Oh gawd, not another Cathedral Peak... How many of these things are out there?

Despite the trite name, this story concerns itself with an outstanding, remote mountain of flawless grey granite, with at least one long route whose appearance and climbing quality has classic status. As a result the article here is long enough to be a challenge for the average impatient web surfer. So, look to the right and click on the thumbnails instead.

But let us zoom back a little: In the North Cascades of Washington State, up right under the Canadian border, is a large east-west trending range of high mountains called.. yes, what are they called? A close study of the USGS quads do not reveal a collective name, but they all sit in a Wilderness area named the Pasayten, which at 529.477 acres can be considered quite sizeable. To the west the Pasayten seamlessly integrate with the rugged North Cascades proper, while far to the east the mountains slowly merge into the drier and less rugged foothills of the Cascade rain shadow, more reminiscent of Wyoming. Rivers in the Pasayten drain north and south, some even east, so the geography is a bit confusing, in typical Cascade fashion, with massive peaks of crumbling who knows what, surrounded by very deep and densely forested valleys.

Anyway, near the center of this vast territory, above timberline, is a little island of jagged granite peaks and deep blue lakes. A fabled place of outmost beauty, we were told. The highest of the mountains in this group is our Cathedral, a classic Matterhorn like bergspitz, with steep faces and long ridges, and yes, a Becky route or two.

Access is difficult. This is not a weekend destination. The trails from the south and east are 20 some miles and traverse numerous passes. Lots of ups and downs. Two days for most folks carrying a full rack etc. From Canada it is supposedly only about a dozen miles, but mostly cross country travel, besides being a hell of long drive from my home. On our trip in August 2004 we decided on the south access route starting at the end of the road 30 miles up the Chewuch river.

Presenting an in-depth description of this particular approach hike would rapidly disengage most readers attention. It is not only a long walk, but also a tedious one. A swath of dusty trails thru dense young lodgepole forest. No views. Hot. Monotonous. It felt as long as it is. After 16 miles it gets better as you approach Apex Pass, and then really good as you spot Cathedral Peak in the distance.

After said stroll it was all right to actually see what we were in there for. The mountain looked amazing. The 3rd tome of Becky's North Cascades Guides list I think only 3 routes, but if Cathedral was near Washington Pass for example it would be home to 10-15 major lines. Becky also mention in passing a host of other options on surrounding peaks. The granite in this area is spectacular, and we saw enough routes for many summers. The highly profiled Monk (a full page topo) was the one thing that visually disappointed. A certain Pete Doorish seems to be responsible for many classic lines in the whole area.

We arrived at a little tarn on the other side of Cathedral Pass at lunch on the second day. All around and behind and beyond were granite walls and domes and peaks. Also on the positive side, there was nobody around. People don't hike in there often, it seems. Some packers come by on day trips from nearby popular spots like Remmel Lake and so on, but mostly you're sharing a huge amphitheater with probably one other party at most.

On the third day it was up at 5 am, dragging trail weary bodies out of the tent to a beautiful predawn. We had decided on the striking South East Buttress of Cathedral as our objective. A short stroll back up the almost level trail to Cathedral Pass lead to an ascending traverse of the hillside below the peak. 30 minutes of easy walking to the start of the first pitch.

We had learned on a local web forum about an alternate start to the one in Becky's Red Book. The idea was to exchange some scruffy and confusing looking easy stuff for an honest straight-up 5.9 pitch. A good one too, it turned out. Without getting into too much detail here, which would be against fivenineclimbers ethos to preserve the adventure, I can mention that this recommended beginning is located a ways up the gully that separates the Monk from our mountain, and starts on top of a square boulder under a wide crack in a corner.

The climbing then unfolds in a series of huge steps, each a few pitches long, up the massive prow of the South East Buttress. There's a chimney on the second pitch that looks worse than it is, some awesome cracks and corners on the third lead, then a section of bland but still moderately interesting stuff for a few pitches. More clean granite follows, with the quality suddenly skyrocketing. And then the climbing just gets totally amazing as one nears the headwall. Exposure is building, the setting is fantastic and difficulties are in continuous 5.8 to 5.9 territory. Perfect.

We had blue skies with puffy cumulus and no wind. Things went smooth, even as we briefly switched to aid on the upper part of the headwall. The original route here follow a gaping 8" crack on a vertical smooth shield of rock. We avoided hauling the needed massive cams with us for 45 miles, since we learned on aforementioned forum about a fiveten'ish finger fissure to the right of the OW. This is where we employed a few A1 placements to ease the strain.

Later on we found an exposed, but totally flat ledge similar to El Cap Spire on the Salathe. A hard, but short crack lead off from here to easier terrain and the cool summit of this now favorite peak of ours.

The descent is initially a bit complex, until you discover and perform the mandatory chasm leap to easier ground. We counted 10 pitches up to 5.9 and A1 on the route, and was back in camp by 2 pm. That's without hurrying too much, but not dragging our feet either.

We had to put some thought into the gear because of the long haul in to get in there. In the end we brought a set of wires, supplemented by the one we found under the route, one set of cams from second smallest Alien to #3.5 Camalot plus 3 mid sized hexes and my partner Tom's talisman, a #1 Camalot.

One mistake we made was to hike out in one 14 hour push. Not good for aging knees. We had 5 days set aside for the trip, which is reasonable, but cursed as we are with an impatience that seems typical in our fast paced times, we were unable to linger.