A mouth gone dry from fear
Early morning mountain view from the Blue Lake trail
Last weekend, I joined a motley crew to mount assaults on two peaks near Washington Pass. Somehow in my seven years of climbing I’ve never made it to this area (scandalous, I know). Our objectives were Concord Tower on Saturday, followed by South Early Winter Spire the next day.
I won’t go into details about Concord Tower, except to say that it got the better of Colt and me. After three attempts on the second pitch, we gave up. The peak would be there another day, and we wanted to be healthy enough to give it another go.
After the disappointment on Saturday, I woke up Sunday with fresh determination to summit South Early Winter Spire via the south arete, which was a good thing, considering it was a basic climb for the Mountaineers and I was on deck to lead the whole thing.
The climb started off well enough - the approach being short and enjoyable. We were at the base of the climb in an hour and a half. I don’t think there is better trad climbing for your approach dollar any where else in the state.
The hardest move on the climb (a friction-intensive step or two about 10’ off the deck) had us all quaking in our boots. The consequence of a fall would be hitting the ground, and none of us wanted that. My mouth went dry from fear as I worked up the face and onto a broad ledge.
Once past “the move,” the climbing was easy and enjoyable. I’d even call the classic chimney at the top of the second pitch really fun. You work your way up - with a foot on one side and your back and other foot on the other. Just as the chimney gets too wide for your body, magical jugs appear. All you have to do is grab them and hoist yourself out. Cool!
Patrick makes his way across the “whale back”
After the technical climbing there’s another good section of unroped scrambling over exposed terrain. Not for the faint of heart or anyone uncomfortable with downclimbing.
All eight of us made it to the top, just not at the same time. The views of the North Cascades were astounding!
Other pictures, taken by my climbing partner Patrick are also available: http://jpdavin.com/gallery2/v/SEarlyWinterSpire-8-20-06/.
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