Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: May 13, 2006 (Sat);  Partner: Jason Cullum
- Date: August 9, 2025 (Sat);  Partner: Nate Beckwith

The Beckey Route (technically the SW Face, but universally known by its nickname) is a mellow, enjoyable climb leading to the spectacular summit of Liberty Bell. The summit is the true prize, with sweeping views of the North Cascades peaks, the Wine Spires, and the Early Winter Spires. Clean rock, solid holds, and the easiest line up one of the range’s most iconic summits make this a classic. First climbed in 1946, Fred Beckey reached the Liberty Bell group via a 16-mile approach up the Twisp River—long before the North Cascades Highway existed. Today, climbers benefit from Highway 20 and the Blue Lake Trail, making the approach short, scenic, and the route easily doable in a day.

I’d long heard about Liberty Bell and had been eager to climb it, so for my birthday weekend my friend Jason and I headed south, making the four-hour drive to the trailhead. When we arrived, we found it buried under about six feet of snow, so we laced up our boots, packed our climbing gear, and hiked up to the base of the route. We decided to swing leads, and I took the first pitch. The shaded gully below was bitterly cold, and my fingers were too numb to feel the holds, so I made a quick push toward the sunshine, where the rock was pleasantly warm.

The climb itself was a lot of fun—straightforward but scenic—and the snow-capped panorama from the summit was fantastic. On the descent, we couldn’t locate the first rappel sling, so we downclimbed to the second rappel station instead. We’d considered climbing a nearby route on Concord Tower, but lingering snow and fatigue nudged us toward a different plan. Instead, we hiked out and enjoyed a leisurely drive along the North Cascades loop to Leavenworth, aiming to climb Orbit on Snow Creek Wall the following day—a route we’d heard about when we climbed Outer Space a few weekends earlier.

We had just climbed Thin Red Line (5.12, 9 pitches) on the east side of Liberty Bell, but since its crux section ends at Pitch 9—where the rappels begin—we hadn’t actually stood on the summit. Nate had never been up there, so we figured a fun way to reach it would be via the iconic Beckey Route. I also needed to create a route overlay for the Beckey, since back in 2006 when I first climbed it, I wasn’t yet in the habit of making them. It was a beautiful day, quite a casual route, and the summit view didn’t disappoint.

Below are photos from both the 2006 and 2025 climbs of the Beckey Route.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: August 2&3, 2009 (Sun&Mon);  Partner: Clint Cummins
- Date: September 4, 2017 (Mon);  Partner: John Plotz

Included on Steck & Roper's Fifty Classic list, Liberty Crack climbs the left edge of Liberty Bell's impressive 1200-foot tall east face. The crack becomes continuous only after the first 3 pitches, and after that the route features excellent climbing and surprisingly moderate terrain. Most parties aid Pitches 2 and 3 (which go at 5.13- and 5.11+ free, but C1 or C2 aid) and climb the rest free (the rest of the climbing is 5.10 or easier). Many parties will fix the first 3 pitches the day before the climb to the top; these pitches can be fixed with 2 60m ropes.

I first climbed Liberty Crack in August 2009 with my friend and climbing mentor Clint Cummins. Clint did the climb as a 2-day adventure, fixing the first 3 pitches the day before and climbing the route to the top the following day. I had done little aiding before this route, but Clint had a fair bit of aid experience. Clint aided all of the pitches that were 5.10 or harder; I jugged most of them, at the time not realizing that it would be easier (and more fun!) to just free all of them besides Pitches 2 and 3. I did do a bit of leading, leading all of the easier (5.8 or below) pitches. We arrived on the summit in the dark. I was ecstatic—I had just climbed Liberty Crack! One of the best routes in Washington!

