We headed S on the PCT to the well marked climbers trail carin and turned east to acquire the N ridge of Mt Washington at about 6,240ft elevation. We stashed one of our two trekking poles for the scramble up the ridge. Near the upper portion of the ridge we donned helmets.
Once at the notch we found a group of four ahead of us. They had chosen to ascend the obvious first ramp (a harder climb, not recommended). I led us up the less obvious ramp south (standard route, sometimes referred to as the 2nd or 3rd ramp) belayed by Mason. Megan climbed behind me once I'd fixed the rope up top, sliding her prussik as she went and carrying rope #2 in a carry-coil. I protected the first pitch with runners slung over horns (at least one double length) and used a 0.3 camalot. Bryan and Mark climbed the fixed line. Bryan belayed mason up the first pitch while I began leading pitch #2 belayed by Megan. Repeating this process we protected the entire climb in three pitches and summited about 1:30 pm. My rack: two extra long slings (at least 16' untied) and rappel rings that you can leave behind (if you don't like the condition of the slings you find for rappels) 2 or 3 single length and 3 double or triple length runners, #1 and #0.3 Camalot C4s and a Camalot #2 (yellow) C3. With this rack I protected the entire route - very conservative as many will just protect the first pitch. There are also some small cracks that would accept #4 or #5 size stoppers - don't forget the nut tool.
High fives and summit photos. Megan carefully perused the summit register, noting that Aslinn and her daughter had just summited the previous weekend. (We also watched the 2 waterfalls fire on the warms springs reservation flare up with the afternoon winds.)
Mason and I set up the first rappel using existing slings a short scramble below the summit. The 2nd rappel we did with a double rope. The final, steep rappel was a challenge for Mason (first one down) as strong winds kept blowing the rope off route. Once to the notch we scrambled down the N ridge and hiked out. Hot and tired the final torment being the water skiers who zipped past us as we trudged around Big lake. Back to the cars and, as expected, a 12 hour climb day. Thanks to Megan for a cooler of cold, club-approved beverages. A very strong team and a fun day.
(Additional pictures/video below)
*******PRE-CLIMB PROSPECTUS BELOW****
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 and using a prussik. Its a long (12 hr car-to-car) but fun day.
Track our progress real-time at this link.
Climb Schedule:
6:30am, We will start by hiking south on the PCT
for 3.5 mi. to a climbers cairn marking the climbers trail.
7:30am, Turning
east we will head toward the north ridge of Washington. following the contour
onto the north ridge11:00am, We will continue along the last edge of the ridge until turning west to descend around the final pinnacles that lead up to a loose gully and saddle
12:30pm - Here we will don our harnesses and helmets as the next 75 ft. of climbing to the top of the nose is the most difficult on the route
2:00pm- from here we move on to the left leaning chimney where some easy face climbing leads to the top of the nose (Class 4/easy 5) above the nose its unexposed scrambling to a short gully(grade 1)
3:00pm - Summit shots, high fives. Three rappels back down to the notch. hydrate and pack up for the scramble/hike back out the same way we came in.
7:30pm back to the trail head. We may stop in Gates for dinner.
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
Equipment:
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. Carrying a separate pair of rock shoes for the summit pitches is optional.
See route details and GPS from my previous Mt Washington climbs at http://mikessummits.blogspot.com/search/label/Mt%20Washington
See my July 18th Mt Washinton climb for the full Prospectus
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
