9/28/02
Met up with Jon here in Portland for the afternoon drive up to the North Cascades - after a camping trip with the fam earlier in the summer I was pretty itchy to get back there. Our destination for the night was the (now defunct) Hutchinson Creek campground. Seems they had to close it down due to a little too much "local color". The sign at the entrance read "Closed due to safety concerns and vandalism . . . " We pushed on to the Douglas Fir campground further up the way toward Mt. Baker. On the surface, a very unintimidating setting, though some beer-induced Jerry Springer activities did ensue in the neighboring site at about midnight - the details of which are not appropriate to this website..........
Woke early Saturday morning and made the drive to the Gold Run Pass trailhead to climb Tomyhoi Peak - supposed to be one of the nicest alpine scrambles in the area. We didn't realize that the trailhead is access to one of the most popular hikes in the area - especially in fall - to Yellow Aster Butte. There were four cars at the trailhead when we left. When we returned there were close to fifty.
| Early morning light and our first good look at Mt. Baker |
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We reached the ridge overlooking Yellow Aster Lakes pretty quickly. Totally stunning area with Mt. Larrabee and American Border Peak to our right, Mt. Baker to our left, and Mt. Shuksan right behind us, not to mention literally hundreds and hundreds of snow and ice covered peaks as far as the eye could see.
| The overlook into the basin containing Yellow Aster Lakes. The ridge leading to Tomyhoi and the false summit directly ahead. |
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There were a few who had done an overnight camp in the basin below Yellow Aster Butte, including one party who would parallel our progress up Tomyhoi once we started up the climb.
| Not a bad place to spend the night! Mt. Larabee and American Border Peak reflected in one of the many lakes in this high basin. |
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The climb itself was straightforward, and featured an excellent mix of knife-edge ridge hiking, a few short downclimbs, a short traverse across the top of the Tomyhoi Glacier, and some somewhat exposed scrambling mixed in to keep you focused on the way to the summit.
| Jon about to step onto the traverse of the Tomyhoi Glacier. |
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| The final scramble up the summit block as seen from the false summit. |
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| Jon tackling the summit block with the Tomyhoi Glacier below. |
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But by far the best element was the impressive views in every direction. We found a register on the spectacular (and small !!) summit and scribbled a bit, then watched the weather that had been forecast for Sunday start to work it's way in over the Coast Range of British Columbia.
| Obligatory summit photog. Chilliwack, BC is the small town below his left elbow. |
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| Jon grading penmanship and spelling in the summit register. |
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| An exposed little traverse on the way down. |
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| Mt. Shuksan under graying skies as we made our way back down. |
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A lenticular cloud was already beginning to form on Mt. Baker by the time we reached Yellow Aster Butte on the descent, and Baker was almost completely obscured by the time we reached the car at the trailhead.
| Cap cloud begins to develop on Baker. |
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| "Vertigo is not the fear of falling. It is the fear that you will be unable to overcome the urge to hurl yourself into the void." - Milan Kundera |
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| Looking down on Yellow Aster Lakes on the climb down. |
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The plan was to travel to Rainy Pass and do Black Peak as a two-day climb starting on Monday. Sunday looked like it would be best left as a travel day, anyway.
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I'm thinking a stop at "Der Storehausen" for adult beverages pretty much
HAS to become part of the ritual up here. "DER STOREHAUUUWWWZZZEN!!?!?!!!!" |
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On to Black Peak