Adams: Killen Creek to Killen Glacier
Posted: November 3rd, 2020, 11:18 am
I bet you didn't know there's a Killen Glacier on Adams. Well, there isn't. More on that later.
This trip was completely extemporaneous. I woke yesterday near Divide Camp, and spontaneously decided to drive a couple miles to Killen Creek trailhead. My reasoning was that it's a horrible drive to Killen Creek, and if I'm in the neighborhood, might as well take advantage. But that meant no preparation/research. I just had to wing it.
At the top of Killen Creek trail (PCT junction) I knew if I turned left/north on PCT I'd get into a lot of ponds (close to trail, might require a little searching). I love seeing frozen lakes/ponds, so this seemed like fun. I went to the next junction, maybe about a mile, and discovered it was just a little too warm. It's been cold lower, but warmer up here. I was a few days late to see these all frozen. So I turned and headed back south on PCT, to a charming meadow with a couple ponds, where PCT crosses a cute little bridge over a creek that tumbles over exposed rock. Nice spot. Followed the creek up, and up. At every fork, I determined which went to a spring and which went higher. It went dry, but I followed the creek bed to a tiny meadow at the base of a tiny moraine, at the base of a tiny glacier (probably stagnant now). Later, I learned I had followed Killen Creek, and High Camp was just above the glacier. In fact, I bet I could have spotted the trail to high camp.
I continued left/clockwise, spiraling up the mountain. Scenery was better than expected. Routefinding was fun; I was constantly evaluating the landscape and thinking about which way to go. I abruptly reached a point where the immediate topography wasn't blocking my view of the mountain, and realized I had made good progress. The Lava Glacier headwall was straight ahead. I had been toying with the idea of ascending the left side of the north ridge, and climbing over the ridge, dropping towards Glacier Lake. I know the ridge is gentle on the lake side, so if I could gain ridgecrest on the Lava Glacier side, I'd be home free.
As I continued up, snow was taking over the rock, and route options were dwindling. As I feared, I reached a point where I was blocked in by a long snowy ridge. Based on recent experiences on Adams, I had decided to bring no snow gear.
My only hope was to ascend in the opposite direction, now CCW, towards a rocky horn (I'm calling it the horn because the way it's upturned reminds me of a rhinoceros horn). At the top of the horn, I could see it wasn't any easier, but I continued to a landing, and picked my way across random jumbled terrain. The horn was my high point; ever since then, the safe route choices took me lower. Eventually, I ended up above Killen Glacier, looking down on High Camp.
So yeah, I guess I did cross over the north ridge, but I'm calling it a failure. I never saw Lava Glacier, just its headwall, and I crossed over the ridge below Glacier Lake. I wasn't crushed. Heck, I was thrilled I completed the route without having to backtrack. In several places, there was no escape route straight down the mountain, so a dead end would have meant retreat. For an unplanned day of just seeing what I could see, it wasn't bad.
Continue to Glacier Lake on the standard route which I had just intersected? Tempting, but I'd rather do something new. I followed the base of the moraine that holds the lake, CCW, and explored a bit. From here, I could see some viable route options in the terrain where I had first looked down on High Camp, but it was really too late to turn back. Drat. My consolation was the parkland below, which I would pass through on my way to PCT.
I dropped into the parkland and played around. Even walked barefoot a bit, just because. When it was time to go, I started evaluating descent options. I imagined a mix of steep forest, ridges and ravines, nothing pleasant but no big deal. I was surprised to find that there's one big gully that pretty much swallows up any reasonable descent and funnels into a relatively flat meadow. The gully was an easy descent. From the meadow, I just wandered down towards PCT, veering right when in doubt, since I needed to go that direction to find the Killen Creek trail. The terrain naturally tended the other direction though, so by the time I hit PCT I was closer to Divide than Killen. I've never been on PCT between Divide and Killen, so I didn't mind the extra trail walking.
The last time I was on Killen Creek trail on Nov 2, it was 1998, and the snow was so deep I gave up when I reached PCT. This time, it was shorts/tee weather and almost entirely bare ground. Funny that snow turned me back again, but this time it was steep icy snow, not postholing.