Eight years later, in September 2017, I climbed this route again, with my friend and master of efficiency John Plotz. John had climbed this route six times and was happy to climb it again. With no fixing, going with a lightweight aid setup for Pitches 2 and 3, and free climbing all pitches except Pitches 2 and 3, John and I climbed the route in just over 7 hours, or car-to-car in 10 hours. This was almost twice as fast as Clint and I had climbed it! This time around, I thoroughly enjoyed my leads and had a greater realization/appreciation of the quality of climbing on the route. It was amazing how much quicker and easier the route seemed this time. Pure fun this time around!
On both occasions, despite warm summer weather, we were the only party on the route.

This page contains both trip reports, side by side. Enjoy!

Note: Various route topos show the route as anywhere between 10-14 pitches. In August 2009, Clint and I climbed the route in 12 pitches (plus the scramble to summit), as per Clint's topo above. This is similar to the SuperTopo breakdown. In September 2017, John and I climbed the route in 10 pitches, by combining Clint's pitches 7&8 and 11&12. This is similar to the pitch breakdown in Herrington's Cascades Rock.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: July 20, 2017 (Thu);  Partner: DR

Due to rain-induced-last-minute-change-to-plans, DR and I met at the Blue Lake Trailhead at noon. The Northwest Face of Liberty Bell seemed like a good choice for a short day of climbing. We enjoyed just being out climbing (especially on dry rock), but our impression was that the route is a bit overrated. But worth doing if you've done the other classics at the Pass and are looking for something new, or looking for a route with a great position. The positive aspects of the route: off the beaten track (so probably will have it to yourselves), cool and windy (positive thing if it is a hot day), an awesome position and summit, and Pitch 4 is great 5.9 climbing. The negative aspects of the route: the first couple of pitches are grungy and unremarkable, cool and windy (negative for a cool day), and a somewhat difficult-to-find approach (although it is easy to find if you know where you are going, see my annotated photo below showing how to access the ledge below the route). We did the 5.10d Remsberg variation for Pitch 3, which was excellent; the last 40 feet of the pitch does not take gear, but there are 2 bolts which protect the 2 cruxes (when you are up there on the insecure move that ends the pitch, imagine Remsberg up there on the first ascent, 40 feet above his last piece...).

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: August 4&5&8, 2025 (Mon&Tue&Fri);  Partner: Nate Beckwitih

Thin Red Line is considered by some as one of the best free climbs in the North Cascades, featuring diverse and memorable cruxes with sustained 5.10 and 5.11 climbing. I first attempted it in 2017 with my friend DR, but we bailed midway up Pitch 5, feeling outmatched by the terrain.

This time, Nate and I took a more deliberate strategy. On Day 1, we climbed the first six pitches and fixed a rope—Nate’s 600-foot static line easily reached the top of Pitch 6. The next day, we jugged those six pitches, then freed Pitches 7 through 9 to reach M&M Ledge, marking the end of the route’s hardest climbing. On the way down, we refixed the first six pitches with directionals. Then the weather turned, and two days of rain put our plans on hold. When the skies cleared, we returned to toprope solo the first six pitches, using the time to work out the harder sequences. Nate unlocked all of the crux moves, while I aided through the three short 5.12 sections (two on Pitch 5, bouldery roof on Pitch 6). Other than these sections, the rest of the route is 5.11 and under. We look forward to returning.

The route receives sun in the morning, with shade arriving around 12:30 p.m. during our visit. While I prefer climbing in the sun, Nate favors the cooler conditions of the shade—and he made a compelling case that harder pitches are more manageable when it’s not blazing hot. So we typically didn’t begin climbing until around noon, maximizing our chances of success on the cruxes.

