OTHER Trip Report 07/02/2013

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Cathedral Peak - 13943
Date Posted	07/02/2013
Date Climbed	06/08/2013
Author	rickinco123
Additional Members	JMB

Cathedral Peak with camp at Cathedral Lake
This is a very straight forward mountaineering adventure. There are no surprises, conditions are loose rock of the Elks, late spring snow and easy route finding. We hiked in on June 8 and camped overnight at Cathedral Lake, made a 3am Alpine start and were back at the car by the afternoon. This would be a great first time snow/mountaineering route, I don't get out very often right now so this was perfect for me. Climbers. John Dave Rick (me) Route Beta Trailhead Dave checking out the trailhead sign. We sprinkled powdered coyote urine under the car as a porcupine counter-measure. No way to know if it worked but the car was fine when we returned. Hike to Camp. John and Dave head up the easy trail. This is about as rough as the trail gets. Dave and John take in the scenery along the way, waterfalls and mountains. Our first snow encountered on the trail. Leahy Peak center photo. Dave and John on the switchbacks, this is actually from the hike back. When you reach these you are about 20-30 minutes from the camp site. John and Dave trying to figure out where the heck the FS campsite is from the topo, the marker on the map is not in the correct place. The snow became more pronounced as we got closer to camp. It was frustrating stuff. Just hard enough to walk on top of in places then suddenly.... poof... sink in to your thighs. John and I chose not to put on our gaiters, Dave made a much better decision. This is me after crossing the log bridge getting ready to take a photo of John and Dave, the trail to camp is behind me. Notice the preponderance of willows. John and Dave crossing, the rock next to the log bridge was key in the morning, the logs were totally iced over with verglas. Our camp spot near Cathedral Lake, Cathedral Peak in the upper right hand corner of photo. There is also a smaller lake not on the map near the camp site convenient for pumping or treating water. Camp site from above. Moraine/hill to the left of the lake. Cathedral Approach We woke up at 3am and started around 3:30 with no moon. The Google Earth track shows our dark red line where we tried to find a direct route to save time. There was one other group there, a father and son who told us there was a way across toward the moraines next to the lake, we ended up post holing through snow and dense willows, we gave up and went back to the log bridge. This is where Dave's many years of experience came into play, John and I probably would have wasted more time trying to find a direct river crossing, Dave got us to cut our losses and head back to the trail. John at 4am. I love alpine starts. The true crux and the bane of all mountaineers, willows! Imagine trying to get through those pussy willows to that bolder field..... in the dark. The bottom of that serrated ridge off of Cathedral is a yellow tailing pile from a mine prospect, you really can't miss it. Its visible on the google earth picture at the top of this report. That is the start of the climbers trail. The trail is amazingly good and was easy to follow in the dark. Mine Entrance. Mine Adit. Approaching the Couloir. We would have had an easier time walking on the snow at this point but we were already in the habit of following the climbers trail in the dark. Nice snow! The setting is beautiful, a true cirque. You feel enclosed on all sides. The Couloir We started about 5:30am, it was 31F at the bottom. The snow was in perfect condition. No sloughing, no rockfall, perfect cramponing. We all brought 2 tools to dagger when desired. We climbed about 600 vertical feet, the bottom was around 30 degrees, the top 2/3 was a remarkably consistent 41 degrees. That was also my steepest slope measurement. Dave climbing Dave exiting couloir Dave and I in the couloir saddle, sweet spot for a break. We de-cramponed and dropped one tool for the peak ascent. Cathedral Peak. John navigating the loose talus. The crux gendarme. Stay in tight or take turns, lots of loose boulders. Class 2+. John on more loose junk. Dave crests the summit ridge. Dave and I taking it all in on the descent. Daggering down the couloir. Snow is still hard. Its only 50F but we are now in the solar hot dog cooker. Looking down. Past the choke point at the bottom 1/3 is a great glissade with a safe run out. On the way out I commented to Dave how most people have no idea what it is like to hike across hard snow in the middle of a cirque, absolutely awesome. Our timing was great. After we exited the couloir around 9am I saw a huge rock fall in a neighbouring couloir and a while later a massive cornice collapse at the top of another peak. Cornice ripped 100-200 feet long.... LOUD! John points the way back. Long couloir in the middle of Cathedral Peak with 55 degree exit, I will be back for you!

Cathedral Peak with camp at Cathedral Lake

This is a very straight forward mountaineering adventure. There are no surprises, conditions are loose rock of the Elks, late spring snow and easy route finding. We hiked in on June 8 and camped overnight at Cathedral Lake, made a 3am Alpine start and were back at the car by the afternoon. This would be a great first time snow/mountaineering route, I don't get out very often right now so this was perfect for me.

Climbers.
John
Dave
Rick (me)

Route Beta

Trailhead

Dave checking out the trailhead sign.

We sprinkled powdered coyote urine under the car as a porcupine counter-measure. No way to know if it worked but the car was fine when we returned.

Hike to Camp.

John and Dave head up the easy trail.

This is about as rough as the trail gets.

Dave and John take in the scenery along the way, waterfalls and mountains.

Our first snow encountered on the trail. Leahy Peak center photo.

Dave and John on the switchbacks, this is actually from the hike back. When you reach these you are about 20-30 minutes from the camp site.

John and Dave trying to figure out where the heck the FS campsite is from the topo, the marker on the map is not in the correct place. The snow became more pronounced as we got closer to camp. It was frustrating stuff. Just hard enough to walk on top of in places then suddenly.... poof... sink in to your thighs. John and I chose not to put on our gaiters, Dave made a much better decision.

This is me after crossing the log bridge getting ready to take a photo of John and Dave, the trail to camp is behind me. Notice the preponderance of willows.

