Mt. Washington (Oregon Cascades; 7,794')

Mt. Washington, like its sibling to the north, Three-Fingered Jack, was a breakthrough in local mountaineering standards when first climbed in 1923. The first ascent route does not exist anymore, though, which is indicative of the rock quality. Nevertheless, it's still a popular climb. The standard route is the North Ridge. The rock on this route is actually okay on those sections where it matters, except on the first pitch, which is horrible. The West Face routes regularly see spectacular accidents when crag climbers are lured by the moderate ratings. Keep in mind that the ratings are old, and hence stiff, and that protection on the friable volcanic rock is often largely symbolic. On Mt. Washington the old saying from the time of hemp ropes and hip belays is still true: The leader must not fall. Topo Map Routes: North Ridge (I, 5.1) West Face (II, 5.6)

Mt. Washington from Big Lake in mid-July

References: Jeff Thomas, Oregon High Keep Climbing Press (Portland, OR 1991) J. Smoot, Summit Guide to the Cascade Volcanoes Chockstone Press (Evergreen, CO 1992) N.A. Dodge, A Climbing Guide to Oregon , Touchstone Press (Beaverton, OR 1975)

Date: October 11, 2015

Party: DB solo

Route: N Ridge

Equipment: 50m half rope

Time: Big Lake - Notch 3 hrs 20 mins
Big Lake - Summit 3 hrs 50 mins
Summit - Big Lake 2 hrs 50 mins
Roundtrip from Big Lake 6 hrs 55 mins

Comments: I spent at least 30 minutes on the beautification project described below.

Trip Report: It was a beautiful day after a storm, so the forest was dripping wet, and so was I after a while. Once I left the PCT to go up the climber's trail I noticed lots of pieces of surveyor's tape tied to branches. Unfortunately, it took me a while to realize that someone had marked the entire climber's trail in this fashion, and that it was my job to remove these things. So I did, which slowed me down quite a bit. The last one was actually ON the ridge. All in all I collected almost 50 of these things, and another 50 are probably still in place. Who would do this, in the wilderness, on a trail that's almost as visible as the PCT, and not bother to take them down once they were done with whatever they were doing?? I have no idea.

Once I got higher on the ridge I encountered a bit of ice in places, which made me worried about the technical part. From the notch I mud-wrestled my way to the start of the first pitch, and found the so-called rock to be even worse than I remembered. It didn't help that some of the "rock" was indeed iced over. Soon I was on the summit, with cold hands. When I went down the traces of rime ice were melting. As a result the step on the second pitch was dripping wet, which made for intesting downclimbing. I rappelled the horrible first pitch, then glissaded down the scree to the descent trail through the meadows. Once I hit the PCT I actually went back up the climber's trail a bit and collected ten or so more pieces of tape.

All in all it was an enjoyable trip with amazing fall colors in the forest and the meadows.