Nine years ago, Jim and I did the Ptarmigan Traverse with a group of friends. This was my first and Jim’s second attempt. After spending the last several years doing trips in the area, I really wanted to repeat the traverse via an alternative exit over the Chickamin Glacier and out through Hanging Gardens and Image Lake. The more research I did, the higher priority the traverse became. Jim and I decided it was now or never. We are pretty much done carrying heavy climbing packs.
As we started planning logistics back in June, we found out the Cascade River Road (our start) was closed 5 miles before the end and the Suiattle River Road and Trails (our finish) were closed to hikers. We tweaked our route and came up with a finish which really excited us both. Going out through Spider Meadows. This new route would require us to be dropped off and then picked up. Doing a shuttle between the two trailheads would require an extra day on each end. Derek and Rolf, Kellie’s husband, volunteered to help us out.
Days before we left, a monsoon weather forecast came in. Our trip was to start the same day the rains came in. We had hoped to slide our trip two days but our drivers could only do one day. We would have to spend a day hiking in the rain. Everyone was OK with this if it meant they got to do the traverse.
Derek dropped the 6 of us off on the Cascade River Road after dinner. Todd, Kellie, Doug, Brooke, Jim, and I hiked up the road in extreme, muggy conditions. When we arrived the Cascade River Road parking lot, it was dark and we were all soaking wet. We setup our tents and camped.
We woke to rain. It was hard to believe that this parking lot has one of the best mountain views in the North Cascades.
We all packed up in the toilets. They were actually roomy enough that some of us could have camped in there. We headed up to Cascade Pass in the rain.
The rest of the day included almost no breaks. Between the rain, wind, and drastic drop in temperature, we are all afraid of hypothermia if we stopped moving for too long.
We were all so excited to finally reach Cache Col.
Not only did Cache Col mark our high point for the day but it also stopped raining and we could finally see something. Group spirits soared as we downclimbed boulder fields on our way to camp at Koolaid Lake. We setup our tents first. Giving them time to dry out before loading all our gear in.
Just as our tents dried out, the rains began again. We quickly threw everything in the tents including our bodies. We ended up eating dinner in our tents with Jim running between the tents delivering hot water.
The forecast when we left home had the rain stopping by 11am the next day. Just before bedtime, Jim Aga informed us that the rain wouldn’t end until 2pm.
We woke to rain by worse yet we couldn’t see more than 100 feet. We decided to stay put until the rain stopped and we could see better. The rain slowed down around 2pm but we still couldn’t see. We had to stay put. This would be Jim’s first time in his entire climbing career to be tent bound all day. When we went to sleep that night, we still couldn’t see more than 100 feet. Spirits were pretty low.
We woke to, you guessed it, dense fog. We still couldn’t see. Oh Crap! Kellie finally decided she had to get out of her tent to pee. We suddenly heard her scream “The fog is lifting!”. I jumped out of the tent. I still couldn’t see horizontally but if I looked up I could see blue sky. For the next several hours, the fog rose and fell.
Every time the fog would drop, we would run around taking pictures.
Jim and I had been to Koolaid Lake three times before but most of the group had no idea Mount Formidable was hiding behind the clouds.
With high spirits, we headed out of camp. We had paid the price of admission. The trip was now headed in the right direction.
We arrived the Red Ledges to find almost no snow. It reminded me of the snow Jim and I had when we climbed Spider Mountain in mid-September as few years back. The heat of the summer had definitely taken a toll on our above average snow pack.
Kellie ran a rope up the Red Ledges and then we all followed on a prusik.
After the Red Ledges, we took a break under Art’s Knoll. Everyone was all smiles. After all, this was what we all came for.
Doug continued on to enjoy a stroll across the meadows below Art’s Knoll.
In order to reach the Middle Cascade Glacier, we had to cross scree fields. Since the Ptarmigan Traverse started in the 1930’s, there were beaten in paths through the scree.
Once on the Middle Cascade Glacier, we roped up and Jim lead up the glacier. The glacier was way worse than the last time Jim and I were here in mid-September.
Weaving through the multitude of crevasses, easily made the trip to the Spider-Formidable Col twice as long as last time we were here.
