Barrett Spur: all-day "failure"
Posted: August 25th, 2019, 5:33 pm
I put "failure" in quotes because I did accomplish a thing or two, and it was a lot of fun. Overall a pretty satisfying day. But yeah, I really did start in the dark and finish in the dark, and never made it to the top of Barrett Spur.
From Elk Cove I headed over to the west moraine of Coe Glacier. The easiest route is to stay high through the cove, then curve around the base of Barrett to an obvious notch in the moraine. But I wanted to go lower and then follow the moraine crest up. When I hit what I thought would be the crest, I was instead on a ridge, looking into a pleasant grassy valley arcing down the mountain. I dropped in, explored down a bit to see where it went, then continued up and over to the moraine, crossing a series of steeper narrower gullies. I now see that there's a prominent crescent ridge between Elk Cove and Coe's west moraine. Surprised I never noticed that.
I gained the moraine right where I had hoped to, at a slightly low and broad spot I had noticed on my east-moraine ascent a few weeks ago. Looking down the moraine, it was brushy and less distinct. Looking up the moraine it was perfectly straight, sharp on the crest, and brushy on the Elk side. It was fun to look at (the sharp contrast) but not fun for hiking.
Abruptly, another change on the moraine: no more brush on the Elk side. Still pretty sharp on the crest. Fortunately, the Elk side was relatively gentle; I have no doubt a fall off the Coe side would be fatal.
I was relieved to arrive at the saddle, at the base of Barrett, where the moraine dips and broadened. I dropped onto Coe and started up. My plan was to go up Coe and around Barrett. I knew that was a very ambitious goal. I had no axe or crampons. I was thinking this would be a scouting trip, but I hoped to get lucky. I reached what I knew would be the crux: a cliff band, festooned with waterfalls (one primary, a few smaller). To the east/left was a dark streak that I hoped would grant a bypass, but it was just dirty glacial ice, not really safe. I saw one possible breach in the cliff, but getting to it involved crossing a patch of ice/snow, and possibly a moat. I tried to go around the cliffs to the west/right, but it was what I expected, steep rubble. Maybe I could have done it, but it involved a long tilted ramp. Lots of work, very unpleasant, probably not safe. Would be much better with snow. At 7300+', with only 300' to the Barrett/Pulpit gap, I retreated, with a little side trip to what looked like a very good viewpoint over the glacier, but it disappointed.
Back at the Coe moraine, I started looking for a way up Barrett directly from the cove. Primarily, I wanted to get to a verdant bench perched up on the otherwise drab grey northeast slope of Barrett (which faces straight into Elk Cove). There were a couple lush green creeks spilling down, but maybe just a little too steep to ascend, so I kept traversing, looking for a way up. Came to a snowfield (lowest on Hood, about the same as Coe terminus) and followed the edge of it, which turned out to be the safest easiest way. As it turned out, I bet I could have curved around Barrett much lower and then ascended the snowfield in less time, and it would have been more pleasant. From the top of the snowfield, I curved back left/east to the bench. It met expectations. Lovely scenery. I dropped into a hanging meadow which fed one of the green falls I had seen below. Turns out there's no creek on the bench though; instead there are springs in the hanging meadow. With rock walls left and right, a view down to Elk Cove, springs, and an abundance of wildflowers, this could be an amazing secret spot to spend a couple hours in privacy. Only problem is it was just a little too steep to really relax. Nice place to visit, then move along.
I had wanted to explore a bit more, but apart from the bench, this part of Barrett is ugly and hard to travel on, so I followed my ascent route back down (steep/loose/unpleasant) and then to the base of the snowfield, where I took my first extended break of the day as I waited to meet a fellow Oregon Hiker who I had been exchanging texts with all day. I won't say more; wait for his exciting adventure-filled report.
I don't know if I'll try that Coe/Barrett loop again. I think it would be safe/easy with good snow conditions, but that would require a very early season hike, and getting to Elk Cove could be a challenge.
From Elk Cove I headed over to the west moraine of Coe Glacier. The easiest route is to stay high through the cove, then curve around the base of Barrett to an obvious notch in the moraine. But I wanted to go lower and then follow the moraine crest up. When I hit what I thought would be the crest, I was instead on a ridge, looking into a pleasant grassy valley arcing down the mountain. I dropped in, explored down a bit to see where it went, then continued up and over to the moraine, crossing a series of steeper narrower gullies. I now see that there's a prominent crescent ridge between Elk Cove and Coe's west moraine. Surprised I never noticed that.
I gained the moraine right where I had hoped to, at a slightly low and broad spot I had noticed on my east-moraine ascent a few weeks ago. Looking down the moraine, it was brushy and less distinct. Looking up the moraine it was perfectly straight, sharp on the crest, and brushy on the Elk side. It was fun to look at (the sharp contrast) but not fun for hiking.
Abruptly, another change on the moraine: no more brush on the Elk side. Still pretty sharp on the crest. Fortunately, the Elk side was relatively gentle; I have no doubt a fall off the Coe side would be fatal.
I was relieved to arrive at the saddle, at the base of Barrett, where the moraine dips and broadened. I dropped onto Coe and started up. My plan was to go up Coe and around Barrett. I knew that was a very ambitious goal. I had no axe or crampons. I was thinking this would be a scouting trip, but I hoped to get lucky. I reached what I knew would be the crux: a cliff band, festooned with waterfalls (one primary, a few smaller). To the east/left was a dark streak that I hoped would grant a bypass, but it was just dirty glacial ice, not really safe. I saw one possible breach in the cliff, but getting to it involved crossing a patch of ice/snow, and possibly a moat. I tried to go around the cliffs to the west/right, but it was what I expected, steep rubble. Maybe I could have done it, but it involved a long tilted ramp. Lots of work, very unpleasant, probably not safe. Would be much better with snow. At 7300+', with only 300' to the Barrett/Pulpit gap, I retreated, with a little side trip to what looked like a very good viewpoint over the glacier, but it disappointed.
Back at the Coe moraine, I started looking for a way up Barrett directly from the cove. Primarily, I wanted to get to a verdant bench perched up on the otherwise drab grey northeast slope of Barrett (which faces straight into Elk Cove). There were a couple lush green creeks spilling down, but maybe just a little too steep to ascend, so I kept traversing, looking for a way up. Came to a snowfield (lowest on Hood, about the same as Coe terminus) and followed the edge of it, which turned out to be the safest easiest way. As it turned out, I bet I could have curved around Barrett much lower and then ascended the snowfield in less time, and it would have been more pleasant. From the top of the snowfield, I curved back left/east to the bench. It met expectations. Lovely scenery. I dropped into a hanging meadow which fed one of the green falls I had seen below. Turns out there's no creek on the bench though; instead there are springs in the hanging meadow. With rock walls left and right, a view down to Elk Cove, springs, and an abundance of wildflowers, this could be an amazing secret spot to spend a couple hours in privacy. Only problem is it was just a little too steep to really relax. Nice place to visit, then move along.
I had wanted to explore a bit more, but apart from the bench, this part of Barrett is ugly and hard to travel on, so I followed my ascent route back down (steep/loose/unpleasant) and then to the base of the snowfield, where I took my first extended break of the day as I waited to meet a fellow Oregon Hiker who I had been exchanging texts with all day. I won't say more; wait for his exciting adventure-filled report.
I don't know if I'll try that Coe/Barrett loop again. I think it would be safe/easy with good snow conditions, but that would require a very early season hike, and getting to Elk Cove could be a challenge.