ClimbWashington.com: McClellans Butte

After another planned bivouac at the trailhead, John, Jessica, and myself met Mike and started walking at 5:30am. The first part of this trail is overgrown, wet, and muddy in parts. There are many way trails, so just make sure to always follow the most recent flagging. There are a few easy creek crossings before the big one makes it's appearance. It was awfully low in the morning, so we took our boots off, put our sandals on, and headed across the chilly waters. Once across, the trail is a nice and soft until gaining little elevation at the older logging road which is accessed and that's when the hiking really begins. Photos >>

Once you hike for 1.5 miles or so you cross Cougar Creek Falls. Once you reach the lower meadows, a large arena of avy debris is in your way, but once again, it is easy to follow. We then passed by basecamp for a group of Mazamas that were already gone for their summit bid, so we rested for awhile and filled up on some water at another creek. We obviously did not see the trail that starts right next to the slab and wound up heading up a steep dirt hill sliding all over the place. From here we accessed the lower basin and some snow that was easy going, but what we did not know was that we were nowhere near the trail. The actual trail hugs the left (east) side of the basin, so we just scrambled up a creek drainage, and some slabs that helped us access the ridgeline that spied us the first glance of the Sloan Glacier. We roped up and John decided that we should do the low traverse instead of the recommended high traverse. We wound oursleves through many crevasses, hitting dead ends here and there from where snowbridges collapsed. We did the "Train Conductor" thing a few times where John was the leader and hit a dead end, so then Mike would lead since he was the end person. As we crossed over a small snowbridge I felt a small tug on the rope, and then a heard Mike say that Jessica fell in, but her pack caught her . Photos >>

It seemed that she barely fell in as the bridge broke off just a small piece. We continued our traverse to reach the higher part of the glacier and to reach the ridgeline where the glacier ends and the trail begins the classic corkscrew route. We met up with a group of Mazamas at the ridgeline as they were on their way down from the summit. We shared our experience with theirs, as they did the same lower traverse on the glacier as we did. From the ridge the trail winds around the backside and then up a sandy, dirty, and loose gulley to the summit ridge. It is on the last little traverse to the summit blocks where there is a class 3 move, and the exact spot where I hit my head and almost fell (Glad I had my helmet on). The summit was awesome, great views of the Glacier Peak Wilderness and the North Cascades. We only stayed for a few minutes, and then began our descent. This time we decided to try the high traverse to get off of the broken Sloan Glacier. Once again, we ran into many dead ends and tricky spots, We set up a running belay at one spot that was steep and exposed, and then came to a dead end where John downclimbed some wet dirty rock into a moat and back up on the glacier. We then belayed each other down as we left behind a sling and a biner to get each other off the upper part of the glacier. From there it was an easy traverse to water, as I had been parched for about 1 hour. We got our stuff together and started down the correct climbers trail that was a real treat compared to what we used to approach the glacier beforehand. Photos >>

We made good time back to where the Mazamas had made camp, rested once again, and then continued down the trail to the river crossing at about 830pm. It was getting dark and we knew we had to cruise as John had sprinted ahead since he had forgotten a headlamp, and Mike and Jessica were moving a little slower. Once across the river, Jessica and I got lost a few times since it was dark. We played "Marco Polo" with Mike a few times so that we could all cruise out together. Once again, the best advise is to always follow the flagging, even if it does not appear to be right, as you will climb over very large fallen trees and roots, etc. Remember what you did on the way in and you should have no problem. We got out at 9pm with John waiting for us at my car. Photos >>

The drive back to Granite Falls was horrid, as I could barely stay awake, and my 2 co-pilots passed out on me. After some hot disguting coffee at the coldest (brrrr) convenience store in town, we found our way home and to bed immediately. I felt sorry for the Mazamas as they spent their 3rd night on the mountain with all the bugs. Photos >>

Directions: From Darrington, travel south on the Mountain Loop Highway 16.3 miles. Turn left (east) on the Sloan Creek Road #49. Continue on this road for 4.5 miles to the trailhead on your right.

Map: USGS Sloan Peak / Green Trails Sloan Peak #111
Trail Conditions: click here
Road Conditions:: click here
Web References:
SummitPost.com
Wikipedia.com
Sverdina.com
PeakBagger.com

Additional Info :
- First Ascent: July 30, 1921 by Harry Bedal, Nels Skaar
- A Northwest Forest Pass is required for each vehicle parked at the trailhead
- Fred Beckey, Cascade Alpine Guide, Volume 2 (Second Edition), The Mountaineers, 1996
- Lat/Lon: 48.04150°N / 121.3401°W

