The trip will be remembered for its excellent camps.  Matt looks out over Highway 20 and off toward Mt Baker.

With such excellent terrain nearby it's no wonder that Teebone Ridge is off the radar.  We left a car on Cascade River Road and another near the Newhalem visitors center.  We found tantalizing views towards the Ptarmigan Traverse peaks, the Eldorado icecap, and the Pickets.  Memories will be of our two great camps and, unfortunately the most miserable bushwhack of our lives.  In hindsight we chose the wrong descent gully, at one point forced to rappel through a waterfall.  Still, a good adventure and another chunk of the Cascades under our belts.

Slogging up to the ridge above Monnogram Lake.  Unnecessarily large packs were carried with the thought of climbing a new route.  We didn't use the rope until the very end - to rappel through devil's club, waterfalls, etc.

Camp overlooking the Cascade River valley.

It's always better when it's Matt's night to cook.

Hazy skies made for interesting photography.  That's Mt Triumph and Despair on top and the Southern Pickets on bottom.

A good portion of the traverse was unpleasant.  In this frame Matt grasps his trekking poles at the midpoint because of the steep slope.  It was pig-sweat hot and the going always seemed steep.  Whaaaaa.... what did we expect from the North Cascades?

One thing I always look forward to after a long day is watching the Redhead set up his tent.  His fancy tent, which smells like cat piss, requires him to crawl inside and set it up from the inside.  Watching Redhead and yellow tent thrashing about the heather, followed by the inevitable F-bombs just never gets old.

After inspecting the map, Matt prepares to make a grievous mistake.  That wide, pleasant-looking drainage suckered us into its bowels.  Once inside it beat us mercilessly with its slide alder, devil's club and slimy waterfalls.

Take Me Home