A climbing trip to the Silverstar mountain in the North Cacsades

On the first weekend of June, I attempted to climb an imposing peak in the North Cascades with my friend Todd. The peak is caller Silverstar, situated near Washington pass - around 4 miles from the hairpin bent on Sr-20. unfortunately, we did not make it to the summit, as we completely missed the route (don's ask why - I have no explanation) on Day 1 and ended up on a high ridge instead of a basin under Burgundy Col as planned. The next day, we tried to climb down the ridge and tried to go up the col and traverse to the summit, but the weather did not cooperate and I was exhausted from the long route.

It was a little frustrating - specially considering that I have not done any climbing in the last 10+ years (my last serious climb was in the Himalayas in 2001 - Manda 2 near Gangotri) and not in the best shape yet for climbing.  I was expecting at least a climber trail to follow and there was one - but we missed it and had to bushwhack all day and that drained my energy completely. I also did not pack smart - heavy camera and too much climbing equipments - probably I was too excited as I was going back after a long time. Also, I am not 20+ years old anymore - sometimes, it's good to ignore your age and fitness, but the mountains always remind you - no mercy at all. I need to do more conditioning before the next serious climb. North Cascades is not an easy place - also we probably could have chosen a more moderate approach for the season opener.

Anyway, even a bad day in the mountain is a better one than in the office. I did not take many shots as I was laboring my way up there - huffing and puffing. Here are a few images - you can still see how spectacular the area is...I can't wait to be back in better shape and go back all the way up there.

 Silverstar and Wine spires as seen from where we started from S Route -20. We were supposed to follow the creek on the left and camp below the col. But we ended up following the stream on the right and camped on the high ridge. The view was better though from the ridge - that's the only consolation. Next morning, we climbed down the steep snow slopes that you can see up there to go below the col.

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 Bushwhacking up through the very steep terrain - it was a very long day

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The towering view of Liberty Bell group was amazing - you can see the road at the bottom

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 Afternoon sun warmed up the view - as we headed up the ridge and looked back.

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 A high perch with great views - where we set up our tent as the sun started setting.

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 Sunset clouds over the craggy peaks of N Cascades

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 Next morning we made our way down the steep slopes

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 The weather changed - clouds covered the col and peaks completely. We waited for some time and then decided to come back. I was too exhausted at this point

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As we started coming down, the beautiful rock filled basin and mountains on the other side looked gorgeous

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