Went with a Mazamas group. Nice weather, enjoyable company. The hike back out from where we camped was very long, many false sightings of the trailhead.
Re: North Ridge via Renfrew Date climbed: August 1987
I was summitpost surfing and came across your summit log. It is so true the walk out on the Obsidian trail is long. It's the last miles of featureless forest after lava flow that lulls one into hullucination. I reminised and had to laugh,
Beautiful weather up there for my 4th summit of Middle. The snow pack was super high this year and we ran into almost continuous snow from 5500' on up. The snow was perfect and held up all day so that there was no postholing. The snowfield up at the base of the North Ridge was very steep this year. Fortuatley the snow was perfect for kicking steps that did not blow out. Had probably the best glisade coming down ever.
Karl Helser - Jul 11, 2006 12:16 am Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2006
Hayden - N. Ridge
Took the easy way and spent the night at 7000' (tree line). Easy non tech slog to the saddle. Saw the crevasses on both sides of the snow ridge. The crampons came off at the saddle due to the exposed scree slope on the north side until we hit the most difficult part of the climb. A 50 deg. snow patch about 150' high. Not too bad though. It was tougher down climbing than going up. 74 deg warm at the summit. Awesome views as far north as Adams, pretty dirty looking west, and South Sister w/ Broken Top looked beautiful as ever. The 5 miles back from camp in the heat was the least enjoyable part of the trip. The bugs were hungry....
Turbo - Jun 22, 2006 2:25 am Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2004
Route Climbed: North Ridge
On August 15, 2003 a friend of mine was hiking to the top of this mountain when he fell to his death. One year later, a small group of us finished the climb in his memory. With us we carried an orange ribbon in his honor (orange was his favorite color). The climb was beautiful and the view amazing. God is good.
markmay - Jun 17, 2006 3:57 pm Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2005
Route Climbed: hayden glacier Date Climbed: july 3rd, 2005
The climb began on saturday the 2nd of july at pole creek trailhead. Myself and seven other fellow obsidian club members participated. The obsidians are a climbing and hiking club located in Eugene, oregon. It was one of the first hot days of summer in the cascades. We had a leisurly and uneventful hike in to base camp. We pitched our tents along some springs just a couple hundred yards below the snout of the Hayden glaicer at about 7000 ft. We awoke at 3:30 in the morning to a star choked sky and unusually warm morning. We throw are gear together donned are packs and headed for the glacier. We arrived at the glacier and proceeded to flake out the rope,slip on harnesses and fit crampons on boots. With two rope teams of four we proceeded up the right or north side of the glaicer. the route is a high snow cornice that runs parellel along the glacier well above the visible crevasse fields. The cornice peters out just below the peak known as prouty. Once off the cornice we walked a short distance to the col are the saddle. We all take turns belaying the next person to us over the mote and onto the rock. We repeat this procedure as we head onto the snowfield at the base of the summit pyramid. The final pitches to the summit do not lay back all that much so we set two pickets along the steepest sections and eventually work are way through frozen rock and rotten ice/snow mix. We arrive at the sun splashed summit at 7:30 in the morning. We enjoy views all the way north to Mount adams in Washinton state. west to the coast ranges south to mt Mcgloughlin and were a bit blinded by the sun as we look to the east on oregons great high desert plateau.
Route Climbed: Hayden Glacier Date Climbed: June 11, 2004
Clouds came in just when heading up the north ridge. Top was in total white-out. Ridge was a bit gnarly, but fortunately we had enough pickets to protect it.
Route Climbed: Collier Glacier Date Climbed: September 3, 2005
This was little more than a walk-up but a very nice one at that. The Collier Glacier presents little in the way of challenges now as it no longer has any crevasses (contrary to the trip report from 2001 commenting on a lot of crevasses on it's northernmost side -- and our President claims Global Warming is no big deal...). Crampons are stil necessary, particularly early in the morning in late season, as the ice is firm and footing would be very difficult without them.
