The day before we tried to spy a trail leading up to Spire Col but didn't have much luck.  We concocted a plan, however, on how to deal with the glacier.  Our plan was to hit a left trending snow field with distinct gray-splotch markings on it and then to cross over the majority of the crevasses to the far left side, and then gain a prominent wide fin of snow that would probably lead us to the col.  There is a decent trail through the vegetation, past several falls, and then peters out in the talus under the glacier slabs.  Using our previous plans, we were able to pick a way up through the talus and slabs and ended up in the exact spot that we wanted - the gray-splotched snowfield.

We put on our crampons and headed up.  The going was quite easy, what looked nearly vertical yesterday was actually about 30 degrees.  The snow became quite icy as we exited on to rock.  We decided to follow the rock up, still wearing crampons, to its end.  The alternative was to downclimb about 200 feet back to the glacier.  Heck with that.  Climbing up saved us a good bit of elevation though it also led to more crevassed terrain.  The going was totally manageable though and we were able to cross over and then easily make our way to the snow rib.

Sure enough, we were able to follow the snow rib up to Spire Col.  We took a break here while checking out our options for a climb of Spire Point.  From a distance, Spire Point is impressive!  The Beckey guide mentions that the route is 4th class.  Cascade climbers know what to make of that!  We packed up again, got the rack and rope ready to go and headed up the glacier to the base of Spire Point.

We exited the glacier and scrambled over to the north face.  I decided to take the lead on this climb and headed up.  The first pitch was quality 5.4 and I stopped at a small but comfortable belay spot at a rap station.  The second pitch led us over to the left.  I headed out again up similar slopes and came to the crux move - an exposed, hard to protect, sloping slab that was about 30 feet long.  The slab wasn't very steep but it sloped over the cliffs on the left which made it awkward.  I had a pretty bomber sling at the base of it and tenuously headed out.  We were in boots, this would be distinctively easier in rock shoes, and had to really pay attention to foothold.  The holds appeared as needed though and I was soon at the top, the belay for the final pitch.  I think I rated it 5.7 (boots).

The final pitch looked easier.  Indeed it was, but I thought it would end up being 4th class, it was more like 5.2.  What looked like to be a super exposed final summit move was actually pretty comfortable with a nice ledge on the right.  Soon enough I was on top.  I saw other White Rocks Lake camp companions heading up the glacier below and let out a holler.  They were able to see me and hollered back!  Michael then quickly came up and we enjoyed the summit.

We downclimbed the last pitch then rappelled the remainder of the route.  Our next objective was to get back to our packs and then down to Itswoot Ridge, the traditional last camp for the Ptarmigan Traverse.

Probably my least favorite part of the trip was the descent to Itswoot Ridge.  It was long, loose, and dusty.  At one point, I decided to take grassy slopes down.  Michael got disgusted with the potential slipping and opted to slide the rest of the way down on scree.  We caught up with the remainder of the parties who were already down at the ridge.  We set up the Betamid tent and then scrambled inside to escape the sun.  We ended up laying around for at least two hours and let the most intense sun diminish.  We then went about the usual tasks of cleaning up and getting ready for dinner.  After dinner, I opted for a bivy site on a rocky outcropping on the ridge that had perfect spots for sleeping.  Yeah, it was rock but it was flat as a pancake and there was even a small depression for your feet!  One of the parties headed down to Cub Lake to camp but the other two were planning to climb Dome Peak.  We spent the last few moments of daylight checking out the route and making plans for the following morning.

Day 5