Silver Star Mountain (Okanogan) — Saturday, May. 28, 2016

North Cascades > North Cascades Highway - Hwy 20

I was part of a Seattle Mountaineers group that had originally intended to do the Ruth/Icy Traverse, but with the forecast looking wet, we opted instead for Silver Star, which we hoped would be drier. We got an early start from Seattle on Saturday morning and arrived at the trailhead a little after 9:00AM. There's a wide and obvious pullout to park where you can view the Wine Spires, the Burgundy Col and other surrounding peaks. The first section of the trail is a steep scramble down to the Early Winters Creek with lots of loose rock. Watch your step here. 10 minutes into the climb and I took a spill. There are cairns along the way to guide you to the trail register. From there, next up was the creek crossing, which was tricky. The water was fairly high, so we needed a log to cross. The best one we found was a foot or two above the water without the benefit of bark. It was slick, but our party of 8 made it across without issue. After crossing the creek there is a bit of route finding to locate the trail again. Our leader found it quickly, and we were on our way up to camp. There are some sections of the trail that required a bit of bushwhacking, but soon the trail becomes obvious. But it was STEEP! After a couple of hours and lots of elevation gained, we made it to the bench beneath the Burgundy Col where we decided to camp. It was early in the day and we considered continuing on to camp at the top of the Col, but opted for the lower camp so we wouldn’t have to haul our heavy packs up and back down. Being early in the day we had plenty of time to build a deluxe snow kitchen and tent platforms. There was on and off rain and snow throughout the afternoon and evening. The next morning we woke up a little before 5:00 AM and departed camp at 5:30. The skies were clear when we left camp. We took turns kicking steps in the steep snow up the Burgundy Col. There is still a good amount of snow here, but it’s definitely melting. Be mindful of tree wells and other areas that look melted out. After reaching the top of the Col we descended a couple hundred feet to begin our traverse. Going down the opposite side of the Col was quite steep so most of us went face into the mountain and self-belayed ourselves down until the terrain flattened out. We traversed over to a ridge and roped up for the short Silver Star Glacier crossing. There were no crevasses in sight as we crossed, so on the way back down we did not use the rope which made for a much faster return. We made it to the base of the summit from camp in about 3 hours. Reaching the true summit required some maneuvering. To go the last 100 feet or so, it took us almost 2 hours. It had started to snow and the rock was slippery with the fresh precipitation. There was a second climbing party ahead of us that chose to attempt the summit via the chimney that is often used later in the season. We opted for a lower class scramble to the right that had some uncomfortable moves, especially given the state of the rock and the weather. Our leaders set protection along the way for extra safety. All 8 of us summited. There were no views to speak of, but we all enjoyed the climb nonetheless. I’d love to go back when the weather is clear to see what we missed. We descended the summit by rappelling to a safe area. We then set up a hand line to descend a bit further since the snow was icy and not ideal for plunge stepping. When we were back to the base of the summit, we agreed to forego the rope on the way back since it would be faster, and there did not appear to be any crevasse danger. Most of us plunge stepped down and a few enjoyed a nice long glissade. We were back at the campsite in an hour and a half – quick timing considering how long it took us to reach the summit. We took an hour to pack up and a little more than an hour to hike back down to the cars. We had almost forgotten about the final steep uphill ascent to the cars. It was punishing after a long day, but we rewarded ourselves with a stop for barbecue and beers in Marblemount on the way home. A great early season climb with an even better group. Thanks to our excellent leaders who led a fun and safe outing.