Route Climbed: north ridge via north sister Date Climbed: 9/3
summited middle as part of three sisters traverse. Descent down south ridge. Beutiful crystal rock was left on the summit by a fellow hiker which i enjoyed looking at while i had a smoke.
Route Climbed: Hayden Glacier Date Climbed: August 14, 2005
Definitely too late in the season for this route. Not enough snow this year to be climbing this route this late..hayden glacier heavily crevassed, lots o' rockfall, etc. Reached the point just below the north ridge and couldn't safely head up, so didn't get to tag the summit. Steps in heavily crevassed area were blowing out....and lots of loose rock coming off the saddle between north and middle sister.
Seems that the southeast ridge looks better to me if you have to walk up shifting piles of rock, which is basically what we spent all day doing. Beautiful weather, clear skies and good company made the slog worth it. Will be back earlier in the season or will try a different route next year.
Route Climbed: Hayden Glacier Date Climbed: July 25, 2004
A long one-day slog from Pole Creek Trailhead with my friend Nathan. Once we hit the Hayden we made a direct shot along the right edge of the glacier toward Prouty Point. Saw one good sized rock slide just as we approached the Point. The last scramble up the North Ridge was straightforward with one good pitch of late season snow that required us to break out the ice axes.
A thunderstorm started to approach just as we were about halfway down the Hayden on our descent. I didn't know I could run so fast with a pack on! Made it down below treeline just as the lightning began crackling overhead.
Finished the long hike back to the car - about 14 hours roundtrip.
Route Climbed: Hayden Glacier and North Side Date Climbed: July 25 1998
Great skiing down the cone and the glacier both. Me and Joe rocked it hard weaving in and out of the crevasses. The summit cone is nice and steep as well. All in all, a great day.
Route Climbed: South East Ridge / North Ridge / Hayden Glacier Date Climbed: August 12, 2004
A wonderful climb. My group did a loop from Lake Demeris, up the South East Ridge trail (the trail can be hard to find because of erosion), yet you can see were you need to go. We descended the North Ridge trial, which is easier to follow, then the SE, climbed the small peak between the North & Middle (Protey's point), then glissaded down the Hayden Glacier. Wonderful trip. Watch out for the butterflies, there were hundreds of them flying up and down the mountain.
Route Climbed: South ridge Date Climbed: Sept 22, 1979
After climbing Broken Top the day before and backpacking a bushwhack route to the Chambers Lakes area we were a bit tired but realized this would be our only chance to climb this peak for maybe years to come. With Rob and Dave as partners, we scrambled up very unstable talus to the summit in about 2 hours from our camp at Chambers Lakes. This route is very unstable! Most of the time it felt as if the whole slope was about to give way. Won't do this route again! About 50 degrees at the summit with 30mph winds made it a bit uncomfortable for us dressed in shorts and t-shirts but at that age we all felt invinceable - boy did we have a lot to learn!
BSPclimber - Aug 2, 2006 5:17 am
North Ridge via Renfrew Date climbed: August 1987Went with a Mazamas group. Nice weather, enjoyable company. The hike back out from where we camped was very long, many false sightings of the trailhead.
cascadetraveler - Dec 28, 2008 2:12 pm
Re: North Ridge via Renfrew Date climbed: August 1987I was summitpost surfing and came across your summit log. It is so true the walk out on the Obsidian trail is long. It's the last miles of featureless forest after lava flow that lulls one into hullucination. I reminised and had to laugh,
Larry.
Pawkala - Jul 26, 2006 4:42 pm Date Climbed: Jul 7, 2006
Renfew Glacier to North RidgeBeautiful weather up there for my 4th summit of Middle. The snow pack was super high this year and we ran into almost continuous snow from 5500' on up. The snow was perfect and held up all day so that there was no postholing. The snowfield up at the base of the North Ridge was very steep this year. Fortuatley the snow was perfect for kicking steps that did not blow out. Had probably the best glisade coming down ever.
