Long Mountain is a peak up The Mountain Loop valley in Washington's North Cascades that has long been on my list to climb since it is an easy drive to the trailhead from my house in Lake Stevens. The view from the summit looks over at many of my favorite peaks that I have climbed and skied over the years.
A rare January extended high pressure has resulted in a low snow pack and safe avalanche conditions. A trip report on Cascade Climbers made it look "easy" so I packed up a bunch of photo gear (A7cr + 20-70mm + 70-200 f4 II + 1.4X) and headed up solo yesterday. None of my climbing friends were crazy enough to join me and in retrospect I'm glad I didn't subject them to the torture I endured!
Late spring with a solid snow pack would be a much better time to do this when snow covers most of the brush. I ended up clawing my way up (and then down) way too much steep brush and slide alder (which is especially insidious since it tilts down hill).
I was happy to finally get on continuous snow, but that wasn't easy either. Every 4th or 5th step would punch through the snow crust and sink up to my knee. My crampons were also "balling up" with blobs of snow which negated their usefulness. I finally gave up on the summit just a few hundred feet short and traversed over to the ridge to see the view south that I had come all that way for.
I was very relieved to finally hit the trail with some daylight, but then the steep switchbacks on the last miles resulted in a blister on top of a toe. The last mile was an endless twilight zone situation that felt like I was stuck in a Zeno's paradox. As it got darker I wanted to hurry so I wouldn't have to get my headlamp out, but fatigue, blister, steep rocky trail, and darkness ment I went slower and slower to avoid twisting my ankle.
Altogether, what climbers call "type 2 fun" (only fun in retrospect). My wife just shakes her head when I come limping back from adventures like this, and I think I might finally agree with her
That's some brutal off trail hiking! Lovely results though, the Cascades are beautiful mountains. Missed them when I was in the area last Sept due to the fires. I like your pano-esque shot the best out of all of them.
Wow! Nice work, hike & photos. How long of a trek was this? And do I understand correctly, you did this solo? I understand what you mean by “type 2 fun”. I’ve had a few myself (mostly on long bike rides) and can recall chanting toward the end—there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home… nothing more exciting than being far from the car/home and watching the sun slip slowly below the horizon.
Glad you’re home safe, take care on future adventures.
neat set of pictures. #4 is my favorite. you really put some sweat equity into getting these pictures. scenery must have been amazing. thanks for sharing.
Rod, yes, I was solo. I certainly know that's against "the rules" of climbing/hiking, but I'm a stubborn old climber who has done many a solo over the 50+ years I've been at it. It raises the stakes and forces a higher level of concentration that I enjoy, but finally admit I am getting a bit too old for such shenanigans. I always carry a personal locator beacon, but I'm afraid they don't work so well in the forest with trees overhead, where much of the difficult travel occurred on this trip.
The round trip was around 11 miles with ~ 3700 ft. of elevation gain, but stats like this mean little if you don't take the off trail trickiness into account
Jim Dockery wrote:
The round trip was around 11 miles with ~ 3700 ft. of elevation gain, but stats like this mean little if you don't take the off trail trickiness into account
Even without all the off trail bushwhacking and having to Kool Aid Man through thick brush, those numbers are bound to beat the crap out of your legs!
Jim Dockery wrote:
Rod, yes, I was solo. I certainly know that's against "the rules" of climbing/hiking,
I'll say nothing. Too many solo miles on my old frame ;-)
"I always carry a personal locator beacon, but I'm afraid they don't work so well in the forest with trees overhead, where much of the difficult travel occurred on this trip."
Never did that, probably should. 70% dead reckoning navigation, 10% maps, 20% luck. Oh the stories I could tell. FWIW dead-reckoning didn't always work well when I lived in Southern Oregon. Steep slopes and heavily forested areas in the Siskiyous blocked landmarks all to often, that's where the 20% luck came in.
Jim Dockery wrote:
The light wasn't perfect, but the peaks were rugged and beautiful viewed from a vantage I'd never been to.
Impressive images from an impressive effort.
Made me feel cold, though, just viewing your post. I'm still supposed to guard my hands after a cold misadventure last spring, so I went to South America for my big winter excursion this year. I'll make myself some tea now and sit by the fire.