After some quick photos and grabbing some food, we headed down the Spider-Formidable Col. Last time, Jim and I were here the snow was mostly gone creating a horrible descent of loose rock and dirt. We were happy that even though it was steep, the snow went all the way down.
About the time our second rope team started heading down the snow, Spider Mountain started throwing rocks at them. The 3rd set of rocks the mountain released, headed straight for Jim. One hit him in the helmet. The other hit him in the knee knocking him off his feet.
We regrouped at the bottom of the col. Doctor Brooke went to work looking at Jim’s knee. He was hit on the top of the knee not the knee cap. There were two open wounds but nothing horrible. We immediately put the knee on ice but it was going to swell up soon. Jim wanted to keep moving to Yang-Yang Lakes for the night and reevaluate in the morning.
We filled him up on anti-flammatories, redistributed a lot of his pack weight, and kept moving. Jim seemed to be moving up hill just fine but the steps down were requiring a lot of work on his part.
When we arrived Yang-Yang Lakes, we made Jim comfortable, elevated the leg, and put snow on it. Every 20 minutes or so, Jim would stretch the leg. We all went to bed not knowing what the morning would bring. Were we going back to Cascade Pass or heading forward on the traverse?
When Jim woke, he announced that he wanted to keep moving. Brooke said it would take a broken leg to stop him. We cheerfully packed up camp.
I took a moment to enjoy the morning light on the lake. Relieved the Jim’s climbing season was not over for the summer. Recovering from injuries at our age is getting more and more difficult.
We again redistributed some of Jim’s pack weight and then headed up to the ridge below La Conte Mountain. The La Conte glacier is always worth a photo or two.
In order to reach the ridgeline, Jim had to do some class 2/3 scrambling on loose rock. You could see how excited he was that his knee didn’t give him too much trouble.
We spent the next hour or so walking the ridgeline below La Conte Mountain. It was simply delightful.
At one point, we could look down on Yang-Yang Lakes.
When the heather ridge ended, Jim and I had expected to find snow. Instead there was a boulder field. The hot summer had hit here too. There was intermittent snow which allowed us to travel so much fast. Except in the times where we hit blue ice and had to drop down to avoid crossing it.
When we reached the last snow field, we all looked at the blue ice on the La Conte glacier. It blocked our access to the snow fields. If we continued going forward, we would have to cross the blue ice.
Jim and Kellie dropped packs and headed over to the glacier to assess our easiest access point. As we watched Jim move around on the snow and ice, we all agreed that tomorrow he was going to get all his pack weight back.
Jim and Kellie returned with a plan that involved crossing some blue ice. None of us were excited. At least we had two ice screws with us. We roped up and headed over to the glacier. Jim kept us on the edge of the moat as long as possible before cutting over to the blue ice on the glacier.
One by one, we had to experience the ice. We all had limited to no experience on ice. Needless to say, I just wanted to go home. If only I could figure out a way to get out of here without crossing the ice.
The first 10 steps were the worse. After that, Jim had found a route that at least had features in the ice. Ridges and streams which cause holes in the ice and actually soften the ice. Just as I was thinking the ice might be ok, I observed the rope moving quickly behind me and I heard Doug yell “Falling”.
Everyone went into arrest mode. I quickly got a foot wedged in a ice ridge just as the rope went tight. I had Doug and Brooke had me. Everyone else was braced waiting for one of us to be pulled off and start sliding again. I looked back to find Doug upside-down. His head inches from a rock. Then I saw him move and he announced that he wasn’t hurt. Someone he avoided hitting any of the rocks.
Now we had to all get up gingerly as not to start falling again. First, Doug climbed back up to the route, then I got up and moved closer to Brooke so she could get up without the rope pulling on her. Once up, we all continued moving. I think everyone breathed a sign of relief when Jim stepped off the ice and on to the snow.
By the time we reached the next obstacle, stepping down and across a crevasses. No one seemed phased. It was so nice to see the tops of Old Guard and Sentinel. It meant we were almost to the col.
We had hoped to climb Sentinel Peak but the route was taking way more time than expected. The group was starting to doubt that Jim and I knew anything about the traverse. I kept saying “oh this section is easy” and then the conditions were so bad that we would be faced with multiple delays. Instead of asking everyone what their favorite part of the day was, Jim started asking “What was your least favorite part of the day?”
