‘Bivouac’ is French for ‘Mistake’ – One Shot Story

While by its dictionary definition ‘bivouac’ means any makeshift camp, among mountaineers the word is usually invoked for an unplanned night out. Hence the quip about its French origin (the true etymology is from the low German ‘biwacht’, which referred to a citizens’ night watch). Nearly every time I’ve had to ‘bivy’ it was because of unexpected difficulties, or simply moving too slowly for the planned route. Since (to quote another piece of climber wisdom) ‘it’s not Alpine climbing if you are not at some point cold or hungry or terrified’ (as you will have pared down equipment and supplies to a minimum), bivouacs tend to be precarious affairs with insufficient clothing and food. On the other hand, for a climber with a camera, these unplanned events can mean being in a remarkable place with the gift of amazing light. The resulting photos can complement a lot of ‘type II fun‘ storytelling.

This photo shows the dawn light reflected by the Boston Glacier, which is the largest ice sheet remaining in the North Cascades National Park of Washington State, USA. My climbing party had spent several rainy days in a proper camp at the base of Forbidden Peak, hoping for the late summer rains to stop. As the weather appeared to clear, we set out to climb this shapely pyramidal mountain through its northwest face route. Our plan was that from our camp we would climb up to the ridge that connects Forbidden Peak to Sahale Mountain, abseil down to the Boston Glacier, traverse it to the base of the north ridge of Forbidden Peak, and make a planned bivouac there at the end of the first day. On the second day, we would cross to the northwest side of the mountain, traverse the Forbidden Glacier that occupies that cirque to the start of our route on the northwest face, summit the mountain and then descend to our well-stocked campsite.

We executed our plan perfectly on the first day. However, on the second, thick mist rolled in, and by the time we stood on the summit of the mountain, it was nearly night and drizzling. The long traversing descent along the Boston Glacier (east) side of the steep and exposed Forbidden-Sahale ridge seemed daunting in the cold, damp darkness. After abseiling two rope lengths from the summit, we had had enough. We found some ledges barely big enough to sit on, placed some protection on the steep face, tied ourselves to the mountain, put on all the clothing we had, consumed the little food and water left (there was no more snow on the peak, and the nearest source of water, the Boston Glacier, was several hundred vertical meters below us), and set out to spend an uncomfortable night.

Day three started with a glorious sunrise. I had with me a Ricoh GR1 camera loaded with Fuji Velvia (ISO 50) transparency film, but no tripod. After some squirming to avoid dropping equipment or rocks down the mountain, I managed to position my backpack to serve as impromptu camera support and made several exposures with the self-timer, of which this one is my favorite. It shows Boston Glacier flanked by Sahale Mountain on the far right and Buckner Mountain‘s north face in the center. The morning sun is just hitting the low clouds covering Park Creek Pass to the left of this peak. Fuji Velvia has high contrast and limited exposure latitude, and the flanks of the mountains probably did not appear as dark to the eye as in the slide. Nonetheless, I think the photograph effectively communicates the stillness of daybreak in a superb mountain setting.

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