John and Dave crossing, the rock next to the log bridge was key in the morning, the logs were totally iced over with verglas.

Our camp spot near Cathedral Lake, Cathedral Peak in the upper right hand corner of photo. There is also a smaller lake not on the map near the camp site convenient for pumping or treating water.

Camp site from above. Moraine/hill to the left of the lake.

Cathedral Approach

We woke up at 3am and started around 3:30 with no moon. The Google Earth track shows our dark red line where we tried to find a direct route to save time. There was one other group there, a father and son who told us there was a way across toward the moraines next to the lake, we ended up post holing through snow and dense willows, we gave up and went back to the log bridge. This is where Dave's many years of experience came into play, John and I probably would have wasted more time trying to find a direct river crossing, Dave got us to cut our losses and head back to the trail.

John at 4am. I love alpine starts.

The true crux and the bane of all mountaineers, willows!
Imagine trying to get through those pussy willows to that bolder field..... in the dark.

The bottom of that serrated ridge off of Cathedral is a yellow tailing pile from a mine prospect, you really can't miss it. Its visible on the google earth picture at the top of this report. That is the start of the climbers trail. The trail is amazingly good and was easy to follow in the dark.

Mine Entrance.

Mine Adit.

Approaching the Couloir. We would have had an easier time walking on the snow at this point but we were already in the habit of following the climbers trail in the dark.

Nice snow! The setting is beautiful, a true cirque. You feel enclosed on all sides.

The Couloir

We started about 5:30am, it was 31F at the bottom. The snow was in perfect condition. No sloughing, no rockfall, perfect cramponing. We all brought 2 tools to dagger when desired. We climbed about 600 vertical feet, the bottom was around 30 degrees, the top 2/3 was a remarkably consistent 41 degrees. That was also my steepest slope measurement.

Dave climbing

Dave exiting couloir

Dave and I in the couloir saddle, sweet spot for a break. We de-cramponed and dropped one tool for the peak ascent.

Cathedral Peak.

John navigating the loose talus.

The crux gendarme. Stay in tight or take turns, lots of loose boulders. Class 2+.

John on more loose junk.

Dave crests the summit ridge.

Dave and I taking it all in on the descent.

Daggering down the couloir. Snow is still hard. Its only 50F but we are now in the solar hot dog cooker.

Looking down. Past the choke point at the bottom 1/3 is a great glissade with a safe run out.

On the way out I commented to Dave how most people have no idea what it is like to hike across hard snow in the middle of a cirque, absolutely awesome. Our timing was great. After we exited the couloir around 9am I saw a huge rock fall in a neighbouring couloir and a while later a massive cornice collapse at the top of another peak. Cornice ripped 100-200 feet long.... LOUD!

John points the way back.

Long couloir in the middle of Cathedral Peak with 55 degree exit, I will be back for you!

Comments or Questions

SurfNTurf	Great photos/beta 7/2/2013 5:21pm If you can't get out often, this looks like it was a great way to make the most of limited time! I wanted to try Cathedral this spring but don't think I'll make it. I'll definitely use your TR next year for beta. Thanks.
Matt	Great report! 7/2/2013 6:28pm Most useful TR from the last few days, IMO. Conditions look pretty similar to mid-late June last year. I liked the walk out on hard snow in the cirque, too. We thought we were just lucky, but I guess not.
rickinco123	Edit for wrong date. 7/2/2013 9:13pm I originally posted this with the wrong dates. Glad you guys like my TR, trying to provide some useful info to give back to the site. Matt, Walking across that hard snow is awesome, feels great and so easy. I want to go back and do that longer couloir that ends near the peak. That would likely involve protection for the exit. I did not get out on it but it looked like ~55 degrees, very steep. It would get you past most of the loose rock on the ridge.
MountainMedic	Sweet Route 7/2/2013 11:01pm Looks like you guys had a ton of fun. Looking forward to joining SurfNTurf on this bad boy next spring. What are your thoughts on skis? It looks like there are a couple nasty choke points at the steep sections.
rickinco123	It would be a good ski. 7/2/2013 11:40pm You need to catch it earlier though because there were already some large rocks on top of the snow. Its 41 degrees which is like a steeper black run at a resort. The couloir is plenty wide but no apparent safe zones if you do it too early. You could coast all the way down to the mine prospect probably. If you are talking about the longer couloir the top part would be a definite no fall line. If you plan on going big and would like another person along I would love to go up there again.
Monster5	Sweet 7/3/2013 1:00am Fireonthemountain and I were the inefficient, tired duo who spoke with you guys briefly on the way out. Good to see you guys had a fine climb. Gorgeous area. The direct wishlist couloir was a bit disappointing for us with soft snow at the crux (choke 2/3rds up). Perhaps earlier/colder next time.
rickinco123	You guys are animals 7/3/2013 1:29am We talked about you two after you left, that was quite an aggressive day. You are anything but inefficient. Do you have a trip report? I didn't recognize him but John and I also ran into fireonthemoutain 2 years ago after our Maroon Bells mini epic at the parking lot. I'm jealous you ran up that couloir, does it have a name? What was the exit like on that? It looked damn steep from above.
Monster5	Ha! 7/3/2013 1:41am If we were animals, we wouldn't have needed to cache tools/pons below Electric Pass. As a result, my tools would still have grips (stupid marmots). You guys were pretty beastly opting for a 3AM start after hauling the overnight gear up. I would've slept in. Not sure on the name. Ridgerunner has a report on it and it looks like they had much better conditions. The exit was a long stretch in the 40s followed by a couple moves in the 50s. I forgot a real camera, but I have an album with comments here
USAKeller	Fantastic TR! 7/3/2013 9:14pm WOW! Just a great all around TR and motivates me to go get Cathedral. Thank you! -Caroline

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