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| Photo captured by Beartooth Mountain Guides a couple of weeks before my climb |
It was all the way back in 2013 when I was planning on visiting Montana for a dual trip first visiting Glacier National Park followed by running my Montana marathon in Missoula. I looked at the map but the Beartooth Mountains were a long distance away from Missoula. Additionally after just a bit of research like there was something special about this mountain that hiring a mountain guide might be a necessary component.
Fast forward twelve years to 2024 and my three remaining
difficult 50 states were Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Each of these are difficult in their own
way. Idaho didn’t require a guide so it
was first of my schedule of the three.
After a successful summit of Borah Peak in 2024 it seemed like 2025
might be the year for Granite Peak. I
tried to do a little research and quickly realized a guide for a couple day
climb was going to be expensive, or at least a lot more than a single day guide
like I used on Mt. Hood a couple decades earlier. I mistakenly assumed there would be groups
all summer and I could sign of with any of them that had an opening. Plans for 2025 quickly took a different turn
and I ended up taking my daughter to Colorado where we took a road trip to
Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma’s high points for my main summer vacation.
Now it’s January 2026 and I’m thinking about the summer and
how I’m going to tackle Granite Peak. I
continued my research about the peak and was aware that the rock climbing
section at the top was beyond my ability to do alone, so I reached out to
Beartooth Mountain Guides and figured out that they do 1:1 or max 2:1 guide
service. When you are the only client
there is a flat price, however, if there are two climbers than the rate is
slightly discounted for each.
I woke up one morning with the realization that I’m not
getting any younger and I probably only have a few years left for Montana as
well as Wyoming’s high point so this year was as good as any so pulled the
trigger and made a reservation for myself.
Cost is always a factor in anything I do so I left the door open with
the guide service to pair me with another climber. This decision wasn’t taken lightly. There is already a high failure rate just
because of the weather, but the second biggest factor is physical fitness. I knew I would be ready and knew that
whoever they paired me with I wanted to vet to make sure they were well
qualified.
I received an email on March 8th that Beartooth Guides found
a guy that would match my strength and experience so they put us in touch with
each other, Of course, it was natural
that each of us had a similar concern for the others climbing experience,
however after a few texts back and forth I think we both felt comfortable with
the pairing so planning continued.
There are many ways to train for climbing a tall peak and
one thing I like to incorporate into my training is do a few hikes at elevation
to get the body ready for the elevation.
I was fortunate to add a 2nd hike of Humphreys Peak in
Arizona which was nearly the same elevation.
A second hike was in my back yard hiking Mt. Baldy (10k) for a sunrise
summit. Of course every weekend all
spring and summer I did a 6 mile hike at Peters Canyon with my trusty hiking
companion Juno.
The one thing out of my comfort zone for this climb was the
last 1,000 feet which is a section of several class 2, class 3, class 4, and
even class 5 rock climbing. Class 2 and
Class 3 are common and didn’t worry me but the class 4 and class 5 were
terrifying, especially because they were at the very top of the route. I was assured by Beartooth Mountain Guides
that the 1 day of rock climbing essentials class would prepare me for the final
pitches of the climb.
If there is one thing that is uncontrollable about this
adventure it’s the weather. Less than a
month before my date I saw they got two feet of snow I was instantly concerned so reached out to
Beartooth Mountains Guides and they said not to worry, that’s very common even
in the summer months and it will get warm and melt away. Well, next there was a heat wave in the
100’s which should have taken care of the snow. The heat wave was then followed by
torrential rains.
As far as planning dates around my trip, I generally fly in
and fly out without many extra days to enjoy the area. My 4 days and 3 nights on the mountain were
a Sunday thru Wednesday, which especially weren’t my typical Friday thru
Sunday. I decided to take the whole
week off as well I had to even take two days off the week before to get to Red
Lodge.
Originally there were thoughts about my good friend Greg
traveling to the same area at the same time and was going to coordinate a few
days overlapping to travel together, but it didn’t work out so I was mostly on
my own. I was already going to spend 3
nights in Red Lodge so since I was flying into Bozeman I decided to spend my
first night there, then make my way to Red Lodge the next morning via the
Beartooth Scenic By-way which is an epic road.
As the climbing date was drawing near I received a text
message from our mountain guide and created a group chat with Todd for all of
us to communicate. I was tossed
between footwear and if I should wear hiking boots or if I could get by with my
Hoka Speedgoat trail running shoes?
Also in August wasn’t sure if we would need an ice axe and crampons to
cross the infamous snow bridge. Good
news, we wouldn’t have to pack either one!
