Cowlitz Chimneys Central and Banshee via Sarvant Glacier

Trip Report

A last-minute change from our original Mt. Shuksan objective due to weather...couldn't have been happier with the outcome! We had looked at this route a few weeks prior when we had done Tamanos and Governors Ridge, and as luck would have it, another party (only the second ever to do so) had a successful attempt so we had some recent beta for our objective!

Our group of 6 met at the WIC at 630a to avoid the reservation requirement for Sunrise. Did a car shuttle, dropping one car at Summerland and parking the others in the overflow lot for Owyhigh Lakes, where we started the climb. First 3.5 miles/1500' went by in a heartbeat, and we made it to the lakes in under 1.5h on one of the most rootless, rockless, trails I've ever been on in the Rainier vicinity.  Lots of fresh bear scat the closer we got to the lakes.

Tried to stop to filter here but the mosquitoes were relentless so we continued upwards, where we would split off towards Tamanos. The creeks that were running with snowmelt just two weeks prior along the trail after the cutoff were completely dried out so we assessed, and everyone had enough water to make it past the saddle where we would descend again to meet up with a few creeks. We left the Tamanos trail to head NW, spread out across a (very) steep meadow towards the Tamanos/Sarvant Saddle at about 6k', where we were greeted with a spectacular view of Tahoma and the valley below (complete with waterfalls, green pastures and unmarred snowfields), and unfortunately, more mosquitoes.

Descended a few hundred feet on a nice game trail, crossing a few snow fields (followed a great set of  bear tracks!) before ascending up snow/scree above the creek until we ended up alongside the crystal clear rushing water, clambering up some beautiful friction slabs, to view the most glorious tarn at the base of the Sarvant Glacier. That silty, turquoise glacial melt tasted so delicious!

Took a longer break here before crossing the creek (by then, we were out of blood, so no more mosquitoes). Headed around the lake climber's right to access the glacier, donning crampons and helmets here. We skirted up the glacier to the West, giving wide berth to the rockfall paths on climber's left and runout below, before gently trending South towards the saddle...there was a large rockfall (so loud!) when we were ascending but our route kept us out of its path. The glacier narrowed and we ended up leaving the snow and ascending the last 50' or so on sandy scree  to access the Banshee saddle.

From here, we traversed back East towards Cowlitz Chimneys Central, crossing a few snow patches along the way, hugging the rock on the innerside of a rapidly melting moat to access a large dry sandy bench before heading up a rocky ramp to begin the scramble. 

Some route-finding required, most of the route was class 2 with a few class 3 moves, a few good-smelling pine belays and lots of loose rock, so make sure to test EVERY hand and foot hold on the way up and down, and be cognizant of other parties/people on the route. Tread lightly! It's a bit of 'choose your own adventure'. Views from the summit were incredible, especially seeing that we had come from the cerulean tarn below!

Headed down took a bit, to avoid displacing rock, but made it back to the saddle and continued towards Panhandle Gap, tagging Banshee (super-easy walk-up) along the way around 1600. 

A gorgeous meadow stroll with frolicking mountain goats and marmots led us to Panhandle Gap, where an easy snow traverse and descent dropped us to another beautiful tarn where we snacked and filtered before heading down into Summerland. A few more fat marmots and TONS of wildflowers left us breathless at every turn, seriously, it was like a scene straight out of The Sound of Music.

Left our tarn filter spot at 1754 with a goal of 2 hours to the car, and we MADE IT! Hit the cars at 1954. Can we say, motivation station? 

About 12h45 C2C with many short breaks, route-finding, car shuttles and showtunes. What a great group, all willing to just go with it despite our cancelled glacier climb. This is what the Mountaineers is all about...venturing into explorations of the unknown, learning, and having fun while doing so!

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