Karl Helser - Jul 11, 2006 12:16 am Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2006
Hayden - N. RidgeTook the easy way and spent the night at 7000' (tree line). Easy non tech slog to the saddle. Saw the crevasses on both sides of the snow ridge. The crampons came off at the saddle due to the exposed scree slope on the north side until we hit the most difficult part of the climb. A 50 deg. snow patch about 150' high. Not too bad though. It was tougher down climbing than going up. 74 deg warm at the summit. Awesome views as far north as Adams, pretty dirty looking west, and South Sister w/ Broken Top looked beautiful as ever. The 5 miles back from camp in the heat was the least enjoyable part of the trip. The bugs were hungry....
Turbo - Jun 22, 2006 2:25 am Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2004
Route Climbed: North RidgeOn August 15, 2003 a friend of mine was hiking to the top of this mountain when he fell to his death. One year later, a small group of us finished the climb in his memory. With us we carried an orange ribbon in his honor (orange was his favorite color). The climb was beautiful and the view amazing. God is good.
markmay - Jun 17, 2006 3:57 pm Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2005
Route climbed: North ridgeFun Hike!
Oregon-Climber - Feb 11, 2006 12:31 pm
Route Climbed: SE Ridge Date Climbed: Summer 2002Great climb up with the BSA! No snow, more of a strenuous hike.
cascadetraveler - Dec 19, 2005 11:22 pm
Route Climbed: hayden glacier Date Climbed: july 3rd, 2005The climb began on saturday the 2nd of july at pole creek trailhead. Myself and seven other fellow obsidian club members participated. The obsidians are a climbing and hiking club located in Eugene, oregon. It was one of the first hot days of summer in the cascades. We had a leisurly and uneventful hike in to base camp. We pitched our tents along some springs just a couple hundred yards below the snout of the Hayden glaicer at about 7000 ft. We awoke at 3:30 in the morning to a star choked sky and unusually warm morning. We throw are gear together donned are packs and headed for the glacier. We arrived at the glacier and proceeded to flake out the rope,slip on harnesses and fit crampons on boots. With two rope teams of four we proceeded up the right or north side of the glaicer. the route is a high snow cornice that runs parellel along the glacier well above the visible crevasse fields. The cornice peters out just below the peak known as prouty. Once off the cornice we walked a short distance to the col are the saddle. We all take turns belaying the next person to us over the mote and onto the rock. We repeat this procedure as we head onto the snowfield at the base of the summit pyramid. The final pitches to the summit do not lay back all that much so we set two pickets along the steepest sections and eventually work are way through frozen rock and rotten ice/snow mix. We arrive at the sun splashed summit at 7:30 in the morning. We enjoy views all the way north to Mount adams in Washinton state. west to the coast ranges south to mt Mcgloughlin and were a bit blinded by the sun as we look to the east on oregons great high desert plateau.
mandrake - Oct 31, 2005 7:44 pm
Route Climbed: Hayden Glacier Date Climbed: June 11, 2004Clouds came in just when heading up the north ridge. Top was in total white-out. Ridge was a bit gnarly, but fortunately we had enough pickets to protect it.
Andinistaloco - Sep 12, 2005 3:45 am
Route Climbed: SE ridge, I think.... Date Climbed: fall/winter 2002Great hike and magnificent views of the south sister. Route was out of season but so nontechnical that it didn't really matter.
iluka - Sep 5, 2005 11:38 pm
Route Climbed: Collier Glacier Date Climbed: September 3, 2005This was little more than a walk-up but a very nice one at that. The Collier Glacier presents little in the way of challenges now as it no longer has any crevasses (contrary to the trip report from 2001 commenting on a lot of crevasses on it's northernmost side -- and our President claims Global Warming is no big deal...). Crampons are stil necessary, particularly early in the morning in late season, as the ice is firm and footing would be very difficult without them.
