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.