Daniel and I hiked up to Boston Basin in late October of 2005. It was a super crisp clear day, one of the clearest I’d seen. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to last. Even though there were good sunrise views of Johannesburg as we were getting ready to climb, clouds had moved in and had begun to rapidly descend over Forbidden Peak. We scrambled up snow-covered talus for over an hour hoping that the clouds would part, but it never happened. We descended and vowed to return the following year for a day-climb of the route.
We returned in early July, this time accompanied by Daniel’s brother Mark and Ari Lazier. We planned on doing it in a day so decided to at least bivy on the picnic tables at the Cascade Pass parking lot. I don’t recall exactly when we got up, but we hit the trail in nice daylight around 5:30 in the morning. I’ve learned to be thankful for nice trails and the trail up to Boston Basin certainly qualifies as “nice trail” and we made quick time up the 3rd class tunnel, past the various stream crossings, the avalanche debris, and so on. We were in the alpine slopes of Boston Basin in around two hours or so, maybe a little less. One of the niceties of the east ridge is that you don’t have to deal with anything like the couloir on the way to the route. At the base of the route, we roped up and I volunteered to take the first pitch. I figured that I’d lead the first few pitches and Daniel would finish off the last few. Well, I ended up leading the whole thing which was fine with me.
The climb is consistently 5th class, unlike the west ridge. In fact, this route is not just “a little harder” than the west ridge, it’s a good bit harder. Last year, I think we climbed the west ridge in 30 minutes or so, basically two simul pitches. The east ridge is more serious and sustained. None of the pitches are really “hard”, but they require care. Being riddled with gendarmes, the climb is subject to rope drag and I wore my shoulders out by hauling in two lines on each belay.
There’s a nice section of knife-edged ridge mid-way along the route. It was easily climbed by hand-traversing on the south side of the ridge. Both Ari and Mark, despite being super strong rock climbers, were relatively new to alpine climbing and were raving pitch after pitch. The east ridge was a perfect intro.
http://www.vimeo.com/6812120
Somewhere after the knife edge pitch was the second crux of the climb – a vertical wall on the north side of another gendarme on the ridge that leads to a small notch. At the notch, I was back on the ridge proper and climbed the gendarme, then descended – more rope drag. The short wall crux wasn’t as technical as the true crux near the end of the climb, but it’s a good bit more exposed.
There’s the option to climb a gendarme right before the crux and then rappel down to the crux belay. We had some rain hit us on the middle of the ridge with more weather threatening and since the gendarme climb was only twenty feet or so, we bypassed it on the right to the base of the crux. I offered the lead to Daniel, but he was happy just to let me keep going. OK, no problem. The pitch is a Cascade classic – it’s technical and easy to protect. I pulled up on small crimpers to a huge horn that I was able to throw a sling around. I pulled up one more move and realized I was at the 5.8 move – an overhanging section of wall with small features. To the left was a perfect finger crack which took a small nut beautifully. The protection was perfect and I pulled through the short moves to a jug where I let my feet catch some air high above the northeast face. What a great feeling. I think Daniel said that was his favorite pitch out in the mountains. That saying somethin’.
All that remained now was a simul-pitch of 5.2 ridge. Some more weather moved in and the clouds dropped around Eldorado and Boston, but Forbidden remained clear, although, I was now leading in swirling mist that only added to the awesome alpine ambience. The summit was ours and we hung out and ate for a bit before heading down the east ledges. We made 6 rappels, if I recall and then headed across the ledges. We broke up into two rope teams. I headed out first and placed gear as we simul-climbed. Daniel unclipped the gear and left it for the second team who re-clipped and then cleaned. Happy to be back at the ridged, we put on our hiking boots and headed down the slopes to Boston Basin. We got back to the cars after dark, didn’t see anyone else all day.
Posted 4 years ago at 4:46 am. Add a comment
Day 1: Mount Torment South Ridge and Bivy
Since I’ve wanted to climb Forbidden Peak for so long, it was only fitting to do it the best way: the Torment-Forbidden Traverse. This was a classic alpine climb and gave Robert, Aidan, and I all we wanted – a beautiful alpine setting, a challenging and committing ridge, and fun moderate climbing. We left Seattle around 6:45 or so and hit the trail a little after 10. It was pretty cool when we started, but it wouldn’t last. These late July afternoons are HOT, as Michael and I discovered one year ago on Johannesburg. We blasted up the trail though. The avalanche crossing is getting substantially easier by the year and it hardly cost us any extra time. Deep in the forest, the black flies starting hitting us pretty hard. Aidan and I both got stung by some sort of wasp. “It was probably a stick,” suggested Robert. A stick? Well, after Michael’s lesson in the Pickets, we broke out the Benedryl to deal with the swelling.
At an hour and forty five minutes we were at the upper camps in Boston Basin. The black flies had left us but the horseflies picked up where they left off. We took a comfortable break on a slab next to a waterfall where we drank our fill and killed maybe 50 horseflies. We then traversed around a prominent rib coming off the ridge at it’s bass where we arrived at another section of slabs and waterfalls. Third class climbing got us easily to the base of the western part of the Taboo Glacier. At first, the crossing looked easy and we jumped on the glacier without crampons. However, higher up, it looked like access to the peak was blocked by a massive bergeshrund. At the far end though, we were able to jump on 4th class slabs that gave us access to the glacier above the shrund. From there we went back in the opposite side to the prominent notch where we’d start the climb.
