August 10, 2003

South Twin Sister Day Climb

Dailey Prairie
Orsino Creek Basin
South Twin Sister aka South Twin (7000′)

——————– 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 (Dailey Quarry Road)

Way Points: Dailey Prairie Road junction (bike ride & truck ride);  Dailey Prairie & Orsino Creek (bike ride);  Orsino Creek Spur Road & Orsino Creek Basin (road hike & off-trail hike)

Summit: South Twin Sister (ascent via Lower West Ridge Gully—West Ridge—South Face; descent via South Face—Upper West Ridge Gully)

Approximate Stats: 12.5 miles traveled (1.5 miles in truck + 7 miles on bike + 4 miles on foot); 5400 feet gained (800 feet in truck + 4600 feet on bike & foot); 5400 feet lost (on foot & bike); 5.7 hours up (1.1 hours on wheels + 4.6 hours on foot); 4.1 hours down (3.3 hours on foot + 0.8 hours on wheels).

——————– Full Trip Report ——————–

Jon and I drove up I-5 Sunday morning armed with maps and gear for several different trip options, contingent on weather conditions.  The unfavorable forecast and heavy, gray skies suggested that an easterly option would be preferable, but since it wasn’t actually raining when we reached the SR-20 / SR-9 junction, we hastily decided to go with our first option:  South Twin Sister via the west ridge.

We drove to the Middle Fork Nooksack River bridge/gate and prepared for a stiff ride up the well-traveled quarry road.  Raindrops started to fall as we saddled up our mountain bikes.  Not an auspicious beginning for any Twin Sisters trip, I mused;  perhaps we should have gone with an easterly option.  We also were concerned by the new signs that declared the quarry road to be closed due to fire danger.  But the closure surely wouldn’t apply on this damp day…would it?

From previous Twin Sisters trips, I remembered that the quarry road immediately begins climbing at a steep gradient and never seems to relent.  My memory proved accurate; after only 1/2 mile, my quads were burning and my heart was racing.  Somewhere around Milepost 1.0, I heard a truck come up behind me, so I pulled over, expecting to catch the wrath of an irritated quarry worker.  Instead, I heard those four tantalizing words we often hope for:  “Hey, ya wanna ride?”  Jon and I glanced at each other with a flicker of guilt, then quickly threw our bikes and bodies in the pickup bed.  As we bounced along at 20 mph, the rainfall increased noticeably.  Were the mountains expressing their displeasure with our transportation choice?

Several minutes and 1.5 miles later, we were astride our bikes again and pedaling along the logging roads that lead around Dailey Prairie.  This is always the fun part of the bike ascent.  A series of left turns eventually took us to the crossing of Orsino Creek, where drainage improvements are in progress.  We stashed bikes and headed southeastward on a brushy old road, getting thoroughly wet in the process.  This road turns into a path that proceeds into timber for a short distance, then fades out at a red talus slope.  We traversed rightward up the talus, over a timbered rib, past the ruins of an old (miner’s?) log cabin, and up to Orsino Creek Basin.

While standing in the basin for a food break, we chatted optimistically about the fact that the rain had stopped and the summit was in view.  Maybe the weather had run it’s course!  Right on cue, however, swirling clouds enveloped the summit block, and this turned out to be our last view of it for several hours.

Beckey says that the west ridge can be accessed down low or up high.  We chose the former alternative in order to maximize our time on the ridge’s delightfully grippy dunite.  An unpleasant slog up steep dirt, scree, and talus brought us to an obvious notch in the ridge crest at about 5200 feet.

What followed was two hours of fun and interesting Class 2-3 scrambling, sometimes on the actual crest, sometimes on the right side (solid), and sometimes on the left side (loose).  Our route could never be discerned for more than a few feet in advance, but it continually unfolded before us.

We eventually reached the base of a high cliffy area that protruded into the clouds overhead.  Thinking this was the summit block, we traversed across snow and talus to the foot of a large dihedral feature (about 6500 feet).  This looked difficult at first but actually provided a nice scramble upward via ledges and cracks.  We finally topped out on a point of rock.  Could this be the summit?  Nothing else higher was visible through the fog, but there was no cairn or register.

We waited several minutes, hoping that the fog would diminish for even a moment.  Rather suddenly, the fog and clouds parted, revealing blue sky overhead and a higher point 50 yards away.  We dashed over before the weather changed again and were relieved to find not only four USGS survey markers but also a summit register (5.7 hours from car).

The scraps of paper in the small PVC register tube showed only two previous parties (three people total) for 2003, and only a few parties per year dating back to 1998 or so.  Nonetheless, this summit could use a better tube and a real notebook.  We spent an hour on top, drying out socks and enjoying the slowly improving views.

For our descent, we retraced our ascent route until approximately at the midpoint in the west ridge.  We then dropped off the northern side, which first involved downclimbing an ugly gully with steep dirt and loose rock, then kicking steps down a hard snow slope.  While descending the moat between dirt and snow, Jon accidentally dislodged a small boulder that struck and momentarily pinned his thigh!  He let out a yelp of anguish and deftly squirmed out from under the boulder, then clutched his leg.  I instantly feared that his femur might be broken, but he luckily escaped with only a painful muscle bruise.

The remainder of our descent was uneventful and more pleasant.  We hustled back down to Orsino Creek Basin, followed the climbers’ path and brushy road back to our bikes, then zoomed down the network of open roads.   A soft evening sun hung on the horizon as we negotiated the last few twists and turns to river level (4.1 hours from summit).

Route Comments:  The west ridge of South Twin is very similar to the more-popular west ridge of North Twin in terms of technical difficulty.  (We brought a rope but did not use it.)  However, South Twin is about twice as long and involves more routefinding challenges, both on the approach and on the ridge.  It also does not have a simple descent route like the north face of North Twin.  Both ridges offer the unique opportunity to climb on hard, weathered dunite, which has the texture of elephant hide.  This rock is so rough, “sloper” holds feel like “jugs.”  In fact, the rock seems to hold onto your hands like Velcro even after you release your grip.  This comes at the cost of fingertip skin, but we didn’t notice how much we had paid until eating salty French fries afterwards.  Ouch! Jon’s fingers were so raw, he had to handle his fries with a napkin!

—————- Photo Gallery (click to enlarge) ——————