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| Eldorado, from Klawatti |
After getting out of the Enchantments, Brian, Michelle and I headed out to the Eldorado ice cap, with the intention of climbing the SW face of Early Morning Spire, SW buttress of Dorado Needle, the east ridge of Eldorado, and possibly Klawatti. However as, when Grace and I tried a similar plan years ago, the SW buttress of Dorado Needle proved to be ample challenge. Early Morning Spire is now approaching nemesis status for me, and I've never laid eyes on the objective face!
We spent our first night at the east ridge of Eldorado, and moved on for Dorado Needle in the morning. It was noon by the time we were established at the toe of the buttress, and just past dark when we touched down on the glacier on the far side. The route went pretty well, but was a little looser and harder to protect than I remembered, probably because I was comparing it to Prusik peak which, really, isn't fair. The good pitches still delivered excellent climbing, but Michelle had a scare when she pulled off a microwave sized block on one of the not-so-good pitches. Fortunately, she was the last one up, and was uninjured. The route is now a bit cleaner! We climbed a different finish from my last time on the route, further left, skipping the summit and joining the NE ridge half a pitch below. This was an easier but much less spectacular choice from what is in my original description.
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| Michelle and Brian, high on the SW Buttress of Dorado Needle |
We got back to the tent around midnight to find a bushy tailed wood rat trying ineffectually to reach our food. The next 30 minutes of tent setup and settling in were punctuated by shouts and thrown pebbles, as the persistent creature kept trying to sneak into packs and/or the Megalite to get at the food.
No one felt like doing an alpine start to attempt Early Morning Spire. Dorado Needle had more or less kicked our buts, and I had pus and other fluids leaking from my toes. They'd taken a beating in the enchantments, and didn't much care for long days in rock shoes. So we set our sights on Klawatti the next day. This was a super laid back, and spectacular choice. I've never been further out on the icecap than Dorado Needle, so seeing everything from a new perspective was a treat. We dropped our gear on some rock outcrops at Klawatti col, and headed up the SW buttress. We gained the rock from high on the right, and had one 5th class pitch on clean rock to reach the buttress crest. From there it gets easier and looser. We unroped, and scrambled quickly to the summit. We had all afternoon on a short route in prefect weather, so we lounged on top for a good half hour – the only time on this trip we were really able to enjoy a summit. Weather and darkness had pushed us off Prusik and Dorado Needle as fast as we could go. I don't think you could ever classify Klawatti as good climbing, but it's position at the heart of such a special place in North Cascades National Park makes it must-do if you find yourself in the area.
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| Brian contemplates the icecap from the summit of Klawatti peak |
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