Trip Date: June 16, 2004

South Gemini Peak Day Climb

Monte Cristo Townsite
Addison Ridge
South Gemini Peak (6799 ft)

Trip Report Summary

Region: North-Central Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Monte Cristo Mountains

Area: Henry M. Jackson Wilderness

Starting & Ending Point: Monte Cristo Road pullout near Milepost 3.5 (Elev. 2700 feet)

Way Points: Gemini Creek rib & Addison Ridge crest & South Gemini Peak summit (off-trail hike & bushwhack & rock scramble & rock climb)

Summit: South Gemini Peak (rock scramble & rock climb via Southwest Slope—South Face)

Approximate Stats: 6 miles traveled; 4300 feet gained & lost; 6.3 hours up; 2.7 hours down.

Full Trip Report

Ever since climbing Foggy Peak together last spring, Mike T and I had planned to attempt South Gemini Peak this year.  We both regarded the peak as a seldom-climbed plum, but I was especially eager because it represented my last remaining summit on my “Monte Cristo Seven” group of major peaks.  Perhaps I was too eager;  throughout the past several months, I hounded Mike about making a try, even in marginal weather.  Mike wisely held me at bay until the time was right.

On Wednesday, vacation opportunities and bluebird conditions coincided, so we jumped to take advantage.  In addition to restraint and good judgement, Mike supplied a Monte Cristo gate key and a high-clearance pickup.  The latter was necessary to get over one spot where the road has slumped about 3 feet.  Some other parts of the road are rough and cobbley but passable by a normal car.

Beckey’s book lists several approach routes to Addison Ridge and South Gemini Peak.  Inexplicably, though, each one follows a brushy gully with steep slabs and waterfalls.  After scoping out the hillside from the Monte Cristo road, we opted to head up a strip of woods between Beckey’s “Route 4” and “Route 5” gullies.  We parked alongside the main road (elevation 2700 feet) at a point 0.4 miles northwest of the campground spur road junction.

Our ascent began in dense, cool, brush-free forest.  At 3100 feet, however, we abruptly encountered brushy and mossy cliffs.  We traversed slightly right along the base until the cliffs became more stepped, then we mustered our way up little clefts filled with scrub cedar.  Eventually, the slope relented and the undergrowth changed to salmonberry and thinner slide alder.  Mike and I employed different bushwhacking strategies all along the way:  mine involved wearing leather gloves and grabbing branches for upward progress, whereas his involved using an ice axe to punish every branch in his path.

As we scrambled atop a little rock promontory at 4400 feet (2.1 hours from car), our situation improved greatly.  We had finally gotten above the brush and forest, and were able to see that our route ahead would take us up a grassy/bouldery divide to near the crest of Addison Ridge.

After a short break to eat, drink, swat flies, and apply sunscreen, we continued on.  A snow-filled couloir starting around 5000 led us easily upward to about 6000 feet, where we began traversing left across a series of small gullies and ribs.  The summit block didn’t make itself obvious until we were a few hundred feet below the base, so our route always seemed lightly shrouded in uncertainty.

We reached the ridge crest immediately south of the summit block at 1:00pm (5.0 hours from car).  This put us directly beneath a steep and remarkably smooth slab with a defined crack cutting through the upper half—a feature clearly matching Beckey’s description of the “Class 4” south face, which was climbed on the peak’s first ascent.  Knowing how a Beckey “Class 4” usually turns out to be Class 5, we had come prepared with a 120-foot rope and a full alpine rock rack.  I roped in and led about 50 feet up the lower slabs (OK, these truly were Class 4) to a dirty ledge below the crack, then belayed Mike up.  It was now apparent that the crack is really a gradually narrowing chimney.

For the second pitch, I started inside the chimney and grunted 20 feet upward until able to get a satisfactory chock placement.  At that point, it became a squeeze chimney, so I moved out and climbed edge and face holds to the top.  I would rate the pitch at Class 5.4, but as is my custom on technical rock, I scratched around a lot and made it look more like 5.14.  Mike followed with a summit pack, cursing it the whole way.  We quickly scrambled another 50 feet to the tip top, arriving at 2:15pm (6.3 hours from car).

Feeling as though we’d been pretty well worked-over by South Gemini Peak, we abandoned any hopes of climbing North Gemini Peak.  Instead, we lounged on top for 45 minutes and took in the fabulous views on this sunny afternoon.  The summit register consisted of a rusty can with two small pieces of paper.  Incredibly, one piece had an entry by Mike Heath dated September 22, 1967!  This surely couldn’t be his original register, could it?  It seemed unlikely that an ordinary piece of paper could last 37 years in an unsealed tin can, but apparently it did.  There were a few other barely legible entries, including a David Hiser.  Curiously, Heath had called the peak “The South Mischabel”;  I suppose the “Gemini” name was given years later by Beckey or someone else.

We started descending at 3:00pm, making one 60-foot rappel over the upper face, then down-climbing the lower slabs.

The subsequent plunge to 4400 feet went quickly, thanks to some nice glissading.  Below that point, we had some trouble retracing our ascent route and ended up bushwhacking more than expected.  However, Mike’s keen sense of direction eventually got us back on course and down to the road at 4:45pm (2.7 hours from summit).

We cleaned up at the truck and enjoyed some cold drinks and cherries in the shade.  Both of us were beaming after such a satisfying climb and great day away from work (as if this isn’t work?).  I was elated to have finally finished the “Monte Cristo Seven” group—after 14 years, nine combined attempts, and one helicopter rescue (not mine).  Mike was no doubt very happy that I would no longer be hounding him about South Gemini Peak!

Route Comments

I had previously regarded Foggy Peak to have the hardest approach and Monte Cristo Peak to have the hardest summit block of the “Monte Cristo Seven.”  Now, I’d say both honors go to South Gemini Peak.  Our approach was probably as good or better than the other options, but it still involved light to moderate bushwhacking and some unpleasant scrambling on mossy cliffs, with a total cross-country gain exceeding 4000 feet.  The summit block is actually very nice rock and an interesting climb;  it reminded me of the South Face route on Main Ingalls Peak but is steeper and doesn’t take protection as readily.

Gear Comments

I placed several stoppers and small cams on the rock pitch;  sizes up to 1 inch are adequate.  I think a 150- or 165-foot rope would allow it to be done in one pitch instead of two short pitches.  A double runner fits nicely over a rappel horn at the top.  We did not need crampons, but they might be useful later in the season.

Photo Gallery

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