After a quick break at the col, we dropped over toward the South Cascade Glacier. Oh good there were snow fields. After 10 minutes on snow, we were back on scree. We used every snow patch we could find. Everyone’s knees and feet were starting to ache from all the rock travel.
In less than an hour, we came to the end of the ridge.
We had a few hundred feet to descend to get on the South Cascade Glacier. The descent started with rock and then we were back on snow. Brooke and I took advantage of the conditions and good run out to glissade the slope. Brooke had so much fun that she dropped her pack and climbed back up the snow field so she could glissade again.
As we crested Lizard Col, Dome Peak appeared on the horizon.
We looked down on White Rock Lakes, camp for the night. Thankfully we had snow. But then we noticed, the snow didn’t go very far down the slope. Crap, we would have to pick our way down the rocky cliff band.
We arrived White Rock Lakes well before dark. Tired and ready to camp and enjoy the views of Dome Peak.
And the other major peaks in the area.
The mountain views are so spectacular that you have to remind yourself to enjoy the lakes as well.
Jim and I slept soundly. The route looked good from here. Todd and Doug didn’t sleep so well. The route from White Rock Lakes to Dome Peak looks completely impossible. On my first Ptarmigan Traverse, I couldn’t even look at the route. It made my stomach turn.
When we headed out in the morning, Todd and Doug still had their doubts. They would stop from time to time and see if they could see anything. As we got closer to the route, it started to appear. By the time we took our first break, everyone was in high spirits. Jim even took a minute to ice his knee.
Then we headed across the near by scree slope.
Before long the scree transitioned to rock slabs. Oh so much easier. Unless they get to steep. Yep, you guessed it, the slabs turned steep with deep gullies between the snow patches. We started weaving up and down to work our way across the slope.
Once we crossed the slope, we dropped packs and headed up to climb Spire Point. To avoid going around a large crevasses, we decided to take the rock slabs as high as we could and then get on the snow. This worked incredibly well and we were high on the slope before we knew it.
We kept looking at Fay’s trip report but the snow conditions were so different. Her route would require us to spend a hour on loose rock before we ever got on the actual climbing route. After looking at the time, we all agreed we didn’t have time to climb in these conditions. Instead we climbed the high ridge and enjoyed the views.
We decided to return to our packs via the snow. Our descent was quite fast. Even the blue ice had softened in the afternoon heat. There was so much water running down the ice that we had to be careful not to get our boots too wet.
Once at our packs, we headed toward the Dana Glacier. 9 years ago, this was a walk up. Not a crevasses on the entire glacier. But for us, we would have to cross a rock rib and then rope up for 100 feet of ice before getting on the snow. Man, these conditions were slow.
Once on the Dana Glacier, we were able to start the long slog to the Dana-Dome saddle. The Dana Glacier goes on forever. One long, flat glacier. Just as I was thinking we would never get there, we arrived.
We were all so excited to have a flat place to camp with incredible views and no wind.
During dinner, Todd reported that he could see plumes of smoke coming up from the north-east. As soon as the sunset, the winds picked up. Hopefully it would not blow all the smoke in. We woke to ….
We later found out that Seattle was dense with heavy smoke. I guess we got lucky. At least we had some visibility.
Today, we were to head up the Dome Glacier, climb Dome Peak, and then drop onto the Chickamin Glacier. With the state all the other glacier had been in, Jim and I both doubted our traverse would be able to continue. We couldn’t believe how little snow was on the Dome Glacier.
Our group shouldered their big packs and headed up the glacier knowing we might be bringing them right back down if the traverse couldn’t continue.
The Dome Glacier was so broken up that we had to get on the rock 50 feet lower than normal.
When we looked over at the Chickamin Glacier, my heart sunk. The wind circue at the top of the glacier was an enormous hole with vertical walls of ice. Unbelievable. I couldn’t even figure out how to photograph it.
I still had hopes that Jim would figure out a way to get us on the Chickamin Glacier. We decided to climb Dome Peak first and then Jim would scoot around.
The climb of Dome Peak had its own challenges. The nice snow ramp leading to the ridge was of course, no existent. Leaving the group with loose rock to scramble. Once on the regular route, we quickly reached the final summit block.
