Lewis County High Point Trip Report
Big Horn (8,000+ ft)
Date: September 26, 2003
Author: Bob Bolton
On Thursday Sep 25 we hiked from the Snowgrass trailhead near Chambers Lake to a base camp beside a
robust, beautiful spring-fed stream along Trail 97, the "Bypass Trail", south of and below the very popular
Snowgrass Flat area in the Goat Rocks Wilderness.
At 7 AM on Friday, our party of seven set out for Big Horn reveling in absolutely perfect early fall weather.
After connecting with the Pacific Crest Trail, we hiked it to the head of Cispus Basin where we left the trail
and climbed to a saddle just south of Black Thumb (the spire just south of Big Horn). We could see
mountain goats all over the hillside and cliffs, and as we approached the saddle a large herd of over 40
individuals stayed ahead of us (in one of my photos I counted at least 44). From the saddle we traversed
northeast under cliffs, then ascended loose gullies toward the saddle between Big Horn and Goat Citadel to
its east. With such a large party in this loose junk, we would move in twos and threes in a way that rarely
had someone directly below a moving person. Rocks that started moving therefore whizzed harmlessly
down the slope without anyone even having to dodge one large enough to cause injury, however there were
a number of "catches" by a higher person before a rock could get a head of steam. Obviously, helmets were
an absolute must, but at times I was wishing for football shoulder pads and baseball catchers gear as well!
Just below a snow bank under the aforementioned saddle we relaxated, masticated, hydrated, and contemplated
the east side of Big Horn's south ridge.
The two leaders decided on a route that involved two gullies and a traverse between them to take us to the
ridge south of the summit. This was never more difficult than third class, however there were loose rocks
here as well with fewer possibilities of avoiding them, so extreme caution was exercised all the way to the ridge.
The route then simply ascended the ridge to the "famous" 10-foot vertical crack just below the
summit which qualifies this as an apex county. The leaders set up the belay anchor, and Ed led the crack
using just one piece of protection, then set up a belay for the rest of us. Some of us (myself included) had a
bit more trouble than others, but we all successfully negotiated the crack while berating Fred Beckey's
"difficult class 4" rating of the pitch. We were much more in agreement with John Roper's class 5.4!
The summit was then a short, easy scramble, and the entire party enjoyed our triumph and the great views of
Mount Adams to the south, Mount Rainier to the north, Mount Saint Helens to the southwest, north to Mount Stuart,
Mount Daniel, and other peaks in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and the closer south Cascades of Washington.
We rappelled the 5.4 pitch, then carefully down-climbed the route off the peak. After returning to camp,
the 5 Mazama members packed up and hiked out, while Duane and I spent another night in camp to enjoy
Saturday in the mountains.
We climbed Old Snowy, the first "real" mountain I had climbed, at age 11, with my dad while we were
backpacking into the Goat Rocks area in 1958. Upon returning to camp, we packed up and reluctantly
hiked out, saying goodbye to a fantastic summer of weather in the Pacific Northwest in which the
temperatures are yet again hovering around the 90-degree mark today, even west of the mountains.
Such weather made it possible to accomplish almost every cohp goal I had set for this season,
failing only to put together a party for Bonanza. In some years I would have been lucky to complete
half of those plans due to weather problems, so I feel fortunate indeed.
And the summer could not have ended on a more enjoyable note than our climb of Big Horn.
GPS position using Garmin etrex Venture with 10 satellites and 15 foot accuracy
(46.49296° N, 121.42204° W) in the NAD27 CONUS datum. Indicated elevation 8,036 feet.