Concord Tower/North Face

Trip Date: 6/8/14
Start Location: Blue Lake Trailhead
End Location: Blue Lake Trailhead
Elevation Gain: 2360ft

General Activity Notes:
Departed Blue Lake TH a little after 8am. Parking lot closed due to snow. With snow cover don’t try to follow the summer trail; rather just head straight up from the parking lot. Out of the trees a well defined boot track led to the Liberty Bell/Concord Tower notch. Departed trailhead 8:06am, return 7:30pm – 11hr24m car-to-car.

Route conditions:
One party member opted out of the climb so we climbed as a party of three. From the belay tree at the end of Pitch 1 the route goes straight up 50-60 feet until reaching a traverse to the left. The traverse is narrow and has a tricky step up. From there follow the inclined ramp with good pro placement in the crack along the bottom right corner of the ramp. Final section is difficult to protect and we found awkward to get adequate hand placements. There was one party that had ascended the south side on the summit as we were just getting to the final section.

Double rope rap from the summit to the rap station at the top of the first pitch. We used the chains and bolts at the summit. However, there was extreme rope drag when pulling our ropes and it took over an hour to finally get the ropes down. Final single rope rap to the notch.

Permits required:
Northwest Forest Pass required at the trailhead.

Driving / parking notes:
Blue Lake TH parking lot was blocked by snow. Adequate parking along Hwy 20.

Equipment notes:
Carried and used ice axe. Carried but did not use crampons. Standard alpine rack. Brought a BD #3 cam but did not place it.

Required Skills:
Snow scrambling skills.
Lead rock climbing skills.

Flora & Fauna:
Group of 4 goats wandered across the Liberty Bell notch while we were approaching. A goat came up the notch to check out our gear while we were climbing but upon our return didn’t notice anything chewed or missing.

Weather Notes:
Glorious early June day. Mostly sunny with some clouds. Temps in the low-mid 60’s. Cold in the notch, especially when breezy.