Spectacular day today getting up to Mount Ruth and then Steamboat Prow with Glen99!! We had perfect weather with hardly any wind. The views were just awesome!!
We got started at 8:40 am from the White River campground and the Glacier Basin trailhead. The trail up to the Glacier Basin camp spots is a nice wide trail that gains around 1500ft in about 3.5 miles. Just after the camp spots there is a climbers trail that goes down to the Interfork River which needs to be crossed. We hunted for a spot to cross and found a good spot to hop the rocks and get across. We were able to get across without getting out boots wet, and we did not even need gaiters. On the way back in the afternoon the water had risen only an inch or two and covered a couple of rocks, but we were able to cross with no issues. Just use poles, and you will be fine.
After the river crossing we found the trail and headed up the super steep trail up to the ridge. This trail is steep and there are some loose rocks. Poles were helpful on the way down, as it was dusty and easy to lose your footing if not careful.
Once on the ridge the views really opened up and we had some fantastic views of Little Tahoma and down to the Emmons Glacier. We took a right and headed up the ridge toward Mount Ruth. We ran into snow up on the ridge and decided to go straight up on the snow. We both put on gaiters here and glen put on alum crampons on his boots and I decided to give it a try with spikes on my boots. Neither of us used mountaineering boots, just some lightweight approach style boots, and we did just fine. We both carried ice axes, but did not use them. Once we got up near the summit of Mount Ruth the snow steepened, and we took off our traction devices, put on our helmets, and scrambled straight up to the summit. There were some loose rocks, so I just took my time and got to the top. I had to stow my poles for this section, as about half of it was pretty easy class 3 scrambling where I needed to use my hands. Nothing too bad, as there was not any exposure on this section.
We took a few pics on the top of Mount Ruth and then headed to Steamboat Prow. We had to get down some boulders from the summit of Mt. Ruth to get to the ridge walk to Steamboat Prow. It went easy enough, before we got to the crux of the trip, and a down scramble about 40 ft to a lower section. There are plenty of holds and it wasn't too terribly steep. The last 8 ft down was a bit tricky as there was a step that was a bit difficult for me to find some hold for my feet. Glen99 had gone down first, and showed me where the foot hold were. It was a lot easier going back up this on the way back, that's for sure.
After this part it was pretty much a steep walk up to Steamboat Prow. There was a steep snow patch that we had to go up, but neither one of us put on any traction. The top of Steamboat prow was very cool. Just awesome views!! When we were up there a helicopter flew into Camp Shurman to deliver supplies, which was neat to see. We were hoping for a ride back to the car!! hahaha!!
We had great conditions, as there was not much snow travel on our route, plus not much in the way of bugs. We did not even use any bug spray the whole trip!!. We got back to the car at 5:50 pm. My GPS had 13 miles with 5712 ft gain
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