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Climbers

Ruth Mountain and Icy Peak
Christopher Canfield

Here's my trip report from our August 6-8th trip to the north cascades. Enjoy!


Ruth and Icy Trip Report


more Photos

Shonee Langford
Nice lead, Chris, and congrats to the team. That was a tough call re the lightning and whether to descend in the dark. I wonder if moving ice axes, steel crampons, etc away from camp would be helpful in a situation like that? Maybe create a sort of “lightning rod” a safe distance from the tents? Or maybe that would somehow increase the risk of a strike? 

Glad you all weathered the storm safely!

Shonee

Sue Nelson
Wow, tough and beautiful climbs!
Tough decision to make on the lightning. Glad it worked out!

S

Mad Marmot

Very good TR and beautiful photos, and always great to live vicariously thru such adventures! Father Time has kicked my butt there several times over the years. As an old fart, it's also sad to see the diminution of the glaciers over the past 40+ years. The snow pack on Ruth and Icy appears to have reduced substantially, although it may be that you're climbing a bit later in the year. 

Cathy and I were also wondering about the choice to camp on the ridge prior to summiting Ruth, rather than doing the carryover to camp overlooking Nooksack cirque. It would seem you'd have had the time, especially as you didn't even have to rope up for Ruth's ascent, and it made the following day's summit day longer. Spending a second night on the mountain is wise as, on prior climbs, we usually ended up arriving back at the Hannegan trailhead near 8 to 9pm. You were blessed in that the historically miserable "muddy gully" above Hannegan pass appears rather benign from the photos; that gully ascent/descent has been typically marked by both mud and the curses of climbers who were slipping and clinging to the vegetable belays!

And, good call on hunkering in place during the storm; the downside risk in breaking camp and negotiating the exit route/gullies during darkness (after you're already exhausted from a long climb day) just doesn't pass the common sense test.   https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/know-before-you-go/lightning   -   Hopefully, as Shonee noted, you didn't attempt to cuddle with your ice ax/pickets!

Sarah Kyllo
Great job everyone and great write up Chris! Glad you all made it out safely and didn't have to descend in the dark after such a long day of summits.

I remember that trip from 2019 so fondly, it is one of the most beautiful places I've climbed.

Gorgeous photos!!


Sarah Kyllo

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