Yesterday, my friend Jiro and I linked up the popular Hydrophobia and The Sorcerer, in the Ghost Wilderness area. Giri-Giri member "Jumbo", and Rob Smith joined us in the link-up climbing the same routes in opposite order. The climbs could not be in any better shape. We found dry and good quality hooked out ice most of the way making the climbing quick and easier than I have experienced in the past.
After an aggressive 1.5hour 4x4 ride in my new 4Runner - including river crossings, deep snow ruts, steep hills, and bogs - we parked within view of Hydrophobia. At 0815 Jiro and I left for the Sorcerer. After 2 hours of hiking and bushwhacking and backtracking on a few trails we were at the base of the aesthetic Sorcerer - 210m, WI5. At 1230 we topped out on the Sorcerer after a tricky exit pitch skirting a good size cornice and plugging in a couple cams for peace of mind. I was surprised to find a 2 bolt anchor up and right in which to belay Jiro on. After a snickers lunch and a couple gulps of water we started the hike over the Hydro.
As we skirted the scree and small snow slopes up to our right, we spotted Rob and Jumbo making their way over from Hydro in the drainage below us. A few hoot and hollers confirmed that all was good and we would meet up back at the truck. Other than a constant side-hill hike, the walk over to Hydro was not bad and took approx 1 hour to reach the top of Hydro. We set a v-thread and started the rappels. Now, I had never climbed Hydro before, so seeing it from the top down as we rappelled by was awesome. The exposure is even greater than that of The Sorcerer! This was such a cool spot.
At the base of Hydrophobia(150m WI5+) we sorted the gear and swapped leads completing the climb in 3 gorgeous pitches. The ice was perfect and the temps were perfect and the day was turning into perfect. As we rapped Hydro I was scanning the very intimidating mixed neighbour Cryophobia(M8 WI5+ 225m) and wondered if I would ever have the guns to send such a route. Compared to the guidebook photo, it currently looks like its in excellent conditions with some bolt protected ice climbing on the 4th and 5th pitches. Maybe by spring??
Walking back to the car from Hydro I had time to scan the valley and found it very beautiful. Large limestone boulders of excellent quality were scattered around the valley floor. Looking back at Hydro you can scan the natural amphitheatre and find so much beauty in that place. I also found a set of car keys lying directly in the middle of the trail - they turned out to be Jumbos!! What are the chances!
As we hiked back through the forest to "Barney" - my purple looking 4Runner, even though its officially midnight blue - we ran into Rob and Jumbo and timing could not be more perfect. We hiked the remaining 5 minutes reminiscing excitedly about the day.
In my opinion. If your planning on doing the linkup from the Waiperous, the best way to do it is Hydro first, then Sorcerer. This avoids a few things: the longer uphill hike to the Sorcerer, the mixed pitch/cornice exit on the Sorcerer, and the extra v-threads needed to get past the upper rambly ice on Hydro. From the top of The Sorcerer its easier to start the raps using the first 2 bolt anchor.
Congratulations on the link up of Hydro and Sorcerer! We climbed both climbs last Friday and Saturday (march 27 & 28), but didn't have the vehicle to come in from Wiaparous, so had to do the long approach (with no trail, and plenty of bushwhacking and postholing) from the Ghost. Absolutely loved both climbs - classics! Here's a link to my trip report - http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/608895/Ghost-Hunting.html
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