So the last portion of our DiMM course was a 4 day trip with Mountain Maddness. We met at the Second Ascent store in Seattle - quickly did a gear check and hit the road - after grabbing some awesome coffee from a local shop a couple doors down.
There were 12 of us total - 3 guides and 9 students. My brother was able to come out and join for this portion of the adventure!
(Side learning point - do not try to cut climbing cord and burn the edges in your downtown hotel room - seems to make a lot of smoke and the windows only open about 2 inches - luckily to my surprise the smoke alarms did not go off)
We hit the road - and headed up to the ranger station to get permits and stopped at Hagan's (the guides' favorite local grocery chain). After several hours of driving we hit the dirt road. This was the driest dirt road I've ever seen. The dust was like driving through a really dense fog - you could see a couple feet at most in front of the window. Our chevy impala was not the all terrain vehicle my xterra is.... but we made it. With the group gear divided up we hit the trail. My pack was a little heavier than ideal - but fresh legs and beautiful scenery made it all seem easy. The first couple miles were typical dirt and rock trails - then we hit an area that desperately needed some maintenance - we were bushwhacking through downed debris and climbing over trees that were at least 3 ft in diameter. At this point I had a much better appreciate of what it feels like to be about 50 lbs overweight...
After a couple breaks we made it to the beginning of the snow. I traded in my lightweight Merrell's for mountaineering boots - which felt sorta like stiff lead bricks at first - but did offer a lot more support. A little prophylactic duct tape and I was good to go. I was pretty sure I would end up with blisters as my training hikes prior to this trip had ended that way - however with the duct tape and sock liners I survived sans blisters. The hike up across the snow was pretty steep. I was sure one missed step would mean I'd be tumbling a long, long way. I was also starting to have some concerns about how we were going to get back down. The funny thing is after summitting my perspective of "steep" changed drastically and I actually enjoyed walking on the snow much more than the dirt on the descent.
Eventually we made it to a saddle - which would be our "home" for the next couple of days. The plan was to set up camp and eat dinner. Initially we were supposed to do some skills - but everyone was beat from the hike in - so instead we opted to sleep and try to tackle all the skills the next day. Then after doing skills all day we'd aim for an early night, awake around 3 am to head for the summit. After summitting we'd pack up camp and head back down to the cars.
Camping on snow is very different than dirt. First its hard to find a "dry" place to sit - even to do things like cook. Second the ground is VERY cold. The plus is you can melt the ground for water - however that takes longer than you'd imagine. We found walking to the steam of melting snow was much more efficient. As a girl its also a bit trickier to find a concealed place to pee... there was a porta jon for certain activities - however not for peeing. I found it best to walk down over the crest of the hills letting it hid me. One of the guides suggested piling all the clothes we weren't wearing under our sleeping pads to help insulate us. You'd think having a an engineering degree and having taken an entire course in heat transfer I'd have a good concept of what to do to prevent being cold. Lets just say a warm weather thermarest filled with air works as a very poor insulator. I would wake up every couple of hours with a new frozen body section and would have to rotate. I hear the trick is to use a foam insulator pad with the air pad on top... lesson learned.
Skills day was jammed packing with information and practice. It was quite warm as well - with sun blazing on your from every direction! No shade on a glacier. We practiced walking in crampon, self arresting while sliding ( feet first, head first, prone and supine). We also went over knots and rigging crevasse rescue systems and discussed concepts of work as a rope team. It was a very full day. After a quick dinner we packed our summit packs and climbed into sleeping bags for a quick nap before summit time. Despite having my ipod shuffle turned all the way up, I did not get much sleep over stephen's snoring - or with the cold ground (my pack was packed - so much less insulation). I was actually happy to get up at 3 am and start moving. With a little hot water and some oatmeal (I'd run out of grits - very hard to find in Washington state) - and after realizing Stephen didn't bring his share of coffee so we'd had all of mine the morning before - we were off.
It was sort of surreal. You could see a little but moonlight but the path was lit mostly by head lights. We were tied together in groups of 4, our guide and 3 of us. It was sorta of meditative. Just one step after another. Trying to keep the rope just barely dragging the snow in between you and the person in front of you.
We stopped a couple times for breaks - and we all sat down quickly in our spots. Seemed sort of like we were dogs on a dog sled team. We didn't break long as it got cold quickly. I started out with just a pair of lightweight convertible pants, long underwear top and shell jacket. It was great when I was moving. Not so much sitting still. A little after 4am the sun began to rise. It really made you realize how big the world is - and how small you are. What an experience. Those moments of peace are the reasons people go out into the wilderness.
Eventually we made it off of the snow - and onto rock. We shed our crampons and ice axes. I don't know how many of you have ever worn mountaineering boots - but they make you feel super awkward, like you don' t have much control of your feet as they are bulky and stiff soled - which is great for crampons and keep your feet warm - however isn't great for trying to climb on rocks. We were using a technique called short roping where we were tied very closely together. The theory is on this terrain you'd slip and the team could arrest you before you'd fall. Luckily we never had to test it. I think I might have just liked to take my chances... Each team climbed up behind us - following a similar route. There was some gear and anchors that had been left by prior groups - which we used. Finally we made it to the top and enjoyed some lunch. Summer sausage and cheddar cheese have never tastes so good! The way back down ended up taking far longer than the way up as we waited for all the groups and one of the ones behind us ran into some technical difficulties, getting their rope stuck, etc.
Eventually we all safely made it down, quickly packed up and headed for the cars. It was one of the longest hikes of my life. For the first time ever I had not packed too much food and enjoyed my very last food item - a peanut butter snickers bar - on the way out. It was almost dark (after 9pm) by the time we finally made it to the car. The plan initially was to drive a couple hours to mt. Erie and campout to do rock climbing the next morning. We were all tired and hungry - with wet gear. With an overwhelming majority decision we decided a hotel and hot shower were in the future. After a long drive down the dust road we ended up back in town - after stopping at one hotel and calling several others we ended up at Candlewood suites. It was the best shower and night of sleep I'd had all trip :) I don't even think I ate dinner - just slept.
What an adventure!!
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt_shuksan
Mount Shuksan (9131 ft) Mount Shuksan is a glaciated massif[3] in the North Cascades National Park. Shuksan rises in Whatcom County, Washington immediately to the east of Mount Baker, and 11.6 miles (18.7 km) south of the Canadian border. The mountain's name Shuksan is derived from the Lummi word [šéqsən], said to mean "high peak".[4] The highest point on the mountain is a three sided peak known as Summit Pyramid.[5] There are two named subsidiary peaks: Nooksack Tower and The Hourglass.
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