[Fletcher]

I took the day off work Monday to capitalize on the last two days of the nice weather window. Fernow seemed like a good peak to scratch off the list so I decided to go for that. My old childhood friend Tyler wanted to go for a hike over my two days so he decided to come along for the ride. I realized somewhere around Monroe that I had forgotten to pack my camera so all of my pictures in this report were taken with my iPhone. We were hiking up Phelps Creek by 9am on Monday. The morning air was nice and cool and felt just a little bit like fall. We made good time up into Leroy Basin and refilled on water before starting upslope toward the basin just west of 7 Fingered Jack's summit.

off trail from here

fall color is underway

dont go to the saddle on the right, but up and left of the snowfield to stay on route

My original plan was to descend into Gloomy Basin and bivy on a larchy bench just below the waterfall slabs, making summit day a bit shorter. We climbed up and over 7FJ's NW ridge and I eyed descent possibilities down into the basin. Nothing looked great but I saw some ways that would go. After leading Tyler down some sketchy loose class 3 with exposure, we found ourselves above a steep snowfield that would grant us access to the basin. The snow was rock-hard though and I realized I had made a mistake. No way was a bringing a newbie down that sh##. We decided to climb back up to the ridge and reevaluate our plans.

the ridge

Glacier, Fortress, and Chiwawa from the ridge

my first look at my route up Fernow

Back up on the ridge, I thought it would be cool to bivy in one of the few nice bivy spots up there, but we would need to descend to get water as we were both running low. The tarn just below us at 7200 ft looked inviting enough so I suggested we bivy there that night and I would look into a way to bypass the gnarly descent into Gloomy Basin. I remembered seeing a report where someone descended from the tarn and traversed around a big buttress that ends a spur ridge NW of 7FJ and I would go scout that route that evening in preparation for my summit bid in the morning. There is only one gully that grants reasonable access to said traverse, I peered down it and figured it would go just fine. We enjoyed a nice chilled out evening at the tarn, catching up and reminiscing about our childhoods.

tarn

sunset through smokey haze over Glacier Peak

This was one of the calmest and warmest nights I have had in the mountains this summer. Very pleasant and we enjoyed a good nights sleep. We got up and were moving at 6:50 am. The traverse around the buttress and into Gloomy Basin was fairly straightforward. The worst part was a short traverse over hard-packed cement like dirt which took great care. I was surprised with Tyler's performance here, lacking a lot of experience on difficult terrain.

Glacier Peak smokey sunrise

lone yellow larch below the traverse

traverse into Gloomy Basin with route up Fernow's waterfall slabs

Gloomy Glacier

we took the creek up into the upper basin, it went fine although I think there might be an easier route on the right

beginning of final Fernow scramble goes up talus and onto the big grass bench then up the right side of the waterfall before being forced to the left by difficult terrain.

We arrived in upper Gloomy Basin below the waterfall slabs an hour after leaving our camp at the tarn. I asked Tyler if he wished to continue up the mountain. He said he would keep going, but if he got sketched out he would stop and wait. We set out from upper Gloomy Basin at 8:05 am. The first bit of scrambling up to the bench was easy, beyond that things remain easy but the exposure factor ramps up. This is where my friend decided to stop and wait. I continued on solo from there.

typical terrain up the waterfall slabs

The waterfall slabs went by pretty quick and easy and then I found myself in the talus filled basin SW of the summit. Travel through here was tedious due to all the loose talus. I kept going until I saw the chockstone gully up above me. More loose talus up to the chockstone was not an attractive notion so I kept going up to the low col south of there instead.

talus basin

At this col I was hoping to get over Fernow's south ridge and traverse the east side but it was too early. I was greeted with cliffs dropping straight down toward Entiat Meadows. It was okay because traversing the west side of the ridge up to the chockstone was easy.

