Sunday, December 27, 2020

Flathead range traverse

After a successful partial Flathead traverse, I couldn't help but dream of traversing the crest of the entire range.  Fortunately everything lined up for an August 28 - 29 attempt.  The 40+ mile bike shuttle was a little bit of a grind, but I got it done without accruing much fatigue, and slept well at the  trailhead.

Day 1: I rolled out at 4 am, and made it to Triangle peak in time for sunrise.  The rest of the morning went OK.  It was nice to top out on new summits and gander at some of the most popular winter ski terrain, but the going was scrappier and slower than I had hoped for.  Also, there was no water.  I summited East Nyack very thirsty and about two hours behind where I wanted to be. The balls of my feet were also raw, which had me worried. A few hours later, I dragged myself over the top of Great Northern feeling pretty beat.  I chatted with a party on top for a minute, then beelined it down to a water stop at the top of the glacier.  The water stop allowed me to catch up on fluids and calories, and get a much needed mental re-set.  

Shortly after sunrise, looking out to Great Bear peak, with Great Northern in the distance.
Looking back at Penrose on the way to Nyack.
Onward to Nyack and eventually Great Northern.

The day really started clicking at that point.  It was a treat to traverse the elegant section between Great Northern and Liebig in the warm afternoon light, feeling good.  I kept pushing through the evening and made it over Elk, Adams, and Camaehwait before it finally got dark.  Each peak was fun and the going was generally non technical and fast.  One unresolved question was finding water for the night, but a lucky flicker of my headlamp reveled a big snow chunk tucked deep into a chimney on the last descent, which provided ample water for the night.  I called it a very long day around 11 pm at the saddle just short of Felix.  Dinner was pretty quick - water, peanut butter jelly sandwich and smoked salmon.  I was content with my progress and grateful to be physically intact.  I slept well, having brought enough provisions to stay comfortablish and warm. 

Looking back at Great Northern on the way to Grant.
Grant Glacier on the afternoon jaunt to the summit.
Nearing Liebig.

Looking back at Elk mountain at sunset.
Looking to Camehwait at sunset.  I climbed it in the dark and slept on the far side.
Day 2:  I awoke refreshed, started walking before first light, and summited Felix at sunrise.  After summiting Unawah, I got fairly worked by alder and all manner of bushwack drudgery crossing Logan creek.  I don't think there is really any good way to get through this section, and in the end, I only thrashed and cursed for about 30 minutes. A big climb put me on top of  peak 8,001 (I bypassed Red Sky Mountain for time).  

The next section of the traverse was long, but I was in the groove, cruising along on goat trails and enjoying the day.  Baptiste, Prospector, Circus, and Dry Park mountain each had their own character, and took 60 - 90 minutes each.  I knew that the end of the traverse would feel long, and it certainly did.  In particular, the push from Dry Park Mountain to Crossover was not as fun as the rest of the traverse, and the trail on the map down from Crossover doesn't really exist, so I spent quite a bit of extra time bushwacking down to the main trail.  My body held up just fine though, so it was just a matter of time until I was done.  I emerged at the car beat and a few hours behind schedule, but about as grateful as one can be for the experience.

Felix sunrise.
Looking out to Prospector from Baptiste.  More cruising...
Over the top of Circus peak and on the long home stretch. 
On Crossover, looking back at the last portion of the route.
Happy to be back at the car.
I had hopes of making the return drive to Missoula that night, but I pulled over to sleep for the night about half way home when sleepies attacked. 

Thoughts:  This was my defining outing of the summer, and one I am proud to have completed. I didn't track my route digitally, so don't have stats, but roughly 45 miles and 20,000 vertical feet, most of it off trail.  39 hour, 57 minutes trailhead to trailhead.  I am proud of the route, and the self contained style that I used.  I think that with proper recon of the route, a strong mountain runner could do it in a push in under 24 hours.  One could debate the aesthetic choice of starting Triangle peak, rather than at Ousel, but the slightly truncated route was worth it to me to drastically simplify the bike shuttle. 

