First Ascents in the Southern Pickets

Edward Cooper

It seems strange that in 1961 there were still unclimbed peaks in the Cascades, but this proved to be the case. These peaks were probably the highest and most remote of the virgin summits left in the range. I visited the Southern Pickets twice this summer, making the first crossing from north to south via the first ascent of the north face of Mount Terror in July, and climbing three previously unvisited summits in the western group in mid-September. Entirely new approaches were used on both trips, and information on these should prove useful to future parties visiting the area.

The Southern Pickets may be divided into the western and eastern groups. Mount Terror and the numerous Crescent Creek Spires compose the western group, while the eastern group includes McMillan Spires, Inspiration Towers, Inspiration Spire, and Pyramid Peak. Mount Degenhardt separates the two groups on the south by its extension, The Barrier. Pyramid Peak, just east of Mount Degenhardt, separates the two groups on the north by its extension, "The Barricade." Both are difficult to cross either way (The Barrier being the more difficult) making accessability of one group from the other a problem. Previously there had been no known approach to the northern side of either group, or any reasonable approach to the south side of the western group other than crossing The Barrier. The approaches are described carefully.

Approach to Either Group of the Northern Side of the Southern Pickets (Upper McMillan Creek Cirque). Perhaps the most spectacular single area in the Cascade Range is the northern cirque wall of the Southern Pickets. For untold ages this row of north walls have remained inviolate. The walls fall from the summits of the peaks, about 8000 feet, to the very valley floor of McMillan Creek at less than 3000 feet elevation. Some of the steepest ice in the Cascades is found here, incredibly steep hanging glaciers and ice couloirs separating the peaks. The approach to this cirque wall had been attempted several times before via the McMillan Creek valley without success. Failure was primarily due to the fantastically thick brush in the valley floor which only those who have climbed in the Cascades can appreciate.

On our approach to the northern cirque wall we left from Diablo Dam and hiked six miles up the Stetattle Creek "trail” which ends in the eastern headwall of the McMillan Spires, the eastern bastion of the Southern Pickets. The first three miles of the trail are relatively good, then it virtually disappears at a creek soon after the three mile mark. Blazes were cut early in the summer of 1961 on the next three miles and they may be followed through brushy areas, with some difficulty, to the six mile mark. Here one encounters a solid cordon of brush at a giant slide area. We climbed some 4000 feet straight up the hillside to the right, keeping left of the cliffs encountered, and crossed the divide between Stetattle Creek and McMillan Creek at a pass (c. 6000 feet) between McMillan Spire and Elephant Butte, a massive peak on the divide between the two creeks. Early in the season (we were there in early July, which is early) it is possible to glissade more than 1000 feet to the level of the shelf of hanging glaciers, "Terror Glaciers," below the row of north walls. Here a party is in position for any number of excellent climbs. It takes about one and a half days to reach this point, nine to fourteen hours.

Approach to the South Side of the Western Group of the Southern Pickets, (Crescent Creek Basin). This approach was discovered on the descent of the south side of Mount Terror following the first ascent of the north face. At the time we were too tired to ascend high on Degenhardt Mountain in order to cross The Barrier to make the normal descent of the eastern group, and we attempted to cross The Barrier low through a pass above Pinnacle Peak which was easy to reach. It proved to be quite impractical to drop down the other side into Terror Creek, but we were able to continue down for some ways on a forrested ridge to the left (east) of a small basin of which Pinnacle Peak was the head.

On making this approach it is best, once the spar tree is reached at the head of the overgrown Goodell Creek logging road, to start up the trail that has been cut by Seattle Mountaineer work parties to the eastern group until reaching the upper right edge of the logged off area, about 300 feet. Here contour about a quarter mile above Terror Creek, gaining height slowly until a feasible way is seen to ascend to the top of the ridge on the other side of Terror Creek. This is the most critical part of the route, as there are many cliffs on the opposite hillside and much time will be lost or saved depending on where Terror Creek is crossed. Once the ridge crest is gained it is just a long walk up the forested rib to timberline where the location of camp will depend on water. To gain access to the western group from camp climb about 1000 feet to the second pass to the right of Pinnacle Peak and descend 300 feet into the Crescent Creek basin. It takes eight to ten hours to reach camp.

