Rogers Peak Traverse: The Long Haul

Fred Lynn and I were discussing the gritty details of our last-minute trip, the Rogers Peak Traverse, otherwise known as Mount Rogers (3169m). The plan was to climb Rogers Peak’s west ridge, bag the summit and, if time allows, cross Grant, Flemming, and Swiss Peak in that order. The first part is known as the Rogers Traverse and the second, the Swiss Traverse.

man rock climbing up rogers peak — Fred rock climbing a short, but nearly vertical pitch on Rogers west ridge. Photo: The Uptrack

Report from August 14, 2019

I took a deep breath of fresh air as I stepped out of my SUV onto the perfectly flat asphalt of the Hermit parking lot. We hiked up the Hermit Trail at a brisk pace reminding us far too soon how insanely steep the trail is. With temperatures hovering around the 25C mark and humidity at 100%, we were sweating buckets of water.

hiker walking the hermit trail — Fred Lynn hiking up the Hermit Trail, Mt Tupper in the back. Photo: The Uptrack

We felt much relief when the cool glacial downdraft caressed our dripping faces. It only took 90 minutes to reach the Hermit Meadows Campground, passing a flock of young hikers coming back from an overnight trip in the alpine. After a brief conversation, we pressed on through fields of vibrant wildflowers. What a sight!

hiker amidst wild flowers on hermit trail — Fred walking among the wildflowers in the Hermit Meadows. Photo: The Uptrack

We eventually arrived at the end of the Hermit Trail and contemplated our options. We chose to climb a steep lateral moraine leading up to a chossy couloir near the foot of Rogers Peak west ridge. We stopped by a glacial lake to resupply on water and gazed at our objective.

Rogers Traverse Ascent Path — Ascent path of Rogers Peak through the long west ridge. Photo: The Uptrack

After some easy 2nd class scrambling through a low boulder field, we gained the west ridge. The first half of the climb consisted of some easy 2nd and 3rd class scrambles through loose scree. The elevation definitely hit us like a rock. For a second I wish I was born high up in the Himalayas. Where are the Sherpa lungs when you need them?

mountaineer climbing with mt sifton — Don’t slip. Fred scrambling up Rogers west ridge. Heavy panting not shown. Photo: The Uptrack

The second half of the climb was more in line with 4th class terrain, requiring technical moves here and there. We definitely felt slight vertigo throughout the whole climb as we tip-toed on knife-edge ridges and starred at the gnarly glaciers looming half a kilometer below. Fortunately, the rock was solid and blocky. We felt right at home soloing the climb.

man rock climbing up rogers ridge — Fred scrambling up a 4th class section. Perspective is everything! Photo: The Uptrack

After too many false summits, we bagged the peak at an elevation of 3169m which completed the first half of the Rogers Peak Traverse. We spent 15 minutes enjoying the stunning landscape of the Columbia Mountains and decided not to attempt the Swiss Traverse as it was already 3 PM. Whew, time flies!

Once we recovered from the strenuous climb, we forged a path through slushy snow on the super-exposed summit ridge. Progress was slow and it resulted in much frustration as we had to constantly triple-check our footholds. With an 800m drop on the right and a heavily crevassed glacier to the left, slipping was not an option. I cursed as I remembered why I foolishly brought my microspikes instead of large crampons thinking the snow at 3200m would be frozen. We ended up roping up for most of the snowy descent.

alpinist carefully walking on snow ridge on rogers peak — Fred ridge walking on slushy snow. Crevassed glacier to the left and 800m drop to the right. Photo: The Uptrack

The south face was a real test of patience. We carefully side-stepped down the steep slushy snow knowing too well that a large crevasse (bergschrund) was waiting for us at the bottom of the face. This meant we couldn’t use our preferred descent technique: a rather precarious butt slide, steering left and right by plunging our ice axe in the snow. As we lost elevation, the snow was increasingly giving way under our weight complicating things further. It certainly didn’t help my weak left ankle slowly recovering from a bad fall while rock climbing!

Rogers Traverse Descent Path — The descent off Rogers south face. Note the bergschrund at the bottom of the face. Photo: The Uptrack

Two hours later, we finally stepped off Rogers Peak south face onto the icy expanse of the Swiss Glacier. Navigation here was relatively straightforward and required avoiding a few shallow crevasses.

At 8 PM, we returned to the Hermit Meadows Campsite to witness a horde of jolly campers setting up their tents. While they were just about to head to sleep, we still had a few kilometers of hiking left. As the sun vanished behind the Rogers massif, we headed down the steep switchbacks of the Hermit Trail armed with our headlamps.