Part II of the Ptarmigan Traverse
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| Deliverance! We gladly watched the first light hit the north
side of Formidable and clouds shrink away down the Cascade River Valley.
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| After a long dormant period the Canon could not stop. More
scenes from camp on Art's Knoll.
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| If we had kept pushing through the clouds on Day 2 we never would
have actually seen the Middle Cascade Glacier. It tumbles down
from nearly 8,000 to 2,500 feet into the valley below making it one of the most
impressive glaciers in the lower 48 states.
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| Jenny and Jill pause above the
Middle Cascade Glacier.
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| The section of the glacier we
crossed was larger and more circuitous than it looked from camp.
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| Jenny and Jill dwarfed by the
dry southern side of Mt Formidable.
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| The 151 was packaged in a
light, shatter-proof container. This was the Black Velvet bottle's
2nd trip on the traverse this summer lending sustenance to Cliff's group,
and now ours.
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| Jill was wasted after Day 3,
but dimples have a way of making someone look fresh.
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| Dawn at our camp on LeConte
Arm. The Yang-Yang Lakes are the standard camp on night #2, but
the arm seemed the better choice for those who enjoy big views.
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| Jill tends to one of her
massive blisters. Her heels have been so banged up over the past
year that she has permanent scars on her heels. Better than
tattoos.
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| Yawn... more glaciers and huge
scenery.
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| Going around a crevasse on the
LeConte. Above photo by Matt
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| Jenny and Jill pausing on the
col above the White Rock Lakes - place of my dreams. Sadly, we
only stayed briefly at the lakes as we had to move on. Just before
we reached the col Maverick and Ice Man had flown through providing us
with a memorable aerial show.
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| Jill on the long slog up the
Dana Glacier. That's Dome Peak and Elephant Head in the
background.
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| This was a fitting end to the
glacier travel - a long snow ridge between crevasses on the glacier
brought us almost directly to Spire Col.
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| Alpenglow on Dome Peak from our
camp on Itswoot Ridge.
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| Itswoot Ridge camp and Glacier
Peak on our last morning. Assuming there had been no clouds the
trip to this point would have featured views the entire way. From
here it's a long, unpleasant, and non-scenic trip back to the car.
Next time there will be no Ptarmigan Traverse - we'll do the Ptarmigan
Reverse.
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| Just when we thought the fun
was over (avalanche path) we were attacked by a cloud of flies.
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| The "trail" through Bachelor
Creek. This was Jill's last smile until Codeine.
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| Trudging the 9 miles of road. Photo by Matt |
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