I really enjoyed the traverse.  It provided a good hard mental challenge.  I got behind on water and food and struggled physically more than I thought I would on the first day.  I am still satisfied with my execution.  The route itself was great.  It isn't the most alpine of adventures, but I found it compelling because it is so wild. I also found the terrain clean enough to get in a really nice state of flow, following goat trails and checking off peak after peak.  In terms of recommending the route, it is a Montana gem, but it is just plain long enough to be a pretty substantial commitment.  

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

2020 summer scrambling hilights

Despite ambitions of biking a lot, I ended up spending most summer weekends in the mountains, family camping and rambling around up high at a well dispersed distance from Covid.  Mountain fitness was adequate to romp around efficiently with good confidence in my body.  This summary is of high quality days that don't quite merit their own post.

7/24 Crazy Mountains - Big Timber, Crazy, and Iddings 

After successfully jockeying for a weekend camping site at the Halfmoon campground, I rallied from the trailhead right at first light.  After a brief jaunt up the trail, I started the short bushwack to access the large avalanche path on the Northwest face of Big Timber peak.  The next twoish hours were devoted to climbing this monster avalanche path, and included the full gamut of pleasant tundra walking, loose scree swimming, choss of all varieties, and a good mix of wise and stupid route finding.  I summited about 3.5 hours into the day.  

Starting up the long climb to Big Timber peak shortly after dawn.  
Must return to ski this grand face some day.

To my immense chagrin, unforecast storms started rolling through, so I put all of my clothes on and tried to keep moving as best I could among the light snow flurries.  I was intimidated by the ridge line from Big Timber to Crazy, especially with the poor weather and my committing position.  I ended up bypassing the crest by linking up ledges on the North side.  My route was safe, but it wasn't optimal because it took a really long time.  In retrospect, I wish I had spent more time aspiring to stay on the crest.  Soon enough, I emerged on the Northeast ridge of Crazy peak.  Insert big sigh of relief.  

The harder-than-it-looks scrambling between Big Timber and Crazy peaks.

The next section of the day went smoothly.  Weather improving, check.  Crazy peak summit, check.  Descend to Crazy/Iddings col, check.  Loose rock and exposure made the East ridge of Iddings more intimidating than what I expected.  But it is a good route. I took my time and got it done. 

Near the summit of Iddings, looking back at Cracy peak and the fun ridge section. 

The egress was smooth.  I relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful country around Pear and Granite lakes.  Soon enough, I was back in the campground a few hours later than expected but still in time for dinner.  It is clear that my head and skills for efficiently working through loose easy 4th class terrain are poor, and I was humbled by the outing.  That said, it was rewarding to slow down, dig in, and stay on top of risk assessment.  And I'm glad that I kept at it to safely complete the link up.  Around 13 hours

8/15 Pintlers - Storm Lake to Haggin  

I rallied at 4 am during day one of a weekend family camping trip to traverse from our camp at Storm lake to Mount Haggin.  I have been excited to do this outing for several years, but it is a big outing to shoehorn into a day from town.  The day was pretty straightforward.  I summited Little Rainbow at sunrise, pointed it East, and kept at it over the beautiful summits of Howe, Evans, 10,376 and 10,282.  Loose scree coupled with a generally low energy body kept me moving slowly, and I topped out on Haggin fairly knackered.  The descent out to Anaconda went quickly enough.  Throughout the traverse, I benefited from abundant late season snow patches to refill water regularly.  

Looking back at Howe and Little Rainbow from near the summit of Howe.

The most elegant section from 10,282 to Haggin.

The real kicker of the day was climbing 3.000 vertical feet into a head wind on the return bike shuttle up a busy Highway 1.  I was too tired to enjoy it, plus my neuroma flared up. It was a suffer fest.  But I did manage 10,000 feet of elevation gain for the day, and slunk into camp just in time for dinner.  If I ever do this outing again self supported, I will do the bike shuttle in the other direction. 

