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| The familiar profile of The Brothers, on the Olympic Peninsula, as viewed from Seattle |
I hadn’t really been looking to do another big climb this year, but when an announcement showed up on the OSAT website for a climb up to the summit of The Brothers in the Olympics, I took notice. Although less than 7,000', this mountain's profile is very distinctive and is clearly visible from Seattle, Edmonds, Queen Anne, and the Kitsap Peninsula. There are two separate peaks on this mountain - the north Brother and the south Brother, and together they are called The Brother's. The mountain was named in 1856 after the Fauntleroy brothers Edward and Author. Also, it played a small part in our acclimation to life in Kitsap after we moved from Lynnwood to Poulsbo in 1977. Kelly describes it best: “It's always my favorite landmark of the Olympics because they are so distinctive and they remind me of when we first moved to Poulsbo. I remember we kids were so enamored with the majestic Olympic Mountains and liked to pretend that The Brothers were our own personal mountains, named after Chris and Scott, of course!”
The leader (Dan) who was organizing the climb is a good guy and has the perfect demeanor for leading such a climb: experienced, calm, always supportive, and not willing to take unnecessary risks. The notice on the website said it was an epic climb and that sounded pretty cool. I called Dan two days before the climb and asked him if there was still room and he said yes. He told me it would be an easy hike with a little scrambling up some gullies near the summit. That turned out to be one hell of an understatement.
There was no rain in the forecast so he said to leave behind all the rain gear. We’d be camping by a river so I packed up the filter and tent. Dan also said to pack as light as possible since it would be a long walk.
I was really looking forward to climbing in the Olympics. They have a totally different feel than the Cascades. They seem like they are a little nicer. The woods are prettier, plus there's a better chance of seeing some of those crazy mountain goats.
Once again, I spent Friday afternoon and evening organizing my stuff – this time going as light as possible. There is no snow on that mountain this time of year, so there was no need for an ice axe, crampons, harness, or snow shovel. Also left behind were the rain pants, hardshell and trusty widebrimmed hat. For boots, I went with the trusty Keens instead of the Lowa's. The Keens are a lot more comfortable, and since there wasn't going to be any snow, there was no need to bring the stiffer and warmer Lowas. Although I had minimized all of the gear, the pack still weighed in at 38 pounds. A lot lighter than the 60+ pounds needed for Baker, but still pretty heavy.
Rachael and I went to REI that evening to pick up some Shot Bloks and a map, and to browse around for a few other things. I had also brought my JetBoil stove on the hopes of returning it and getting an MSR Reactor to replace it. The Jetboil worked great most of the time but it had a tough time in the wind and at higher altitudes. I’d heard lots of good things about the Reactors, so I thought I’d give it a shot. In spite of all the bad press about the change in REI's return policy lately, I am pleased to say they took the old stove back without question. I also picked up a closed cell foam Z-pad to sleep on – these are big and bulky but super lightweight. Rachael recommended getting a pack towel, which is a tiny, lightweight little handtowel/chamois thing that you clip on the pack and use to wipe the sweat away while hiking. It was just a couple of dollars and it was very handy. Thanks Rachael!
Our route for this climb was to approach the peaks from the East, using the trail that goes by Lena Lake. The trailhead is around 680 ft. elevation and the summit of the South “Brother”, which is the higher one, is 6846’. Overall distance from trailhead to summit is around 7.5 miles for a 15 mile RT.
The trailhead is located off of Hama Hama road, which is a few minutes south of Brinnon off of Highway 101. There were going to be eight people total going on the climb. Half of us met up at the Panera Bread store in Edmonds on Saturday morning, 6:00 am, where we grabbed a quick breakfast. The other four people were driving around through Olympia. While at the Panera Bread, I picked up a passenger, Shawn. Shawn is new to OSAT and didn’t know anyone. He had contacted Dan just a few days earlier saying he just joined OSAT and was wondering if he could join us on this climb. Dan was very accommodating and was able to gather up a lot of gear for him. He tossed his stuff in the car and we headed off to catch the 7:10 boat out of Edmonds. It was an easy drive and we were at the trailhead by 9:15.
The other group joined us shortly afterwards and we were ready to head out before 10. The hike starts off on an easy grade, which is nice but that means it just gets steeper later. Camp is at 3,000’ so I knew we would have to do some serious elevation gain pretty soon. After a couple of hours, we came upon Lower Lena Lake, which is at 1800’ elevation. This is a small but very pretty little lake surrounded by big mountains. We stopped there for lunch then continued onwards.
Lower Lena Lake
After the lake, the trail continues through some old and second growth forest called the Valley of Silent Men. That has got to be one of the coolest names ever for a valley of trees!
