Trip type: basic glacier climb
Elevation gain: approx. 6,535 feet
Round-trip distance: approx. 14 miles
Car-to-car time: 14 hours 7 minutes
USGS quad: Mount Shuksan
In area: North Cascades
Trip Organizer: The Mountaineers Climbing Committee
Our group of 12 Mountaineers met at the end of FS road 1152-014. We hiked the boot path (which was largely made of squishy mud that was lovely on my knees on the way down) to the south end of the Sulphide Glacier. USGS shows the bootpath ending where it meets the ridge at 4,600' but the path continues up the ridge, through the 5,400'+ pass, to the glacier.
We unroped at the base of the summit pyramid and ascended the gulley on the SW side of the summit pyramid. It had wet snow all the way up, on the way down a member of the party above me fell and triggered a wet snow slide that I had to hustle to dodge. Someone also kicked a rock down near me. I felt like a target.
All in all an outstanding trip. From the point where the bootpath met the top of the ridge we had excellent views. The steepness of the summit pyramid added a little spice.
References
Travel Times
Car-to-car time: 14 hours 7 minutes- 4 hours 16 minutes ascending from trailhead to High Camp
- 4 hours 30 minutes ascending from High Camp to Mount Shuksan summit
- 5 hours 4 minutes descending from Mount Shuksan summit to trailhead
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