Mount Shuksan, Fisher Chimneys Route, North CascadesSummer 2001 (?)
I climbed up to the Upper Cuttis Glacier with Matthew Tolley and Issac Howard back in 2001 (?). This is a fantastic route. I've been up there a few times. We didn't dare the Upper Curtis, and never really intended to.
Here's the climbing crew at our highest point, the base of the Upper Curtis glacier.
The path to get to this spot involves scrambling up the Fisher Chimneys.
The Fisher Chimneys look impassable from Lake Ann, but once you get closer, you find that you can scramble up the maze of rocky gulleys and cliffs.
The route across the upper Curtis and up "Hells Highway" was looking pretty perilous.
Just look at the glacier!
That didn't prevent one group of daring climbers! We watched them make their ascent comfortably from our solid rock perch.
This is my favorite rock
Mind you, I don't mean my favorite type of rock (that would be a toss-up between granite and basalt).
I mean, my favorite actual rock!
It's a boulder from the Shuksan Greenschist Formation.
This rock is so foliated and twisted, it looks like a labyrinth!
I visit it every time I go to Lake Ann, which is not really very difficult or unusual,as it's right on the side of the trail.
Anyway, back to the chimneys and the glaciers...
Isaac and Mt. Baker. We were part way up the chimneys at this point.
Who's Isaac? He's a great guy that I used to hang out with back in the day.
Same shot, a little more chimney rock, sans Isaac.
Whew! That's a crazy looking path ahead. We have gone far enough!
That is Hells Highway where the glacier goes through the pass.
It leads to the Sulphide Glacier, which I would climb the following year!
Climbers on Hells Highway.