Evening sun warms the red rock and large snowfield of North Twin Sister
Evening sun on North Twin Sister as seen from Dailey Prairie

North Twin Sister via Dailey Prairie Road—West Ridge (Twin Sisters Range, WA)

Trip Date: May 31, 2014

North Twin Sister Day Climb

Dailey Prairie
North Twin Sister
aka North Twin aka North Sister (6640’+)

Trip Report Summary

Region: Northwestern Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Twin Sisters Range

Area: Mt. Baker – Snoqualmie National Forest

Starting & Ending Point: Middle Fork Nooksack River Bridge on Dailey Quarry Road (Elev. 1200 feet)

Way Points: Dailey Prairie (bike ride);  North Sister spur road & West Ridge Notch (road hike & trail hike & snow hike)

Summit: North Twin Sister (rock scramble & rock climb via West Ridge; descent via North Couloir)

Approximate Stats: 10 miles traveled; 5500 feet gained & lost; 7.8 hours up; 3.4 hours down.

North Twin Sister via West Ridge – October 7, 2000

South Twin Sister via West Ridge – August 10, 2003

Full Trip Report

Eileen and I took advantage of mostly good weather on the last day of May to climb the ultra-classic West Ridge of North Twin Sister.  It had been 10 years or so since I’d been up this way, and I was surprised to see how much logging has been done throughout the flanking forest. Both the quarry road and the old overgrown Dailey Prairie spur road have been re-graded, widened, and graveled, making them hardly recognizable as being the original alignment.

Riding Toward Dailey Prairie

Although navigation is a bit easier now, partly thanks to a giant marker duck, we did not appreciate the 1-inch crushed rock under our bike tires—either uphill or downhill.

Jumbo Duck

The climber’s trail leading up from the prairie is in excellent shape, but the extension path above 4100 feet was still buried in spring snow.

Hiking Up Approach Trail
Ascending Lower West Ridge

We worked up to the lower west ridge and followed it to the rocky transition. The grippy, orange, weathered dunite made for enjoyable Class 2-3 scrambling as we stayed on or south of the crest.

Climbing On Middle Ridge

We roped up at the 5800-foot hogback, and continued up a combination of snow and rock using running belays.

Eileen Belaying On Hogback

Protection was gained primarily by weaving our rope back and forth across the horny crest; chocks and slings were necessary only at a few exposed Class 3 and 4 headwalls. We topped out in swirling fog at 4:30pm (7.8 hours from car).

Southeast Ridge From Summit

Rather than retracing our route back down the long ridge, we descended steep snow on the north face. Conditions turned out to be perfect here; the snow was soft but well bonded.

Descending North Face

Once below the steep face, we picked up a boot track that had been beaten in by a large group from the Skagit Alpine Club. (They had established camp on a nearby snow bench.) Their tracks led us back to the climber’s trail, and it was then just a quick hike and ride back to our car (3.4 hours from summit) with a little daylight to spare.

Evening Sun On Mount Baker

Click to enlarge…