Trip Date: July 22-25, 2010

Mt. Terror & Mt. Degenhardt Climbing Trip

Terror Creek
Stump Hollow
Chopping Block Saddle
Crescent Creek Cirque
Mount Degenhardt (8000′+)
Mount Terror (8151′)

Trip Report Summary

Region: Northwestern Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Picket Range

Area: North Cascades National Park

Starting & Ending Point: Goodell Creek Trailhead at Goddell Creek Group Campground on Goodell Creek Road (Elev. 600 feet)

Way Points: Roost Creek & Terror Creek & Barrier Ridge & Stump Hollow (trail hike & off-trail hike & rock scramble & snow hike)

Campsite: Stump Hollow bench (Elev. 6000 feet)

Sidetrip: Chopping Block Saddle & Crescent Creek Cirque (snow hike & snow climb)

Summit: Mt. Degenhardt (snow climb & rock scramble & rock climb via West Slope—North Ridge—South Ridge [Corkscrew Route])

Sidetrip: Chopping Block Saddle & Crescent Creek Cirque (snow hike & snow climb)

Summit: Mt. Terror (snow climb & rock scramble & rock climb via Terror Couloir—West Ridge)

Approximate Stats: 20 miles traveled; 12,500 feet gained & lost.

Full Trip Report

Upon seeing a good weather window coincide with a favorable snowpack, Fay and I scrambled to put together a trip into the Southern Pickets last weekend.  We couldn’t find anyone else who could go on short notice, but that didn’t prevent us from doing the trip as a two-some.  Fay proved to be an excellent partner, as always, despite the rigors of this undertaking.  Veteran climbers know that the Picket Range has a firm policy of punishing all comers, and although we certainly got a hearty dose of punishment, at least it was served up in the form of a classic Picket sandwich:  two days of beautiful weather and scenery layered between a brutish approach day and a grueling exit day.

Day 1: Trailhead to Stump Hollow

We started hiking up the Goodell Creek Trail in mid-morning.  It had been cool and cloudy while driving up, and a steady drizzle settled over the mountains just as we settled into a steady pace.  This was a revolting development, indeed.  From the end of the trail just past “Roost Creek” (1600’), we continued traversing toward Terror Creek on a climber’s path that started off being well-defined but eventually died in creek-bottom brush.  We reached raging Terror Creek (3.9 hours from car) at the correct crossing spot (2000’), only to find that the normal log bridge (a large split log) was a foot under water!  Fortunately, we were able to find two other suitable logs about 100 yards upstream and proceeded to shinny across the shorter of the two.

After thrashing back downstream to the split log, we started a long grunt up the opposite ridge.  There is a surprisingly well-trodden path up this hillside, but it ranges from steep to ridiculously steep.  To make the ascent even more miserable, we were becoming soaked by the drizzle and wet vegetation.  At least the air was pleasantly cool, and we reached the crest in reasonable good time (6.4 hours from car).

A sporadic climber’s path continued northward up the narrow crest, which eventually melded into Stump Hollow.  This portion was excruciatingly long and brushy and wet, giving us the effect of doing laps through a car wash.  It was a relief to break out into the open, snowy terrain of Stump Hollow, but a heavy fog made for a difficult time finding a suitable campsite.  We checked out six or eight different outcrops of rock and heather before finally settling on one—a small bench at 6000 feet—that was marginally suitable.

The time was after 8:00pm (9.5 hours from car) when we unshouldered our too-heavy burdens at day’s end, feeling like haggard and fatigued and drenched pilgrims in an inhospitable place.  Fay set up her bivy tent and immediately jumped inside for the night.  I stood outside in the foggy drizzle for several hours, brewing hot water and drinking my entire weekend supply of rum.

Day 2: Mt. Degenhardt Summit Climb

We were delighted to awake to clear blue skies and sun streaming over McMillan Spires.  Several hours were devoted to drying out our soggy gear before we headed out for Mt. Degenhardt.

An easy rising traverse across Stump Hollow gained us the 6400’ saddle northeast of The Chopping Block, then we downclimbed 200’ into Crescent Creek Basin. Continuous snowcover made for an easy contour around the basin and a moderately steep climb to Degenhardt’s summit horn.

We were initially uncertain how to tackle this daunting rock feature but eventually found a corkscrew route that went up a Class 4 slot to the north ridge, then up a Class 4-5 face to a small step on the west ridge, then across an exposed Class 3 ledge to the south ridge, and finally up to the airy summit (5.3 hours from camp).

This whole clockwise-spiral was brilliant fun and not at all like the negative comments we’d heard about the climb.  Moreover, the peak’s strategic position at the convergence of Terror and Crescent Basins provided splendid views in all directions.

We spent 75 minutes soaking in the alpine glory before descending via one downclimb pitch and one rappel.  The snow portion of our descent went quickly, putting us back in camp by early evening (3.6 hours from summit).

Day 3: Mt. Terror Summit Climb

With Mt. Terror being our goal today, we made an earlier departure from camp and managed to reach the base of the Terror Couloir by mid morning. The couloir provided continuous snow climbing from bottom to top, but the middle portion necked down to an eye-opening 5-foot-wide snow rib between deep, scary moats. We placed one picket here for protection, then found somewhat easier conditions extending up to Terror Col (3.2 hours from camp).

Climbing out of this col presented the technical crux of the mountain.  After evaluating and fiddling over several possibilities, we eventually succeeded with an interesting route that went through a snow cave, into a narrow moat, and then up a Class 5.5 crack between the main face and a large detached block on the left.

From a belay/rappel station at the top of this crux pitch, one more pitch of Class 5.0 rock ended at the base of the long, gentle west ridge.  We scrambled up this ridge, went around the false summit on the right side, and entered the narrow “True-False Gully” that separates the true summit from the false summit.

The remaining 300 feet of steep, blocky rock looked intimidating but turned out to be enjoyable Class 3 scrambling.  We topped out in mid afternoon (7.2 hours from camp).

During the last half-hour of our ascent, a most surprising thing had happened: we were overtaken by a solo climber (Randy) who had traversed over from Terror Creek Basin. When he told us that he had climbed Terror Couloir without crampons, and climbed the crux rock pitch without a rope, we were stunned! However, he was an amiable chap and was quite happy to take our summit pictures—about 30 times.

We made two rappels to reach Terror Col, then cramponed down the couloir. In the middle portion, we left our picket as a belay anchor to safely get past the scary moats—all the while seeing Randy’s confident heel-plunging steps in the snow! It was late evening when we reached camp (4.5 hours from summit).

Day 4: Stump Hollow to Trailhead

We enjoyed a sunny morning in camp before beginning our long, 6000-foot descent to Goodell Creek.  The brush was now (thankfully) very dry, but the air was hot and stagnant.  Being eager to finish this unpleasant exit, we were frustrated at repeatedly losing the climber’s path and having to thrash about to regain it.

Terror Creek and Roost Creek provided welcome water stops along the way, but we couldn’t seem to drink enough.  We finally reached the car in the height of the afternoon heat (7.6 hours from camp).   The hamburgers that we feasted on in Marblemount an hour later were almost as tasty as our four-day Picket sandwich!

Photo Gallery

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