Condition Beta: Wine Spires / Liberty Bells / Early Winter

Howdy, 

Heading out to Washington Pass for some climbing, wanted to ask about the conditions - crampons / tools merited? bug heinousness? etc.

Thanks in advance.

-Z

Hey Caz, my friend and I did the SW rib on SEWS and Paisano 3 weeks ago without crampons or axes. A few short patches of snow at the time but never felt like I needed more than approach shoes. Not sure about other aspects but I would be surprised if both of those approaches aren't bone dry right now. Hope that helps. Have fun out there. 

Isaac Graywrote:

Hey Caz, my friend and I did the SW rib on SEWS and Paisano 3 weeks ago without crampons or axes. A few short patches of snow at the time but never felt like I needed more than approach shoes. Not sure about other aspects but I would be surprised if both of those approaches aren't bone dry right now. Hope that helps. Have fun out there. 

Thanks Isaac

Last week there was snow at the base of liberty bell’s east face, but we got by without ice axes or crampons. It was a little annoying and spicey though so they may be nice.

Also the bugs were very heinous last week

Friday 7/15, we did Liberty Traverse and all we needed were approach shoes. However, if you are planning to climb something like Lexington or Liberty Bell east faces, there will be some steep snow on approach. Can be done without axe or crampons but you'll be more comfortable if you have one.... Cheers, Jarek

A Cwrote:

Also the bugs were very heinous last week

 PLUS INFINITY.

They also chase you 4+ pitches up and you are not not immune from the summit bites either.

Few thoughts on conditions here: alpinismproject.com/2022/07…

How have the bugs been recently?

Doug Leonardwrote:

How have the bugs been recently?

Yeah I would love a bug report; heading up to WA Pass Friday 

For bug reports a good resource is All Trails.  Especially on popular trails there are usually "trail reports" every week or more and if the bugs are bad they get mentioned.  Here is the link for the Blue Lake Trail.   alltrails.com/trail/us/wash…

The bugs are really happy with all the hikers and climbers, though their appetite never seems to be satiated. 

I can confirm that the bugs were absolutely brutal today. 

I advise bug dope and nets.   They were hungry from the top of Burgundy Spire all the way to the car.

Bug season winding down yet?

Curt Veldhuisenwrote:

Bug season winding down yet?

I've done maybe a dozen trips this summer to WA pass, and I haven't noticed mosquitoes or buffalo gnats being any worse than normal this year. However, this season the horseflies are atrocious. That said, they seem to be becoming less numerous lately. 

bugs not a problem at wash pass over the weekend

We didn't encounter a single bug, but damn that Blue Lake Trail is a dust bowl!