Pitches 10 through 12 are mellow 5.8 terrain to the summit. While topping out would have been satisfying, it would have required a descent down the far side and a hike back up to retrieve our ropes—so we were content with climbing the first nine. It ended up being a fun and rewarding way to experience a challenging route, giving us the space to really dial in the movement and enjoy the climbing.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: July 9, 2013 (Tue);  Partner: Jenny Abegg

I had climbed all of the spires at Washington Pass except Concord Tower and Lexington Tower, so after our climb of the West Face of NEWS, my sister and I decided to do a quick and easy link-up of Concord and Lexington. The link-up involved climbing the North Face (5.7) of Concord, rappelling into the notch between the two towers, and then climbing the North Face (5.7) of Lexington. The North Face of Concord Tower is a bit meandering with featured and somewhat loose (looking) rock, but it is a fun little adventure. The climb up took us just over an hour and the descent (2 rappels down the south side) to the Concord-Lexington notch took 10 minutes.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: June 20, 2015 (Sat);  Partners: Danh Ngo & Will Surber

This route follows a crack and chimney system splitting the middle of the steep 800-ft tall east face of Lexington Tower. Depending on whether or not you like wide climbing, this route either intrigues you or scares you. I like how offwidths and chimneys can make even 5.8 have a burly "how do I get up that?!" feel (and it seemed that Will and Danh did too) so we all enjoyed this route. My favorite part of the route was the three pitches comprising the middle portion of the route: the 5.8+ cracks and corner leading up to the dead-end chimney, the foot traverse rightward from the dead-end chimney, and the chimney with the wedged chunk of 2x4 and extraneous bolt.

We climbed this route as a group of three, splitting leads evenly. This slowed us down a bit, but also made it more of a fun social climb with more of a cheerleading squad for the offwidths.

Note on descent: Since we climbed on two ropes, we decided we would rappel the route. We made it to the ground in 7 double-rope rappels by linking together a series of slings with rap rings as well as a couple of bolted anchors for the next-door route Tooth and Claw. We felt pretty lucky that we never had a stuck rope during our rappels, as there seems to be a high potential for the ropes to get stuck. Indeed, the standard and less risky tact is to walk off the west side. But the benefit of rappelling the route is that you can leave approach shoes at the base and bring an ice axe and crampons to make the snowfield at the base cruiser.

Note on gear: This climb takes a lot of wide gear. In addition to a double rack to #3, we brought a #6, #5, and two #4's (we meant to bring only one #4, but we had a miscommunication and brought two). The rack was a little too heavy for climbing comfort, and I think that a single #6 (or #5, but the #6 was a bit more useful) and a single #4 and doubles to #3 would be sufficient; the wide crux sections are short.

All in all, a fun and rewarding day in good company.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: July 9, 2013 (Tue);  Partner: Jenny Abegg

I had climbed all of the spires at Washington Pass except Concord Tower and Lexington Tower, so after our climb of the West Face of NEWS, my sister and I decided to do a quick and easy link-up of Concord and Lexington. The link-up involved climbing the North Face (5.7) of Concord, rappelling into the notch between the two towers, and then climbing the North Face (5.7) of Lexington. The North Face of Lexington Tower is a short and athletic low-fifth adventure finishing with a cool ridge scramble to the summit. The climb up took us 40 minutes and the descent (downclimbing the ridge and then making 2 rappels down the route) back to the Concord-Lexington notch took 20 minutes.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: August 28, 2009 (Fri);  Partner: David Kiehl

Minuteman Tower is on the east side of the Liberty Bell group at Washington Pass. It is dwarfed by its larger neighbors, but the tower's East Face is a great place to spend a day. The whole route offers fun and challenging climbing, and the 5.8 handcrack on the upper shield is one of the best in the area.

The approach is the same as for Liberty Crack. Drive SR 20 to a few hundred yards E of Washington Pass. There's a little pond next to the road; park near it and unload your stuff. Skirt the left side of the pond and head up the treaded path through the forest, bearing SSW until you break out into the talus field under the east face of Liberty Bell. Traverse under Liberty Bell and to the left side of the Minuteman near the base of the gully between Lexington Tower and Minuteman Tower. There might be snow at the base until late summer. About 1 hour to the base of the route.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: June 27, 2015 (Sat);  Partner: John Plotz
- Date: August 11, 2017 (Sat);  Partner: Cindy Beavon