The date was finally approaching and bags were packed. I flew to Bozeman via Denver. As luck would have it Parisa was flying to
Ohio via Denver and our flights nearly overlapped. I arrived in Bozeman early afternoon and
picked up my car rental, excited to get a new Ford Bronco! I sought out my hotel and checked in and
headed to downtown Bozeman. The streets
were shut down for some kind of activity later in the afternoon. Main street was cool and fun to check out. Montana Ale Works was recommended so I
stopped in to see what they had cold to drink. It was a serious heat wave and temperatures
were in the high 90’s. At this point
I’m thinking we are not going to freeze on the mountain. Soon texts starting coming in wishing me
luck and to be careful in the heat. I
ended up talking to the bartender and another customer about what to do/see in
the area and the town Livingston came up.
I still hadn’t had lunch or dinner and was tossed up with
how to spend the rest of the afternoon.
I stumbled upon an Ace Hardware right in the middle of main street and
just happened to have a travel bag malfunction where a clip from my shoulder
strap snapped off so I stopped into see if I could find something to repair it
and of course they had the perfect part for the repair. While in the store I talked to a couple of
the employees for recommendations of scenic mountain drives and they had a few
suggestions, one included driving towards Big Sky, MT.
So Big Sky was the plan, a beautiful route along a river to
a mountain ski town. I arrived at
dinner time and since I hadn’t had lunch, I was starving. It ends up Big Sky was also a happening
place even in the summer and had a big concert in the park. I grabbed some food at a local restaurant
but never made it the extra couple of miles to the ski resort. There was only one way home which was back
the way that I came. My climbing
partner for Granite was also climbing Borah Peak in Idaho the day I arrived and
heard from him that he made it and was heading towards Montana.
Friday morning I woke up and planned on heading towards Red
Lodge the scenic way. I think by
highway it was only 1.5 hours away, but the scenic route would take 10
hours. What better way to “gulp” so
loaded up the Bronco and was off. First
stop was Livingston which is a little town that was recommended a day
before. There wasn’t much in town so I
continued onward, this route a different highway than the day before to Big
Sky. I would head to Gardiner. Another beautiful drive and 100’s of Elk spotted in a pasture along
the river. Even a convoy of more elk
were crossing the highway and stopping traffic.
When I arrived at Gardiner it immediately seemed familiar
when I saw the large stone arch which marks the North entry to Yellowstone
National Park. I had to cut
through the northern corner of
Yellowstone to catch the start of the Beartooth Highway. While I had been to the stone gates at the
entrance once before I had never explored the northern part of the national
park. The first stop was Mammoth Hot
Springs, so I parked the car and did a tour on foot of the volcanic area. Next was onto Lamar Valley which seems to be
a home for a large population of buffalo.
Lamar Valley did not disappoint and there were hundreds if not a
thousand buffalo! I made my way out
of the park on the north east then thru Silver Gate and Cooke City on onto the
Beartooth Scenic By-way. I was in no
hurry so stopped and literally every single roadside attraction. The road and the views are unbelievable
start to finish. I saw a lookout tower
on top of a hill and a sign for the dirt road to take me there. Since I have an all wheel drive SUV I thought
to myself, “Why not?” The road twisted
and turned all the way to the top. The
lookout tower was staffed with a volunteer that acted as a tour guide. He pointed out Granite Peak in the distance
20 miles away. My first glimpse of the
sacred mountain! Its deep in the
Beartooth Mountains and not easily visible from very many locations. I was excited to get my first glimpse of
where I was heading in a couple of days.
I continued higher and higher on the By-way all the way to
Red Lodge. I know I’d seen parts of this
road before but I’d never driven end to end before. I had very little phone coverage all day,
but managed to get a message to Todd he could check into our hotel if he got
there before me as well if he hasn’t had dinner I should make it to town about
8pm. I finally got cell coverage on
the outskirts of Red Lodge and let him know I would be to the hotel soon. We made our introductions and heading a few
blocks away to downtown Red Lodge.
Saturday was our gear check and rock climbing class, but not
until 2pm so we had a few hours to burn.
He found a park across the street next to the river where we spent a few
hours in the morning. From there we
headed to downtown again and found a pizza place for lunch with leftovers we
could pack for lunch on the trail. We
arrived at gear check which was very low key.
We both had everything on the list they recommended and mostly tried to
figure out what we could remove from our packs to lighten them up for the long
hike.
