Ruth Mountain
July
21st , 2007
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Photos
and story by Josh
Who: Christy and
Josh
Our
morning begins with the alarm clock blaring. Both Christy
and I hardly move other than an annoyed slap of the
sleeper button. At least the alarm rang on time.
Opal, the household cat has a tendency to change the
settings. And yes she can! She has a good
sense of humor.
To get up early on a rainy Saturday morning in late
July to go skiing takes quite a bit of motivation.
Christy and Reba would not let me sleep. Soon
I found myself taking the first excursion in the Ford
Excursion. It is quite the ride. The drive
up to Ruth is long. Shortly before the trailhead I notice
Reba is walking back and forth looking a bit agitated.
After seeing similar behavior on a recent rafting trip
I should have known to stop; She threw‑up. After
cleaning Christy and I were feeling a little sick ourselves.
At the trailhead we got ready and soon found ourselves
hiking up a wet trail. It was now raining pretty
hard. Christy having brought an umbrella thought
it would be nice to rig it up to her backpack so she
would not have to hold it. This was an entertaining
mile or so of various contraptions to hold up this umbrella.
None of them worked and soon to our delight the rain
dissipated. |
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The
hike up to Hannagan Pass went quickly. We were both
pretty excited having just caught our first view of Ruth Mountain
. It looked like some good skiing. Just above
the pass we both took a much needed break. After a fruit
cup and a burrito we were both on full and ready to go.
Before us was a steep muddy climb. It was easy to go
up, but getting down would take some nimble walking.
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The
next section I was a little worried about. I
feared Reba would be unable to cross a steep traverse
safely. Boy was I wrong. She was across
the slope in no time and waiting on us on the other
side with a doggy smile. Christy did the classic
tennis shoe traverse with an ax. Once on the
ridge we put on our ski boots leaving our shoes under
a tree.
We
quickly made for the summit thinking we would make
a few laps. Near the top we both lost a bit
of steam. There would be no laps today. The wind was
strong and cold. The only place we could find
to rest on the summit was a steep shale slope.
It got us out of the wind, but left us both a bit
raw and irritated. I must mention that the views from
the top of Ruth Mountain are some of the best in the
North Cascades. Mt. Shuksan is in your face
with many large glaciers hanging on steep slopes.
Icy Peak , Challenger, and even Mt. Blum all keep
a watchful eye on us.
Soon the cold and wind drove us from the summit. Relief
came quickly as Christy likes to link her turns and
is soon well down the slope. I did get a couple
of good photos as Reba and I chase her down the mountain.
There was a soft bumpy corn snow that was perfect
at the top and a bit ruff at the bottom.
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The
hike down, or should I say the mud slide down was wet. The
worse part came just after we left the snow and down climbed
to Hannagan Pass on a steep boot path. What was earlier
a dry trail was now a steep creek bed. I think Christy enjoyed
this part the most:) We both had a few good tumbles. The rain
increased in intensity all of the way to the car. It
was a long wet walk out, but in good company. Thank you for
the great trip Christy and Reba! It was good to wring out
another trip, literally.
More
reading: Nooksack
Traverse
Alpine
State OF Mind.
Or CONTACT ME.
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