This trip was completely extemporaneous. I woke yesterday near Divide Camp, and spontaneously decided to drive a couple miles to Killen Creek trailhead. My reasoning was that it's a horrible drive to Killen Creek, and if I'm in the neighborhood, might as well take advantage. But that meant no preparation/research. I just had to wing it.
At the top of Killen Creek trail (PCT junction) I knew if I turned left/north on PCT I'd get into a lot of ponds (close to trail, might require a little searching). I love seeing frozen lakes/ponds, so this seemed like fun. I went to the next junction, maybe about a mile, and discovered it was just a little too warm. It's been cold lower, but warmer up here. I was a few days late to see these all frozen. So I turned and headed back south on PCT, to a charming meadow with a couple ponds, where PCT crosses a cute little bridge over a creek that tumbles over exposed rock. Nice spot. Followed the creek up, and up. At every fork, I determined which went to a spring and which went higher. It went dry, but I followed the creek bed to a tiny meadow at the base of a tiny moraine, at the base of a tiny glacier (probably stagnant now). Later, I learned I had followed Killen Creek, and High Camp was just above the glacier. In fact, I bet I could have spotted the trail to high camp.
I continued left/clockwise, spiraling up the mountain. Scenery was better than expected. Routefinding was fun; I was constantly evaluating the landscape and thinking about which way to go. I abruptly reached a point where the immediate topography wasn't blocking my view of the mountain, and realized I had made good progress. The Lava Glacier headwall was straight ahead. I had been toying with the idea of ascending the left side of the north ridge, and climbing over the ridge, dropping towards Glacier Lake. I know the ridge is gentle on the lake side, so if I could gain ridgecrest on the Lava Glacier side, I'd be home free.
As I continued up, snow was taking over the rock, and route options were dwindling. As I feared, I reached a point where I was blocked in by a long snowy ridge. Based on recent experiences on Adams, I had decided to bring no snow gear.
My only hope was to ascend in the opposite direction, now CCW, towards a rocky horn (I'm calling it the horn because the way it's upturned reminds me of a rhinoceros horn). At the top of the horn, I could see it wasn't any easier, but I continued to a landing, and picked my way across random jumbled terrain. The horn was my high point; ever since then, the safe route choices took me lower. Eventually, I ended up above Killen Glacier, looking down on High Camp.
So yeah, I guess I did cross over the north ridge, but I'm calling it a failure. I never saw Lava Glacier, just its headwall, and I crossed over the ridge below Glacier Lake. I wasn't crushed. Heck, I was thrilled I completed the route without having to backtrack. In several places, there was no escape route straight down the mountain, so a dead end would have meant retreat. For an unplanned day of just seeing what I could see, it wasn't bad.
Continue to Glacier Lake on the standard route which I had just intersected? Tempting, but I'd rather do something new. I followed the base of the moraine that holds the lake, CCW, and explored a bit. From here, I could see some viable route options in the terrain where I had first looked down on High Camp, but it was really too late to turn back. Drat. My consolation was the parkland below, which I would pass through on my way to PCT.
I dropped into the parkland and played around. Even walked barefoot a bit, just because. When it was time to go, I started evaluating descent options. I imagined a mix of steep forest, ridges and ravines, nothing pleasant but no big deal. I was surprised to find that there's one big gully that pretty much swallows up any reasonable descent and funnels into a relatively flat meadow. The gully was an easy descent. From the meadow, I just wandered down towards PCT, veering right when in doubt, since I needed to go that direction to find the Killen Creek trail. The terrain naturally tended the other direction though, so by the time I hit PCT I was closer to Divide than Killen. I've never been on PCT between Divide and Killen, so I didn't mind the extra trail walking.
The last time I was on Killen Creek trail on Nov 2, it was 1998, and the snow was so deep I gave up when I reached PCT. This time, it was shorts/tee weather and almost entirely bare ground. Funny that snow turned me back again, but this time it was steep icy snow, not postholing.
I think, if my memory is right, our member drm has been overlapping me on Adams a lot lately.
That's okay, it's been a fun autumn, I'm ready to let it go. I wish I'd gotten to Adams a little earlier, but the fires/smoke and the Bird Creek (Yakama) delays kinda set me back. And honestly, with the nights getting longer than the days, serious alpine hiking is getting tougher. That's one of the reasons I went to Killen Monday, might be last chance this year.