Part two of our check-in included on hands rope training, so we followed our guide a couple miles outside of Red Lodge to a rock craig. We parked on the road in front of the rock and hiked a short couple of minutes to the base. We started by showing him we could tie a basic figure eight follow through. From here he ascended the wall directly in front of us and then coached us into both belaying up the rock at the same time. I would be the first to admit I was petrified of this exercise. He used a couple of cams on his way up and my job was to removed them as I climbed up, that is provided I could make it up that far. The rock had horrible hand holds so it was really hard to get a good grip with my hands. I painstakingly made my way up very slowly. Of course I climbed past too high and had a hard time removing the cams as I passed by. I hadn’t exerted much effort but I was short of breath and my throat was completely dry. I was relieved when Todd said he had the same feeling in his throat as well as he too his progress up the rock wasn’t any faster than me.
I always wondered how rock climbers don’t leave all their
gear behind when the climb up as well how do they get down after they get to
the top with all their gear? We climbed
up to a first ledge where we were reminded that we don’t want to drop any gear
and he gave us a few pointers to connect anything we removed immediately to our
harness. The ledge gave us a break and
a chance to catch our breath. Once
again our guide scaled up the rock effortlessly and then put the two of us on
dual belays and we had to climb up the 2nd pitch together. It went a little smoother than the
first. All I could think is that if I
had to do this the first time at 12,000 feet from a top of cliff face that I
would for sure turn around.
Making to the top of these two pitches he assured us that
the rock we climb in 2 days is much easier than what we just climbed. I thought, “at least we got that going for
us.” Now he says it is time for the
fun part, repelling down. Once again he
led the way, affixed us before lowering himself and once on the ledge affixed
us for rappel. He said it would be
easy, just keep legs apart and lean back.
Well he made it look much easier, but we were able to safely rappel down
the top half and a second pitch and also safely rappelled down to where we
began the afternoon. He assured us that we both did great and
would have no problem on the mountain.
I’m glad he had confidence in us.
Whether he was being honest or not it gave us some more confidence that
we could do it when the time came on Granite Peak.
Texts starting rolling in from friends wishing me luck as
well as warning of high temperatures in the area. Lower Montana was in a heatwave of over 100
degrees, so the start of the hike was going to be warm. However, Montana’s weather is ever changing
and we could see that our first night on the mountain the temperature was going
to drop over 50 degrees.
We went back to the hotel, packed our backpacks for the next
morning and headed back to downtown Red Lodge for dinner and turning in early
to get some rest before our first day of our hike/backpack. Plans changed, instead of meeting our guide
in Red Lodge, she would meet us at the trailhead. We had about 1.5 hour drive through the
pristine Montana countryside. Google
maps took us on a planned shortcut down miles and miles of easy to traverse
dirt roads. The Bronco ate up the
gravel like it was nothing! I’ve read
that Granite Peak pretty much hides itself until you get to the last mile, but straight
in front of us on the road to the trailhead it seemed probable that the
majestic mountain directly in front of us at the end of the road was Granite,
however, the similarities, it was not Granite Peak.
Our four day hike begins on Sunday, so when we arrived to
the trailhead it was already pretty full.
Afterall, the mountain optimum conditions window is very small so this
came at no surprise with an early August climbing date. Lyndsey
arrived in her Subaru just a couple minutes after us and we said our
pleasantries. She was “right to
business” and suggested that she wanted us to use all of her climbing gear, so
we unloaded everything excluding our climbing harnesses and exchanged with her
gear. She had a double locking
carabiner she preferred as well as a little bit longer of a lanyard for
affixing to anchors. Our plan for the
day was to hike to camp 1, about 8 miles from the trailhead. I finally solved my biggest dilemma of what
shoes to wear. She was going to hike in
a pair of low top hiking/climbing shoes so I opted to leave my hiking boots
behind and hike in my Hoka Speedgoats. I
packed my Gortex Speedgoats which if we have to hike thru any swampy areas on the
Plateau I should be able to keep my feet dry.
The trail was gentle along a the river which made for a nice warm up and a chance to get used to carrying a heavy pack. I never weighed my final pack but best guess with water and food it was about 55 lbs. In no time at all we already were at Mystic Lake overlooking down on the dam where we made our decent down to the lake. The trail hugged the left side of the lake and there was an obvious turn to the left that leads away from the lake and up the switchbacks. There are about 26 switchbacks gaining about 3,000 feet in a little over 2 miles before reaching the Froze-to-Death Plateau.
