TR: 08/02/2008 Sahale Climb - Quien Sabe

Reference: Selected Climbs in the Cascades, Jim Helson, V1 2nd Edition. Climb 47

We car camped at the trailhead on Friday night. It began drizzling in the middle of the night. At 4AM, we woke up and shuttled. It was rainy and chilly. We started off from Boston Trailhead, followed the heavily brushy trail to Boston Basin. It was wet, cold, and foggy.

We roped up on Quien Sabe Glacier. Mike, Jonathan, Doug and I lead 4 ropes. There were several crevasses open, but nothing too serious. At 11am, we arrived at the col between Boston and Sahale. The last section of the glacier is steeper (up to 35 degrees). The col consists of orange rocks. From the col, you can see the false summit which is right below the true summit. The route is along the ridge. It’s easier than it looks. Although there is certain exposure, but the foot holds are as big as stairs. The drizzling stopped by now and became snow! It snowed for a little and the sun burned off the clouds for a few minutes. We had a glimpse at Boston through heavy fog.

From the false summit, we set up a fixed line and all 12 of us climbed to the summit. Interestingly, the elevation mark on the summit is mistakenly marked Boston Peak, with the elevation filed. It was mostly foggy while we were on the summit. Fortunately it was not wet or too cold.

The summit block is not very roomy. It was very hard for all of us to get around. We set up a rappel station and dropped down to the other side on Sahale Glacier. It was almost 5pm when we were all off the summit. We traveled on rope on Sahale Glacier until we reached Sahale Arm. The wild flowers were blooming. We could vaguely see Doubtful Lake through the fog.

From Cascade Pass, it is just “switchbacks from Hell” as Mike puts it. I counted 35 and it was confirmed by others.