Resources

• CascadeClimbers trip report
• CascadeClimbers general area report
• Weather: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=48.694388&lon=-121.987038#.Xxmcn7dlCh8
  • Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 54. West northwest wind 6 to 8 mph.
  • Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 68, calm becoming 5mph.
  • Forecast at 5,800 ft… The arete starts at 4,000 ft, some peaks go up to 6,400
• Schedule
  • 2:00 AM – Drive (Google Maps) (2:10 hr)
  • 4:10 AM – At trailhead
  • 4:25 AM – Hike to “camp” (2:15 hr)
  • 6:40 AM – Hike to base of Green Creek (1:00 hr, 0.5 miles, 800 ft gain)
  • 7:40 AM – Base of Green Creek
  • 7:55 AM – Climb Green Creek (~5 pitches of easy 5th class climbing) (2:00 hr)
  • 9:55 AM – Top of Green Creek
  • 10:10 AM – Hike to Skookum (1.7 miles, 2,000 ft gain) (2:00 hr)
  • 12:10 PM – Base of Skookum
  • 12:30 PM – Climb Skookum (~6 pitches of easy 5th class) (2:30 hr)
  • 3:00 PM – Top of Skookum
  • 3:15 PM – Scramble to Hayden (0.5 miles, 200 ft gain, 1hr)
  • 4:15 PM – Base of Hayden
  • 4:30 PM – Climb Hayden (4 pitches, one 5.7 and one 5.9, 2hr)
  • 6:30 PM – Top of Hayden
  • 6:45 PM – Back to camp (3.5 miles, 1,300 ft gain, 2:30 hr)
  • 9:15 PM – Back at camp, hike down (2.8 miles, half bushwacking, 1:30 hr)
  • 10:45 PM – Back at car
  • 10:55 PM – Drive home (or sleep at car and drive home in morning)
  • 1:05 AM – Home
  • Latest home: Noon Monday

To camp

2:15 hours

• 0:45 hr – Trail for 1.4 miles, 730 ft gain
• 1:30 hr – Bushwacking for 1.4 miles, mostly flat

Circuit summary

A total of 18 pitches of climbing, 6.2 miles, 4,300 ft gain

• Climb Green Creek Arete
  • 0.5 mile, 800 ft gain from camp
  • ~5? pitches of easy 5th class climbing
• Climb Skookum
  • 1.7 miles, 2,000 ft gain from top of Green Creek Arete
  • ~6? pitches of easy 5th class climbing
• Climb Hayden
  • 0.5 mile, 200 ft gain from base of Skookum
  • 4 pitches, one 5.7 and one 5.9
• Climb Green Creek Needle
  • 1.5 miles, 1,300 ft gain from base of Hayden
  • 3 pitches, 5.7 at hardest
• Back to camp
  • 2.0 miles, 2,800 ft descent

To camp

Great approach notes here. Park at Elbow Lake Trailhead. Follow the Elbow Lake trail for 1.4 miles, 730 ft gain to the switchback at ~2,700 feet, where the trail starts to turn eastwards just before Hidebrand Creek.

Depart the trail and cross the creek almost immediately (at ~2,650 ft), and continue up the valley through brush for about 1.4 miles of mostly flat but tough bushwacking.

After leaving the trail the bushwhack is still full-on with continuous brush, slippery log crossings over a raging Green Creek and a final shwack through dense thickets of fir trees. If you just keep motoring you’ll only have an hour or two of suffering. If you pussyfoot around you’ll never make it.

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/91834-tr-twin-sisters-range-green-creek-circuit-6222013/

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Green Creek Arete

From camp, walk to the base of Green Creek Arete (probably 0.5 miles, 800 ft gain). Climb the arete (5.6) (there’s also the difficult Mythic Wall, but too difficult).

Like many routes in the Sisters the climbing was much easier than it looked. We scrambled up delightful 3rd and 4th class rock before slipping into rock shoes for a clean exposed slab on the crest of the arete. The horizontal section turned out to be exciting 3rd class scrambling right along the massive drop of the east face. We roped up for a 100′ pitch of 5.6 cracks on more clean, solid rock before a final bit of scrambling led to…nowhere. The arete simply ended on a minor high point of the long ridgeline seperating the drainages of the Green and Sisters Glaciers. We built a small cairn and ate lunch while enjoying the unique views of the Sisters Glacier which looked to be no more than a 45 minute walk away.

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/35315-tr-the-mythical-bellingham-big-wall-7212005/?tab=comments#comment-479363

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Hike to Skookum

1.7 miles, 2,000 ft gain

Skookum – 5.6, 6 pitches

This climb first goes up Jaw’s Tooth (5.6), and then you rappel into the notch and climb Skookum (5.4).

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Getting to Hayden

From the top of Skookum, descend down the chossy south ridge before dropping down into the basin for Hayden. 0.5 miles, 700 ft loss. Here’s the view from Skookum.

Hayden – 5.9, 4 pitches

Hayden has a really beautiful spur of rock dropping of the east ridge into the basin between Hayden and Skookum. I climbed it twice with both Matt and Dave it was so good. Four pitches of progressively harder rock leads to the tiny summit of a prominent pinnacle on the east ridge. A short rappel leads to a spectacular, exposed 4th class scramble through a series of towers to a longer rappel (75′) that intersects the normal east ridge route. From here exposed 3rd class scrambling with route finding issues on more great rock leads to the summit. On the crux pitch either climb the wide crack on the right (5.7) until you can move left across the face (5.9) into a great layback corner. Or start with the short chimney on the left and then climb back up and right across the face (5.7r – micronuts for gear) to the same 5.9 moves into the corner. Awesome.
 
To get off Hayden retrace your steps to the last rappel then work down ledges to the east then west. If it’s not easy scrambling you’re doing it wrong.

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/99788-tr-twin-sisters-range-hayden-amp-peak-6136-8102016/

Pitch 1 – 5.0, ~160′

Pitch 2 – 5.4, 150′

Pitch 3 – 5.7, 120′

Pitch 4 – 5.9, 100′

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Scramble to summit

From there, you scramble 3rd to 4th class ridgeline to the actual summit

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Hayden to Green Creek Needle

It’s unclear what the descent route is, or whether it returns to the base of the climb… kinda seems like it continues the circuit, but maybe not? Very unclear.

To get off Hayden retrace your steps to the last rappel then work down ledges to the east then west. If it’s not easy scrambling you’re doing it wrong.

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/99788-tr-twin-sisters-range-hayden-amp-peak-6136-8102016/

Green Creek Needle – 5.7, 3 pitches

Skipping this one, no time for it

Approach: The Green Creek Needle is the obvious spire between Little Sister and Skookum Peak.  Work your way up the glacier to the moat. Find a way to cross and gear up.
Pitch 1: Scramble up third and fourth-class terrain to the base of a chimney. (90’) Be sure to build a belay station in a place protected from rockfall.
Pitch 2: Climb the easy chimney to the base of the final headwall. (5.4, 80’)
Pitch 3: Send the beautiful face to the needle-like top of the spire. (5.7, 70’)
Descent: Rappel the route.
Gear: Standard to 3”, it may be good to double-up on small gear.

http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2012/08/green-creek-glacier-exploratory-trip.html

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