Ruth-Icy Traverse

Last year John and I had a trip up Mt. Ruth and Icy Peak planned, but it got rained out. When I heard that he had it on the calendar again this year, I eagerly signed up. We met at the typical John hour (before 6 a.m.) and headed to the ranger station just outside Glacier.

There were many groups gathering at the ranger station to get their permits and blue bags. When I got out of the car, two nice-looking ladies introduced themselves and said how nice it was to see me again. (Really? Who are you?) After all the dire warnings about impossible road conditions, deadly bug bites, and “you’ll be lucky to make it back alive” vibes from the rangers, we left for the trailhead. I always leave ranger stations scratching my head. How can rangers be so unknowledgeable about the trails in their jurisdiction? And why do they always seem to try and dissuade you from going anywhere but 100-feet from the car? What exactly do they get paid to do?

Their warnings about the rutted road turned out to be unnecessary and we made it to the TH without any trouble. In no time at all six intrepid climbers were headed up to Hannegan Pass. It was slow going due to several trail obstacles, but the increasingly good views made it worthwhile.

Forty-five minutes of hard work and we arrived at the top of Mt Ruth, a mountain with possibly the best views of any peak I’ve ever been on. From here we could see the Picketts, the North Cascades, the north face of Mt. Shuksan, Mt. Baker, Glacier, Blum, Rainier (barely)...so many peaks I’d have a hard time listing them all.

After a relaxing break, I wandered over to look at the rest of the day’s route to camp and our route up Icy Peak. The foreshortening effect of distance made the route look absolutely impossible. All the better to raise the excitement!

The descent to camp went quickly enough, and we set about the tasks of setting up tents and melting snow for water.

The day started early, as you’d expect. All the better to look at the sunrise, though!

We descended hell’s gully (full of crumbly rock) to the snow and made the quick rising traverse of the glacier to Icy’s final 4th class gully.

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