I thought we were going to take a break every 1.5 hours, but
I think we covered 3.5 miles and 2 hours before we took our first break, which
was finally a chance to take the heavy pack off of our shoulders. The leftover pizza from lunch the day before
hit the spot. Every time we took a break
I would down another slice. Our break
didn’t last long and soon she was herding us onward and upwards. The switchbacks headed straight up the
mountain adjacent to the lake so we had a great view all the way to the
Froze-to-Death Plateau. I think taking
pictures on the hike is a good excuse to slow down, however, every time I took
a picture I would lose 15 seconds and seemed as if I kept falling behind. Not that coming from sea level is any excuse,
ha, but both Todd and Lyndsey live at least a mile high so their bodies were
already acclimated. I was in great
shape, but sucking wind to keep up with them.
The scenery was so beautiful that we were soon the switchback ended before I had expected, what a relief to have those behind us. We had a clearly defined trail since leaving the trailhead so I was a bit surprised when the trail seemingly came to an end and it seemed as if we were in a matter of speaking bushwhacking straight up a steep incline. The sudden steepness was demoralizing and I soon fell behind. We had also probably covered 6 miles and hadn’t had our 2nd break after a good 4 hours of hiking so when asked if I needed a breather I obliged. Once again the break was too short and we were herded off into the barren plateau. We pushed on the last couple of miles without any clear direction where we should be headed. I do think there were large cairns stated high with the general direction we should be heading.
In the distance I spotted a couple tents and was relieved that we must be finally getting close to our camp 1 site which was just below a large snow field that would provide a clean water source. I’ve done some brutal runs, bikes, and hikes in my lifetime but trying to keep up with Lyndsey, especially without more frequent breaks, I was closer to my limit than I had thought. I’m not unfamiliar with leg cramps, so when one is coming I can feel it at it’s onset. I had already dropped my pack and started emptying it’s contents and wanted to begin setting up my tent. Each and every time my leg was bent my legs would both lock up and put me in agony. Every time I tried to move the cramps would come back and it was all I could do to keep from screaming. I decided to take a walk around the camp area and as long as I kept moving I seemed to keep the cramps away, but a second time I tried to set up my tent and again had to pause and take another walk.
The cold front hadn’t blown in yet so it was still very warm. With the tent now set up it provided cover from the sun, but it was still quite warm inside the tent as it was getting all the direct sunlight. I don’t think I got any sleep, but a long nap was welcomed relief from the torturous hike from the trailhead. There is limited cell signals on the mountain and no signal at all from camp. Lyndsey used every chance she could where she could get a signal to check on the weather. She’s done this hike more than 5 times but less than 10 times, but never has she climbed without getting rained on. So far we were in the clear, the only thing we had to contend with it seemed was the smoke from far away fires clouding up the air as well as the promised drop in temperature over night.
I opened my eyes from my nap and to my surprise I saw three
mountain goats walking around camp.
They appeared to be a family, with a young baby in stride with them
wherever they roamed. They were
beautiful, but I would later learn they are an absolute pest. They are crazy about the salt in human pee
so whenever you walked to the edge of camp to pee they would follow you and not
even give you chance to finish before their horns were inches away. There were also some marmots close by, but
they seemed to be afraid of people (or the mountain goats) and kept their
distance.
Camp 1 elevation was 10,700 feet. I’d slept this high on a mountain only a couple other times and as usual I didn’t have much of an appetite. The cold front wouldn’t blow in till the middle of the night, so crawling into the tent at dusk was not too cold, however, by the time we woke we could feel that it was much cooler than the day before. I brought plenty of layers so I was well equipped for whatever mother nature would throw at us.
We made our plans to break camp in the morning and an apparently
easy day 2 to high camp. There are two
high camps, and our plan originally was to go to the highest, however, there
were reports that the water source for the highest camp was running low, and
because of the freezing temperatures, our water source could freeze at
night. It would be a game day decision,
but it looked as if we would go to the lower of the two high camps, only about
a half of mile apart. The good thing
is that I wouldn’t have to carry my heavy pack as far, the bad thing is that
there is supposed to be a good view of Granite Peak from the higher camp which
was blocked from where we ended up staying for the night.
Unlike the relentless nearly eight mile uphill hike the
first day, our second day hike to camp 2, while only 2.5 miles, it was no joke
as it was a constant up hill and no obvious trail to follow. There were tall cairns in the distance which
was the general direction we needed to head.