Great outing. 

It was a high gravity day.  I took it as a shot across the bow for not overdoing it physically this summer.  I spent the next day in full rest mode, took the next week off from any workouts.  Two weeks later, I was fully recovered and ready for the full Flathead traverse.  

8/22 Bitterroot, Heavenly Twins and Saint Mary peak loop

Heavenly Twins!

I was able to squeeze this one in on day two of a family camping trip.  This is the third time I have done this outing.  It is so good!  I used sneaky tactics and biked from our camp on the McCalla road to the trailhead, did the loop and biked back to a stashed car at the base of the Saint Mary road. Up trail, down user trail to McCalla lake, over South shoulder of Saint Mary peak, around North ridge of Disappointment peak, up East face of Heavenly twins to North summit, ridge traverse to South summit, back to Saint Mary on the South side of the crest, then up South ridge to Saint Mary summit, where I happened to bump into a much-faster-than-me Doug, and down the trail to the car. 

10/5 Swan Range, Clearwater group traverse

I did a Clearwater group traverse during one of the last fall weather windows.  The Clearwater group is probably my favorite section of the Swan crest because it is so wild.  The goal for the day was to do this outing with a simplified bike shuttle along the back side of the Clearwater loop road and try to find more secure ways to navigate the three most technical steps.  The bike ride down from the Rice ridge trailhead and along the back of the loop was cold but quick.  I gained the crest by climbing the Southwest face of Wolverine peak.  By sticking to the bottom of the dry stream bottom, the lower reaches were remarkably bushwack free, and I just plodded with purpose all the way to the summit.  From there, I was on familiar terrain.  Out and back to Carmine, out to Ptarmigan peak, and up to Ptarmigan point.  I spent more time working through the two 4th class steps on the North ridge of Ptarmigan point, and found a route that felt safe and secure enough to be reliably repeatable.  

Enjoying fall colors and a dry stream bed on long opening climb to Wolverine.

Ptarmigan to Fisher is long, but I was buzzing with excitement from the perfect fall day.  On the North ridge of Fisher, I encountered a step just below the summit that I didn't remember.  I ended up climbing a vertical 5-foot step just East of the crest that involved a couple of committing moves on vertical rock with good hand holds to gain a shallow, easy gully that got me back on the crest.  

Ptarmigan to Fisher.
Golden larch, mountains, crisp fall air.  So good.

On the South ridge of Fisher, there is also one steep step where the crest forms a deep chimney that is just too wide to bridge across.  I had formerly downclimbed loose rock on the SW wall of the chimney, but I ended up downclimbing a 30-foot West facing gully just North of the chimney.  I found it more exposed, but the rock was better, so it felt more reliably safe.  The rest of the traverse to Sunday went smoothly, but I completely missed the climber trail back down to the Rice Ridge saddle.  By the time I realized my error, it was quicker to do a slow but easy descending traverse down to the trail.  Back on the trail, I jogged it out the trailhead.  A little over 10 hours, including the bike shuttle.  

If I ever get into good mountain running shape, I think that a route starting at the Clearwater loop road and ending at the Rice ridge trailhead climbing Wolverine, Ptarmigan peak, Ptarmigan point, Fisher, and Sunday mountain would be an excellent candidate for a FKT route.

Ptarmigan point 9,083 Northeast ridge route: Climb the ridge until you get to a vertical step on the crest with yellow rock.  Instead of taking a ledge to the W. face and climbing a loose easy 5th class chimney, go down a short gully onto the Northeast face, traverse about a hundred yards out onto the face, and climb up an easy gully/chimney system (easy 4th) back to the crest.  Soon after re-gaining the crest, climb a second 20-foot step via an exposed but secure West facing chimney a few feet around the corner from the crest (stout 4th).  Continue to the summit.