We were in no hurry at all which was a true luxury. There were a ton of different mushrooms all over the place and we spent a lot of time stopping and inspecting them.
"Chicken of the Woods"
After an easy walk, we made it to the camp site while there was lots of daylight left. Dan chose a spot right next to a nice sized creek, which, according to the topo map I'd picked up at REI, was the East Fork of Lena Creek. We all set up our tents and filtered a bunch of water to replenish our supplies. I broke out the new stove and started boiling water. It was great! It takes less than 2 minutes to boil two cups of water – about twice as fast as a microwave. Someone had brought all the fixin’s for smores so the whole group chowed down on those, then roasted some hot dogs over the campfire. What a treat is was to be camping in the woods instead of on an open glacier!
We were in no hurry at all which was a true luxury. There were a ton of different mushrooms all over the place and we spent a lot of time stopping and inspecting them.
After an easy walk, we made it to the camp site while there was lots of daylight left. Dan chose a spot right next to a nice sized creek, which, according to the topo map I'd picked up at REI, was the East Fork of Lena Creek. We all set up our tents and filtered a bunch of water to replenish our supplies. I broke out the new stove and started boiling water. It was great! It takes less than 2 minutes to boil two cups of water – about twice as fast as a microwave. Someone had brought all the fixin’s for smores so the whole group chowed down on those, then roasted some hot dogs over the campfire. What a treat is was to be camping in the woods instead of on an open glacier!
Ah, the luxury of a real campsite and a fire!
Dan, the climb leader is on the left, and Shawn, the new guy, on the right.
Bedtime came early that night. It was starting to get dark and I didn’t want to burn up the batteries on the headlamp since we would be starting out in the dark the next morning. Wake up time was 5:00am, with the intent of leaving camp at 5:30.
Dan, the climb leader is on the left, and Shawn, the new guy, on the right.
Bedtime came early that night. It was starting to get dark and I didn’t want to burn up the batteries on the headlamp since we would be starting out in the dark the next morning. Wake up time was 5:00am, with the intent of leaving camp at 5:30.
The new sleeping pad was very comfy – I went with just the Z-pad to save weight. It worked out well on the bare ground. I sure enjoyed having the tent all to myself! Next time, I’ll combine the Z-pad with the inflatable mattress for ultimate comfort…
Woke up at 4:30am – the moon was shining through the trees casting shadows. It was really nice.
We took our time with breakfast. I had two packs of oatmeal and some Earl Grey tea. Everyone else was loading up on carbs, fats and proteins any way they could. It was starting to get late so Dan headed out and all we all scrambled to catch up with him. He set a pretty good pace – much faster than the day before. We started out steep and it stayed that way the rest of the day. It was a beautiful hike, though. We turned on the headlamps for the first few minutes then switched them off as the sun began to rise. The pack was super light – nothing in there except 4 liters of water, my puffy, some food and an extra shirt, and the 10 essentials, of course. We had about 3600’ to climb.
First glimpse – I always like the first glimpse of the summit! This time, it came about 60 minutes into the hike, and man, that peak looked like it was a long, long ways away. And it looked tiny. And rocky. And really steep getting there…. Ok, time to stop staring at the top and just focus on the task at hand….
The trail led us through some heavy brush, with lots of wild blueberries and huckleberries to snack on as we went by. Once we cleared the shrubs, we came to a large section where there had been a wildfire a few years ago. Lots of charred trees on the ground and some fireweed starting to grow.
Soon we came to the first of many rocky gullies, and we started scrambling up the big boulders in the dry creek bed of east fork of Lena creek. This part was fun! Big boulders, nothing too loose.
The view looking up towards the summit. It's a long ways to go!
Above that, about 2 hours into the climb, we hit the first scree field. Scree is defined as “an accumulation of loose stones or rocky debris lying on a slope or at the base of a hill or cliff”. In this case, it was very loose and hard to navigate if you’re not used to it (which I wasn’t). It’s mostly gravel sitting on top of solid rock, which Ray (one of the climbers who is also an EMT) helpfully described as walking on ball bearings on a marble floor. Some of the guys walked right up this stuff. I stepped cautiously which is not the right way to do this. Once you get tentative, you start slipping and then you need to bend over and hope to grab onto a solid outcropping. Better to stand up and go for it, but that’s hard to commit to when you’re not used to it, and there is nothing below to stop your fall. I was never really scared – just very tentative and unsure. I didn’t like it when there was a lot of exposure.
