11/2/02
Curtis-Gilbert is a LONG (& maybe ill-advised) one-dayer. Matt, Jon and I arrived at the trailhead near Chambers Lake and started up the trail to Snowgrass Flats.
| Jon and Matt prepping gear at the trailhead. |
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I had done Old Snowy a few years ago, but I hardly felt super-familiar with the area. It was opening weekend for elk hunting and there were trucks in assorted positions parked along the road on the way up. Matter of fact we came face to face (maybe 20 yards away) with about ten elk crossing Route 12 on the way in . . . a huge bull with his "stable" tagging along, probably spooked by all the movement in the woods that morning. I was making big noises about dressing down the individual responsible for some "backcountry ethic-insensitivity" along the trail, until we encountered the pleasant and smiling perpetrator along the trail. . . he was outfitted in blaze orange and toting a 30-0-6. . .
. . . "good morning & have a nice day."
Further up the trail, a lack of faith (& my poor map research) caused us to ignore an obvious bypass trail and we continued on up to the main basin below Old Snowy and Ives Peak to the junction with the Pacific Crest trail. This move cost us about an hour on what was going to already be a long day.
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"Dammit, Jim!!"
Operator-error-caused diversion into the scenic basin below Old Snowy (L) and Ives Peak. |
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We finally arrived at spectacular Cispus Basin after following the PCT for a while. What an incredible place!
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The PCT in this basin clung to the side of the hill like discarded string.
First good look at the peaks above Cispus Basin: Big Horn in center with Black Thumb slightly below, and blocky Goat Citadel to the right. |
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"It's-beginning-to-look-a-little-like-ski-season"
Partially frozen waterfall in Cispus Basin. |
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| Matt continues deeper into the basin. We contoured up below the very obvious "Black Thumb" and then up a broad gully on the right skyline. |
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We got a bead on the shoulder above the basin that would be our avenue to the meatier section of the hike, and left the main trail. From the top of this shoulder we finally got a look at the confusion that was to be the start of the traverse to the northwest shoulder of Curtis-Gilbert, but we couldn't see the peak itself.
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"You read a description of this route, right?"
Jon preparing for more route-finding improvisation. Mt. Adams directly behind. |
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We climbed the main gully to the start of what was supposed to be a traverse skirting above a series of gullies and cliff-bands, and below the Goat Citadel. This traverse was definitely non-trivial and featured some incredibly rotten, loose, crappy rock. Any sections that featured snow-melt turned the underlying pumice into grease . . . just to spice things up. Jon recalled several moves where either a foothold, handhold, or both failed causing him to rapidly switch into "road-runner" mode.
| Matt and Jon (below & left) managing the first gully. |
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The traverse just felt like it was taking too much time. We had started to negotiate a drop-dead turnaround time when we crested yet another small crest out of the endless series of gullies and finally saw the broad shoulder of Curtis-Gilbert.
After a long slog up the shoulder, there was some blocky scrambling up what wound up being a false summit . . . the summit itself was a short traverse and additional blocky scramble upward.
| Matt making his way up the pile of rocks below the summit. |
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A final exposed ramp lead to the small but spectacular summit. Mt. Adams & Mt. St. Helens were clearly visible to the south, and Rainier was to the Northwest, just beyond Old Snowy, the north anchor of the Goat Rocks complex. The Conrad Glacier spilled to the North below.
| Jon scrambling up the last few pitches of the summit block. The remainder of the Goat Rocks complex visible behind: Goat Citadel, Ives Peak, and Old Snowy. |
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| Jon on the final ramp to the top. Rainier in the distance. |
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"In life, you are either a magnate or a victim."
Matt on the knife-edge below the summit. (Jon Carney photo) |
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| Enjoying the summit of Mt. Curtis Gilbert, el. 8184 ft. |
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After taking in the views from the summit, we started down at about 2pm, assuring us an exit that was going to feature some amount of darkness.
| Jon on his way off Curtis Gilbert's pumice-covered shoulder, staring off at the North side of Adams. |
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The descent of the summit block and NW shoulder was speedy, but the traverse was nearly as tedious as it had been on the way up. When we again reached the col above Cispus Basin the difficulties were over . . . and it was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other until we got back to the trailhead.
| Matt exiting Cispus Basin, basking in the late afternoon sunshine. |
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We hit the bypass that we had skipped on the way up and shaved a bunch of time. Light was seriously failing by the time we reached the big footbridge at the bottom of the Goat Creek drainage. "Are we still on the right trail?" was only mostly said in jest.....
We arrived back at the rig in total darkness. We were all pretty wasted,
it had been a HUGE day, but a beautiful day in the alpine is
always a good day, no matter what the travel mode.