High 5 Traverse Recon

Last weekend (8/15), Bria and I made plans to backpack into canyon lake and climb the N ridge of canyon peak but a lightning caused fire broke out near canyon lake the following day so our plans changed to the N face of el capitan up little rock creek (supposedly III 5.7 8p).

Bria’s L knee was bothering her on the hike in and slowly getting worse so we decided to call it at the lower lake and camp there (despite planning on camping at the upper lakes).  We had a relaxing (and hazy) evening before heading to bed, having decided to evaluate her knee in the morning and act accordingly.

In the morning, with Bria’s knee feeling better but not great and knowing we still had a long approach to the N face, we decided to bail on that objective, and instead opted for a slow-paced hike to the upper lakes.  We followed a mix of faint trail, many conflicting cairns and some minor bushwhacking to the upper elbow-shaped lake where we spent an enjoyable afternoon, relaxing and having lunch.  A slow descent with much more bushwhacking than the ascent put us back in camp for the evening before hiking out the next morning. 

water refill at upper lake (photo: bria)

While it was a bummer to have bailed on our original objective, we made the right choice and I attributed the experience to being good recon for the high 5 traverse approach, which I planned to attempt in 2 days.

Also, I recently read a Loren Rausch quote about failing/bailing in the mountains that I really liked – “I’m not saying failing is fun, I hate failing, but it is important in tracing the learning curve.  So if you’re in the mountains of Montana (or any mountains) don’t be afraid to fail, harness the ego, smile at being alive in the midst of an adventure, and fail greatly.”

After an afternoon cragging at lost horse and an evening of car camping, Bria hit the road home early the next morning and I set out to tackle the high 5 traverse (el capitan, lonesome bachelor and the 3 como peaks).  Thanks to Brian for the beta and inspiration.

I made good time on the mostly runnable trail to the lower lake, arriving in 1:08 before shifting gears for the faint “trail”/cairns/bushwhack to the upper lakes.  The highlight of this section was spooking a bull moose from within a hundred feet, which was bedded down in some tall grass and trees.  This was a little terrifying but fortunately he proceeded to smash through the vegetation away from, rather than towards me.  I saw him again a few minutes later but from a safer distance and I snapped a great picture (but lost my camera later in the day). 

I arrived at the upper lakes in 2:17 and while re-filling water, realized I had dropped my camera at some point since seeing the moose (presumably when I caught my foot on a hidden rock in some tall grass and took a minor fall).  I irrationally thought it could be found, so after a little indecision I turned around and set out to find it.  After some hopeless searching, I returned to the upper lakes after a 90min detour, unsure of what to do next.  My excitement for the traverse was diminished by the lost camera (and lost 90 minutes of daylight) so I decided just to climb el cap and the lonesome bachelor and then call it a day. 

I ascended the 3^rd class ledges and grassy slopes just R of the obvious twin gullies to gain the S ridge and boulder hopped another 1000 vertical to the summit of el cap (3:34 excluding camera detour).  The smoke and haze really diminished the views but it was still great to visit this commanding mountain for my first time. 

generic el capitan picture taken from summitpost.org (photo: mike hoyt)

I dropped down to the saddle and continued south towards the lonesome bachelor, ascending the N ridge until it got really steep shortly before the summit.  I traversed R out a ledge onto the W face and followed my nose up low 5^th class weaknesses intermixed with ledges to the summit (4:47).  I looked longingly east towards west como peak but knew the remainder of the traverse was better saved for another day.  I reversed my route for the descent, arriving back at the TH in 8:47 (excluding 90min camera search detour).

Stats: approx. 19mi/6300 vert/low 5^th class in 8:47 car-car at moderate pace

Rose: seeing a bull moose from so close

Thorn: LOSING MY CAMERA!

Bud: returning soon for the full traverse

Thoughts: descending from the upper to lower lake is slower/harder than on the way up        

3 Joe Traverse

I spent the anniversary of my brother’s death alone in the mountains, completing the 3 joe traverse in the Bitterroots.  I first completed this traverse last August 1^st with him, which would be the last day that we would ever spend together.  Returning this year was an emotional challenge to say the least, and the day was filled with tears, sadness and memories - both good and bad.  I can’t believe it’s already been a year since his passing and not a day goes by that I don’t think about how much I love and miss him.

