I’ve been too busy with work recently, but two weeks ago I got out with Becca, Adam, and Helene to celebrate all four of our October birthdays, with Matt joining for Sunday. We had perfect weather, and had a truly multisport weekend, starting with climbing on the Goat Wall, mountain biking up to Cooney Lake, and then I stayed out Sunday night while the others headed back to Seattle.
Becca and I drove over from Seattle on Saturday morning and linked up with Adam and Helene, who nicely stashed a vehicle at the top of the Goat Wall for us. We got a relaxed start climbing Prime Rib, an 11 pitch 5.9- fully bolted “alpine sport” climb. We were delighted to have the whole route to ourselves, and flew up it as two parties of two.
Becca following one of the lower pitches of Prime Rib, with beautiful fall colors in the Methow Valley below.
Becca leading P5 of Prime Rib.
Becca on P11, with Adam and Helene below.
Becca, Helene, and Adam at the top of Prime Rib, with the Gardners in the background.
At the top of the route, we enjoyed lovely views and sunshine before walking back to Adam’s van and heading in to Twisp to grab some groceries. We made a nice dinner before heading up to the Foggy Dew trailhead for the next day’s activities.
Having ridden the popular Angels Staircase loop a few years in a row, we were excited to try something a bit new, so we planned on a less popular ride in a similar area. Our plan was to head up the Foggy Dew trail to Cooney Lake, hike-a-bike up to Switchback, then ride down into Merchants’ Basin and back out Foggy Creek. However, climb up Foggy Dew was quite technical (much more challenging than the far more popular Martin Creek approach to Cooney Lake), and we made slower-than-anticipated progress. We decided to ditch the loop, and just ride up to the beautiful lake as an out-and-back. A bit underwhelming of a day, but everyone did a great job, and the ride back out was fast and fun!
Adam blasting through the larch forest next to Cooney Lake.
Helene and Adam cruising through gorgeous fall colors on the Foggy Dew trail.
After getting back to the trailhead and enjoying some freshly baked cookies (thanks, Adam!), I said farewell to everyone else, and drove back up to Rainy Pass. I hiked up to Heather Pass by headlamp, then continued on up to the summit of a nearby peak. Unfortunately, I was a bit too slow to catch a view of Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, which had already set by the time I got out of the forest. However, I still had a pleasant night in my bivy.
Panorama with morning light on Black Peak. From left to right: Frisco, Glacier Peak and the southern Ptarmigan Traverse summits more glaciated in the distance (see below for a closer-view), Corteo, Black Peak, Arrive, Repulse, Fisher, Katsuk, and Mesahchie at far right.
Glacier Peak in the morning light.
Panorama with Glacier Peak, Agnes, Gunsight, Sinister, Dome, Spire Point, Old Guard, and Sentinel all visible.
Dome Peak and the Chickamin Glacier in the distance.
Larch and talus.
Beautiful colors below Heather Pass.
Lake Ann’s little island.
I packed up and quickly headed back down the trail, then back to Seattle. A really nice weekend with great people.