On 8/15/22, started at Shannon Ridge trailhead and climbed up to camp close to base of Sulphide glacier.  On 8/16/22, traversed Sulphide Glacier from base camp, rock scramble up Class 3-4 gully, summited Shuksan, back out to trailhead.

Should go without saying, but this is a legit mountaineering effort that requires ice ax, crampons, safe glacier travel techniques, and being comfortable with Class 3-4 exposed rock scrambling. 

Road up to Shannon Ridge trailhead is ok with couple of potholes and no major obstacles.  Could be done with a low clearance vehicle.

Nothing major in terms of the trail up the old logging road and switchbacks through forest.  After crossing the flat ridge (which exposes great views of Baker and Baker Lake) and ascending one final dusty set of switchbacks to a notch, will see the trail continue on a slope across rocks.  There are a couple of cairns leading the way, but there still is a good stretch of snow obscuring an obvious route had to put on boots for to ascend to the first camp.  GPS was helpful here to make sure on track.

There are a couple of obvious campsites around the composting toilet (exposed, but what a view of Baker).  There are a lot of flies coming out of the toilet in mid day, but better in the morning when colder, so if you’re uncomfortable with that, pack blue bags.  Chose a campsite that was closest to a water source that was trickling from the melting snow at the bottom of the camp area.  It’s a trickle in early day, but grows stronger as the day gets warmer.  Bugs are present and not too bad, but did get a couple of bites without using any deet.  

Temperature was very warm during the day, where was comfortable in running shorts and a thin layered sun hoodie, so it looks like the beginnings of a heat wave in Seattle wasn’t escapable in higher mountains.  Slept in a tent at night comfortable in a 40 F degree sleeping bag.

Alpine start the day of summit had some gorgeous sunrise colors in the distance while traversing the Sulphide.  A boot path across the glacier was pretty evident and didn’t notice any major crevasses directly along the route.  Took crampons off at base of the summit pyramid and scrambled up gully, trying to follow the areas where saw pre-set rappelling ropes/anchors set.  Some guides call this scramble a solid Class 3.  I’m not much of a rock climber to begin with, but it seemed like a Class 4 to me solely based on how nervous I was.  I think we may have gotten off track going up which made it more difficult as well.  There are a large number of rocks that looked like they should be stable for a handhold only to find out it would move with some weight applied.  Getting solid footholds while wearing mountaineering boots was difficult for me.  Snow was present in the gully and did have to traverse for very short stretches.  Did not experience any rock fall.

Summit was beautiful with clear skies and views in all directions with major peaks visible.  Rainier, Baker, Glacier Peak, Adams, etc.  Apparently can see into Canada.  

Was able to rappel down some stretches making use of the pre-set rope/anchor points which made going down the gully much easier, but down climbing all the way is doable given sufficient energy and attention to parties coming up below.  Going back across Sulphide to camp was very warm to where had just stripped down to base layers only.  Packed up at camp and headed all the way back out to Shannon Ridge trailhead.

Leave base camp: 505 AM

Shuksan summit: 900 AM

Shannon Ridge TH: 415 PM

We did this trip as a part of our climb to Mount Shuksan via Sulphide Glacier.  Shannon Ridge had patches of snow, but you could get away without any traction device. However, the snow field started at around 5,000 feet or so (just a little past Shannon Ridge). From that point forward, We put on our mountaineering boots and got out our ice axes.

The trail leading to Shannon Ridge was in decent conditions. There were a couple of down logs, and certain sections could use some drainage improvements.

Bugs were bad. Bring bug spray/net

We did a day trip up Shuksan via the Fisher Chimneys Route. This route requires scrambling and glacier crossings so should only be done by those with experience. For gear we used trail runners and put on crampons and pulled out ice axes for the steep snow sections. Luckily, there was still a significant amount of snow so the glacier crossings were fairly safe with no large crevasses showing yet on the main path. Further details below:

There were a few bugs at the trailhead, but once we started moving they disappeared. The trail to Lake Ann is snow free on the downhill and flats, but when you start heading back uphill toward lake Ann the snow starts at 4,200 feet elevation. The trail from here to the lake is mostly snow covered. Lake Ann was still frozen over with some blue patches showing through on the edges.

After lake Ann, the snow continues for a bit before turning back to dry ground. The first scramble section is snow free but does have some running water on part of the route. From here, crossing over to the fisher chimneys is still snow covered. The chimneys are mostly snow free and you can ascend the chimneys without going through the snow.

Winnies slide had solid kick steps in it already and the snow is in good condition, no ice. There were a few crevasses and holes starting to show on the upper Curtis glacier, however, these were easily avoidable.

Hell's highway also had solid kick steps and the snow was in good condition and it was not icy.

The sulfide glacier also was crevasse free to the summit. The third class gully to the summit still had snow that was fairly soft and loose but you can divert around the snow by doing some low 5th class climbing moves.

360 Photos in links below.

We climbed Mount shuksan via fisher chimneys route this weekend. We started Saturday afternoon and headed to lake Ann to make camp. The road Is closed a little bit before the official lake Ann trailhead but you can park in the lower lots and walk up( less than half a mile). Plenty of water on the way to and at lake Ann. Lake is mostly frozen. There are a decent amount of camping spots available around the lake. We slept for a little and woke up early Sunday morning to get started towards the chimneys.(140am) We found our way up the chimneys in the dark. The trail is pretty well traveled. The only part we got a little lost was after I think the third or fourth chimney. Stay in the gully instead of going around to the right. Lots of rapp stations along the way. Took us about three hours to get up the chimneys but we had a group of five and weren’t going super fast. At the top of the chimneys there is a small snow patch to cross to some more boulders at the base of winnies slide. We waited til base of winnies slide to put on crampons. Good Water at the top of winnies slide (last Beforw summit!) Kinda sketchy ice spot to climb up to get on to lower Curtis glacier but ok with standard ice axe and crampons. Easy to maneuver around the crevasses on lower Curtis and excellent boot path. Hells highway used standard ice axe and ice tool. We decided not to rope up for hell’s highway in case anyone fell we didn’t want to all get dragged off. Traverse of upper Curtis glacier to summit block was super straightforward, avoidable crevasses, not steep, good path. The scramble to the summit was awesome! Lots of class 4 and class three moves. Summited at 10am. We decided to down climb instead of rapp to save time and it was fairly easy, that being said I have a decent amount of rock climbing experience. There were anchors to rapp down hells highway and winnies slide, both of which we utilized. This was a really fun climb! Little bit of everything and got to further develop a lot mountaineer skills. Probably Not one for the faint of heart. Both chimneys and summit block were pretty serious scrambles and glacier experience for the slide , highway and glacier traverses.