It was 100° in the lowlands, so John and I decided to stick to north or northwest facing routes. We began the day with a lap on the Northwest Corner of NEWS. The highlight of this route is an obvious 3-4" corner crack that comprises a pitch and a half of the route. John had climbed this route a couple of times before, but I had not, so I got dibs on the corner pitch. What a fun lead! I found that the first 15 feet or so was the most challenging section of offwidth, and after this I could get pretty decent hand jams and also some face holds appeared. Erring on the safe side, we had brought two #4 and two #3 pieces. After the first 15 feet or so, smaller sizes fit back in the crack, so I ended up having an extra #4 when I finished the pitch. I felt no need for a #5.

The standard descent has always been to rappel to the notch between NEWS and SEWS and scramble down the gully and then rappel over a chockstone, but instead we decided to descent by the recently-established rap route down the right side of the west face of NEWS. This is 6 bolted rap stations. Our 60m rope was sufficient, but just barely, as there is one rappel—the third I think—where we had to reach down to clip our daisies to the anchor and then let the rope slide through the belay device - knots are a good idea! Overall this new rappel line is a nice alternative to the somewhat chossy and sometimes snow-filled gully.

It had taken us an hour and a half to climb the route and about 35 minutes to rappel back to the base. It was still only mid-morning, so we moved onto the next northwest-facing climb of the day: the Northwest Face of SEWS.

Cindy had never climbed any routes on North Early Winter Spire, so we decided to do a link-up of NW Corner followed by the West Face. We swung leads on Northwest Corner, with me leading the even pitches (conveniently, the ones I had not led when climbing the route with John a couple of years previous) and Cindy leading the odd pitches (which gave her the awesome 5.9+ corner pitch). It was one of those perfect summer days, pleasant temperatures in the morning shade and 70° by afternoon with a light breeze.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: July 16, 2006 (Sun);  Partner: Clint Cummins
- Date: July 9, 2013 (Tue);  Partner: Jenny Abegg
- Date: August 11, 2017 (Fri);  Partner: Cindy Beavon

After climbing the East Buttress of South Early Winter Spire, we had one more day of climbing before Clint had to fly back to California, so after the we decided our final route would be the West Face of North Early Winter Spire, a classic climb known for its exposure and long right-slanting 5.10a-d crack at the top. The approach to the climb was pretty easy (just over 1 hour via the Blue Lake Trail). We climbed the route in 7 pitches, although the route can easily be climbed in five pitches by linking Pitches 1&2 and 5&6. A pitch-by-pitch route description for our 2006 climb is as follows:

- PITCH 1/2 - 5.7/5.8 grove to a 5.6 chimney and past some rope-drag-generating blocks and trees. Led by Steph, who doesn't like chimneys, but found this to be a friendly chimney with lots of good protection. We linked these two pitches into one.
- PITCH 3 - A fun 5.9 corner and cracks. Led by Clint.
- PITCH 4 - An airy 5.8 lieback on an unprotectable 5-inch flake to an airy 5.9 undercling where you have to trust your shoes' friction. Led by Clint.
- PITCH 5 - This is where the real crack climbing starts. It begins with a 5.11a finger crack (surprisingly good finger locks) and ends with a short airy traverse to a 5.8 crack section. The protection is good. I felt surprisingly solid for this being my first 5.11a crack. Led by Clint.
- PITCH 6 - The crack continues, this time as a 5.10b finger crack which becomes easier and wider (eventually 5.9 hands). Led by Clint.
- PITCH 7 - Starts with an airy 5.7 traverse across the face to a 5.6 crack up to the top. Led by Steph.

We had started the route late (11:15am) so we could climb in the sun, and had to wait an hour at the first belay for a slower party ahead of us (one of the guys in this party we had seen at the base of the Great Gendarme on Mt. Stuart the weekend before!), but we topped out at 4pm. It was pretty cool to find Clint's entry in the summit register from his climb of the SW couloir with his dad in 1974 (this had only been the 27th ascent of North Early Winter Spire at the time). We wrote our summit register entries on a page that someone had torn out from Clint's Index guidebook.