I took off from the main bass creek TH shortly after 7am, cutting switchbacks up to the summer TH and made good time up to the water refill spot at 7600ft about a hundred feet R of the trail.  I continued to the summit of little st. joe (2:24) where I passed 2 folks camping a mere 200ft from the summit.  

big st joe from little (picture from last august)

I continued west along the ridge, sticking to the rocky 3^rd/4^th class ridgeline proper between the top of the pinball wizard and the final cliffs of big st. joe, which I found to be much more enjoyable than the steep, loose sidehill climber’s trail off the N side of the ridge we did last year.  I ascended the 4^th class gully through the final cliffband of big st. joe’s E ridge but I think next time I’ll try the ridge proper instead (possible low 5^th class).  I arrived at the summit in 3:53 where a look back in the summit log at mine and Kit’s entry from last August brought forth many memories and tears.

a difficult sight to bear

After a long break for reflection and food, I continued west to stormy joe, staying south of the initial rocky ridgeline before gaining the upper ridge and the summit at the 5 hour mark.  The descent down the SW ridge to the trail went quickly and I found myself at the outlet of bass lake in 5:50, ready for a water refill and excited for the run out, having been only hiking thus far all day.  I ran down the nice summer trail on the N side of the creek.  I maintained a moderate pace for the first few miles but proceeded to charge the final few miles in memory of Kit, wanting to arrive at the TH totally spent (7:19).

I have no pictures from this outing since I lost my camera a few days later.

Stats: approx. 19mi/6800 vert/class 4 in 7:19 car-car at moderate pace (except last 3mi)

Thoughts: this is an enjoyable traverse, I believe the class 4 gully near the summit of big st. joe can be bypassed via class 3 terrain on climber’s R for those so inclined, sub 7hrs is certainly possible for me next time

Teton Adventures

I stopped in the Tetons for a few days on the drive home (to Missoula) from the Wind Rivers.  The weather was fairly wet and stormy but I did manage to sneak in a summit of the Grand on my final day there.

Day 1 – I ran a fairly flat 11mi loop around Jenny and String lakes.  Lots of folks on the trail (which frequently interrupted the continuity of the run) but great to get out and stretch the legs regardless. 

Day 2 – Ran the classic 25mi Teton semi-circumnavigation loop (an extra 10mi on the valley trail between starting & ending trailheads forms the full 35mi loop).  Thanks to Jason Dorais for the inspiration and beta.

The weather was cloudy and fairly cool, making for perfect running weather.  Zach was game to join for part of the way, despite having not run further than a flat 15 miles this summer.  We started at lupine meadows TH, headed north to jenny lake and passed a hundred or more hikers/tourists on the very runnable trail up cascade canyon.    

upper cascade canyon (photo: zach paley)

I normally run alone so it was a nice change of pace (pun intended) to have someone to chat with on the initial 10miles, until Zach decided to turn around before the final climb up hurricane pass. 

I continued on alone, donning a shell for the windy conditions on the pass before dropping down to sunset lake, 3:10 into the run, ready for a refill and a quick food/stretch break.  A short climb & descent put me into the gorgeous alaska basin, where I enjoyed many interesting looks and comments from the many backpackers.

My legs were unhappy on the climb to buck mt. pass so I had to walk most of it, and eventually arrived at static divide at the 4:33 mark.  I continued down the many switchbacks into death canyon and as soon as I started encountering day hikers, I knew I was getting close to the trailhead.  The little 500’ climb from phelps lake to an overlook (before descending to the TH) was a unexpected slap in the face at mile 24, forcing my tired legs to a walking pace.  I finally arrived at the death canyon TH at the 6:11 mark, more than ready to be done (having stupidly gone the last hour of the run without water).  I had stashed a bike that morning to cover the 12mi back to the truck at lupine meadows but Zach ended up shuttling the truck (thanks!) so I jumped in and we cruised back to camp. 

I forgot my camera which was a shame because the scenery of cascade canyon, the west side of the tetons from up close and alaska basin were all spectacular.

