 | Our first objective of the day was Snowfield Peak, via the standard West Ridge route (Class 3).
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 | There were some large cracks starting to open up on the Neve Glacier, but there were always good snowbridges to be found.
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 | What a change in the weather from the day before! Approaching the west ridge of Snowfield Peak.
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 | Another photo of approaching the west ridge of Snowfield Peak.
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 | "Go to the West Ridge and follow a boot track for ~200' to a gully which leads to a very obvious notch, downclimb about 60', then scramble Class 3 to summit." This photo shows the gully to the obvious notch.
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 | "Go to the West Ridge and follow a boot track for ~200' to a gully which leads to a very obvious notch, downclimb about 60', then scramble Class 3 to summit." This photo shows the Class 3 to the summit. The recent wintery weather had left some ice and snow on the rock which made it a bit more challenging.
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 | On the summit of Snowfield Peak! 2:15 from camp at the col.
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 | Next we headed west along the rim of the Neve Glacier towards The Horseman. However, we became confused when the USGS map didn't seem to agree with the route description or the labeled image in the Cascade Alpine Guide. We were pretty sure that this feature in this photo is The Horseman, since it looks a lot like a man riding a horse (this suggests that the USGS map is wrong, which I confirmed is indeed the case the following evening when I got home). So we headed for this spire, hoping to find and climb the 2-pitch 5.7 route on the E side of the N Ridge.
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 | Unfortunately, The Horseman is covered in black lichen, which was pretty slippery after the recent precipitation. So we decided to head for the little spire that we called "Horse's Ear," and see if we could climb that instead (photo shows Jenny approaching it). The top block looked rather detached, so I decided I was satisfied to just stand beside it.
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 | Feeling the insatiable desire to get to the top of something, we headed towards the next spire north along the ridge.
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 | Here I am on top of the spire.
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 | Our next climbing objectives of the day were on the other side of the Colonial-Neve Glacier col where our camp was. We planned to climb all three spires: Pyramid, Pinnacle, and Paul Bunyan's Stump.
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 | Jenny ascending easy snow slopes towards Pyramid Peak (Class 2). Behind her are Snowfield, the Colonial-Neve Col, Paul Bunyan's Stump, and part of Pinnacle Peak.
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 | The view north from the summit of Pyramid Peak, looking down onto Diablo and Ross Lakes and Jack Mountain on the right. It took us only an hour to get to the summit of Pyramid Peak from camp at the col.
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 | After being spoiled by an easy saunter up Pyramid Peak, we were somewhat confused with how to tackle Pinnacle Peak. A gaping moat prevented us from getting onto the Class 3 East Route. So we opted for the North Ridge (3rd/4th), which we gained via a steep snow finger. The North Ridge is the closest ridge in the photo. For the most part we were able to keep it at Class 3 by making west side detours.
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 | The final summit pyramid of Pinnacle Peak is....
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 | ...Class 4 with lots of ledges and great exposure. Kind of fun.
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 | We decided to descend the SW Route (3rd/4th) on Pinnacle Peak towards the saddle between Pinnacle and Paul Bunyan's Stump. I noticed this airy gap in the ridge of Pinnacle Peak. Looks like a bunch of Jenga blocks.
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 | A lone snowball....
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 | We couldn't resist making a snowman. With the axes and long afternoon shadow, the snowman took on an eerie sort of persona.
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 | Our final objective of the day was Paul Bunyan's Stump via the SW Route (3rd). This ridge was really green and pretty.
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 | Jenny on the summit ridge of Paul Bunyan's Stump, with Pinnacle Peak and Pyramid Peak behind.
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 | Jenny on the summit of Paul Bunyan's Stump. "4 summits in one day!"
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 | We tromped over thousands of ice worms on the Colonial Glacier. These cool critters only come out to the surface of the glaciers in the evening and morning. According to Wikipedia:
The first ice worms species were discovered in 1887 in Alaska. These
glacier ice worms can be found on glaciers in Alaska, Washington,
Oregon and British Columbia. They have not been found in other glaciated
regions of the world.
Enzymes in ice worms have very low optimal temperatures, and
can be denatured at even a few degrees above 0 °C (32 °F). When ice
worms are exposed to temperatures as high as 5 °C (41 °F), their
membrane structures disassociate and fall apart (i.e., "melt") causing
the worm itself to liquify. Hence, ice worms hide beneath the snow during the day.
Ice worms are several centimeters long, and can be black,
blue, or white in color. On Suiattle Glacier in the North Cascades
population counts indicated over 7 billion ice worms on that glacier
alone.
It is not known how ice worms tunnel through the ice. Some scientists
believe they travel through microscopic fissures in ice sheets, while
others believe they secrete some chemical which can melt ice by lowering
its freezing point, like an antifreeze. They feed on snow algae. |
 | The Colonial-Neve Glacier Col is really quite a spectacular camp. Definitely worth the extra effort to get there.
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 | We even had running water close-by.
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