The descent involved making 3 single-rope rappels into the notch between NEWS and SEWS, then a few minutes of class 3 scrambling, then a free-hanging rappel off a chockstone, a few more minutes of class 3 scrambling, and finally a short rappel to the base of the spire. In all, the descent took us 45 minutes. We saw some gear about a pitch high on the north side of South Early Winter Spire.....looks like the climbing gets pretty difficult after that but someone appears to be trying....

Seven years later, I climbed this route again with my sister. It was just as fun the second time.  

Cindy had never climbed any routes on North Early Winter Spire, so we decided to do a link-up of Northwest Corner followed by the West Face. We block led on the West Face, with me leading the route up to the upper shield and Cindy finishing off the route with the splitter 5.9-5.11a fingers money pitches up the upper shield. It was one of those perfect summer days, pleasant temperatures in the morning shade and 70° by afternoon with a light breeze.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: July 15, 2006 (Sun);  Partner: Clint Cummins

After two stellar alpine climbs near Leavenworth - the North Ridge of Mt. Stuart and the Burgner-Stanley on Prusik Peak, Clint and I headed north to Washington Pass to cooler weather to finish off our 9-day climbing trip. The East Buttress of South Early Winter Spire sounded fun, being the classic route on the South Spire, first done by Beckey as a 2.5 day ascent.

We hiked the Blue Lake Trail on the west side and stashed our boots and extra stuff at the base of the South Arete descent route (took us just under 2 hours to get to base of South Arete). We had worried about the traverse to the base of the East Buttress from here, but we were happy to find it snow-free and relatively friendly, and 1.5 hours later we were beginning the climb. **For more detail about the approach/deapproach options, see my note below in my brief trip report for The Southern Man.**

Two easy pitches led to a tricky 5.9+ roof, followed by a short 5.8 crack and roof to the bolt ladders of the 5th and 6th pitches (5.11 without aid). Here the route traversed around the buttress crest giving some great exposure. I managed to free the first 5.11 section and Clint freed the second. The final three pitches of the climb were easier, but gave great exposure. From the summit of the spire, the 360° view of the surrounding North Cascades was great.

The climb took us just over 5 hours of climbing, and the downclimb+2 rappels descent down the South Arete took an hour.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: June 24, 2015 (Wed);  Partner: Janet Arendall
- Date: May 27, 2018 (Sun);  Partner: John Plotz

The Hitchhiker is a phenomenal route on the near-vertical walls on the south side of South Early Winter Spire. It is located about 100 feet to the right of The Passenger, another phenomenal route on the wall. I climbed these two routes on back-to-back days (Passenger the day after Hitchhiker), and could not decide which route I liked better. Either way both of these routes are tied as my favorite route at WA Pass. The two routes are quite different in character. The Hitchhiker is mostly steep, technical face climbing with lots of lead bolts and only occasional sections of crack climbing. The Passenger has lots of steep crack climbing with a powerful crux and only small, short sections of face climbing with very few lead bolts. Both routes are definitely worth doing. I felt like The Hitchhiker was a fun cruise, while The Passenger was a bit more at the edge of my leading comfort zone. Some day I want to do a "Passhiker" or "Hitchenger" link-up. That would a be a great day of climbing indeed.

Thanks Janet for driving 5.5 hours (both ways) for a day on Hitchhiker. You cruised the cruxes!

On the descent of the South Arete, we came across a mountain goat half-way to the summit. He knows where to go to get the best view.

