Ruth Mountain — Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023

With a non ideal weather forecast leading up to this climb, I'm glad we went for it despite possibility of rain and thunderstorms. The day turned out amazing with Kidz Won't Hike, SoaringEagle, and JDog! At this point, Ruth is less than 1/2 mile of glacier climbing, otherwise no snow. Of 12 people summiting this day, 9 were roped and 3 were not. It is a glacier with active crevasses, but risk assessment is a personal preference. Definitely needed crampons for the snow conditions.

Trying to beat an 11am rain forecast, we departed at 3am and arrived at Hannegan TH at 5:40. Got the last official spot, lots of cars parked on the road from day before. Surprisingly we saw very few people on Ruth or on the trail this day. Toilet was stocked and clean. Narrow road has potholes, but is in pretty good shape as gravel roads go. 

First segment of the trail is 4.5 miles to Hannegan Pass. It's in great shape and a gentle slope for the most part. It's wide open to the sun and was hot coming back down. Views of Ruth and other peaks quickly come into view. After Hannegan Pass, lose some elevation and regain it up a very steep slope with deep ruts from runoff. This part was the sketchiest due to loose rock potential. Hikers have created branch off trails that are dirt and much of the loose rock can be avoided. Looking back down, we saw a bear go across the campsite and tarn at the low point! Then we hiked around behind so called Peak 5930 on scree fields and looped around to the ridge hiking up to Ruth. Views are stunning once back here of the North Cascades, Canada, Shukshan, and Baker! Northern views were definitely hazy. Beautiful hike up the ridge that turns rockier as you get higher. There were some places with loose boulders so you need to be cautious. The snow climbing starts near the top of the rock ridge off to the right. Tracks were obvious from the group above us, though by no means is there a deep boot path as it melts out each day. We spent time gearing up and then set off for the summit. It only takes 20-30 mins on snow. There are crevasses off to the right which dictate the path up. The final portion is rock, so we removed rope and crampons and had lunch and relaxed on summit. Bugs eventually forced us off for the trip back down. 

Stats: 7115' elevation, 13.3 miles, 4600' gain, 9:20 total time, 2:20 stopped (an hour setting up and tearing down rope team)

Gear: Glacier travel gear such as rope, harness, ice axe, helmet, etc. Crevasse rescue gear. Decided to wear just Gore-Tex hiking boots and fit my lightweight crampons to those, given we would be traveling 12 miles on dirt vs 1 on snow. Not a fan of carrying Mountaineering boots in pack. 

Water Sources: Two meager ones 2-3 miles from TH and one good one right by the start of the snow climb. 

Bugs: There were definitely biting flies and mosquitos. Wind held them off in many places, but depending on wind and elevation, they could get annoying, such as at Hannegan Pass and below on the way out. There were also flying ants at the summit and after 20 mins they got too annoying so we left. 

GPX file: https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=2271042