Probably the hardest rock pitch was the very first one, the first 20 15 feet of getting out of the notch. It was probably much easier in normal snow years when the notch had snow in it…maybe not. Anyway, Robert led out over the steep crack up to the normal place where we roped up. The first pitch climbed an easy dihedral up to the south ridge. For the most part, we were just to the left of the ridge and the climbing never got harder than 5.0. Most of it was 4th class and we did the whole thing in one pitch. Robert went a little far up to the east ridge and got into some loose rock and had to downclimb. From here though, it was easy to just drop our packs and scamper up to the summit where we shook hands, took a short rest, and surveyed the rest of the route.
The next goal was to get to the next notch at the beginning of the ridge. We had to make some careful downclimbs down the south face and traverse along ledges to the notch. I arrived at the notch and surveyed the next section; it looked tough. Well, to follow the ridge directly would be some unreasonably hard climbing. There was snow about 60 feet below, but separated by a large moat from the cliff. Aidan looked a little green after checking out our options. Robert decided to rappel down to the snow and had to make some awkward moves to push himself onto the snow. Aidan and followed and we helped each other across the moat. At this point, the only option was to follow the snow along the moat down some semi-hero slopes to where we could regain the rock. From there, it looked like more easy, if not loose, 5th class climbing. Robert opted to lead out again and slowly made his way down the snow. Aidan and I followed, Aidan being tied in about 15 feet in front of me. For the most part, the downclimbing was easy, just awkward and loose in spots, but it did eat up lots of time. Robert did a great job of picking the best route to get on the rock. Finally, we were off again on the rock. This time we were traversing left around another huge gendarme. When Robert crossed the crest, he yelled, “Bivies!”. Alright! We now could rest; it was about 8:30pm.
The bivy location was awesome – nice and cozy on a moderate cliff with great views of the remainder of the traverse. They were just big enough to hold three people. There’s room for a fourth about 30 feet below on some sloping slabs. The steep snow traverse was just beyond the bivies. From there, we could see that we’d be back on the crest of the ridge. Enough of worrying about tomorrow though, we sat back and enjoyed the views, the food, and the company and turned in shortly after sunset.
Posted 5 years ago at 1:29 am. Add a comment
This is the story of Ken and Dan’s annual trip to the Pacific Northwest for some mountaineering in the Cascade Range. We wanted to spend the first night in Boston Basin, climb Forbidden Peak the next day, then move camp upwards to the Sahale-Boston Col, climb Sharkfin Tower and Sahale the next day and head out via Sahale Arm back to the car. I picked up Ken on the earlier flight; Dan hadn’t been able to go standby on that flight but threw his gear on that plane. I had the privilege of hauling his one super heavy duffel bag; I buckled as I picked it up and tried to haul it off. Dan showed up a later on a delayed flight and we didn’t get to bed until 1am or so, unfortunately. The next day we woke up early and drove out under grey clouds to the Marblemount ranger station. We thought that because it was early on Friday, we’d not have a problem getting a pass. Well, there were no passes for Boston Basin. And, to top that, the Cascade Pass Road was closed at the Eldorado parking lot thanks to the heavy fall rains last year. So, we instead got permits for Sahale Arm then Boston Basin. That would work; we’d just do the trip in reverse. At the parking lot, we encountered some rangers, one of them seemed an interesting mix of German and American Indian and we later joked about asking to look at our permit with a very dry “Papers please.”
We started up the road, an extra 3+ miles, around 11am, a little despondent that we had this extra burden. Three and a half miles on an easy road sounds pretty straightforward, and it was. It was really hot though and I think this extra mileage and elevation really tipped the scales of exhaustion when we pulled into camp the first night. Two miles up the road we still wondered why the road was closed. Soon enough though, we saw the numerous holes in the road, sections that were collapsed, and the big machinery that fixes all of it. In some ways though, it was pretty cool hiking up the road because we were able to pay attention to new scenery that we’re accustom to zipping past on the way in or out.
http://www.vimeo.com/6790416
After a short break at the picnic area at the Cascade Pass parking lot, we put our packs back on and started the climb (again) to Cascade Pass. The trail to the pass is pleasant and loaded with numerous switchbacks. I went ahead in front of Ken and Dan intent on getting some video footage as they approached the pass. By the time I got to the pass, the weather had changed a bit. It was a lot colder at the pass and a lot of new clouds had moved in. After a second break, we headed up the last third of the first day – the hike up Sahale Arm to Sahale Arm camp. The hike up Sahale Arm was awesome – lots of heather and flowers, we saw marmots and ptarmigans, and great views down to Doubtful Lake and up to Johannesburg Peak. The upper reaches of Sahale, however, were completely engulfed in clouds.
