June 12, 2021
Pacific Peak 13,950'
North Couloir
Climb the snow while it is still here! Laura and I headed for a classic alpine climb on Pacific Peak today. We left home at 3:30 am and left Hazel with Big Momma. Arriving at the 4 wheel drive trailhead on Spruce Creek Road at 5:30, we laced up our boots and started walking at 6 am. 2 hours through the beautiful Mohawk Lakes basin and we finally saw our objective for the day. The narrow and steep snow climb that hides on Pacific's North face.
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| A stream crossing on the Mohawk Lakes trail |
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| We passed some old mining equipment on the way to Mohawk Lakes |
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| Our first view of the lower portion of the couloir. The upper portion is hidden behind the headwall. |
The climb is mostly steep snow but doglegs about 2/3 of the way to the top. At the dogleg it steepens to 60 degrees or so and has some ice to deal with.
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Easy climbing on the lower portion of the north couloir
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| Having fun on the lower portion of the climb |
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| The couloir gets steeper once it curves to the left |
Laura and I had our harnesses on and a small rack of ice screws and stoppers but the line felt safe and we chose to continue without roping up. It was unlikely the ice would have been thick enough for a screw and the rock on the side walls was nothing to be excited about placing protection in. We climbed through the short sections of ice and topped out on the couloir by 10 am.
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| Justin climbing the first steep ice patch in the north couloir |
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| Justin finishing up the icy sections |
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| Working through an icy section high in the north couloir |
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| Justin cruising to the top of the north couloir on Pacific Peak |
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| Topping out on the north couloir, Pacific Peak |
A short scramble and we were on the summit of Pacific Peak for the second time. We ate and drank before walking off to a fantastic glissade down a 500 foot snow field.
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| Cold and windy on the summit of Pacific Peak |
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| Tracks from our long and steep glissade descent |
On the hike out, the tourists at the popular trailhead were all dressed in shorts and t-shirts while we had our full mountaineering gear on. They looked at us funny having no idea where we had already been that day and what we climbed to get there.
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| Checking out the waterfalls on the Mohawk Lakes trail on the way back to the car |
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| Another section of waterfall lower on the trail |
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