- there's way more snow up there (the bivy basin and above) now than in klenke's
report
- once you cross the creek, walk further toward the forest. go uphill 100-200 v
ert roughly on the line between the forest and the avalanche swath, by the path
of least resistance. then head just right, crossing a small ravine. Once on th
e other side of this ravine, head uphill, looking for flagging. At some point y
ou will find flagging. Once you do, you should keep looking for flagging. With
one exception, if you do not see flagging, you are offroute. At some point (ma
ybe another 200 vert), you will have to cross the same ravine back left again.
There is flagging, but it's easy to miss. If you find yourself getting cliffed
out on the right, you went too far. Once you've crossed the ravine back left ag
ain, you'll be on a rib with a good trail for quite a ways. There is no flaggin
g here. The flagging resumes higher up. Eventually you get to a clearing and y
ou may not see more flagging. Up and left there should be flagging marking the
entrance to the slide alder tunnel.
- the middle section of the route: about 30 feet from the end of the up-and-left
ramp, look for scrambly terrain to climb up. after about 100 feet you will get
to a grassy ledge. go right along the ledge roughly until the ledge comes to a
n end. There is a depression in front of you, and a depression just around the
corner. Climb up and right, traversing into the depression around the corner (b
y the easiest line). The crux here is a short wide chimney that you'll do a few
stemming moves, then traverse right onto the face and up onto easier ground. A
nother pitch takes you to Key Ledge. The last part to the top goes up a gully s
eparating two towers. There's a bunch of old nasty tat in there. About halfway
up, you'll reach a big alcove, and above the chimney will look nasty. Here, we
traversed right onto the face and climbed another 50 feet or so to the top.
- Bring some webbing to replace some old tat (some of the anchors are better than others, i think we did 8-9 raps)
If you have the time (I don't), three days would be a more comfortable way of do
ing it, especially when you consider the drive home afterward.
There's a good reason why this area is called the "Snoqualmie Pickets." By that
analogy, this route would be the "North Buttress of Terror of the Snoqualmie Pi
ckets." Go get it!