Route: Lawn Lake to Chiquita, ypsilon, fairchild Posted On: 10/3/2021, By: trkl9 Info: Took an off trail route from the ypsilon lake trail. Looped it around to the saddle and back down the lawn lake trail. No snow whatsoever. Mummy mania still goes. Enjoy it while it lasts. |
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Route: Mummy Madness via Hagues\' South Face Posted On: 7/12/2021, By: supranihilest Info: From the summit of Hagues we went east for maybe 200 feet before going directly south down a steep, chossy gully. The exposure for the entire descent of the face is high, and the rock almost always suspect. We attempted to avoid a steep snowfield about 150 feet below the ridge by traversing west but the snow spans much of the upper face. To get down we instead scooted down it on our butts while stomping steps with our heels. It was awkward, slow, and probably dangerous, but we were able to link together small islands of rock instead of either glissading out of control or staying on snow the entire way down, since we did not have either ice axes or any form of traction. The snow didn't look too bad from above but it was definitely in the 40+ degree range, so if going down the south face in current conditions we at least recommend an ice axe. At the bottom of the snowfield we began traversing directly west staying at a more or less level elevation and curving around to Hagues' southwest side where things became a little easier and more solid. There are two more small snowfields to avoid while traversing, the first we climbed down or across, the second we were able to walk under. Once around to the southwest side the route also becomes more apparent towards the Saddle, an officially named large saddle with Fairchild Mountain. There is an option for escape here via the Lawn Lake trail should weather or your condition deteriorate. Otherwise head basically directly up Fairchild's vast east slopes, all 1,000 or so vertical feet of them, first on grass and then on the ubiquitous tedious scree and talus and boulders of the Mummy Range. The descent off Hagues goes at Moderate/Steep Snow and Class 4, the ascent up Fairchild is a very long and tedious Class 2. There are two large snowfields to avoid on the ascent but they're obvious and pose no trouble. |
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Route: Chapin Pass to Chiquita-Ypsilon-Fairchild Posted On: 7/5/2020, By: trkl9 Info: Old fall river road is open for the season! Wanted to summit Fairchild today but fatigue from a weekend of climbing and my gut was telling me no right before the descent towards Fairchild. Good thing because storm clouds quickly took form at about 11 AM. Route is mainly snow free from the base of Ypsilon to Fairchild. Short class 3 moves required to avoid snow before descending into the Fairchild-Ypsilon saddle. Don't let the photos in the route description deceive you, it is a LONG way over class 2/3 terrain from the base of Ypsilon. Mummy kill route looks good to go from the trip and the drive on trail ridge road. |
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Route: Chapin Pass to Chiquita-Ypsilon-Fairchild Posted On: 10/1/2018, By: Alrightmax Info: I would highly recommend sticking to the ridge between Ypsilon and Fairchild, rather than dropping into the basin. We did the latter on the way in and found the terrain to be very loose and unstable. We took the ridge on the way back which has a lot of great scrambling on solid rock. There's a good number of social trails around Chapin which can be confusing, but once you get above treeline the route is pretty obvious. Saw plumes of smoke rising, likely from the Silver Creek Fire! |
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Route: From Hagues Peak/Saddle Posted On: 8/12/2018, By: supranihilest Info: I traversed the full Mummy Range and thus did not climb down any route I climbed up. Keep that in mind when reading these Mummy Range conditions reports. This report in particular assumes you are already at the Saddle between Hagues Peak and Fairchild Mountain. The view up Fairchild Mountain from the Saddle is pretty discouraging. Fairchild has a huge east face and a lot of it looks junky and steep. It's something like 1,000 vertical feet to the summit from here. To avoid most of said junky, steep rock climb north to the ridge line then take the path of least resistance to the summit. It's not as difficult as it looks, but it probably is as irritating as it looks depending on how much you like mindless class 2 talus hopping. |
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Route: Lawn Lake /saddle Posted On: 6/19/2017, By: C-Shepguy Info: Hiked it from Lawn Lake. There are some significant snowfields still along the side of the lake, but they were rock solid in the morning when I passed through. There is also some unavoidable snow on the slope up from the saddle. I used some mini-gaiters which helped for the occasional posthole. Never put on my spikes. From the TH to Lawn Lake is clear of snow. 90% dry, just a couple muddy spots. |
