Norris traverse + Logan and Jackson

On the Logan extension to the Norris traverse.

The Norris traverse has been on my dream list for more than a decade.

Needless to say, I jumped when weather, conditions, and time aligned to make it happen.  After a week of resting, dreaming and scheming, Jeffrey and I left work a few hours early on Friday afternoon and set up the car shuttle.  Sleep came easily, but we were both excited enough to easily hop out of sleeping bags at 2:30 am.

The trail up to Triple Divide pass went quickly by headlamp.  We spooked a large animal of some kind, but otherwise it was just walking and easy running, waiting for first light.  From the pass, there was just enough light to scout a route on the steep east face of Triple Divide peak.  We had to do a bit of routefinding on the face, but the climb went quickly, with just a few 4th class steps, and we were on the summit at sunrise.  The traverse to Norris mountain was quick, and we easily climbed classic stout 3rd class GNP terrain to the summit.

Already in interesting terrain at first light.

One of many.

Jeffrey a few steps below the summit of Norris mountain.

After a bit of loose down climbing on the West side, we were off an running on the fast and enjoyable ridgeline terrain that would take us to Red Eagle pass.  The traverse to the pass took three hours, and it was quite enjoyable.  We roughly followed the guidebook directions, bypassing the ridge high points on goat trails. We did a bit of bushwacking across the basin, bit it was not too bad, and we arrived at the far side in good spirits.  A long break ensued, which involved food, a full water refill, a map check, and route discussion.  Since we were right on schedule, we abandoned the traditional route and instead climbed loose 4th class chimneys to the flat saddle between Clyde and Logan (described as the Scenic Death March in the guidebook).  The rock was poor, but we made it.  The climb to Logan was great.  Ledgey, loose but not too bad, and long - classic Glacier.

Looking ahead along the traverse from Norris Mountain.

Off route on the descent to Red Eagle pass.

Looking back to Clyde peak and the early portion of the traverse from Logan.

Looking out to Blackfoot and Jackson from Logan.

From the summit, we dropped on to the Blackfoot glacier and traversed to the base of Logan along the ridge line with occasional dips into the snow to avoid cliffy terrain on the crest.  Steep snow slowed us a bit, but ice axes kept it manageable as we pushed up Blackfoot.  We arrived on the summit in good spirits, but a little overwhelmed by fatigue.  This combined with thunderclouds on the horizon and being about an hour behind schedule made it an easy decision to start heading home.  Getting across the bergschrund of the standard route on Blackfoot was horrendous.  We ended up having to do an altogether too risky belly flop over thinly bridged snow, and I did not like it at all.  In the future, I would get off the glacier by weaving through crevasses about a quarter mile farther south.

On Blackfoot.

Careful traversing above the bergschrund on the Blackfoot glacier.

We were now well above the standard Norris traverse, and I did not have any prior information on how to get off the glacier, so we spend about half an hour dinking around before we found a loose but suitable exit down the west lateral moraine of the glacier.  It was a little slow, but the setting was absolutely spectacular, and we weren't in a hurry.  Jeffrey and I had a difference of opinion on how to cross the main stream channel below the glacier.  We ended up taking my route, but I waded back into the stream to give a hand in getting across the swift thigh deep stream.  We also wandered a bit trying to locate the Jackson glacier trail, but eventually found it and were on our way out.  The run out is about seven miles, with a mile of uphill at the end.  Amazingly, the day was not to hot, and our legs were not too hammered, so we were able to get it done in about ninety minutes. The car was a welcome sight.  Very roughly 30 miles and 8,000 vertical feet, done in around 14 hours, 30 minutes car to car.

Wild scenery below the Blackfoot glacier.

Back on the trail and cruising.

Thoughts
This was a great outing, and the first big day I have had in almost a year.  The length and technical difficulties of the classic Norris traverse are quite reasonable.  At the risk of sandbagging, I believe this outing is in reach for strong hiking parties and normal running parties with excellent routefinding skills, and would encourage people to do it in a day, as opposed to the traditional three days.  The classic Norris would also be easier in the normal Gunsight to Cutbank direction.

Our extension was a lot of fun, and I would recommend it.  However, I would not recommend the standard bergschrund descent off Blackfoot mountain, as it was dangerous. In fact, it would have probably been more logical to simply add Logan and not Blackfoot.  Adding Jackson would be pretty amazing.  It looked reasonably doable, at least as long as one detoured out to the standard Northeast ridge route.  The south ridge would provide a steep and spectacular end to the outing, but I was worried about it being too ledgey and technical.  Would love to hear from anyone with more knowledge of the route.