Stats:  approx. 25mi/5700 vert in 6:11 point-point at a moderate pace

Thoughts:  this is a stellar run, it can certainly go much faster, I enjoyed the N to S direction

Day 3 – E ridge of Disappointment Peak (II 5.6 4p)

The following day, Zach wanted to get out on a technical route and learn the ropes of multi-pitch climbing but with a mediocre forecast, we needed something fairly short, easy and low commitment.  The E ridge of disappointment peak fit the bill perfectly (there are multiple ledges to climber’s L you could bail off the ridge if needed at nearly any point). 

disappointment from amphitheatre lake, route ascends the R skyline

E ridge route

We made good time on the nice trail to amphitheatre lake and re-filled water before continuing up to the base of the route.  One long pitch put us just below the large treed ledge below the upper ridge.  It took me about 10 minutes to extract but I managed to retrieve a nice, stuck C4 cam near the belay.  Sweet alpine booty!   We linked the upper ridge down to 3 long pitches, including a dirty but fun 5.7 handcrack on the final pitch.  With the weather looking fairly good, we scrambled the remaining 1000’ or so vertical to the summit where we hung out for about 20 minutes, soaking in the incredible views of all the higher surrounding peaks.

zach following pitch 3

admiring the E side of the grand from the summit (photo: zach paley)

The descent was slow on our running-weary legs from the previous day but we made it down the SE ridge walkoff and back to the trailhead without incident.  Was great to get out on a technical route with Zach and to get a glimpse of just how much great alpine rock there is to be found in the Tetons.    

Day 4 – rainy rest day in Jackson

Day 5 – Sunday was Chris’ birthday, and he wanted to climb petzoldt ridge (III 5.7 7p) to upper exum (II 5.5 12p) on the Grand.  The weather forecasted looked solid so we went for it, leaving lupine meadows at 7:15am and made great time on the approach, reaching the lower saddle in 2:30 and the base of the route in 3hrs.  

eyeing the route from the lower saddle (petzoldt is the middle of the 3 prominent ridges)

We wasted a little time figuring out the best way to cross the snow in the stettner (having not brought crampons) but eventually kicked steps across to reach the base.  Chris’ birthday wish was to lead all the pitches so I yielded the sharp-end to him for the day and he blasted off, finding nice dry rock on the sunny E side of the ridge and wet/icy conditions on the shady W side.

starting up

the window pitch

We linked the petzoldt down to 4 long pitches, with the climbing gods delivered Chris a nice birthday gift, in the form of a stuck X4 cam he was able to retrieve sans nut tool on the fourth pitch.  A short rappel and scramble put us on the upper exum ridge, which we soloed except for 2 wet/icy sections of slab that we pitched out.  About 6 inches of fresh snow up high from the previous day’s storm kept us on our toes and slowed the pace, but we eventually arrived on the summit, approx. 8 hours into our day. 

view of the 3rd class ramp up/L to gain the upper exum
(after a short rappel to the north to obvious ledge from top of petzoldt ridge)

soloing the upper exum

birthday summit of the Grand (photo: Sean or Kevin, thanks!)

We ran into another party of 2 on the summit, and slowly descended together down the very snowy & icy west side to the 2 rappels.  After the raps, we continued carefully making our way down, with the pacing quickening a few hundred feet below the upper saddle once we were below the fresh snow.  

full value conditions

We stopped at the lower saddle to eat, drink and remove our harnesses, where the clients and perhaps the guides too were surprised we had summited given the conditions up high.  We pounded out the remaining descent to the trailhead, arriving at the 11:42 mark, ready to crack open cold birthday beers.

Thoughts:  it felt great to help Chris celebrate his birthday with such a stellar day in the mountains.  i look forward to returning for the full exum ridge, a sub 5 hr run attempt on the owen-spalding, and of course ford/stettner on skis.  if you’ve got the legs for it, car-car outings make so much more sense to me for the vast majority of the climbing objectives in the tetons

Rose: stellar climbing on the petzoldt ridge, my first summit of the Grand

Thorn: failing to stop to refill water on the last hour of my big run

Bud: many more future adventures in this incredible mountain range (w/ skis, rock shoes and running shoes)            

Wind River Climbing Part II

We spent the afternoon of our rest day relaxing at our new camp below haystack mountain, watching a party “epic” on minor dihedral (way off route), which we planned to climbed the next day (III 5.9 10p).  Luckily we got some good beta from a different party in the area about the proper route-finding and went to bed nervous yet excited.

