Trip Date: May 31, 2014
North Twin Sister Day Climb
Dailey Prairie
North Twin Sister aka North Twin aka North Sister (6640+ ft)
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.
Related Posts
>>> South Twin Sister via Orsino Basin—West Ridge—South Face – August 10, 2003
>>> North Twin Sister via Dailey Prairie—West Ridge – October 7, 2000
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
Photo Gallery
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