Our friend Scott was in town this week and that meant a couple of things, we were gonna get gnarly and we were gonna drive around in his big truck.
Not owning a car is a liberating, simplifying experience. However, like most of you might think, it tends to make things more difficult, both technically and physically. First of all, your commute gets a lot harder and requires more thought and planning. In a town like Leavenworth this isn't really an issue, everything is so close and accessible there's not much reason not to ride your bike everywhere. The other major drawback is that those short trips to destinations just a couple of hours away require a lot more planning and commitment. For a lot of people this would mean they just don't happen, for us, it means those trips to Washington Pass, the North Cascades, or Squamish probably won't happen till this fall when we're both not working anymore. A lot of young people can relate to this, work hard for a few months and take the next few off, linking together a couple of road trips to those spots that require a little more then a weekend to enjoy. As bicyclist, we're required to slow down and enjoy the journey, that 5 hour trip to ______ could take us about 5 days, so instead of taking a long weekend and cram in some climbing, we'd probably take two or three weeks, enjoy the ride, be able to settle in and enjoy the town and community when we get there, have a rest day or two, and really get to explore the area. Granted, most people don't have that kind of time, or if they do it's for only two or three weeks out of the whole year. We've got bills to pay and food to buy too, we're not professional athletes, we're doing this for fun, we love the mountains, we love climbing, and we want to see if it's possible to keep climbing hard and seeing new places without relying on gasoline. This is all an experiment and stems from our wish to move beyond the status-quo and think creatively about our lives and recreation with Earth.
I know I might be ranting, and I'm sure I'll continue to, not just now but in the future as well, talking and writing help me figure these things out, so I'd love your input or advice, as I'm a long ways from having anything figured out.
That's my precursor to why we got a ride in a truck this weekend. What we're doing is hard, and we're going to take opportunities to make it easier. Carpooling, buses, trains, these are all super efficient means of travel that are overlooked and underused by most climbers and outdoor enthusiasts alike. The freedom to get up and leave whenever you want, make a mad dash for that peak or alpine lake you've been dreaming about, and be back for work in two days, is a big part of our instantly gratifying lives. Just the thought of relinquishing the mobility and independence that personal automobiles gives us is enough to make our palms sweat. I would be stuck, hopeless, bored, dependent. How would I get anywhere? Could I still do all these thing I love?
Yes.
For myself, the actuality of not owning an automobile was the motivation I needed to make this stuff happen. I don't recommend that unless you think about it long and hard and are willing to make some sacrifices. If you're not ready to make that step, hold on to that rig and use it when it's needed, pile a bunch of people and gear into it for those just out of reach trips. Otherwise, ride your bike, hitchhike, figure out if there's a bus, rent a car if you need to. Our reliance and overuse of these tools is making the world a smaller and less hospitable place. I'm not advocating the complete boycott and abandonment of cars and trucks, just denying the generally accepted reality that we all need our own to be happy and free. Ride your bike, make or buy a trailer, haul your shit around, it feels great. Driving your car can get you some awesome places, but when you ride your bike it feels like you're flying.
So yeah, back to Scott's truck. Scott's got a big Dodge Ram 1500, a large truck that he lives out of. Whenever I think about Scott's fuel economy, I remind myself that every time he's driving around he's moving his whole home and all his worldly possessions with him. Not too bad after all I guess. On top of that Liz and I and our packs fit in with no problem. Off we went to the North Fork of the Teanaway River.
The drive up to the trail head was beautiful, and definitely made Liz and I nostalgic for car camping, all the great spots in the woods, a clear mountain stream to bathe and pull water from, ideal.
Impressive South Face of Mt. Stuart.
Ingalls Peaks, South North and East left to right.
Our objective was to climb the south ridge of Ingall's north peak, and maybe climb Mt. Stuarts West Ridge the next day before coming back out. As soon as we reached the pass and got our first view down into Ingalls Creek and the incredible South Face of Mt. Stuart, it was obvious what should be our main objective. Dinner was made and we agreed to go for it the next day.
Playin' some dice and enjoying the view.
With our advanced base camp near Ingalls lake we felt we had liberty for a relaxed alpine start of 9 am. The hike up to the start of the climb only took about an hour and a half and the views were gorgeous the whole time.
Here the route began, ahead lie about 2500 feet of 3rd and 4th class scrambling and another 500 or more feet of roped climbing.
Up.
The gully went well, fun scrambling on smooth stone.
And Up.
Our beta for this trip included a printout from Mountain Project and a poorly photocopied picture, but between the two we figured out basically where the route could go and pushed ahead. The fact that we had no clue what or where Cascadian Couloir (the descent route) was seemed not to be a problem, we'd figure that out.
Ridgewalking
Scott's just getting into climbing and this was his first foray into alpine climbing. He killed it. Lots of unroped scrambling with serious exposure, in Scott's words, dialing up the "pucker factor".
West Ridge Notch and the final bit to the summit.
Endless scrambling and we reached the West ridge notch, roped up for a few final pitches of climbing and before we knew it we were at the summit.
After talking to some friends we realized we finished on the 5.6 Becky variation. I clipped his piton.
Scott topping out on the final pitch.
Mt Stuart is the second highest non volcanic peak in the Cascades, the largest in Stuart range and is the high point of the Stuart batholith, which is about 16 miles wide and about 13 in diameter, comprising most of the peaks in the Enchantments and Wenatchee Mountains. Mt. Stuart was once described as the single greatest mass of exposed granite in the United States. Well, uh, yup. It's a big rock alright.
On top.
The views were great but we knew that with no clear knowledge of the descent route we should start making our way down should we encounter any obstacles. The obvious gully directly below the summit seemed large enough to be a couloir, Cascadian? lets go! A little under three hours and we had trundled down almost 4000 feet of Mt. Stuarts South face to the valley below. On the way we passed numerous rappel stations that gave us hope we were on some similarly trodden path. We managed to make it down without a single rappel and picked up some poorly placed slings and cord along the way. (Back at home we figured out we'd chosen Ulrich's Couloir for our descent route.) Once in the valley and back on Ingalls Creek Trail our way was obvious, several miles of slogging back to camp. The Valley was beautiful, full of wildflowers and alpenglow views of Stuart. Before long the mosquitoes were on us and the fun was over. We swatted our way back to camp. 12 hours after we left, back into camp for some delicious food and much needed sleep.
Lots of this.
Happy to be down.
Ingalls North Peak in the middle, the south ridge follows it's left skyline.
Back for more.
The stone was much different then Stuart, instead of the clean granite across the valley the entire mountain is made of a broken crumbly mass of serpentine. Thankfully the quality on the route was very nice, smooth and polished cracks leading up a system of slabs. Three easy pitches and we were enjoying the view from another summit.
Climbing up with goats on the pee trail below.
Summiting.
It was here that the camera batteries ran out, so no more pictures. We started working our way back to the trailhead, first off the west side of Ingalls, again putting Scott through some puckering downclimbs but successfully avoiding any rappels. The hike out went smooth and before we knew it we were speeding our way back toward civilization.
Chilling by the lake.
An awesome trip with good friends, lots of aggressive goats who wanted nothing more then to lick out pee, and some quality mountain climbing.
Goats love our piss.
Scott worked hard, that's sweat.
Thanks to Scott, the truck really made it possible, crushing what would have been a long day of riding in just a couple of hours. I'm stoked to have seen a different view of the mountains and have some help getting out there. By the way Scott, your truck is big and white, if it doesn't already have a name, how do you feel about Equinsu Ocha?
Peace for now...
No comments:
Post a Comment