As we climbed into the clouds, the mist started slowly dampening our packs and clothes. We intently watched our altimeters and we went up the easy talus. At this point, visibility had literally dropped to 30 feet (I measured). We got to an obvious ridge at 7600 feet and we knew the camps were nearby. I scouted to the left and found the public toilet. Then I scouted to the right and found the first camp, which was occupied. I yelled, “Hi guys!” to the occupants who answered (turned out to be Rob and Ben who we would share the summit with the next day) and gave me vague directions to where other camps were. The three of us then headed up to search for a place to sleep. We spread out and dropped our packs and roamed around. It was easy to get out of view of each other. We explored a large rocky area that only revealed a semi level section of snow. In the mist, I thought I could see another section of rock and I let Ken and Dan know I’d go explore there and I’d either yell that I found something or I’d meet them at the snow platform at the top of the last rocky section. This new rocky outcropping looked far away but I took a mere 10-15 steps and was suddenly there; distances were completely out of proportion in the mist! After a couple of minutes, I found a spot and hollered to Ken and Dan who followed my voice down. We set up camp, ate, and then crashed for ten hours! It was an exhausting day.
The next day, we tentively opened the fly to see what the day would reveal. It was clear! Well, for the most part. There was lots of blue sky but there were also a whole lot of clouds. The north Cascade valley was engulfed in a large cloud, Johannesburg moved in and out of clouds, and beyond Sahale Arm, near Forbidden, seemed to be covered in clouds. But, it was clear above and behind us and we could see the summit of Sahale Peak. We took our time getting ready and then packed up and headed up with heavy packs. We wanted to get over Sahale Peak this day and down to Boston Basin. If we had the time, energy, and weather, we’d also try to climb Sharkfin Tower. We followed easy snow to the base of the summit tower. We decided that since we were wearing full packs, we’d rope up for the one pitch to the top. In normal weather with a light pack or nothing, this would be a thrilling scramble to the top. I thought maybe I’d go straight up the face and then link up with the lefthand ridge. This turned out to not be the best choice (there were no good places to protect) and I had to make some delicate moves to get over to the ridge. Once we got going though, the ridge went quickly and easily. On the top, we met up with Ben and Rob and we posed for lots of pictures.
By the time we were ready to rappel down the north side of Sahale, the clouds moved in and engulfed the summit. Sadly, they didn’t leave for the rest of the trip. On the other side of the summit, the scene wasn’t very cheery – cloudy and misty with unseen exposure over the right side and steep snow on the left. We roped up and carefully made our way down. The going wasn’t too bad fortunately. There was a section where we had to downclimb on polished slabs with our crampons on. At the base of the slabs, we were able to make a short scramble down to the edge of the glacier. A short jump put us on our way. The way through the glacier was straightforward, albeit foggy.
We made quick progress down. Suddenly, views of Boston Basin started opening up. We exited the base of the cloud cover and were able to clearly see down into the basin. This was a relief; we wouldn’t have to search the entire area for the campsites. The cloud covered went all the way over to Forbidden Peak and hid the summit from us. Johannesburg, however, was clear.
We made a stop for some food then another to get some glacial water. Ken then caught a glimpse of someone in the distance walking – that had to be the upper Boston Basin camps. Cool – we weren’t that far away. We had to negotiate a couple of steep grassy sections. Dan’s heavy boots served him well at this point. Ken and I were a little more unsure in our light leather boots. We pulled into camp in the afternoon. Most of the established campsites were still under snow we were told. We were able to find a nice flat spot though and set our camp up there. We spent the rest of the day gazing up towards Forbidden that at most revealed the base of the couloir that gave access to the West Ridge. It looked pretty steep and narrow from our vista. Most of the time, though, we couldn’t see very far up the slopes of Forbidden. 180 degrees behind us, though, the real view was always available to behold. Johannesburg looked absolutely gargantuan and terrifying. We had a leisurely dinner and plenty of time for picture taking. We set our watches for 4:30 and turned in.
When 4:30 came around, I really didn’t want to stir. Ken was pretty anxious and got up to look. “Socked in”, he said. No! Well, at least we can sleep a little longer; let’s try again in about two and a half hours. At 7am we got up again. I looked out and it was completely socked in. What luck. The night before, the rangers had come by checking permits. We asked for the latest forecast and the confirmed our thoughts – that July 4th would be the best climbing day. Not so. It looked like we were out of luck. Dejected, we lugubriously packed our things up and headed down. There’s not to much to report on the hike out. It was pleasant enough and the mist lasted for a lot of elevation. These clouds certainly weren’t going anywhere today. We had a couple of fun stream crossings. We moved quickly; we were suddenly at the avalanche debris that Ken and I had experienced a couple of years before. This time though, the passage was much more straightforward. We also figured out where we’d gone wrong in the past. We dreaded the long road hike out but it turned out to be pretty easy. Though we didn’t get to climb Forbidden, the trip was still a lot of fun. We had great views (the ones that chose to reveal themselves) and the experience of going up and over Sahale was really alpine. I also greatly enjoyed the downtime where we took in the views from our lunch perch on the Quien Sabe glacier and the locale of Sahale Arm and Boston Basin. We’ll have to return some day for Forbidden.
Posted 6 years ago at 2:47 am. Add a comment
