The Temple, Kangaroo Ridge, Cascades. On September 29, 1956, Fred Beckey and Donald Claunch decided to go to the well-known but seldom- visited Kangaroo Ridge area, north of Methon Valley. We drove from Chelan to Twisp and thence up the Twisp River to Gilbert, the end of the road. Next day we climbed through brush and up spotty trails above the main valley leading to Copper Pass. Fred and I planned to try the great couloir on the spectacular wall of the south face, a route I had attempted previously. We hiked to the base of the ridge that connects with the eastern face of the Temple and upwards for a few minutes through brush, heather, and boulders to a point near the crest of the ridge. Here we traversed south along a wide ledge to the corner between the south and east faces. Fred started up the steep, slabby corner, but was soon confronted with a very smooth section of it, a pitch which I had led free without aid in 1953. After getting that "shaky feeling on discolorations,” Fred retreated to let me have a try. Although he had discovered a piton crack, as I retraced this lead, I soon found myself quivering also. I finally managed it with a sling for direct aid. Once above this touchy spot, I went left across a slab and into the "great chimney," where Fred joined me on a chockstone platform. Fred led up vertically through the steep and rotten chimney, with one piton for safety. Above this we were confronted by an extremely steep, seemingly impossible corner between two large, smooth walls. To our great surprise, Fred found an almost-hidden chimney between the two incoming walls. With pitons for safety, I wormed my way upward. We were soon directly below the summit and some scrambling on moderately difficult rock brought us to the top. This completed the fourth route to the summit, one on each side of the mountain.

Donald Claunch