Sahale Glacier down to bare ice: Took my son and his friend to Sahale Peak, which I've done 4x before. Seasonal snow is basically gone on the lower glacier and we faced bare glacial ice at 30ish degrees with Yax Trax and microspikes (left side of image). We got up to the steep bit and decided our gear and the boys' inexperience created an unacceptable risk for us, so we backed off the glacier with me chopping some steps for them on the way down. Slush rivers got our shoes soaked. IMHO full crampons and maybe two axes are advisable at the moment, or maybe try further right than the normal line. Photo shows conditions. While we ate our lunch at the Sahale Arm camp we watched a bunch of large boulders tumble down the line we'd tried and most people take (left side of photo). Would be hard to dodge them if you were clinging to 25 degree ice when they come past. Perhaps another reason to consider the center line now? Went to Doubtful Lake instead. Still a lovely day. Will undoutedly return to this spot we love.

A gorgeous day in the mountains. Arrived at 5:00 am and found a spot in the Cascade Pass parking lot, then shuttled down to the Boston Basin trailhead. The Boston Basin trail was very overgrown with a lot of downed trees. We missed the junction at 5580 and went left when we should have stayed right, but managed to get back on track by the time we reached Quien Sabe glacier. We filtered water in one of the many streams in Boston Basin, where we were completely socked in with clouds. At the glacier, we roped up and put on our crampons. We stayed north and hugged Sharkfin ridge, navigating around some large open crevasses before ascending to the saddle between Sahale and Boston peaks. 

Going over to the other side of the saddle was like entering Valhalla as we finally caught our first views: Sahale glacier and Sahale peak, Boston Peak, Forbidden Peak and many others - just spectacular!

Our leader set a hand line at the top of Sahale Peak and we prusiked up, then he set a rappel line from the summit and we repelled down the south side of the peak to the boulder field above Sahale glacier. After crossing the boulder field, most of our group (including me) decided not to rope up on Sahale glacier, but I regretted that decision. Parts of the glacier were quite icy and steep and I wasn’t confident I could self-arrest on such a hard surface. Many of the footsteps were also melted out and turned into small swimming pools - not fun to step in.

After descending the glacier we filtered water again at the edge and began the long decent to the Cascade Pass trailhead. We saw goats, marmots and a variety of wildflowers along the way, including penstemon, scarlet columbine, paintbrush, pearly everlasting, gentian, monkey flower and many others. The trail from Sahale camp to the Cascade pass trailhead is in great shape, including all 37 delightful switchbacks. We arrived back at around 8 pm - a long, exciting, unforgettable day.

Car-to-car Boston Basin > Quien Sabe Glacier > Sahale Peak > Sahale Glacier > Sahale Arm > Cascade Pass

Left the Sahale Arm trailhead parking lot ~3am and walked on the road for about .5 miles to the Boston Basin trailhead. We opted to park at the Sahale trailhead due to more parking spots being available (the Boston Basin parking lot is very small compared to how many cars can fit at the popular Sahale trailhead) and wanting to get the half mile of easy, downhill road walking out of the way in the morning when no cars were out. 

The climbers trail up to Boston Basin is notorious for being steep and more of a bushwack, and it definitely did not disappoint. Some relatively straightforward stream crossings kept us alert as the first morning light started to peak through the trees and those of us with trekking poles were happy we brought them. We enjoyed the sweet relief and stellar views once we arrived at the basin as we were greeted with a gorgeous sunrise. 

The Quien Sabe glacier was quite broken up on the South end so we opted to put our glacier travel gear on at the North end and traverse the East side of the glacier up to Sharkfin Tower. There were some sizable crevasses but they were easy to navigate. Once off of the glacier, it was relatively straightforward class 3 and class 4 scrambling with some occasional snow to the summit block. Other than a party coming down from the summit as we were approaching, we were delightfully surprised to have not seen anyone else in the Basin and had the summit block to ourselves. 

A few (very easy) 5th class moves to the summit allowed me to set up a top rope for the other members of my party - there is some really good, new tat with rappel rings at the top that made setting up a top rope and rappels super easy. Having no parties behind us, we enjoyed lunch on the summit, took in the gorgeous 360 views, and took plenty of pictures. 

We did one rappel down the South side of the summit block. A 60m rope allowed us to perfectly get to a flat ledge and then it was some easy 3rd class scrambling down from there. We opted to not rope up for the Sahale glacier as there were no visible cracks / crevasses and from there we met up with the large crowds on the Sahale Arm and Cascade Pass trail. We enjoyed a slow-paced afternoon getting down the mountain, stopping to watch the handful of baby mountain goats and ptarmigan chicks we encountered along the way.  

