Torment and Sahale

I picked up Karthik at a hotel near Marblemount, for three days in Boston Basin.  Getting a permit for Wednesday-Friday was a breeze (mid-summer permits for the weekend are usually grabbed by the end of Thursday.  And we were quickly climbing through a low marine layer that had laid a thick coat of dew on the trail-side bushes.  I decided to minimize the wet by wearing my rain shell, and about 2/3rds of the way up we busted through the clouds and into the sun.

photo karthik j.

Karthik and I had talked on the phone a little bit and traded some emails, so I had a good idea of what he was looking for in the trip.  We reached Boston Basin's Low Camp, said hi to the guides I knew there on other trips, then continued up to High Camp, where we found one loan bivy site melted out.

Everyone seems to come to Boston Basin to climb the West Ridge of Forbidden - which is understandable, sort of.  It is classic.  But Karthik wanted something just a hair more technical, so I opted for the South Ridge of Torment, 1200' of mostly 4th class with a few 5th class steps lower down, and a great introduction to glacier travel on the Taboo Glacier along the way.  So we woke up early on Thursday, traversed over, and stood on the summit by lunch time.

photo karthik j.

photo karthik j.

For Friday, we wanted to do more of a glacier and steep snow climb but we also needed to hike out, and so I hatched up the idea of climbing Sahale's Quien Sabe Glacier with full packs, then down-climbing the Sahale Glacier and hiking out the Sahale Arm to Cascade Pass and the trailhead.  This is twice as long as the normal descent from Boston Basin, but we were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise, a summit all to ourselves (again!) and amazing alpine scenery as we hiked down.  To be honest, when we got to Cascade Pass we were ready to be done, but we still had 3.5 miles of gently switch-backed trail to keep hiking on.

photo karthik j.

Still, we made it out by 2:30pm.  And during the drive home, we talked about next year's plans.  Perfect!

Statistics:  Pro Guiding Service, Boston Basin.  Mt Torment (8120'), South Ridge (II 5.5, 1200'); Sahale Mtn (8680'), Quien Sabe - Sahale Glaciers Traverse (II+ 4th class, steep snow, glacier).  8-10 August with Karthik J.