The Tapto Lakes Tour, 7.31.15 - 8.6.15, Part 3 of 5
Day four started out a bit ominous. The temps had cooled off and clouds hovered around the peaks. We had checked the forecast the day before leaving and it had called for sunny clear skies every day and night until Tuesday night. Then it called for partly cloudy Tuesday night, slight chance of rain on Wednesday and slight chance of rain on Thursday. That’s why we had changed our itinerary at the last minute to start the trip a day early. We scrapped the whole plan of going the length of Copper Ridge and instead went straight to Tapto lakes in the hope of having clear weather the entire time we were up there. We figured if it rained on the way out it was no big deal because we had already seen everything we had come for. But here it was only Monday morning and it was chilly, breezy and cloudy. Not to be deterred, we ate breakfast and decided to check out the other major feature I had come to explore besides Tapto Lakes. And sure enough, the temps stayed cool and breezy on the way up and then the clouds cleared off and we had glorious weather the rest of the day.
The ridge above our basin was the start of a long, winding ridge that wound in an easterly and then northerly direction for about seven miles to the base of one of the more spectacular mountains in the state called Mount Redoubt. I had seen this mountain from much further away and was very eager to see it up close and personal. I had also read that this ridge leading up to it, which is called the Mount Redoubt High Route, was one of the most scenic ridge walks anyone who had hiked it had ever experienced. So scenic that one climber had dubbed it “Sublime Ridge”.
Free from our heavy backpacks, we put our lunches, sunscreen and assorted essentials in our day packs and hoofed it back up out of the basin the way we had come in. Once we got up to the ridge above the basin, we followed a game trail straight up the side of the peak above the ridge. Harry was like an excited rabbit and led every step. At one point he topped out above a steep grassy gully and hollered out “ROCKS”! All three of us immediately ducked down for protection and when nothing happened I looked up and Harry is still standing up there like nothing happened. He had apparently gotten kind’ve excited when he topped out into a basin filled with large talus. So I explained to him that you never yell “rock” unless you dislodge a rock that might hurtle down the mountain and take someone’s head off. Other than giving Mike, Greg and I a heart attack, no harm was done and lesson learned we moved further up the mountain.
Greg and Mike with Mount Challenger in the background
Soon we got to a cool spot that offered up some class 3 scrambling. It could have been avoided by going around the other side of the hill but it wasn’t that difficult and not very exposed so we all had fun heading up a short section of rock scrambling to get to the next upper plateau.
Mike leading up the Class 3 section
About 1,200’ above the basin we topped out on the first point of Sublime Ridge and oh my God, the views were spectacular! Big major peaks towered as far as the eye could see in every direction. I have tried to think of a more amazing vantage point that I have ever had the privilege to stand and I can’t come up with one. Perhaps the top of Sahale Peak, the summit of Maroon Bells or the ridge above Cloudy Pass might equal, but not exceed what lay before me on this point. My thoughts went to Harry of all people at this moment. Here he is on his very first backpack trip of his life and we take him to this spot? Where can he go from here? We set the bar so high, he may never exceed this experience. I felt so blessed to have him along and it really made it special that we got to share this moment. His brain must’ve been on sensory overload. Mine sure was and I’ve done this kind of thing many, many times.
I can’t even call it a disappointment, but the only thing that didn’t go quite as hoped was our exploration of Sublime Ridge. Our research had told us that when we hiked up out of the basin to stay low and traverse over to Middle Lakes. From there we could gain the ridge above Middle Lakes and then follow Sublime Ridge for miles, all the way to Mount Redoubt if we had the time and stamina. However, earlier in the trip we had run into a park ranger and her family. The husband sounded like he had personal experience up there and suggested that the peak above Tapto Lakes would gain us the access to the ridge and it was easy cruising from there. What we discovered was that to get onto Sublime Ridge from where we stood required dropping off a five hundred foot cliff and that wasn’t an option so we were basically stuck on our peak. The reason it wasn’t a disappointment is because the views were so amazing from there we felt no need to go any further and I think we were all pretty content with what we had.
Looking north. From left to right: Chilliwack Lake (Canada), Bear Mountain, Mount Redoubt, Mount Spickard, Mox Peaks, Sublime Ridge (foreground), Middle Lakes, Little Beaver Valley, Jack Mountain (far distance with glacier).
Further west we could see Mount Shuksan with Mount Baker poking up behind.
Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker
This photo pans from Whatcom Peak on the left, Tapto Lakes Basin below, Easy Ridge and Brush Creek beyond the lakes(where we came up), Mount Shuksan in the far background and Red Face Mountain on the right.
We found a small patch of snow on the summit and dubbed it The Baumgardner Glacier (Harry’s last name). With Bear Mountain and Mount Redoubt behind.
8,969’ Mount Redoubt. Notice the incredible flying buttress on the eastern flank of the mountain.
Panorama from Mount Challenger to Tapto Lakes Basin. Sublime indeed!
Ever since we decided to climb the peak above the basin, Mike had been eying Red Face Mountain. Mike is a very accomplished climber and has a vast amount of experience solo climbing as well. None of us were really up for the challenge of Red Face so Mike decided to let us revel on our peak while he took off to climb Red Face. This involved dropping several hundred feet to the saddle between our two peaks and then following a knife ridge to the summit. We had great weather and were thoroughly enjoying hanging out so he started his climb and we followed his progress with the binoculars. It did not take him too long to reach the summit.
Mike on his way to the summit of Red Face Mountain
Once we knew he made it up safely, we started out descent back to Tapto Lakes. He would join us there later after descending Red Face. As we got closer to the basin we could see that our private heaven had been invaded by two people. When we got back to Hamburger Hill we noticed it was a couple who had set up camp in a nice meadow below Hamburger Hill. We waved and the guy shouted out for us to bring him an ice cold beer. We invited them up for cocktails later and then headed over to one of the other lakes to try it out for swimming. For some reason it felt a little colder than Lemon Lime Lake even though it was smaller but it still felt great.
We met Mike as he was coming back from his climb and headed back to the camp site. The couple came up and introduced themselves as Rob and Ember from Portland. They were only there for one night so we chatted and they stayed for dinner.
The team with the peak we climbed in the background. Red Face is to the left of the picture but MIke’s descent route was straight down the gnarly scree field between the two peaks. Didn’t look fun to me.
The breeze actually calmed down more than it did the first night so after dinner I went to a spot I had read about in a trip report called Ugly Duckling Tarn. During the day this tarn is a very shallow brown mud hole of a tarn filled with sticks and rocks but in the evening light the tarn magically morphs into a reflection pool with the best view of Challenger and Whatcom of any of the lakes.
Whatcom Peak reflected in Ugly Duckling Tarn
It was another beautiful night and I laid in my sleeping bag for a long time just trying to process all the incredible views I had seen that day before finally drifting off to sleep. To continue, go to Part 4.