Heading up the dry creek bed
Above that, about 2 hours into the climb, we hit the first scree field. Scree is defined as “an accumulation of loose stones or rocky debris lying on a slope or at the base of a hill or cliff”. In this case, it was very loose and hard to navigate if you’re not used to it (which I wasn’t). It’s mostly gravel sitting on top of solid rock, which Ray (one of the climbers who is also an EMT) helpfully described as walking on ball bearings on a marble floor. Some of the guys walked right up this stuff. I stepped cautiously which is not the right way to do this. Once you get tentative, you start slipping and then you need to bend over and hope to grab onto a solid outcropping. Better to stand up and go for it, but that’s hard to commit to when you’re not used to it, and there is nothing below to stop your fall. I was never really scared – just very tentative and unsure. I didn’t like it when there was a lot of exposure.
One the way up, falling rocks became a very real hazard so we all put on the helmets at around 4,600’. It was easy to dislodge the rocks, and on a slope like we were on, they usually kept going for a while. That was another thing that was disconcerting… when I would step on a large rock and it was slide out from underneath me, it would go tumbling down the gully, sometimes becoming airborne, making big noises, disappearing over the last drop-off, then I could hear it still going for a few seconds more. That's kind of a creepy feeling...
The Keen hiking boots worked out great. I really put them to the test and they did very well over all those rocks. That is some very tough leather! Same with the Outdoor Research rock-climbing pants I had on. I was so glad to be wearing pants instead of shorts. Everyone else was getting scraped up pretty good but I just came away with a couple small bloody scratches.
The slope became progressively steeper as we ascended. It was probably 45-50 degrees at that point. We were taking big steps up and my right knee started giving me problems again. We stopped at a high camp spot, probably around 5500’, to grab a quick bite before the final push, and I asked Ray to wrap up my knee with some of the stretchy bandage stuff from my first aid kit. He wrapped it up tight and that really helped out the rest of the way. Later, I replaced the bandage with a knee brace that one of the other guys was carrying and that worked out great. I need to get a couple of those…
It was at that high camp that we ran into our first mountain goat. He was big, and coming down our trail. He got close enough to where he was blocking our way, so we started whistling and yelling at him to get out of the way. These guys have been known to be aggressive in the Olympics, and there was an unfortunate incident a couple years back where one of them gored a hiker who then bled to death. We didn't get too close and were always careful to not be too threatening. He eventually moved out of the way and we kept going up.
As we gained more altitude, the trail became more difficult to follow. It was mostly marked by little pink ribbons and small cairns (aka piles of neatly stacked rocks). Oh, and mountain goat poop. There was lots of mountain goat poop on the trail, so we figured we were on the right track.
One of the many cairns that marked the trail
It was getting steeper now, with some sections getting to be 70 degrees or more. In case you didn't know, that's pretty steep. It was kind of scary in those parts, but you just don’t look down, and make sure you have a firm handhold before pulling yourself up to the next step. I refused to think about how I’d get back down at this point – it was too much to consider.
It was getting steeper now, with some sections getting to be 70 degrees or more. In case you didn't know, that's pretty steep. It was kind of scary in those parts, but you just don’t look down, and make sure you have a firm handhold before pulling yourself up to the next step. I refused to think about how I’d get back down at this point – it was too much to consider.
As it turned out, Dan had never been to the actual summit (now he tells us?!?) so it took a few tries to find the best path to the top. We turned around twice when the path became too dangerous to continue. The paths would basically turn into technical rock climbing paths and most of us had no interest in dangling over cliffs, clinging to the rock with just our fingertips and toes, while looking for the next handhold. On the first wrong turn, Dan and Jacob (the youngest member of the group, who had some rock climbing experience) went ahead to scope it out. Dan stopped about 30 feet up the cliff and said it was getting too risky. He said it was a Class 4 at that point and became Class 5 just up ahead. Here’s how he defined the different classes of rock climbs: “Class 3 is if you fall, you’ll get really bloody and maybe die. Class 4 is if you make 1 or 2 two wrong steps, you will fall and you will certainly die. Class 5 is if you take a half a step in the wrong direction, you are certainly dead. We’ve been on class 3, this new part was class 4 but now I’m looking at a Class 5 part. We’re not going to go this way.” There were no arguments from the rest of us!
I was impressed with how Dan remained calm in these situations, and made the right decisions in turning back. That’s what I like about him as a leader – he is all about fun and safety and not about showing off.
After the second wrong turn, it was starting to get late in the morning and things were not looking good to make the summit. It was getting to be a little discouraging, and I was ready to call it good, that we were close enough. On the second wrong turn, however, Dan got close enough to the summit to yell to to a couple who were on the summit and ask them how they got there. They said there’s a small bush with a pink ribbon back down the gully and we need to turn off the trail there to get to the top.
