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Trip Report    

Basic Alpine Climb - South Twin Sister/West Ridge

Although considered a climb, the route can easily be completed without a rope. Super fun for those who are comfortable with lots of class 3 and occasional class 4 moves and much exposure in some areas.

  • Road suitable for all vehicles
  • We used Greg Slayden's Peakbagger's track for guidance and it worked great.  The map shows our route from the trailhead.  We were lucky enough to have a participant with a key to the gate so did not have to hike or bicycle the road to the trailhead saving us about 5.5 miles one way.51486478418_af6955461e_o.jpg

All 4 of us spent the night in the parking area next to the gate and drove to the trailhead the next morning.  We departed the trailhead at about 6:40am soon after it got light and arrived at the basin where many camp (4900') at about  8am.   Photo below shows the campsites (red) and the creek where the last water source can be found later in the season.  Access to the west ridge are near the campsites.Inked51485354473_b483b29dff_o_LI.jpgBelow is a photo of the west ridge taken from the campsite.  One can access the ridge further down or further up by going up choss and talus.  We chose to start lower by hugging the trees which worked well.  On the return we left the ridge further up as shown on the map.51485855639_6e0b7d9166_o.jpgThe route was fairly obvious with many cairns to follow.  As stated in many reports, staying on the crest is often harder than dropping a little to the south side of the ridge.  Occasionally, there were cairns on the higher and a lower routes which made it a bit confusing, but always easy to rectify.  51485355633_1d580d2a82_o.jpg51486061370_07fd915f8e_o.jpgIt was quite chilly when we started, but warmed up as the sun shone on us.  The morning light on N Twin Sister to our north. 51486061610_2d3087733d_o.jpgBesides traversing, there are lots of ups and downs as well.51485356368_4e5e3dfa06_o (1).jpg51484354317_8d996bba3d_o.jpg51485358478_7583997705_o.jpgThe summit straight ahead.51485143146_03502447f0_o.jpgPano of the summit area.  Mt Baker, Sisters Glacier and the summit.51484357217_8a565f87a8_o (1).jpgThw many peaks in the distance.51486828378_724fc7e98b_o.jpgGreat views of N Twin Sister as we descend.51485860799_d71425c7a3_o.jpgWe don't save much time on the descent as some areas were harder with more visual exposure.
51485860984_2f292ee318_o.jpg51484358972_e5f7d88743_o.jpgThis is about where we decided to leave the ridge and head down the scree and talus to the campsites which can save some time.51484360762_1c26f74031_o.jpgFun day with 3 excellent scramblers on a beautiful day.  

The stats:  

c2c - 11.5 hrs at an unhurried pace.  5.7 miles/3650' gain