Climbing Activities. The Southern Pickets receive my vote for the most alpine range in the United States outside of Alaska. No one who sees a panorama of the north side can fail to be impressed. Even the south side retains this alpine character, though to a lesser degree. Glaciers are found even on the straight south faces. Early in July Mike Swayne, Charles Bell, Dave Hiser, and I, after using the approach already described, traversed under one of the hanging "Terror Glaciers" until reaching the "Barricade," which descends from the summit of Pyramid Peak to the McMillan Creek valley floor. Once this was crossed by way of a short face and a deep, prominent gully, the only remaining difficulty in reaching the north face of Mount Terror was the crossing of a difficult crevasse.

Early in the afternoon we gained the face via a steep névé slope several hundred feet high on the right side of the face. The climbing was enjoyable beyond description. Steep weathered granite offered excellent firm holds, and we made rapid progress, for the most part unroped, until we found a fair bivouac site halfway up the face. We anchored to pitons on some uncomfortable sloping ledges on a rock outcrop on the right side of the face. With the continual exposure, the glacier far below, and the side- lighting that is peculiar to north faces, we felt as though we might have been in the Alps. Late next morning we reached the summit. Only one pitch of class V had been encountered, occurring when we got off route on the left side of the face. We attempted to locate the normal route down Terror, but unknown to us, it was hidden by the false summit, and instead we completed four very steep rappels down the east corner. This was followed by the descent described earlier.

The beauty of the area and rumors of unclimbed peaks in the Crescent Creek Spires lured George Whitmore and Glen Denny of California and Joan and Joe Firey and myself of Seattle during a spell of Indian Summer in September. We knew that the Twin Needles had been climbed, but could get no accurate information on the status of the remaining spires. Our first project was the peak immediately west of West Twin Needle. This peak did not look at all promising from either the west or east notches, but we ascended to the west notch since it was easier to reach. From here the peak still looked as though it would be beyond our resources, but by following a ledge conveniently leading onto the north face we located a class IV route not at all visible from the notch. This peak would have been much more difficult by any other route, but I had found that the north sides of peaks in this part of the Cascades frequently offer steep but well broken routes, while south sides are often very slabby. There was some suspense as we approached the summit, but not a trace of a cairn was found. We named this peak "Himmelgeisterhorn,” and it proved to be the second highest peak west of Mount Terror, only slightly lower than the West Twin Needle. The first ascent of "Düsseldorferspitze," a minor but spectacular pinnacle east of the summit of "Himmel” was also completed.

The next day, while the Fireys and George Whitmore made the fifth ascent of Mount Terror, Glen Denny and I climbed Pinnacle Peak by a new route. We ascended to the base of the north ridge, diagonally traversed the northwest face, and reached the summit via the west ridge. The giant cairn on top had remained undisturbed since the first ascent in 1932 by Bill Degenhardt and H. V. Strandberg, climbing pioneers of the North Cascades.

First ascents of Ottohorn (class III via the east ridge from the Otto- Himmel col) and Frenzelspitz were made the following day. The latter, a beautiful and symmetrical peak, was located off the main chain, being on the ridge between the Southern and Northern Pickets, though close under the north face of Ottohorn. It was necessary to descend about 500 feet of this face before gaining access to Frenzelspitz.

Although there is increasing activity in the Pickets, there are still many challenging projects. Certainly all of us who visited the range this summer have plans to return in the future.

Summary of Statistics

Area: Southern Picket Range, Northern Cascades, Washington.

Ascents:

First ascent of the North Face of Mount Terror, 8151 feet, July 8-11, 1961 (Charles Bell, Ed Cooper, Dave Hiser, Mike Swayne).

First ascents of "Himmelgeisterhorn", September 8, 1961; "Ottohorn", and "Frenzelspitz", September 10, 1961 (Ed Cooper, Glen Denny, Joan Firey, Joe Firey, and George Whitmore).

New route on Pinnacle Peak, 6805 feet, September 9, 1961 (Ed Cooper and Glen Denny).