Merchant Peak — Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023

I heard that the road to Barclay Lake was open again, so with the very low avy risk, I decided this was my chance to do Merchant. Since the weather has been so weird (hello climate change and El Niño!), I wasn't entirely positive what conditions I might encounter, so I threw some extra stuff into my car - crampons and hybrid ice axe. I suspected I wouldn't need them since the standard route is south facing, but carrying them would be good training.

There was some snow on the road. I was able to make it all the way to the TH in my Accord, although there was definitely some belly scraping going on towards the end. Another good snow or two without any warming pattern, and it'll no longer be passable to low clearance vehicles.

I met some friendly hikers and their dog at the TH (hi Rob and Alexis!) and then passed them again later on the trail. The trail proper was icy but clear.

I turned off shortly after the foot bridge, and easily found the creek bed. Patchy wet snow. I stayed to climber's left, which went with minor bushwhacking. Waterfall #1 was easily bypassed to the left - there is a faint climber's trail that is marked by a cairn before and after the waterfall. Waterfall #2 was bypassed to the right. I avoided as much of the slab as I could by going over steep duff. There was some awkward scrambling to get over some steep loose dirt to the left of waterfall #2.5. Spectacular views of Baring's dramatic north face on the way up.

Then the infamous crux at waterfall #3. Smoot and Beckey and Brian Jenkins who wrote the SummitPost page all call the route Class 3. I don't have the Smoot book, but I'm inclined to believe that the gully overall looked very different when the latter two did it since neither mention this waterfall. And hoo boy is it worth mentioning. Some folks call it low class 5, and at least one person calls it 5.7. I'd call it mid class 5, maybe a spicy 5.6.

I stashed some unnecessary weight - the aforementioned crampons and hybrid axe - and relocated food weight to my center of gravity. I inspected the handline and studied the holds. I contemplated all my life decisions that had led to this moment. Then I geared up and turned my brain off. I clipped into the handline, but did not weight it - I seriously doubt it would hold in a fall. I basically treated the start of the climb like a super awkward chimney, and it went. Fortunately it's a very short climb.

After that, everything was straightforward though very slow going. To get up to the cave, I took the ramp that is above the dirt gully. I did my best to avoid the snow until it was no longer possible, then I put on microspikes. The snow is very wet and very loose. I postholed frequently to my knees, and sometimes deeper. Even old avy debris was quite loose. It was exhausting, and the sun beating down on me wasn't helping. I should've stashed my rappel gear literally anywhere after waterfall #3, but for some unknown reason, did not.

I finally encountered somewhat decent snow a few hundred feet below the summit. And then all of sudden, I was on the summit! Beautiful views all around, especially of the Gunn massif, Baring over Barclay Lake, and Index. It was getting late, so I did not linger.

Going back down everything was so much easier than going up. I rapped down the waterfall in the dying light. I augmented the rap station with a new sling and rap ring, as well as some spare cordelette as a handline. The sling isn't super secure - there was some debris around the anchor I couldn't dig away and I was short on time - but it should be good enough for now. The cordelette doesn't quite reach the bottom, but it should add a little extra mental sense of safety for future climbers.

What a great day in the mountains.

5h30 up, 3h45 down, total 9h15 c2c.