seth fridae - Sep 3, 2005 6:22 pm
Route Climbed: north ridge via north sister Date Climbed: 9/3summited middle as part of three sisters traverse. Descent down south ridge. Beutiful crystal rock was left on the summit by a fellow hiker which i enjoyed looking at while i had a smoke.
amochka - Aug 17, 2005 6:08 pm
Route Climbed: Hayden Glacier Date Climbed: August 14, 2005Definitely too late in the season for this route. Not enough snow this year to be climbing this route this late..hayden glacier heavily crevassed, lots o' rockfall, etc. Reached the point just below the north ridge and couldn't safely head up, so didn't get to tag the summit. Steps in heavily crevassed area were blowing out....and lots of loose rock coming off the saddle between north and middle sister.
Seems that the southeast ridge looks better to me if you have to walk up shifting piles of rock, which is basically what we spent all day doing. Beautiful weather, clear skies and good company made the slog worth it. Will be back earlier in the season or will try a different route next year.
crirwin - Jul 13, 2005 1:37 pm
Route Climbed: Hayden Glacier Date Climbed: July 25, 2004A long one-day slog from Pole Creek Trailhead with my friend Nathan. Once we hit the Hayden we made a direct shot along the right edge of the glacier toward Prouty Point. Saw one good sized rock slide just as we approached the Point. The last scramble up the North Ridge was straightforward with one good pitch of late season snow that required us to break out the ice axes.
A thunderstorm started to approach just as we were about halfway down the Hayden on our descent. I didn't know I could run so fast with a pack on! Made it down below treeline just as the lightning began crackling overhead.
Finished the long hike back to the car - about 14 hours roundtrip.
DagiTig - Jun 8, 2005 2:01 pm
Route Climbed: North Ridge Date Climbed: August 31, 2003What a great climb and beautiful weather! A little tricky traversing one of the glaciers - crampons would have been nice!
onandupwards - Feb 21, 2005 1:15 pm
Route Climbed: North ridge/Hayden Glacier Date Climbed: October 2003Exposed crevasses due to late season climb, had to skirt to ridge to avoid.
Andy Dewey - Feb 3, 2005 3:43 pm
Route Climbed: South Ridge/Irving Glacier Date Climbed: August 2001Camped at Chambers Lakes, climbed via Irving Glacier and south ridge. Great day, awesome views.
K2McKay - Nov 22, 2004 6:42 pm
Route Climbed: Hayden Glacier and North Side Date Climbed: July 25 1998Great skiing down the cone and the glacier both. Me and Joe rocked it hard weaving in and out of the crevasses. The summit cone is nice and steep as well. All in all, a great day.
Shaun Matyas - Aug 27, 2004 2:52 pm
Route Climbed: South East Ridge / North Ridge / Hayden Glacier Date Climbed: August 12, 2004A wonderful climb. My group did a loop from Lake Demeris, up the South East Ridge trail (the trail can be hard to find because of erosion), yet you can see were you need to go. We descended the North Ridge trial, which is easier to follow, then the SE, climbed the small peak between the North & Middle (Protey's point), then glissaded down the Hayden Glacier. Wonderful trip. Watch out for the butterflies, there were hundreds of them flying up and down the mountain.
Don Nelsen - Jul 27, 2004 1:11 am
Route Climbed: South ridge Date Climbed: Sept 22, 1979After climbing Broken Top the day before and backpacking a bushwhack route to the Chambers Lakes area we were a bit tired but realized this would be our only chance to climb this peak for maybe years to come. With Rob and Dave as partners, we scrambled up very unstable talus to the summit in about 2 hours from our camp at Chambers Lakes. This route is very unstable! Most of the time it felt as if the whole slope was about to give way. Won't do this route again! About 50 degrees at the summit with 30mph winds made it a bit uncomfortable for us dressed in shorts and t-shirts but at that age we all felt invinceable - boy did we have a lot to learn!
dn