Sloan Peak Highpoint Elevation: 7,835 feet Region/Location: Mountain Loop Highway / Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Trip Length: 1 day (standard 2 day) Route: Heliotrope Ridge #648 Difficulty: Class 3 rock, Grade 2 glacier, strenous hike Elevation Gain: 5935 feet Roundtrip Distance: 12 miles Trailhead Elevation: 1900 feet Date: July 26 2003 Video:: "Screw it in a Day" / 5:35 / 9.1mb Photos by: Scott Harder [Click here to view the shutterfly photo collection]
After another planned bivouac at the trailhead, John, Jessica, and myself met Mike and started walking at 5:30am. The first part of this trail is overgrown, wet, and muddy in parts. There are many way trails, so just make sure to always follow the most recent flagging. There are a few easy creek crossings before the big one makes it's appearance. It was awfully low in the morning, so we took our boots off, put our sandals on, and headed across the chilly waters. Once across, the trail is a nice and soft until gaining little elevation at the older logging road which is accessed and that's when the hiking really begins. Photos >> Once you hike for 1.5 miles or so you cross Cougar Creek Falls. Once you reach the lower meadows, a large arena of avy debris is in your way, but once again, it is easy to follow. We then passed by basecamp for a group of Mazamas that were already gone for their summit bid, so we rested for awhile and filled up on some water at another creek. We obviously did not see the trail that starts right next to the slab and wound up heading up a steep dirt hill sliding all over the place. From here we accessed the lower basin and some snow that was easy going, but what we did not know was that we were nowhere near the trail. The actual trail hugs the left (east) side of the basin, so we just scrambled up a creek drainage, and some slabs that helped us access the ridgeline that spied us the first glance of the Sloan Glacier. We roped up and John decided that we should do the low traverse instead of the recommended high traverse. We wound oursleves through many crevasses, hitting dead ends here and there from where snowbridges collapsed. We did the "Train Conductor" thing a few times where John was the leader and hit a dead end, so then Mike would lead since he was the end person. As we crossed over a small snowbridge I felt a small tug on the rope, and then a heard Mike say that Jessica fell in, but her pack caught her . Photos >> It seemed that she barely fell in as the bridge broke off just a small piece. We continued our traverse to reach the higher part of the glacier and to reach the ridgeline where the glacier ends and the trail begins the classic corkscrew route. We met up with a group of Mazamas at the ridgeline as they were on their way down from the summit. We shared our experience with theirs, as they did the same lower traverse on the glacier as we did. From the ridge the trail winds around the backside and then up a sandy, dirty, and loose gulley to the summit ridge. It is on the last little traverse to the summit blocks where there is a class 3 move, and the exact spot where I hit my head and almost fell (Glad I had my helmet on). The summit was awesome, great views of the Glacier Peak Wilderness and the North Cascades. We only stayed for a few minutes, and then began our descent. This time we decided to try the high traverse to get off of the broken Sloan Glacier. Once again, we ran into many dead ends and tricky spots, We set up a running belay at one spot that was steep and exposed, and then came to a dead end where John downclimbed some wet dirty rock into a moat and back up on the glacier. We then belayed each other down as we left behind a sling and a biner to get each other off the upper part of the glacier. From there it was an easy traverse to water, as I had been parched for about 1 hour. We got our stuff together and started down the correct climbers trail that was a real treat compared to what we used to approach the glacier beforehand. Photos >> We made good time back to where the Mazamas had made camp, rested once again, and then continued down the trail to the river crossing at about 830pm. It was getting dark and we knew we had to cruise as John had sprinted ahead since he had forgotten a headlamp, and Mike and Jessica were moving a little slower. Once across the river, Jessica and I got lost a few times since it was dark. We played "Marco Polo" with Mike a few times so that we could all cruise out together. Once again, the best advise is to always follow the flagging, even if it does not appear to be right, as you will climb over very large fallen trees and roots, etc. Remember what you did on the way in and you should have no problem. We got out at 9pm with John waiting for us at my car. Photos >> The drive back to Granite Falls was horrid, as I could barely stay awake, and my 2 co-pilots passed out on me. After some hot disguting coffee at the coldest (brrrr) convenience store in town, we found our way home and to bed immediately. I felt sorry for the Mazamas as they spent their 3rd night on the mountain with all the bugs. Photos >> Directions: From Darrington, travel south on the Mountain Loop Highway 16.3 miles. Turn left (east) on the Sloan Creek Road #49. Continue on this road for 4.5 miles to the trailhead on your right. Map: USGS Sloan Peak / Green Trails Sloan Peak #111 Trail Conditions: click here Road Conditions:: click here Web References: SummitPost.com Wikipedia.com Sverdina.com PeakBagger.com Additional Info : - First Ascent: July 30, 1921 by Harry Bedal, Nels Skaar - A Northwest Forest Pass is required for each vehicle parked at the trailhead - Fred Beckey, Cascade Alpine Guide, Volume 2 (Second Edition), The Mountaineers, 1996 - Lat/Lon: 48.04150°N / 121.3401°W