Notes: There was plenty of water re-supply spots along the trail - only section without easily accessible running water was between getting onto the Quien Sabe glacier and getting off of the Sahale glacier. We were very thankful we started early, to avoid being in the summer sun and heat all the way until we got to the summit block. 

Bucket list climb up Sahale Peak yesterday! Crevasses were easy to navigate on the Quien Sabe Glacier and nothing was opening up yet on the Sahale Glacier. Some avy debri on Quien Sabe, so stay frosty. Be careful of the cornice along the ridge walk to the summit block and the final 10ft was a little bit of a spicy scramble with some mixed terrain of snow and rock. Trail runners were clutch (probably spent 14 of the 16 miles in them) but we did run into a park ranger on Sahale Arm that let us know the road is likely to open next weekend! Water sources were abundant and it looked like new anchors were setup for the rappel off the summit. Flowers are just past their prime and bugs were a little annoying below tree line. Enjoy!

Cliff  notes:

Did Eldorado car to car in the morning, and Sahale Peak in the afternoon. Both routes are in good late season condition, but require some Glacier travel and (for Sahale summit) some exposed class 4 rock climbing. 

Details:

Writing this trip report was inspired in part by the epic discussion between AntonC and Natty.wb on Anton's trip report from July 31 2021. 

Everyone should climb and trail run and hike the way they want and feel comfortable and safe, regardless what is the "norm". So no, Eldorado is not your average trail outing in mountains, and the last 10% of the elevation gain on Sahale are a mountaineers outing, not a hike (the first 90% to the glacier is your average, or better than average, Cascade mountain trail.)

Eldorado: started at the trailhead at 7:00am (river crossing is very easy, even without poles. Less than knee deep, and not fast flowing.) , got to the Boulder field at 7:40 and the ridge by 8:30. 100% snow free, and you have to watch where you're going or you can easily lose the trail in the boulders and above). Downclimb from the ridge was straightforward, and then it was a few hundred feet of elevation gain on large granite to reach the snowfield / Glacier. 

There are a few small open crevasses on the Eldorado Glacier / Inspiration Glacier as you cross over to the final summit ridge of Eldorado, but easy to go around or step over. The final climb to the summit is SOOOOO different from 2 months ago. The moat is open and huge, but there is an easy way around it on the boulders. The summit ridge is a lot steeper and more icy than 2 months ago. I had my ice ax but didn't put on my crampons for it (probably would have been a bit safer), but I felt my fellrunning shoes had enough traction in the icy snow. Got to the summit by 9:45.

Way down was uneventful, but descending on rock and boulders takes a lot longer than running down snowfields. No, wait, it was eventful. About 10 min before I was done I got stung by 2 bees, one in the arm, the other one on the back of my head. I picked up the pace, slipped on a log and hit my shin on a rock, but it was more painful than a serious injury. Finished by 11:30am

Given I still had half a day left, and Tuesday is a work day, I drove 3 miles up to the Cascade pass trailhead and headed up to Sahale Mtn. There are plenty of reports about the Sahale Arm so I'll skip that. The Glacier was still 100% snow covered on the climbing route, and the snow was soft, so walking up in just running shoes isn't a problem if you're comfortable on steep snow fields. There are a few crevasses on the upper part of the Glacier, one of them somewhat hidden - just starting to open up. However, the Glacier is the (relatively) easy part. Getting to the true summit requires some exposed class 4 scrambling. The majority of climbers chose to rappel from the summit block. Myself and 2 women downclimbed. It's about the limit of what I'm comfortable doing unroped. If you decide to go for it, ask yourself on the way up if you are OK downclimbing the same way... up is always easier than down. 

On the downclimb I waited about 15 min for the 2 ladies to be out of the gully below me as there are numerous loose rocks around and human-caused rockfall is a significant risk as well on Sahale. 

Once off the rocky part of the summit the descent on the glacier was quick, and I ran most of the way back down to the trailhead. And yes, the switchbacks seem to be never-ending!

Berries are ripe and plentiful on the lower part of Sahale arm, but you have to compete with some mountain goats for them. No bears on Monday, though. 

Got back to the car by 5:09pm. Thank you to the 2 slower drivers who pulled over and let me pass at the next opportunity once I caught up to them. I always pull over to let faster drivers pass on mountain roads, so it's nice when the favor is returned!

Get out there while the weather and daylight allows us to be in the high country, and enjoy the mountains however you want -within land management rules, of course.