When Memorial Day weekend came with a perfect warm spring day forecast, it was the perfect time to climb The Hitchhiker again. My friend John (who has climbed the route at least half a dozen times by now) was the perfect partner for this adventure. We approached via the Hairpin turn on HWY 20, since the spring snowcover was down to the road (I had not approached this way before but I would definitely recommend it in the spring when the snow covers the scree and provides a quick and direct highway to the south side of the spires). The Hitchhiker was every bit as awesome (and challenging!) as I remembered it to be three years previous. Since John is the enduro king, I was able to follow all of the pitches and aim for following the route quickly and cleanly; for the most part I was successful, except for the three or so short 11 moves where the nearby bolt was all too tempting to C1, darn it! The Hitchhiker is definitely one of the best routes at Washington Pass, and I will no doubt be back to climb it again.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: June 27, 2015 (Sat);  Partner: John Plotz

It was 100° in the lowlands, so John and I decided to stick to north or northwest facing routes. After a lap on the Northwest Corner of NEWS, we headed for the Northwest Face of SEWS. This route features some good challenging climbing: a couple of committing 5.10c-ish layback sections on the first pitch, a sustained and techy 5.11a arching corner layback thing on the second pitch, and the famous Boving Roofs (our third pitch) involving steep, pumpy, mostly hand-sized jamming horizontally for more than 25 feet. Above the Boving Roofs, the route intersects the Southwest Rib route, which we simulclimbed to the summit. My favorite part of the route was leading the Boving Roofs, since this double roof system has always intrigued me every time I'd walked by the west side of SEWS.

By the time we finished the Northwest Corner, the whole west side of the spires was baking in the sun, so that was it for the day. We headed back down to the mosquito-infested parking lot. What a fun day.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: June 25, 2015 (Thu);  Partner: Jordan Deam
- Date: July 23, 2017 (Sun);  Partner: DR

The Passenger is a phenomenal route on the near-vertical walls on the south side of South Early Winter Spire. It is located about 100 feet to the left of The Hitchhiker, another phenomenal route on the wall. I climbed these two routes on back-to-back days (Passenger the day after Hitchhiker), and could not decide which route I liked better. Either way both of these routes are tied as my favorite route at WA Pass. The two routes are quite different in character. The Passenger has lots of steep crack climbing with a powerful crux and only small, short sections of face climbing with very few lead bolts. The Hitchhiker is mostly steep, technical face climbing with lots of lead bolts and only occasional sections of crack climbing. Both routes are definitely worth doing. I felt like The Hitchhiker was a fun cruise, while The Passenger was a bit more at the edge of my leading comfort zone (in a very rewarding sort of way). Some day I want to do a "Passhiker" or "Hitchenger" link-up. That would a be a great day of climbing indeed.

Thanks Jordan for joining me on this climb. It was great fun to push our selves on a route like this. Great work on that 12a crux!

The goat we had spotted on the South Arete the previous day was still there, getting himself established for the weekend of climbers depositing their salty urine at the top of the climbs.

I haven't climbed too many 5.11 routes in Washington, but this one has to be one of the best. I think I enjoyed it even more the second time. DR and I swung leads, with me taking the odd pitches and DR taking the even (the even pitches are in general a bit harder and have more of the cruxy sections and face climbing, while the odds are mostly 5.10 crack climbing). For me, Pitches 1 and 4 are the hardest pitches on the route: Pitch 1 is an awkward and strenuous way to start the day, and Pitch 4 contains the psychological as well as physical crux and an awkward chimney thing at the end. After Pitch 4, it's mostly awesome 5.10- climbing to the top!

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: June 21, 2015 (Sun);  Partner: Wayne Wallace

This route was first climbed in 2008. Named after a Neil Young song, The Southern Man splits off from the East Buttress route about halfway up and climbs the south-facing headwall on the upper south side for 5 pitches to the summit. The headwall pitches are steep and sustained 5.10 to 5.11 crack climbing, mostly fingers, with excellent finger locks. The 5.12a crux on the second headwall pitch is a short bulgy section with bad feet. Overall the rock is clean and solid for being a relatively new route on the wall.

