pickets Traverse
Pack was already 50+lbs before adding water and the rope. DOH!
North Pickets Traverse, Challenger Attempt,
Luna Cirque & Luna Peak
5 Days
Distance = 53 Miles
Elevation Gain = 16,000
Traveling across jagged peaks inspiring the look of a Picket fence this extremely remote and rugged corner of the North Cascades demands commitment, advanced alpine skills and deep knowledge of the terrain with an adventurous attitude.
Perspectives of Luna Peak changed on the days we spent traversing the far ridge, Challenger Glacier and Cirque on the way to camp at the Luna Col and summit. There are many sides to a mountain, the voyage revealed beauty in the details.
There is no easy way to Challenger.
Many descriptions include the word “arduous” to describe the approach. That is often followed by the word “classic.” Long complex approaches are apparently an ingredient that makes for a great Cascades climb.
Challenger at the northern flank of the North Picket Range in the North Cascades National Park with its 4-kilometer wide glacier and jagged rocky summit is a desirable remote mountain.
A large gaping crevasse greets us just a mere couple hundred feet from the true summit of the south peak. The snow bridge that allowed passage for a climbing team a few days before has collapsed in dramatic fashion.
Weighing our options of a loose rocky scramble or a steep snow/ice wall we decide to take in the views from the high col between rocky summits. Given the 2.5 days in and further to travel in our cirque loop we decide to forgo the summit and have a picnic. While I would have enjoyed the final rock pitch my lacking ice climbing skills curtailed my desire to push it.
In my climbing career I have never enjoyed a non-summit this much. The feeling of remoteness from self-propelled movement across this range was exhilarating. Taking in the moment from this vantage point noting the contours of the glacier and cirque to Luna peak, our next objective two days away. On the descent relieved to have safely crossed the softening lower snow bridge I felt calm and relaxed.
Then I saw the boulder move.
In the distance below across the foot of the glacier it was clear, there was a large black bear crossing the edge of the glacier and rock bands to a high col.
He had walked right by our stowed gear. Foot prints nearly 20 feet from where our stacked packs waited for us he didn’t show any sign of noticing they were there.
Relieved we didn’t have to do a field test of our ursacks and bear bins we packed up and headed back across the glacier to camp 3 and the next stretch of our back country adventure.
North Pickets Luna Col Traverse - Where the wild things are.
Bryan giving his impersonation of Mount Fury in the background.
