[MCR] Hatteras Creek

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

I just got back from a 12-day trip in Hatteras Creek drainage. This is a
magnificent venue for peak bagging, with a tremendous variety of objectives
in a small area including steep snow and glacier peaks as well as classic,
airy granite ridge traverse loops.

The first half of our trip was based out of a camp at the toe of the West
Hatteras Glacier. Coverage on the glaciers was excellent with the exception
of the icefall on East Hatteras Glacier (access to Snowman, Krinkletop and
Hatteras Mtn) which is broken and requires attentive glacier travel. This
will likely become a bit less complicated as the snow melts away.

Last Thursday the storm Helen Sovdat reported also dumped 10 cm of slush in
the area, which freshened up the glaciers a bit. As of Saturday (July 26)
morning the rock was dry again and good to go and the weather has been hot
and dry ever since. Travel on the glaciers continued to be good throughout
the day despite little to no overnight recovery.

The second half of our trip we moved camps to the goat-covered moraines of
the north end of "Horseshoe Lake" below Pirouette Glacier. This provided
quick access to the Pirouette, Arabesque and "Arabesque Metaspires" (NE
spur off Arabesque #5). Again coverage was excellent, the exception being
the small glacier between Pirouette and Sugarplum glaciers, which is steep
(2 pitches of 40 degree ice), broken, and has a few monster crevasses to
cross.

 WestHatteras_Sugarplum_Pirouette_Glaciers.jpg
<https://docs.google.com/a/sawback.com/file/d/0B3DvXZ5JD574TWhhc3ZxWGJEV0E/edit?usp=drive_web>

 Pirouette Metaspire Glacier (between Sugarplum and Pirouette).jpg
<https://docs.google.com/a/sawback.com/file/d/0B3DvXZ5JD574MEFDQktqSTRHQ1E/edit?usp=drive_web>

 HatterasEastWestKrinkletopSquab.jpg
<https://docs.google.com/a/sawback.com/file/d/0B3DvXZ5JD574eHJXZExRRjluQU0/edit?usp=drive_web>

 SugarplumGlacier.jpg
<https://docs.google.com/a/sawback.com/file/d/0B3DvXZ5JD574RW1OeVVFRkZBRmM/edit?usp=drive_web>

Regards,


Tom Wolfe
Mountain Guide ACMG/IFMGA
Link to photo gallery from this trip:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3DvXZ5JD574djh5M1ZlenM0VXc&usp=sharing
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