Hardly a footprint on the northern WCPs.
- October 19, 2014
- Team: John
- Summits
- WCP-1, 10,353'
- WCP-3 10,588'
- Class 2, 7.7 miles RT, 4200' gain, 6:05 RT
Note: click images to see a larger version in a new window
John and I were thinking the same thing: White Clouds. On a crisp Fall day, this is a great outing. We met in Banks at 6:30 and were on our feet a little after 9. No motor vehicles allowed, so this serves to filter out the guys with ATVs and guns. That's the slag heap left by the Hoodoo Mine on Slate Creek. Note that this is a hazardous waste site. |
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It's a steep pull up the old mining road to Hoodoo Lake. To my surprise, John had done this part the week prior, yet he was enthusiastic again (if you could call his stiff pace enthusiastic). All the way up the canyon it had been shady and fast, so when we hit the sunshine at the lake, it was cameras out. That's WCP-3. |
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And to the right/north, that's WCP-1. It's hard to tell exactly where the summit is, but stay tuned and I'll show ya. |
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First we followed the trail and/or old road around the lake past the primo campsite, then worked our way up the hillside when the trail disappeared. But here it is again at the upper meadow and old water diversion. |
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From the meadow, just follow your nose through the sagebrush and head for one of the gullies. |
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Eventually you climb above the trees, and it's time to find a goat path. |
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John, the old goat, found a good one. |
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Summit of WCP-1. Too bad the weather wasn't better. If I look a little distressed, it was because it had only taken 2.5 hours so far. John, on the other hand, has sort of a sadistic smirk. |
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| It was still early, so we opted to wait until we got to the saddle before eating lunch. You lead, you old goat. |  |
We lounged for quite a while at the saddle, eating a bit too much. But the ridge of WCP-3 was staring us in the face, daring us to give it a try. And it did look a little daunting. So with overly-full bellies, we dropped our packs and sloshed our way on up. We found recent tracks in the snow: one human and several goats. |
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The sun was conspiring against good photos, laying directly in line with the summit. And in the 25 minutes it took us to get from the saddle to the top, the sun didn't move much. But let's just say it was way easier than it looked. The pano below is the view south. There wasn't much to look at. ;-) |
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This is looking north back at WCP-1. It was right about here that the bummer of the day happened. A little gust pushed John's favorite hat off the face slightly right of camera. Whoops. We had considered trying to get out to WCP-2 as had SuperDave, but with short days and busy lives, we decided against testing our headlamp skills. Note that the route down from the WCP-1/WCP-3 saddle was much nicer (including climbing) than the WCP-1 gully/rib that we ascended. Also, climbing north out the ridge to WCP-1 would be more fun that that rib, even if you do an out-and-back. That advice comes despite my affection for doing loops. |
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We skipped the hot water back at the trailhead, opting instead for cold libations thoughtfully left in the creek before our departure. |
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