Leaving the trailhead a little after 7 am we enjoyed beautiful sunrise colors with fog swirling over Big lake and Mt Washington in the background. four or five miles later, as we cleared treeline and ascended the North ridge, we could see other teams already on the mountain. Arriving at the "notch" we geared up and waited briefly as a team of 7 ascended (an informal group of Mazamas with some ICS and BCEP students) the first pitch before us. We moved into the que and set up the first belay station as yet another team rappelled down the same route. Overall, all teams were courteousy and navigated around each other OK, but rockfall from climbers above and below was a constant concern. We also noted that every team took a different route on the first pitch, all of which appeared to go fine. We eventually topped out on the summit at which point Bryon Snapp broke out a lazer light saber (photo below-click to enlarge). In the background you can see John Petrie trying to talk him down.
By mixing some strong animal sedatives with chocolate we were able to get Bryon down. We descended the entire route in three rappels. Below, Mark on the second rappel, you can see Bryon below and to his left.
The rest of these pictures were taken on the hike out. We had very clear weather and great views all day.
This is a relatively easy rock climb but requires climbers to be in good physical shape and comfortable doing rappels with exposure, climbing on a fixed line using a prussik. Its a long (12 hr car-to-car) but fun day.
The Drive:
We are meeting at the Salem K-Mart parking lot (25th and Mission Sts) at 5am, for carpooling, and drive up to the trailhead (see map, courtesy Vince Dunn.) Arrive at the trailhead at 6:45 am and leave the TH at 7:15 am. We will probably be back to the cars about 7:30 pm. Salem about 9:45pm.
Current Mt Washington area weather
Last minute fires to worry about? A good resource is the Inci-web website to see if there are any fires in our climbing area.
Approach (From Steve Doughtery's Website): Follo
w an unmarked trail along the lake for two or three minutes, to a junction with a second trail called the Patjens Lake Trail. Continue around Big Lake until the trail leaves the shoreline. At an obvious junction, turn left (east). (Continuing straight will lead away from Mt. Washington to Patjens Lake.) Head east for about five minutes. Several spur trails will join the trail from the west, but continue east until the trail splits. Take the right fork for two or three minutes to a clearing with a pile of dead logs on its south side. (The left fork continues around the east side of Big Lake). Turn right (south) in the clearing and follow a wide trail for five minutes to its junction with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Follow the PCT south for 30 minutes (or about one hour from the road head), to a climbers' trail which goes uphill to the east. The climbers' trail is usually marked by a cairn and is just after a large rock on the left side of the trail. If you reach Coldwater Spring, the only year-round water source on this section of the PCT, you have missed the climbers' trail and hiked about 10 minutes too far. About 150 feet after leaving the PCT, the climbers' trail splits. The right fork can be used for gaining the west ridge or routes on the south face. Follow the left fork until it breaks out of the timber onto the north ridge proper. Drop onto the east face. Continue up the ridge for routes on the north and west faces. As you approach the summit pinnacle, stay on top of the ridge as long as possible. Skirt several towers to the west until you reach the north wall of the summit pinnacle. Move up a short loose gully to a notch just below the northeast side of the mountain. Move right (west) 30 feet and scramble up to a fractured ramp. (I consider there to be two ramps ... take the second.) Climb the ramp up and left 35 feet to the base of a rotten chimney. (Start of chimney is slightly overhung) Climb the chimney and move left, then up, to a ledge with a large block. The block usually contains one or more rappel slings for the descent. About 250 feet of scrambling leads to a second chimney. From the top of the chimney, scramble 100 feet to the summit.Emergency Info:Leader is carrying a cell phone 503-910-9726 and a SPOT rescue beacon. I'll be sending out OK messages during the climb and can send out a 911 if we run into trouble (or come across another party that needs help.) Willamette National Forest Contact Information 57600 McKenzie Hwy McKenzie Bridge, OR 97413 (541) 822-3381. Linn County Sheriff: 541-967-3950. Detroit Ranger District: 503-854-3366
See my July 18th Mt Washinton climb for the full Prospectus and additional details See this link for equipment lists #1 (10 essentials) and #6 (One-day technical rock climb) Please be sure to have a prussik ready and a piece of personal pro (sling girth-hitched on your harness with a biner on the end) ready to go. Rock shoes optional.
SPOT Waypoints from our August 22nd 2009 climb:
-Latitude:44.3776 Longitude:-121.8811 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:08/22/2009 19:57:16 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.3776,-121.8811&ll=44.3776,-121.8811&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
-Latitude:44.3508 Longitude:-121.8654 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:08/22/2009 18:53:03 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.3508,-121.8654&ll=44.3508,-121.8654&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
-Latitude:44.3434 Longitude:-121.8447 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:08/22/2009 18:11:57 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.3434,-121.8447&ll=44.3434,-121.8447&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
-Latitude:44.3363 Longitude:-121.838 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:08/22/2009 17:17:43 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.3363,-121.838&ll=44.3363,-121.838&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
-Latitude:44.3333 Longitude:-121.8382 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:08/22/2009 16:57:00 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.3333,-121.8382&ll=44.3333,-121.8382&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
-Latitude:44.3392 Longitude:-121.84 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:08/22/2009 10:08:07 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.3392,-121.84&ll=44.3392,-121.84&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1 -Latitude:44.3776 Longitude:-121.8807 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:08/22/2009 07:09:25 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.3776,-121.8807&ll=44.3776,-121.8807&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
