We will head S on the PCT to the well marked climbers trail cairn and turned east to acquire the N ridge of Mt Washington at about 6,240 ft elevation.
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| looking at the North ridge from the summit |
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| Top (near summit) rappel station. |
Track our progress real-time at this link.
Roster
- Mike Niemeyer (leader)
- Michael Gurley (Assistant)
- Dorothy Brown Kwasier
- Guy Rodrique
- Carl Sherherd
- Erin Dubuc
Wait List
- Carl Moreland
- Kim Longo
- Mark Olson
Camping: We will be spending the night at the PCT trailhead on Saturday, August 9th. (Note that this is different from the original plan that had us leaving from the Big Lake campground.) Mike will be arriving late Saturday night to the trailhead, getting in about 10 pm.
Climbing route and approach:Follow the PCT south for about 3.5 miles, 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.
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. Bring lots of water (I'll have 3 liters) as there is no water supply once we leave the trailhead. Treking poles are helpful for the approach (we'll stash them before we do the technical section.) For group gear we will be carrying, and sharing, two ropes. Keep in mind, when selecting a pack, that you'll need to be carrying the rope. (i.e., a very small daypack may not be adequate if it doesn't have a way to carry the rope.)
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.
Climb Schedule:
6:00am, We will start by hiking south on the PCT for 3.5 mi. to a climbers cairn marking the climbers trail.
7:00am, Turning east we will head toward the north ridge of Washington. following the contour onto the north ridge
10:30am, 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
12:00pm - 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.
1:30pm- 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)
2:30pm - 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.
7:00 pm back to the trail head. We may stop in Gates for dinner but its safest to have a stash of food and drink at the car.
6:00am, We will start by hiking south on the PCT for 3.5 mi. to a climbers cairn marking the climbers trail.
7:00am, Turning east we will head toward the north ridge of Washington. following the contour onto the north ridge
10:30am, 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
12:00pm - 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.
1:30pm- 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)
2:30pm - 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.
7:00 pm back to the trail head. We may stop in Gates for dinner but its safest to have a stash of food and drink at the car.
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. 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.
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
