1970 - Mt. Overlord, Pyramids, Mt. Foley

Overlord - Garibaldi Park - Coast Range Location of Mt. Overlord My Flickr site for more pictures -  Ken had made a trip up into Singing Pass and the hut at Russet Lake a week or two before,  and told me about it so naturally I wanted to see this area as well. There was no trail at that  time beyond tree line, but the going was easy.In the picture here, Ken is almost at Singing Pass. Ken Willis We enjoyed a night at the hut and met a couple of other climbers from Vancouver.  We headed off the next morning for Overlord and squeezed through between Fissile  and the small glacier that is nested between it and Whirlwind Peak and headed across the top of the Overlord glacier to the scramble up to Refuse Pinnacle and the summit of Overlord beyond. The scramble down went quickly but the loose scree and a little bit of snow made you be careful. Keith Rajala We quickly crossed the Overlord on our descent, making some nice little boot glissades down off the glacier. Approaching the Whirlwind - Overlord col. In the picture above, we are heading over to the Whirlwind - Overlord col. As climbs go, it wasn't a serious one, but it was exploring a new area, and it was exciting for me. What a great way to spend a weekend! The Pyramids - Garibaldi Park Location of the Pyramids Keith with the Pyramids in the background. My Friday day shift of pulling lumber off the green chain at the Hammond mill ended about 4:00 pm and I went home and picked up my climbing pack and drove into Vancouver to meet Dennis. We drove up to Diamond Head base camp to meet a vehicle that was supposed to drive us up to the chalet. At least that's how I remember the story. Well, there was no vehicle and so we walked up into the darkness and finally camped in the rustic campsite below the Diamond Head Chalet. We threw down our sleeping bags on the grass and fell asleep. Dennis enjoying our campsite location. The next morning we got up early and hiked down into Ring Creek and up onto the Garibaldi neve. We cramponed up and walked along the glacier heading east toward Mamquam lake, oblivious to the fact that having the rope coiled up was a dumb idea. We eventually learned better. We hiked down into Mamquam Lake to be met by millions of gregarious mosquitos and black flies. Needless to say we stumbled along, very tired now, up the other side trying to find a way onto the upper west side of the Pyramids. Keith The picture above show me taking a rest just before dropping down into Mamquam Lake. Our campsite that night was almost directly behind my head. The ridge we climbed is above and to the right of my head. We descended the other side of the minor peak and came down the glacier that descends from the skyline just to the left of the right hand most peak. Dennis had talked about the good rock and the fact that hardly anybody had climbed in the area. I was beginning to find out why. Anyway, we found a way through the cliff band above Mamquam Lake and found a nice flat rock at the base of the snow and ice to sleep on. The next morning, now Sunday, we strapped on our crampons and headed up. The westernmost Pyramid had a sub peak just to its east with a nice clean north western ridge. This ridge was separated from the westernmost Pyramid by a tongue of a small glacier which blocked our progress so we took to the rock. It was nice granite and the climbing was about class 3-4. To descend we went over the other side and came around to the col between the westernmost Pyramid and the peak we had just climbed. We figured we could get down the small glacier which had blocked us on the way up. We were feeling braver. A belayed descent down into a crevasse and up the other side got us through. We scrambled down to our sleeping bags, packed up, and headed down to Mamquam Lake. Keith Rajala We didn't go back across the neve. We had learned our lesson. The way to go was the trail over to the south side of Opal Cone. The last section of the old road out of Ring Creek and up to the Chalet was a bit grueling after a long day. We looked forward to some of Milly's spice cake and a cup of tea. We sat on the steps of the chalet enjoying some of her fine cake and tea and looked east to where we had been not that many hours before. A little dried blood caused by a misplaced crampon mixed with the glacial dust on my exposed lower leg were proud testiments to a rewarding day. A person who had stayed at the chalet asked us where we had been. We pointed east to the distant Pyramids and said that we had just climbed the second peak from the right. I think we were met with more than a little disbelief. Ottar apologized that he didn't have room in the jeep to take us down to base camp, but said he had room for our packs. We thought that was great! One of the people going down in the jeep exclaimed, "You're going to walk all that way?" (Like we had a choice) We replied that without our packs it was no big deal. I got back home late that Sunday night and went to sleep as soon as I could because the green chain at the Hammond mill was waiting for me in the morning. I weighed myself before going to bed. I had lost ten pounds since Friday. A memorable trip. Mt. Foley - Lucky Four Group  Location of Mt. Foley Mt. Foley Dennis and I headed off for Foley in September. The weather was perfect: clear and cold in the morning, and warm afternoon. We were not well versed in technical climbing, so the the south-west face was challenging and rewarding.  Not long after our trip here, the Batzer Hut was wiped out by a winter avalanche and its debris was strewn over the valley below. Dennis In the picture above, we are about half way up the face and I am looking almost straight up to Dennis, who is starting to climb up an open book. If I remember correctly I had him stop at that point so I could move over to my left to avoid any possibility of falling rocks. Dennis on the crux In this picture I have moved over and Dennis has proceded up the open book. The rock was rather brittle and you had to check out the holds before you trusted them. Filling out the summit register. The summit was small. There was a very old register in an old can and we recognized more than one name from our climbing guide books.Downclimbing forced concentration as I remember because there was a lot of exposure. A good short climb.