Kellie lead the final pitch and then one by one we followed. Clipping into a fixed line. The climbing wasn’t difficult but the consequences if you fell were huge.
We enjoyed our summit time even though the views were obstructed by the smoke.
Jim didn’t stay on the summit long. He wanted to search around for away onto the Chickamin.
Jim returned from his reconnaissance mission with bad news. The break in the Chickamin was so bad it made his stomach turn. If we attempted to rappel onto the glacier, it was very likely that someone was going to end up in the bergschrund (a very large crevasses which forms at the top of the glacier). My traverse was over. At least everyone else was going to complete the standard route of the Ptarmigan Traverse.
I quickly texted Jim Aga via the InReach. He would have to handle the deals to move our picked. We also wanted some information on the closed trails and road. I love have Jim A at home keeping an eye on us.
Once the messages were sent, we headed back down the Dome Glacier to our camp from the night before. I am so grateful for the positive attitudes in our group. I was definitely in a crappy mood and the more I looked at the traverse to Itswoot Ridge and the lack of snow, the more negative I got. Real doom and gloom.
When we were almost to Istwoot Ridge, I had to turn around and look at the view back up to Dome Peak. I had been in here twice before and the basin was full of snow. This year it was all rock. The heat decimated it all.
As we dropped into the Cub Lake basin, the smoke got thicker. The smoke actually made the basin more picturesque.
We decided to camp at Cub Lake. The couple of times Jim and I had been here before, the lake was not appealing. But for some reason, this time was different.
In the morning, I found the lake to be even more appealing.
Once over Cub Lake Pass, we headed down into Bachelor Meadows. Finally the lack of snow was a real advantage. Following the trail was super easy. I had no idea Bachelor Meadows was so close. It had taken us so long to get there in the past.
The trail from Bachelor Meadows to Bachelor Flats, AKA the forest camps, was in excellent shape. Easy to follow. Evidence to how many climbers are out there these days.
When we reach Bachelor Flats, we crossed the creek and started looking for flagging on the other side. The next section through the slide alder was incredibly easy. There were pink flags ever 10-30 feet.
Once on the old Bachelor Meadows trail, we thought we were home free. But oh no! It seems last winter there was an enormous avalanche in the area taking down many tree. It created three swaths for us to navigate through. There were several falls as we worked our way over all the down logs. Good thing, none of them were serious and most of them ended with some laughter.
After a long break at the junction of the Downey Creek and Bachelor Meadows trails, we headed off to find a camp for the night. We had heard from Jim Aga that our pickup was set for the next day and the burn from last years Downey Creek fire had only affected the last mile and a half of trail.
We camped at a flat area next to the river. It would give us less than 4 miles in the morning. We all cleaned up in the creek before settling down for a final dinner together.
Once dinner was over, we converted our tiny camp into sleeping quarters. Definitely no room for vestibules.
The next morning, we felt like we had an easy 4 miles out. But we hit our first obstacle less than 50 yards out of camp. The down log were so big that most of our party had to remove their packs before crawling aboard.
We spent the next couple of hours climbing over logs, navigating swaths of nettles, and trying not to get hit in the face by a spider. For some reason, all the spiders were out. In the center of their webs. Which they built across the trail.
We came across the burned forest about a mile and half from the trailhead. It was not bad at all.
There were actually some very interesting formations.
The last quarter mile of the trail was the worse. The fire had to be very hot here. The soil was reduced to ash making the trail difficult to follow. In the end, we just headed down hill towards the road. It is going to take the forest service a long time to fix this section of the trail.
From the road, we walk 100 yards down to the bridge across Downey Creek where the road had been gated. While we waited for our rides to arrive, we all cleaned up in the creek. A request from our drivers.
As Jim and I sat on the bridge enjoying a snack, we discussed all the hardships of the trip. And though I was sad for not getting to complete the traverse I had been dreaming up for the last 4 years, I was excited for our climbing party.
For several of them, the Ptarmigan Traverse was a bucket list item that they were not sure they would ever get the opportunity to do. This is not a traverse you can do alone. You need a climbing party. The conditions were less than desirable but the positive nature of our climbing partners made the trip quite fun. It easily could have become a complete disaster.