looking down the chockstone

gnarly terrain

I had to poke my head around a little bit to find the route but it was pretty easy. There is some exposure up here, but nothing that really gives you the pucker effect. The final summit scramble was short and sweet. I was surprised at how quick it was from the chockstone to sitting on the summit. I summited at 9:55 am. Just over 3 hours from camp and 1 hr and 50 mins from the base of the waterfall slabs. I was stoked!!!

scramble up the summit block

Copper

Bonanza among others I am too lazy to name

Glacier among others I am too lazy to name

Maude with the Entiat Glacier

my register entry

other nwhikers

other nwhikers

other nwhikers

Fernow summitshot

It was surprisingly warm on the summit with no wind. I sat up there for 25 minutes before deciding to make my way down. I retraced my route back to the chockstone and scrambled down the talus to a lingering snowfield that I used to save time and energy down towards the waterfall slabs.

looking back up the scramble

route back to chockstone gully

cairn I built to mark my way

Mt Fernow Sept. 15-16 2014 - 53

lingering snow above the waterfall slabs

Glacier one more time

The descent down the waterfall slabs was easy and quicker than I thought. After that me and Tyler were reunited and on our way back to tarn camp.

looking down the waterfall slabs, looks intimidating but it really isnt

looking back

cool tarn in Gloomy Basin

last look back from lower basin

The hike back to camp wasnt too bad. We arrived at the tarn at 12:30 making my round trip from camp to the summit and back roughly 5 hours and 40 minutes. We were greeted there by two hunters that were trying to get away from the overcrowded Leroy Basin. Nice guys, we enjoyed chatting with them. They are going to be out there until Saturday unless they get something beforehand. The last bit of elevation gain to get back over the ridge toward Leroy went by surprisingly fast.

last bit of gain

We refiled on water for the last time in Leroy Basin and hiked out to the car, arriving at the trailhead at 4:45. Another great trip, I really wish summer wasnt coming to an end.

[neek]

the iphone certainly gets the point across, and think of the weight you saved! it's always nice to introduce n00bs to the pleasures of scrambling.

[rocknclimb]

Sweet trip I remember that descent into gloomy basin. The snow was rock hard, and we had to front point our crampons for a 100 vertical feet. Glad the lower traverse worked out as well.

[gb]

I did Fernow back in "ol 83". We did it in latter October. Back then there was a good deal more ice. The Gloomy Glacier was, well, a glacier. Now it just looks Gloomy. When we descended (we stayed on a rock rib) into the basin, at the bottom there was a 20 degree or so slope of very hard old ice. We didn't have crampons but probably did have ice axes. There was no hope of being able to walk on the ice. Back in the day we wore wool pants and just scooted along the ice on our butts, the wool pants sticking to the ice. The upper talus field above the more solid slabs was covered to a degree by a large snowfield which made that part easier. I don't recall going under the chockstone, but maybe it's just that I don't recall that or perhaps there is another way that works. It was none too difficult. Fernow is a nicer route than the standard route on Maude and is way better than talus and scree heap called Seven Fingered Jack.

[GeoTom]

Much clearer skies than when I went.

[Fletcher]

[*trace]

Looks like you went the same way we went earlier in the month. It also appears that my decision to leave crampons and stay low was prudent as well based on your attempted descent. I had the luxury of taking some very zoomed photos from Greenwood right before and it looked very unpleasant anywhere up high. It's a LOT of scree/boulder hopping to go around low but like you said, much safer. Sketchiest part was that dirt slope IMO. The pucker factor on that in running shoes was quite high for me. It is much easier to go around that cone of concreted dirt on the other side and is just more boulder hopping on that side. Nice work getting up there, and good call on your friends part stopping where the slabs got steep. The rocks get zinging down through there at alarming rates.

[Bedivere]

Those cement-like moraines are a massive PITA! That route from the tarn down into the basin goes better if you hug the buttress, cutting hard right around the bottom of it to avoid the moraine and stay on talus. Good work! I have fond memories of my solo trip up there. How far back does the register go? I was there in '08.