With the weather changing to sunshine, Jim and I decided it was time to start our climbiing season. Since the snow in the cascades still needed to firm up, we headed to the Olympics.
Mt Angeles was our objective. To break up the drive, we decided to make it a 2-day trip. This would also give us the opportunity to camp high on the mountain, hopefully the summit.
With the leasurly schedule, we were abe to sleep in on Tuesday and avoid rush hour traffic, catching the 10am ferrry to Kingston. We didn’t start hking until after 1pm.
We had brought snowshoes but quickly decided to leave them in the car and just take crampons. The entire climb was south facing so there was a lot of melt out and bare ground. The snow was perfect for crampons.
We headed up the Switchback trail wanting to check out the east ridge as a potential wedding location for some friends. Absolutely Beautiful!
Jim deamed the peak to the east of the saddle “Wedding Point”. The views include Port Angeles and Vancouver Island to the north, …
… Mt Olympus and the Bailey Range to the west, …
… and the rest of the Olympic mountains to the south.
After a long break, we headed off to traverse around Mt Angeles. The gullies on this side did not look appealing to either of us. We ended up having to drop about 1000 feet to get past a deep ravine / gully. In the end, we got on the hiking trail and followed it to the trail on Hurricane Ridge. Once on Hurricane Ridge, we quickly climbed to the basin just west of the summit.
Jim and I were eager to reach the summit and see if there was enough room to throw out a couple of sleeping bags. We jumped in the first snow chute and worked up to gain the ridge.
Once at the ridge crest, we were joined by tracks coming up from the east. Definately a steeper route than we wanted to go. The notch was small and only 100 feet from the summit.
We begun assessing how to get to the summit. This was much harder climbing than either of us wanted to do with a full packs. Especially without a rope.
After trying 2 or 3 different routes and getting in a loose gully that neither of us liked, we decided to retreat to the basin below and setup camp. We would climb in the morning without our full packs.
As we retreated toward the basin below, we started looking for a spot big enough to setup our tent. At the base, of the rock we found a flat snow shelf. A few modifications and we had a large tent platform with a full view of Mt Olympus and the Bailey Range.
Above the tent, we were able to access the rock which made for a wonderful dry kitchen complete with backrests. From here, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the penisula.
Because of our camp high above the basin, our night was fairly mild until about 5am. The cold air does settle in the basin but on a clear night, it is going to get you eventually.
We woke to rock hard snow and freezing temps. Since we were camped on the west shoulder of the mountain, we were not going to get sun until well after 11am. We were blessed with no wind but I still ate breakfast in my sleeping bag.
After breakfast, we headed up the rock. Very fun class 3 scrambling until one of my hold sliced through my finger like a knife. We still aren’t sure what happened. There was no fall. Just a slice as I pulled myself upwards.
Equip with a full trouble kit, we bandaged the finger up and headed for the summit. We were too close to turn back now.
After a long break on the summit trying to identify all the mountains we could see, we headed back down. We were able to find a much easier route than we came up.
Once back in camp, we packed up and headed for the car. My finger was starting to throbe so I did the decent with one pole and one hand in the air. Upon reaching home, we cleaned out the wound to discover a clean inch long cut clear through the skin. Looked like I was cut by a knife.
The doctor decided not to stitch the cut to help fight infection. He cleaned it good and taped it shut then prescribed some heavy pain killers. Finger injuries are so painful. Too many nerves and no where for the swelling to go.
The doc said I could get back out there as soon as the finger quit throbbing. He did issue me a metal brace to use while climbing to protect the cut as it heals so it might look like I am flipping everyone off for the next 8 weeks.
—————— Complete Photo Gallery (double-click to enlarge) ——————–
