Fisher Pk (8040') Mt. Arriva (8215') — Friday, Aug. 17, 2007

Tom Sjolseth proposed an ambitious, if not audacious plan. We would day-climb these two peaks from SR-20. Sure...whatever. Most people spend two nights camping at Silent Lakes when entertaining this objective. But most people take the trail to Easy Pass gaining 2,800', then lose 2,000 ft dropping into Fisher Basin, regain every inch of that loss to head into Silent Lakes, and drop their heavy packs to set up camp starting their climbs the next day. Our route would avoid Fisher Basin and would avoid elevation loss. No elevation loss with light pack into a jewel area of NCNP. How could I refuse such as offer? We met Justus S. and Randy B. at the Ash Way P&R at 0430 to allow the time needed for a projected 11 hour hike. Making a U-turn at the Swamp Creek turn-off allowed us to look at our objective from across the highway. There is an unnamed creek to the west that drains the slopes of Repulse and Fisher. That was our approach to our route of the NW Face of Fisher. Fisher is easily seen from the highway. When looking west Repulse is the flat-topped mountain and Fisher is the sharp-angled peak to the right. We left the car at 0800 and lost 100 ft to Granite Creek. Lucky for us there was a large log over the creek allowing us to avoid a ford. We made good time up the valley becoming snarled in large patches of slide alder between the edge of the forest and the talus slopes. We upclimbed the NE flank of Fisher to reach a col to the immediate north of the mtn at 7060 ft. Then we traversed several hundred feet to the west stopping when adjacent to a large snow filled gully. Before reaching the snow we began our ascent of the the NW Face. The going went smoothly on exposed Class 3 rock with short sections of palm sweating Class 4. We reached the top in under 4 hrs from the car. And it was a dry 4 hrs. The weather forecast was for 50% chance of showers. Whatever that means it made us devise a beta plan to climb Little Johannesberg (7945')as climbing lichen slickened Class 4 rock would not be a safe activity. There is a ridge that drops WNW from Fisher towards Silent Lakes. That was our exit route off the summit. It went straightforward and we met two climbers camped at the lake. It was unsettling to hear them talk of their failure on Arriva the previous day. They had gained elevation too quickly and were on the wrong side of a steep gully. Well wouldn't you know it we proceeded to do the same thing. We groped our way to the top clinging to dangerously steep slopes with sloping footholds and fingertip handholds. Our member of our party had viseral feelings of unease and retreated while enroute. The summit of Arriva is a looooong way to the west. One should reference the diagram of Mt. Arriva in Beckeys CAG to see how far the traverse is from Silent Lakes. John Roper pioneered a south route in 1974. This is the easiest line on Arriva although I believe all routes to the summit involve exposure. I will describe the southern route which we used as our exit route not wanting to relive the upclimb exposure. When at Silent Lakes there is a SE Ridge coming off the Arriva massif. Its downward angle is interrupted an outcrop of oxide stained rock just to the SW of Silent Lakes. We climbed toward this outcrop and took a left trending ramp just beneath the outcrop that brought us to the ridge at 7500 ft. When at this locale look directly to the west. Perhaps 3/4 mile away along a ridge is a flat area with scattered growth of larch trees. It is at 7200 ft. The south route goes through this flat area. The reason people have trouble on the mountain is that when gaining the ridge above Silent Lakes they do what seems appropriate, they climb. Losing 300 ft of elevation to reach this locale goes against the natural urge to climb but it brings the hiker to the basin needed for the ascent. When at the flat area at 7200' a distinctive notch (Beckey calls it the SW notch) can be found at 7760'. Upclimbing to that notch brings the climber to the SW ridge which was our ""easier"" descent route. We were the first visitors to Arriva since Aug 21, 2006. We enjoyed the views over to Indecision Peak as well as the hanging glaciers on Black Peak's slopes. But after a short while we hiked over to Silent Lakes and began our traverse back to the col at 7060 ft. Rather than lose hundreds of feet into the Fisher Basin to get around a buttress Tom reconned and found a route that crossed the northern slope of Fisher. It was marked by a cairn adjacent to a grassy area next to the snow gully. It threaded its way across more exposed rock and deposited us on a lowangled snowslope that brought us to the col. We made a beeline towards the forest avoiding the slide alder that ensnared us on the approach. The hike brought us quickly down to Granite Creek where we didn't waste time looking for the log over the creek. We just jumped right into the refreshingly cool water that poured onto our hot feet. It was a soothing end to a envigorating day. Elevation gain; 7600 ft. Distance travelled; 10 miles. Car-to-car; 11 hrs 45 min