Vesper Peak - North Ridge and Green Giant Buttress

This last weekend we decided to leave beautiful sunny EWA and venture to the solar-challenged side of the mountains. Michelle has always wanted to climb Green Giant Buttress near Darrington so we thought we'd combine it with a little alpine experience on Vesper Peak, taking advantage of the little climbing mecca along the Mountain Loop Highway.

We got a late start and headed up into the fog for Vesper Peak. It was misting a little and we were beginning to wonder if we would see anything the entire day.

We got a few breaks and then our hopes went up!

The approach seemed longer than it was, quite a bit of elevation gain with lots of switchbacks, then up to a beautiful basin between Vesper and Sperry.

Sperry Peak:

Another peak pokes its head out of the mist:

Finally we hiked to a col and the clouds cleared to show our route on the north face. From the col we had to descend several hundred feet of loose rock to a small glacier, then crossed the glacier directly to the face. We climbed the lower wall, up the big slab, then up right around the summit block.

Michelle loves moat crossings:

Luckily this one wasn't too bad comparatively. Looking back down while leading the first pitch:

Climbing up a gully on the lower wall:

We dispatched the gully in 3 pitches which led to the infamous slab:

It was really steep!!!

Well, not really that steep:

Well, actually more like this:

It was fun anyways and Michelle took over for the money pitch up the final dihedral:

The fog rolled in and it got desperate.

And the climbing got really steep again!

Well, not really:

Anyways, it was a very pleasant outing on a mini-alpine classic.

Michelle groping the summit:

The descent went quick as we ran back to the car. Another requisite Joe shot:

The next day we went for the Green Giant Buttress, a beautiful sweep of granite near Darrington. I had climbed it once before on a route called Dreamer, so this time we decided on a route called Safe Sex.

The approach took over 2 hours up an old overgrown logging road and then up 1,000-feet of gullies and slabs. We finally got on the rock and started the smear-fest.

The friction is awesome making the 4 bolts per 165-feet tolerable.

Michelle showing how its done:

As we got higher the cloudy weather parted and gave way to a beautiful day. We had the entire place to ourselves.

Getting higher:

On top of the buttress:

Chalk up another one!

The rappels went really smooth and we were back on the ground in no time.

A final look at the goodness:

We cruised back to the car, finishing another grand two days in the mountians.

Prusik Peak - South Face and Enchantment Loop (in a day)

Michelle and I had a great day of fun playing in our back yard. Climbing Prusik Peak in a day is requisite for any climber that lives around here. Since Prusik lies pretty much half way into the Enchantment Loop, we decided to go in via Stuart Lake trailhead and go out via Snow Creek trailhead. The total trail mileage is about 21 miles, with over 5,000 feet elevation gain and over 6,000 loss. All this for 5 pitches of climbing on the South Face of Prusik. If you haven't figured it out yet, this makes for a very long day!

We left the car in the wee hours of the morning and arrived at Colchuck lake as the sun was coming up.

Dragontail Peak and Colchuck Lake. It is 4.5 miles to the lake, then we traveresed around the lake and up the broad Aasgard Pass left of the peak. In over 15 years of climbing here and over a dozen descents of Aasgard, that was the first time I've climbed it in it's entirety.

Up we go!

and up...

And finally, Aasgard Pass!

Witches Tower!

It was a beautful morning to walk through the Enchantments!

Looking back toward Dragontail Peak:

Just follow the Yellow Brick Road:

Follow, follow, follow, follow; Follow the Yellow Brick Road:

Getting closer to the objective:

Sure was pretty out there. Little Annapurna and Crystal Lake:

We finally reached our objective, Prusik Peak. The route goes straight up the steep face on the right to the summit.

I had done the Burgner-Stanley route 1 5/6 times before, so this time we opted for the Beckey-Davis line. The routes were very similar in character. Michelle following pitch 2:

Traversing across Snaffelhound Ledge:

And the final pitch which takes a cool, albeit short 5.10a hand crack right to the true summit:

Though it's typically done in 6 or 7, we were able to easily to the route in 5 pitches.

The obligatory Joe shot:

We were the only one's on Prusik the entire day!

We made four rappels down the back side and hiked back to the base.

Michelle chillin' back at the base:

Looking up the route from the base:

Then started our long 10.5 mile journey back to the Snow Creek trailhead. Looking back at Prusik:

Not much to say about the hike out, other than it was long and our feet hurt. You lose around 6,000 vertical feet from Prusik.

The weather was absolutely perfect; we wore t-shirts the entire day, right from and to the car. We made it back to the trailhead just before dark and low and behold our pickup was there waiting for us. Thanks Sara and Mark! It's excellent have great friends in Leavenworth!