Wayne and I soloed the first couple of pitches of the East Buttress, swung leads for the next few pitches of the lower East Buttress, then Wayne led the first four headwall pitches, and I led the final headwall pitch to the top of the spire. On the second headwall pitch, which had the crux of the route, Wayne stepped in an aider on the crux 5.12a section and a couple of the steeper 11b sections, while I attempted to completely free this pitch and resorted to pulling on a piece of gear for two moves; we both freed all of the other portions of the route cleanly. Wayne strung together the third and fourth headwall pitches into a single 185-ft lead, which was a pretty impressive bit of climbing given the strenuous and sustained 5.11 nature of the third pitch. The headwall pitches had some great climbing. Wayne and I both enjoyed the route, with our main complaint being that we wished the route had more pitches of headwall and less of East Buttress. The climb from the base of the East Buttress to the top took us 5 hours. The scramble down the South Arete took us just under 30 minutes.

Note on approach/deapproach logistics: There are two options: (1) Park at the hairpin turn, clip all your gear on your harnesses and backpack the rope, scramble up gullies directly to the East Buttress, climb the route with everything you brought with you, descend the South Arete, hike out the Blue Lake Trail with your gear clanking on your harnesses, and hitch-hike/walk/pick-up your car at the hairpin turn; or (2) Park at the Blue Lake Trailhead, put your gear in comfortable backpacks, hike up the Blue Lake Trail to the notch below the South Arete (took us 60-70 min), drop your heavier backpacks and approach shoes here, scramble around the south face to the base of the East Buttress (took us 30-35 min), climb the route, descend the South Arete, hike out the Blue Lake trail with your gear in a backpack, and arrive back at your car that is already at the parking lot.

We chose Option 2. I think it takes perhaps an hour longer to get to the route via this option, but we were not pressed for time on this climb, so overall we were glad for expending an extra hour for comfort. However, the 30 minute scramble along the south side in climbing shoes is not exactly a walk in the park. On the south side of SEWS, we came across some mountain goats with some very young babies; at first I thought "oh, cute, let me get some photos!" but it quickly became apparent that the mother goats were particularly anxious and threatened by our presence, and having a 200-lb beast topped with a pair of sharp horns slowly approaching you with a somewhat menacing glare in her eyes on terrain that she can bound across at about 10x the speed you can is a bit nerve-racking....but in the end we made it to the base of the East Buttress without a goring incident....

All in all, a great day at WA Pass. I really enjoy climbing with Wayne. With Wayne, I always feel we can get up just about anything. And quickly too.

Wayne's brief report: https://waynewallace.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/southern-man-sews/.

This route inspired an obsession with the south side of SEWS, and a couple of days later was back to climb The Hitchhiker and The Passenger, which many consider to be a couple of the best routes at WA Pass.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: July 8, 2013 (Mon);  Partner: Jenny Abegg

The SuperTopo guide notes that the Southwest Rib of SEWS is "possibly the best 5.8 rock route in the state". The route is indeed a fun one (but the "best," that's a pretty lofty statement!), with a variety of climbing on solid rock. The only variation we took was on Pitches 4 and 5, when the topo ambiguously led us to continue along the exposed 5.0 ledge a bit too far, but we were able to link back into the route by climbing a fun 5.6 corner. From ground to summit took us just over three hours, and from summit to ground (via downclimbing and making 2 rappels on the South Arete route) took us about 40 minutes. What a great way to spend a summer day!

Dates I've hiked to Blue Lake:
- Date: August 3, 2025 (Sun);  Partner: solo

My climbing partner Nate and I had arrived at Washington Pass a day early, leaving me with a free day. I decided to hike up to Blue Lake—a quiet alpine lake perched at 6,254 feet, just over two trail miles and 1,000 feet above Highway 20. Framed by granite spires, forest, meadows, and wildflowers, it's a great short outing if you have a few spare hours.

The trail to the lake was fairly quick, and from the shore I spotted a high point on the east side that caught my eye. I ended up scrambling up and around the lake in a loop, tagging the summit before cooling off with a quick dip in the water. Being a Sunday, a handful of other hikers were out enjoying the lake too.

Here are a few photos from the outing.