Some essential gear for this trip:
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Helmet
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Harness
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30m rope (we were a two-person team)
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Ice axe
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Mountaineering boots
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4 snow pickets (2 per person)
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Crevasse rescue gear (prusiks, locking and non-locking carabiners, etc)
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Glacier glasses
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Sunblock
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Navigation
Day 1 - 8/8/2020
We were a two person team doing a three day, two night summit attempt of Dakobed (a.k.a. Glacier Peak). We started from the North Fork Sauk River Trailhead at 8:45AM. The first five to six miles were fairly mellow so we didn't stop until we reached the Mackinaw Shelter camp. This was a nice place to do a quick stop as the next couple of miles were filled with steep switchbacks and constant elevation gain. We reached White Pass around 1:40PM which was about 10 miles from our starting point. The clouds rolled in with a heavy mist as we ate lunch which added a sense of mystery to our adventure.
We continued on through the fog and passed through rolling hills filled with blooming wild flowers. Even the gloom couldn't hide the beauty of this place. The temperatures were cool but the humidity was high so we were sweating throughout our journey. There were plenty of cute marmots dancing around us when we reached the saddle to get into the White Chuck glacier basin. This is where we started witnessing more persistent snow fields. The snow was soft so we didn't need to put on our crampons to continue.
The White Chuck glacier basin had intermittent clouds so we didn't get to see Dakobed or the surrounding features very clearly. It appeared that Glacier Gap base camp was socked in with white out conditions so we opted to camp a mile away. We camped right by a boulder to protect ourselves from the wind and had plenty of water sources around us. It was a gorgeous, barren landscape with a lovely view of the White Chuck Glacier and we had the whole area to ourselves.
Day 2 - 8/9/2020
The alarm went off at 3:15AM. The wind had subsided but we couldn't see 15 feet in front of us thanks to low-hanging clouds. We persisted through the ominous fog and left camp by 4:25AM. Conditions improved dramatically above 7,000 feet and we finally saw Dakobed for the first time. We caught the sunrise as we passed Glacier Gap base camp right before 6AM. It was incredible to see all the alpine glow hitting the mountains and glaciers around us.
We walked on the lateral moraine ridge until it got too steep for us to continue forward. We roped up at the Suiattle glacier which was fairly mellow in terms of steepness. There was loose rock fall from Disappointment Peak which made the traverse to Cool glacier a little spicy. We witnessed one rock the size of a motorcycle fly by silently about 200 feet in front of us. Did I mention this glacier was mellow? I might need to rethink my idea of what mellow is.
From the Suiattle glacier we traversed to the Cool glacier. A slight bergschrund was forming between the two glaciers which made the snow bridge a little spicy looking. Luckily the snow was stable and the boot path was easy to follow. We continued on the Cool glacier roped up until we reached the lateral moraine ridge that led to the summit. We unroped at the ridge line but kept our crampons on and ice axes out. It was a straight-forward way to the summit with some slight steepness of chossy rock and snow. We reached the summit by 9:15AM where we were greeted with clear views, breezy winds, and an epic feeling of success as the only all-female rope team at the summit that day.
The wind was fairly strong at the summit so we didn't stay for too long. We went down the same way we came up and had lunch at the Glacier Gap base camp around noon. We then got back to our campsite and packed up our belongings to move to our second camp at White Pass. The views around us were clear and we got to see all the glacier lakes and peaks we had missed the previous day. Hiking back to White Pass was straightforward and we enjoyed the sun, wildflowers and little marmots playing in the fields past the White Chuck glacier basin. We reached White Pass by 4:45PM and enjoyed a relaxing evening with a nice clear view of Sloan Peak. This campground had a good water source and a toilet which was an added bonus. The only downside was the persistent mosquitos that lingered at all hours of the day. I was happy to have my bug net on me.
Day 3 - 8/10/2020
We woke up the next morning at 6AM and left camp by 7:30AM. The final trek to the car was 10 miles from White Pass and we had the luxury of hiking mostly in the shade. We took only one quick break by the Mackinaw Shelter camp and arrived at the car by 11AM. I really enjoyed doing this trip as it was the most remote climb I had ever done. The views were spectacular and the fields of wildflowers were absolutely stunning to walk through. I was lucky to have such an awesome climbing partner to do this trip with and excellent weather to enjoy Dakobed at her full splendor.
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