The view across to the other Brother. This is from the high point of the second wrong turn. The summit for the South Brother, our goal, is out of the picture to the right.
We all scampered down, found the hidden trail, and the rest of the way to the summit was relatively easy. We reached the summit a little after noon – two hours later than planned but still early enough to get us back to the cars that night (hopefully). There were four others up there – one couple and also two Marines from Bangor. It’s a nice little summit space on the top of that mountain, and there’s a small ledge that sticks up above everything else that is the true summit. I climbed up there so I could say I was at the very top :) Everyone was taking pictures and feeling pretty good about ourselves.
The whole OSAT crew on the summit
Couple of Marines from Bangor just out for a quick day hike...
Strangely enough, it wasn’t scary up there. It’s a forbidding environment, with steep dropoffs all around, just a couple feet away, with no guardrails or anything…, but I wasn’t frightened. I didn’t get that dizzy feeling when peering over the edges. It was kind of cool – I guess I have lost some of my fear of heights, or gained some confidence in my climbing, or maybe a combination of both.
The clouds had moved in so we didn’t get the incredible views we were hoping for, but that’s okay. It felt GREAT to be up there – MUCH better than being on the top of Baker. I don’t know why, maybe because I wasn’t so exhausted had something to do with that. But this summit was FUN!
At the highest point of the summit of the South Brother
After about 20 minutes, it was time to get going back down. Now it was time to get really scared! But a strange thing happened – there was no fear. Just head on down, one step, one foot, sometimes just a few inches, at a time. Stay focused, and keep moving. It was a weird feeling, but a good one. Sometimes I would take 1 – 2 minutes to find the next step or handhold, so it was going pretty slow, but we all stayed together and kept moving.
Sometimes there was the dreaded “blind step”, where you are facing the wall, hanging on for dear life, and slowly lowering yourself down, hoping to feel the next step below with your foot before you lose your grip above. There were a few of those. I don’t like that at all.
Other times, it was steep enough where you had to sit down on your butt and kind of crab-walk down. That’s the best way to go down really steep parts with little or no grips cause you can use your butt, or even your pack, to slow the descent. I slid on loose sharp gravel and over a lot of rocks on those pants but there were no tears at all when I was done. Very impressive OR!
It was around this time that I ran out of water. For the ascent, I brought 4 liters of water (3 in the pack reservoir and one in a bottle). I thought that was a lot, but I ran out after the first break coming down. I guess it was a pretty good workout going up. We still had a couple of hours to go until we hit camp but it was easy going so I wasn't too worried about dehydration.
When we reached the high camp spot where we had the first goat encounter going up, there were now two goats hanging out instead of the one. They glared at us as we went by (probably because everyone was trying to get as close as possible for pictures) then they started following us after we passed. This sounds kinda cute but it's really not a good thing to be pursued by mountain goats with sharp horns. They kept pace for a few minutes, then stopped and watched us continue down.
While going up the scree sucked, coming down was like plunge stepping in wet snow. On the times I hesitated, Ray would tell me to just walk on down. Count on sliding a bit with each step and just be ready for it. Which is fine, but when there is a steep drop off 4 feet to the left, then I start worrying about sliding slightly to the left because there were no outcroppings to cling to as I would be tumbling over the edge. Again, hesitation and tentativeness works against you here. The other climbers that passed us (like the Marines) kept up a steady pace with very little hesitation.
After a couple of hours, we were off the steep parts and the scree and back on the large boulders in the dry creek gully. I felt great and was soon jumping from boulder to boulder, feeling like I was as light-footed as Legolas. It felt great to be on solid ground again!
We made it back to the camp a little after 5, boiled up the rest of the hot dogs and the ate anything else people wanted to get rid of (old pizza, muffins) before breaking camp and doing a fast march out of there starting at 6. On the way up, it took us 5 hours to reach camp from the parking lot, but on Sunday, it only took us around 3 1/2 hours to get back to the cars. The last 30 minutes was in the dark and most of us had our headlamps on by then. That was kind of cool though – knowing we went from dawn to dusk!
Overall it was a 16 hour day on my feet but I was feeling really good at the end of the day. Maybe I am finally starting to get in shape.
I realized that there was no way I ever would have been able to do a climb like that on my own. The only way I kept going was by making sure there were people right in front of me and right behind me so I could see where they were going and also have the confidence that it was possible. I am very grateful to the OSAT group. They have helped me get places that I never thought I'd go.
Keep Climbing Moutains and Don't Slip!
