what looked like the south spire. Where did they come from? Well, it turned out they weren’t on the south spire, but were on the lower ramparts of Rexford. The south spire and Rexford sit so close to each other with a deep cleft between the two that it was hard to tell. I figured we’d have the whole area to ourselves. We decided to climb down the 3rd class terrain and make our way towards the next spire. I was eager to see what this 5.7 offwidth looked like.
We made quick time down the easy, but sometimes loose, slopes towards the south spire. We stayed either right on the crest of the ridge or on the left. We went as far as we could until the route steepened to the point of requiring roping up. I began leading one long simul-climb that terminated in a high quality pitch. The first part followed easy twin cracks. I spotted a gorgeous hand crack, but looking too difficult (5.10, I guessed), I bypassed it on the left. The crack started out as a finger crack then widened to a hand crack, but I couldn’t tell where an how it ended. It didn’t matter because on the other side of the wall, I was looking at the crux of the route – a beautiful ascending ramp with a column leaning against it forming a finger crack seam. There was also a hand crack in the column that arched for maybe twenty feet. On the right side of the column was an offwidth crack. Was this the offwidth? It couldn’t be, I reasoned because you weren’t required to climb the offwidth.
I decided to start up, doing this pitch as a simul. The protection was excellent and the holds were obviously solid. Higher up, the finger crack became too shallow for nuts. I made an interesting move on top of the column and placed solid gear inside the offwidth. Getting above the offwidth was, of course, a pain, but with some stemming, I managed. Higher up, the offwidth became more awkward. I stood high, slung a chockstone and climbed back across the column onto exposed face moves. The moves were reasonably easy and I soon arrived at a belay platform and brought Ari up. I guess I’d rate this pitch at 5.7.
The next pitch featured more route-finding challenges and steep climbing. It was short though and I soon myself on granite blocks below the true summit. Then I saw the 5.7 offwidth. If you want to stand on the true summit, which is maybe only 20 feet higher, you must brave the offwidth. I was awfully tempted, but didn’t have gear. The lower part could be protected with two large chockstones, but you’d have a good 10 feet of exposure which could be dangerous if you fell. On top of that, I couldn’t tell if there was a rap station on the top. If there wasn’t, getting down would be interesting, to say the least. Later on, from the summit of Rexford, I looked and couldn’t see a rap station. Wisely, I decided not to do it. Ari was never too keen on it. This turned out to be a good choice for another reason – our ride out!
We decided to head to Rexford, which was just a stone throws away. We needed to rappel down into a notch and make our way to the col where we’d rope up again and head up. This side of Rexford didn’t exhibit the best rock. Sure enough, I wasn’t too pleased with the lower part of the route. There were large areas of unprotectable rock, thankfully not too hard. There was another section that reminded me of Dynaflow Tower – it looked good, but is deceptive, unprotectable, and dangerously loose. I avoided that section to the left. The rest of the climb was pretty interesting. It was steep but well-featured. I climbed a long, easy, and steep chimney, making good use of back-stepping and stemming to comfortably move up. In one long simul-climb, we were at the base of the standard route where I saw the quarted of climbers: Aaron, Adam, Allen, and Frasier. They offered to let us pass them. I did so on the right and was immediately in harder terrain. It was probably only 5.6 or so, but definitely harder than the standard route on Rexford. I thrutched my way through an awkward flaring chimney. I was only a 20 feet or so below the summit ridge but the rope drag was becoming too hard. Dang, I wanted to do it in one long simul. Deciding that it was best not to force it, I brought Ari up.
It turned out that we could scramble along an easy ledge that led to the upper part of the the standard route leading to the ridge. We scrambled up to discover the true summit is to the left, not the right. We could see the quartet climbing on it. We grabbed the rope and scrambled over to them (it turns out you can bypass a small tower on the ridge on the right side via secret ledges).
At the base of the summit block, Aaron had just led through a wide chimney and up to the summit where he was setting up a belay. The other suggested that we climb in parallel off to the left, which was apparently an alternate route to the summit. I clipped into the anchor and headed off. The route was short, but fun. In fact, this is probably a more aesthetic line to the summit than the direct route because you immediately enjoy lots of exposure over the north face. The climbing is easy, no harder than 5.2. Soon enough we were on the summit.
We enjoyed sitting on the summit for a while with these excellent Canadian gentlemen who offered us a ride out. The recalled seeing the black Audi parked way down there on Nesakwatch Creek road. This turned out to be most appreciated! Thanks, fellas. Ari and I headed out first and rappelled down. Getting back down to the camp was a little tricky – we followed the gentle ridge down for quite a way, but it quickly became brushy and we found ourselves blasting through dense pine trees suspended above cliffs on the ridge. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, but it was at least brief. Soon enough, we found footprints again and followed them down to the talus. There was another party camped out planning on climbing Rexford the following day. Wow, this spot is more popular than I thought. We arrived back at our granite slab camp, packed up, and headed out. We didn’t really have the time to melt water and we had only a few drops to sustain us all the way out. Fortunately, being late in the day, the entire descent was protected from the sun and it wasn’t difficult at all. We ran into the quarted at the top of the Index walls and hiked out pretty close to each other. Their Forerunner was parked high up, near the actual trailhead in the clear cut. By the time everyone had arrived, it was dark. We all jammed into the SUV and bounced our way out.
Tags: Nesakwatch
