Grade: IV 5.5
Elevation: 9,199 ft
Route Type: Carryover (ascent via NE Buttress, descent via South Face)
Season: Best in mid-July
Permits: Required (North Cascades National Park wilderness permit)
Partner: Will Nunez (IFMGA guide)
Route Style: Glacier travel → low 5th class climbing → summit bivy → descent via alternate route
Commitment: Very high; long approach, off-trail navigation, glacial hazards, and complex descent logistics
Approach
Trailhead: Bridge Creek Trailhead (map)
Distance to High Camp: ~16 miles
Elevation Gain to Camp: ~4,800 ft
Time: 8.5 hours
Date: Monday July 7, 2025
Notes:
Overnighted in Wenatchee La Quinta (great deal). Met up with Will at 7am in Chelan, left his car. Drove together two hours to Bridge Creek Trailhead and parked my car there.
Started at 10:30am following the PCT southbound along Bridge Creek for 9.6mi. Smooth trail that has been recently trimmed with a weedwacker.
Turns off right and to the north just before the switchbacks down to North Fork Camp.
Follow North Fork Bridge Creek trail going northwest, which becomes slowly more overgrown. No caterpillar issues that others have noted, but many thousands of butterflies now.
At ~mile 14, leave trail to cross the creek. The crossing is a bit easier a few steps upriver to the cairn you see.
Move up looker’s right of the waterfall on some third class slabs. Before entering the bushwhacking alder forest hell, drink up water.
Bushwhack the last half mile. Expect heavy alder thrashing and steep forest terrain.
Once you’re out, find a bivy site. Mosquitos will be very, very bad.
Relevant gear:
Two trekking poles for creek crossing
Hydrapak water filter
Water Sources: Regularly available, but drink at every station. Carry 0.5 liters at most after leaving a fill-up, which is enough to keep you hydrated before the next water stop.
Camp Location: Near toe of Goode Glacier (approx. 6,400–6,800 ft); limited flat spots.
Climb: Northeast Buttress
Distance to summit: ~2.2 miles
Elevation gain to summit: 3,300-3,800 ft
Time: ~10 hours
Date: Tuesday July 8, 2025
Notes:
Cross snowfield and slabs. Rope up and crampons for glacier travel.
Aim for the toe of the buttress (the red ledges). Look for snow bridge across moat to reach rock (solid in early July).
Ascend the red ledge trending up and right. Low fifth class roped climbing for two pitches.
Unrope and scramble for a long while.
Rope up for 6–8 pitches of low 5th class until you reach the summit. See Steph Abegg’s topo for more details.
Will left camp with 2 liters in his pack. I had 3 liters and an extra liter at the summit to drink.
Although we saw mice poop and were warned about a rat, we didn’t have any issues.
Relevant Gear:
Single rack of BD ultralight cams to #1
three tip sized BD C3 cams
BD nuts
four tricams, which were valuable for the anchors. Will even joked that a double set of tricams could have gotten the route done
La Sportiva TX3
60m rope
Camp Corsa nanotech ice axe
Ursack
OR Helium bivy
Lamina Z Spark Sleeping Bag (34 degrees)
Summit Bivy: Possible for up to 3. If it’s full, you’ll need to do a rappel and find another spot.
Water: No water on summit. Down-scramble down to the saddle on the west. There will be snow visible to the right but we found the snow (not visible) to the left easier to scramble down to. Be sure to have extra fuel for the melting. A 6L drom was valuable for water.
Approximate source of snowpatch: https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=15.6/-120.9141/48.4829&pubLink=s4WtVR66gNbZWpDkzx6vtE5P&waypointId=528ed6c7539b482e20c165e6b7e2846f
Descent: South Face Carryover
Distance to camp: ~9.7 miles
Elevation loss: ~8,000ft
Time: ~10 hours
Date: Wednesday July 9, 2025
Notes:
Walk down to the obvious rappel station you climbed past.
Two low-angle rappels diagonally to skier’s right.
Stop at the ledge and coil rope. Walk east along the ledge towards a cairn, which may involve a scramble up and a bit of down to safely access. Expect up to 4th class moves.
At the cairn, find the next rappel station into the south gully. Two rappels will take you to a class 2–3 gully. Be mindful of loose rock on the rappels and walk-off. There should be a stream of water at the bottom of the gully when you turn left onto the loose rock “trail.” Use this stream as you won’t have easy water for the next thousand feet of descent.
Exit onto lower snowfield. Consider crampons if firm conditions.
Make your own trail through the open meadow and then eventually the burn zone. It will be monotonous. Very exposed to the sun so hope for cloud dover.
Park Creek trail allows for faster travel. There’s a nice rock to sit on with a view three miles into the Park Creek trail.
Nearly 7mi after descending, travel becomes a lot easier on a dirt road.
Find an open campsite at the Bridge Creek Camp, which is on the PCT. There’ll be a picnic table, hooks on trees to dry clothes, an outhouse, and people to chat with.
Exit Logistics
Distance to Stehekin: ~4.6 miles
Elevation gain: 350 ft
Time: 1.5 hours
Date: Thursday July 10, 2025
Notes:
Hike to High Bridge. Take a dip in the water.
Reserve a 12:30pm shuttle in advance from High Bridge to Stehekin Landing (11 miles, 30–40 min)
Stop at the Stehekin Pastry company and fill up.
Be sure you reserved a ferry seat out of Stehekin. Note that there are two ferry docks a five minute walk from each other. It is not at all obvious which one you’ve booked and where you should be waiting.
As you wait for the ferry, there is free wifi if you are near the NPS visitor center.
There’s also a decent restaurant at the Stehekin lodge.
From Chelan, drive the ~2 hours drive back to Bridge Creek trailhead, then travel home.
Gear photos
Some of the gear I remembered to take photos of.
