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East Wilmans Spire  Summit Elevation: 6120 ft / 1865 m Trip Length:
1/2 Day Route: Beckey-Staley Difficulty:
Grade III; 5.4 Elevation Gain: feet Roundtrip Distance:
Miles Date: May 30, 2005 Photos by : Scott Harder / Pete Litwin Media: Coming Soon |
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Pete's Pictures |
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Sunday
May 30, 2005 Pete and I got a real late start and left the Barlow Pass trailhead @ 11am (not an alpine start) and rode our bikes up to the Monte Cristo townsite and arrived @ 1130am. We decided to try and bike the river after the bridge and both fell in since our perception of the water depth was all wrong. Needless to say, our boots and socks got soaked. Tried to dry them out at the Picnic Area but only able to wring out our socks. Left the township and hiked in the forest for 1/4 mile and then approached Glacier Falls, which is really cool right about now with the snowmelt. The hike up from the base to the top is steep and rocky. It seemed to be steeper and harder than the cable line on Tiger. Once at the top it mellowed out and we then meandered on the trail until turning the corner into Glacier Basin. Never being there before, I was in awe of the views of Monte Cristo Peak and Wilmans Peaks. There is little snow in the meadow, but plenty still surrounds the slopes of Wilmans and others. The "Count of Monte Cristo" was obvious since I had seen it in Beckey's green book.
We had lunch in the talus field at the base and then hiked up to the snow couloir towards the south face of East Wilmans Spire. The snow got progressively steeper as the couloir got narrower (35-40 Degrees). Pete had a dinner appointment at 7pm and we did not get to the east notch before our turn around at 430pm. We decided to downclimb the first 1-200 feet before plunge stepping back down into the basin since the snow was very slick and consolidated. The runout kind of sucked, especially when you could gain speed very quickly and tumble into steep talus and scree. We had a quick hike out followed by a nice bike ride. Pete was able to bike the river crossing w/o falling in, I just soaked my boots once again upon failing to send the river. Web Resources: MtnPhil.com SummitPost.com Monte Cristo Preservation Association Sverdina.com Cascade Crusades Theron Welch Maps: Click Here USGS: Monte Cristo, Blanca Lake Green Trails: # 111 (Sloan Peak), 143 (Monte Cristo) Directions:
US 2 East from Everett to Hwy 9 via Lake Stevens then to State Route 92 West. When you get to the end of town you will take a left past the high school onto the Mountain Loop Highway towards Verlot. Travel 20 miles+ from Verlot to the gated Monte Cristo Road at Barlow Pass. There is a large parking lot with toilets. Bring your bikes! Don't waste time walking the boring flat road! |
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