Downey Creek — Friday, Jun. 14, 2002

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

LATE REPORT: June 13,14,15 climbing trip to Dome Peak.Weather exceptional. Probable that not much has changed in 3 weeks since we were there. * Downey Creek trail has numerous downfalls to negotiate and lots of water to negotiate. Creek crossings were high but manageable. The one crossing 1 mile before Bachelor Creek is worst. We lost 2 ski poles, and one of us took a brief dunking, going each way. Next time we'll just walk across or usegood stiff staffs. *Bachelor Creek crossing still on log, which sometime in coming years will give out. Try crossing with pack belts unbuckled in case you fall in. Creek swelling and high. *Trail up to bachelor meadows, east side, is easy to find, but is not maintained. First 11/2 miles in good shape. From there you start bushwacking. We crossed on snow still covering creek, in middle of open Avalanche basin about 21/2 miles from Downey Creek. We saw other spots further downstream on logs. *Base camp: instead of following bachelor creek to headwaters below Cub lake Pass, we opted to follow beautiful wide snowchute up to ridge about 1 mile sw of pass. Great sites to camp with views. our plan to follow ridge to pass the next morning didn't work, as its not a scramble - there is a rapple in there. However, there is room to drop down on nw side and still negotiate around ridge. Snowpack around our tent fell 4' while were gone on climb: in one day! *Route to Dome peak: The 600'drop to Cub lake is snowpacked deep. So, rather than downclimb to Cub, cross basin,then ascend, we chose to traverse north staying up high around the bowl at about 6,800-7000'. We did it without ropes, due to great soft snow conditions. however, crossing it on rock and heather is not advised. We also didn't downclimb to Cub lake as there is nothing stopping a swim in lake, unless roped. We returned via Cub lake basin, where avalanche damage is considerable. *Dome peak/glacier: We roped up but encountered no hidden crevasses. Stunning beauty here. Final ascent was on snow all the way. At 8935' we could see virtually everything. We chanced a late summiting at 5:30pm, and made the return to basecamp under starry skis. Advise base camping closer to peak. it was just too far. Private stories of this return we'll save for friends. *Overall: We all agreed this was one of all time greats, but also most rugged. Doing it in 3 days way to short. 40+miles and 10K gain, bushwacking, etc. in 3 days? Not next time. There were great glissades, and this portion of ptarmigan traverse is breathtaking, especially jumping off edge of cornice to glissade down at one point! Wow!!