Stuart Range Traverse attempt September 10-11, 2011 by Mike Rolfs.

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Thomas Gordon
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The difference between our intended itinerary, and what we actually accomplished was the result of my need for a rope both for moderate climbing and for steep descents.

Unroped travel is faster, and in order to complete this traverse with only one bivy, we would have had to solo more, and downclimb more, than I was comfortable with.

1 Stuart Range Traverse attempt September 10-11, 2011 by Mike Rolfs. Aaron and I hike fast, but what we learned on this trip is that comfort without a rope on steep terrain is the key factor to reasonable progress on this traverse. The difference between our intended itinerary, and what we actually accomplished was the result of my need for a rope both for moderate climbing and for steep descents. Every time you set up a rappel, you spend 20 minutes with no forward progress. At one point on Sherpa, I rappelled while Aaron downclimbed. He was waiting for me at the bottom. Unroped travel is faster, and in order to complete this traverse with only one bivy, we would have had to solo more, and downclimb more, than I was comfortable with. LOGISTICS: This trip started at the Esmerelda Basin Trailhead up the Teannaway River valley north of Cle Elum and ended at the Lake Colchuck trailhead in the Icicle River valley outside of Leavenworth. Logistics involved help from both our families. The day before the trip, my wife and two kids followed me from Wenatchee to the Colchuck trailhead where I left my forest pass equipped truck. They dropped me at Aaron s work where I picked up his truck to drive home. I left my house at 2:30 a.m. in Aaron s truck to meet him and his father at Aaron s house at the north end of town. I left Aaron s rig there and his father drove us over Blewit Pass and up the Teannanway to drop us at the Esmerelda trailhead at 5 a.m. No extra vehicles anywhere! Many thanks to both our families. The support made the trip easier. SATURDAY:

There is a self-permit kiosk at the trailhead which was empty of blank permits.

The reflection of Stuart was striking. We chose the west ridge route on Stuart. This route had special meaning for us. We had done this route together in 1986.

We named that section crybaby ledge since we had sat together there a quarter century ago, weeping about our certain impending death and wondering how we d

2 There is a self-permit kiosk at the trailhead which was empty of blank permits. We wrote our intended itinerary on a sticky note and had an uneventful walk to Ingalls Pass by headlamp. The lake is completely melted out now. The reflection of Stuart was striking. We chose the west ridge route on Stuart. This route had special meaning for us. We had done this route together in Then, as juniors in high school, we were unprepared for the exposure we found on the north side section near the top. We named that section crybaby ledge since we had sat together there a quarter century ago, weeping about our certain impending death and wondering how we d gotten into this mess. We found the climbing this time around comfortable and fun, although we did use a rope on the upper section. We met Kyle Flick on the route. I think he may live on Mount Stuart. Last time I was here, in May, it was Kyle and Tom Janisch with whom I skied Ulrich s Couloir.

5 We summited at 1:40 p.m. still believing we would get over Sherpa and beyond to Sherpa Pass before dark. The travel to the base of the west ridge of Sherpa was slow going and involved one rappel. We didn t get to the base of the climb until 4:45 p.m.

6 We had seen the repeated up-downs on the west ridge of Argonaut from the summit of Stuart which looked like it would take at least 5 rappells. At this point we knew we were going to have speed issues and that we didn t have the time to stay on the ridge as an approach to the west ridge of Argonaut. We decided it would be faster to climb and descend Sherpa via the west ridge, rappelling the route back to Sherpa Col, and then to walk around on the south shoulder to Sherpa Pass at the west shoulder of Argonaut. The climb on Sherpa was great. Aaron led the steep parts and we were on the summit at 5:45 p.m. It was a treat to climb without a pack.

Rappelling the route took longer than the climb. We were back at the base at 7:30 p.m. and hustled downhill until dark.

From our sleeping bags, we witnessed a curious helicopter exercise that started around 9:15 p.m. and lasted past midnight.

and the Teannaway River, to the north side of Stuart.

7 Rappelling the route took longer than the climb. We were back at the base at 7:30 p.m. and hustled downhill until dark. We found water and an acceptable bivy spot at 7160 around 9 p.m. and settled in. From our sleeping bags, we witnessed a curious helicopter exercise that started around 9:15 p.m. and lasted past midnight. The helicopter flew several back and forth trips from the north side of the ridge between Ingalls creek and the Teannaway River, to the north side of Stuart. We assumed a rescue operation, but the number of trips wasn t consistent with any scenario we could imagine. This mystery remains unsolved to us.

8 SUNDAY: The next morning, we traversed under the south cliffy spur of Sherpa and over to the south gully of Argonaut. The top of the gully is quite steep

9 and the summit ridge was a joy. Argonaut has a great summit. It was here that I broke out the clams.

10 From the summit, we could see the easy completion of our traverse but it was 12:20 p.m. and the Argonaut descent was going to take a couple hours.

12 It was looking bad for summiting Colchuck and Dragontail. We ended up at Colchuck Col at 3:30 p.m. and decided to pull the plug and head down. The travel from the Colchuck/Argonaut plateau was easy on the south side of the ridge.

13 notice the ski tracks We walked down Colchuck glacier, around the lake, and returned to the truck at 7:00 p.m. Funny sight on the way out was these two tents set up in the area posted day use only at Colchuck Lake: LAST THOUGHTS: A great trip with only two skin injuries. My back (from my pack), and Aaron s heels. With as much roped travel as we did, we needed one more night to finish the traverse. If we weren t trying to hurry, we d have done the west ridge of Argonaut and probably slept near the summit. The third day we could have finished with Colchuck and Dragontail walk-up routes and then walked across the enchantment plateau and over Cannon Mountain to the car. Even without touching all the summits, it was a really great weekend.

Marcus Brandon Bill. We finally reached our camp above the Palmer lift at ~8,800ft, had our tents set up and dinner cooking by 7:15.

Marcus Brandon Bill. We finally reached our camp above the Palmer lift at ~8,800ft, had our tents set up and dinner cooking by 7:15. We originally scheduled the the Mt Hood climb for Sunday, May 12 th, 2013. All 12 of the spots were filled up with Rod Jacobson as our climb leader. Steve Huffman had managed to get us a great deal with