Trip Report

We left the parking lot under cloudy skies and drove up through heavy rain showers. We drove to the end of Big Lake road and started out. The trails were still under quite a bit of snow. After the cut-off, we lost the trail due to the amount of snow and wandered up to the ridge. The visibility was from 30–80 feet and we never did see the top. Eventually we reached the base of the pinnacle and put a rope up. The wind was blowing and it snowed for a little while. Lee Hatch climbed to the top and wandered around. I got a little worried after he had been gone for about an hour, and went up looking for him, leaving three people at the base of the pinnacle. It turned out to be a needless fear, of course, but the three below had gone back down the ridge. It turned out to be just as well because we had gotten short on time. I really appreciated their graciousness despite the fact that they did not reach the top. The rest of us reached the top and started down. On the rappell a large piece of rock came loose underneath Lee Hatch and shattered on the ledge upon which we were standing - too close! After we all got down, we made a hasty descent to the cars and arrived there at 8:30 p.m. The next day Lee Hatch, Barry Johnson, Gary Kalbfleisch and Kevin Riddle started for Three Fingered Jack, but after about two hours threw it in and headed home. Climbers on Washington were Mary Ellen de la Pena, Sharon Fraley, Rick & Sally Grosscup, Lee Hatch, Barry Johnson, Gary Kalbfleisch, Mark Perrin, Connie Spangler and leader Kevin Riddle.