Basic Alpine Climb - Black Peak/South Ridge

Yesterday we left the parking lot right around 0600 to climb Black Peak, a route I’ve been up before and really enjoy. Our team was myself and three Bellingham climbers, and our goals were mainly just to have a nice day in the mountains. One climber had not gotten on any climbs yet this season, and so I was looking forward to spending time with her. We work together and I love spending time with her, so getting a day outside together was quite a treat. 

We quickly made our way out the trail and crossed over Heather Pass. We had a water stop at the outflow of Lewis Lake and ate some snacks. The travel through the boulder field was straightforward, as there are a lot of cairns to follow. The trail around Lewis Lake and up to Wing Lake is well traveled and we found some delicious late season blueberries and huckleberries as a little trail treat!

At Wing Lake we stopped again for water and self care before starting to tackle the scree slope that leads up to the South Ridge. Two members of the team mentioned having low appetite and not feeling 100%, and after some discussion we decided to continue onwards.

Above Wing Lake the route steepens and becomes a loose scree slope. It can be a bit tedious but we made our way upwards and gained the base of the South Ridge with everyone commenting on how much worse going down that slope is going to be (spoiler alert, going down is always worse 😂). We had a break here, the people with poles stashed poles at the saddle, and we followed the well worn path up the ridge. 

The ridge itself is a very enjoyable 3rd class scramble. There are loose rocks but the terrain is such that those are easy to move around without displacing. I’m happy to say that our climbers moved very well through this terrain and were mindful of hands and feet. We were the only people on the ridge and it was nice to not have to worry about overhead hazards. About halfway up, we took a break. One climber mentioned feeling a bit queasy, but after snacking and drinking stated she felt better and wanted to proceed forward. She was moving well so we continued up to the summit ridge. 

I had brought along a short rope and had everyone bring a lightweight harness for the 4th class at the summit, just in case people wanted that security. While on the big summit ridge I had the team put on harnesses and then we traversed over to the 4th class section. It was at this point the climber with who had nausea earlier looked at me and said, “I am going to puke,” and she did. I made the call right then to return to the big ledge as a team and head down. 

We moved down as a team, and quickly found ourselves at the saddle. From there descending the scree slope was annoying but comical, and we made our way back to Wing Lake. The climber that wasn’t feeling well was doing better and able to drink and eat some snacks. We cooled off in the lake and made our way back down the trail. Unfortunately for our sick climber, she continued to have intermittent nausea and vomiting for the remainder of the day, which leads me to assume that maybe she had a stomach bug but that’s just a guess since her partner also mentioned his belly feeling off as well. 

We made it safely back to the parking lot as the sun was setting, and all made our ways back to our homes. Today was a good lesson in listening to our bodies and communicating needs, and we had some good discussions in there not being a need to continue on because the mountains will be there and we can always come back.