The next day, the route-finding went super smoothly and we linked it down to 6 long pitches, including a 60m rope stretcher up the 5.9 money pitch in the dihedral proper.  

starting up pitch 1

stoked for the money pitch

pitch 5 (photo: chris)

down the "grassy goat trail"

We heard that evening from folks hiking in (with llamas) that heavy rain was in the forecast for the following day, which made us that much more appreciative of how perfect the weather had been thus far on the trip.  On our final day, we flirted with storm clouds on the adventurous N ridge of steeple peak (III 5.8 5p) but fortunately nothing more than a few raindrops fell until we were safely back on the ground and hiking back to camp.  

steeple peak (center) and east temple (R)

racking up for the pitch 1 splitter (photo: chris)

fun exposed pitch 2

summit pitch 

scoping lines on lost temple spire and east temple peak

Once at camp, knowing that heavy rain was in the forecast, we decided to hike out that evening in light intermittent rain showers.  The skies unleashed heavy rain on the long drive out to civilization but soon enough we found ourselves feasting on greasy burgers in Pinedale, stoked on our outstanding trip into the Winds.  A big THANKS to Chris for being such a solid partner.

Rose: the great weather and how smoothly everything went on the 5 routes we did

Thorn: mosquitoes

Bud: carrying forward this alpine climbing experience to the bugaboos in august and beyond

Thoughts: the climbing in the cirque as well as by deep lake is incredibly good.  There is A LOT of climbing to be had beyond the classic routes.  the wind river range is a wild place, worthy of many future adventures

Wind River Climbing Part I

I gave myself two days to recover from Speedgoat and move out of my place in Ogden before meeting an old friend Chris Dickson at Big Sandy trailhead, excited for a week of climbing in the cirque of the towers and deep lake area.  With a 50+ lb. pack, the approx. 8mi hike in was a little rough on the legs but we made good time and found a nice camp spot in the cirque.

cirque of the towers from the summit of mitchell

The next day, we decided to get on the classic E ridge of Wolfs Head (III 5.6 10p).  We soloed up the low 5^th class gully and up-and-over Tiger tower to reach the base of the ridge.  We simul-ed the majority of the route, doing 3 true pitches for the short stretches of 5.6 terrain.  This route was more of a ridge traverse than a straight-up climb, but it was spectacular nonetheless.

chris on the "catwalk"

exposed traversing on wolfs head

one of my favorite shots of the trip

through the tunnel 

summit of wolfs head

The following day, we got on the other ultra-classic route in the cirque, the NE face of Pingora (IV 5.8+ 12p).  We linked it down to 8 pitches, leading in blocks, with Chris taking a nice 5.9 finger crack variation on the crux pitch.    

pitch 1 on pingora

following pitch 1 above lonesome lake (photo: chris)

chris about to start up the crux pitch

pitch 7 - endless quality granite

pingora summit

Once back at camp, we enjoyed the 2 beers I had hiked in and a cold swim in a gorgeous alpine lake.

cheers!  (photo: chris)

swimming below warbonnet peak (photo: chris)

With beautiful bluebird weather each day, we decided to get on the N face center of Mitchell Peak the following day, on the other side of the cirque.  We experienced some route-finding difficulties (our pitches 2-4 were climber’s L of the actual pitches 2 & 3) but some great route-finding by Chris put us at the base of the stellar flake pitches (4-6) and we stayed on-route til the top.

chris route-finding on mitchell 

awesome pitch 5 flake system

pitch 9 

summit of mitchell, stoked to be in the sun after hours of shade on the N face (photo: chris)

After climbing a few thousand feet of granite in the past 3 days, we felt a rest day was in order, so after sleeping in, we broke camp and hiked over the pass to set-up a new camp at the far end of clear lake, below the broad W face of haystack mountain.  Stayed tuned for part II with climbing on haystack mt. and steeple peak.

hiking over to haystack mt (photo: chris)