Our first day thru the Froze-to-Death Plateau was rock, but dry. Our 2nd day there were a couple of
soggy sections I carefully try to step on higher ground to avoid getting my
feet wet. Once again our guide was
energetic and we barely took a break all the way to camp. I didn’t feel the need to rush so with the
heavy pack, and some more picture taking, at times I lagged behind. There was a section she knew she could get a
cell signal so she told us to press on while she tried to get a weather update
so Todd and I paved the way all the way to camp 2.
We started hiking by 8:30 a.m. and only 2 hours and 21 minutes we arrived well before lunch time. I could have not made it to high camp the first day at the pace we were on so I’m so glad we made it a 3 night trip which made day 2 more or less a rest day all afternoon. Even though we were camping at 11,700 feet I felt way better than I did when we reached camp 1 the day before. We were once again greeted by another group (same group) of mountain goats and a couple of adorable marmots that had a constant eye on us all day long.
When we went thru our gear check in two days earlier, we were told that Lindsey likes to get an early start on the mountain. It’s not uncommon to hike early in the morning to assure that you are off the high ridge of the mountain before any afternoon thunderstorms roll in. I didn’t realize that would mean a midnight alarm and breaking camp by 1a.m. I guess the rest day was going to come in handy to prepare us for the early start. We are a little higher up and the weather is a little colder so it seemed as if the early morning hike was going to be a little cold. Not to mention I’m going to be doing the scariest rock climbing of my entire life someplace I’ve never been at 12,500 feet in the pitch black darkness. I supposed that is both a blessing and a curse since I can only see as far as might headlight will shine so I won’t know what’s either ahead or below us.
Around dinner time Lindsey I had and awkward conversation. She reminded me that once we break camp at night if any one of us turn around the whole group will need to turn around. She set a 12 hour window for us for the last 2 miles up and 2 miles back down. Apparently because of the rock climbing the return trip is not much faster which meant we had 6 hours to hike/climb 2 miles else we would all have to turn around. That was a perfectly ordinary conversation, but then she went one step further and suggested that if I didn’t feel up for it I could sleep in and just walk back down together after they summited. I was not exactly happy with this part of the conversation, after all I shelled out some good hard earned money for her help to get me to the summit. I knew that I could keep up without my heavy pack and assured her I was up for the challenge.
We were all in bed early and got a few hours of sleep before
I heard rustling around in both of the tents nearby. We were the only hikers that stayed at high
camp that night so we had the mountain more or less to ourselves. I didn’t need much time to get ready in the
morning as I had everything packed so all I had to do was get up and make a
bathroom stop and I would be ready to go.
Once again, Lindsey as I interpreted had a smart ass comment if I was
getting up and going with them or staying behind. Of course I was ready to go and tried not to
let that bother me the rest of the day because I had much bigger things to
worry about! i.e. rock climbing.
We broke camp 3 minutes ahead of schedule. Already I felt like myself moving more
swiftly with a lighter daypack. It was
chilly but when you are moving uphill you warm up real quickly. In all my years of hiking mountains I’m not
sure if I was ever introduced to the word “talus” which by definition is just a
bunch of rocks and boulders that accumulate naturally on a cliff or
mountain. By the end of the morning I
would hike/climb over all the talus I would want to for the rest of my life. Even though it was dark we could make out
the shadow of Granite Peak in front of us in the moon light.
The first section, lets just call it the Lower Talus
Approach is easy navigation with only moderate effort. Basically hiking thru a boulder field towards
the base of Granite Peak’s south face.
Lindsey’s best advice of the trip was to bring only one pole thru this
section so you could use the opposite hand for balance. We settled on a good rhythm and assessed the
weather which still looked good/dry.
There is no set path thru the talus so there is no obvious way to
travel. Route finding might have been a
little easier in the daylight but we made it thru with no issues. Even with our lighter packs, Lindsey pushed
us on a steady pace. My heartrate was
in check, but I was sucking wind trying to keep from running out of breath.
The second section, was the main talus fields even nicknamed
“the slabs”. The route transitions from
hiking to constant scrambling. There
was a big story in the news of a hiker that fell on his pole which pierced his
body and he ended up turning around and hiking all the way back down the
mountain. I’m pretty sure he must have
been in this area so you betcha’ I was
extra careful with my one pole from here on out. The granite slabs became larger and footing
was more difficult as loose rocks became more common. Up to
this point it was obvious which way to go and there was no risk of exposure to
falling.
The third section after you pass the slabs could be
classified as the south west ramp or main couloir. Another word I was unfamiliar with which is a
narrow gully, gorge, or cleft in mountain terrain, often filled with snow or
ice. This section is where you finally
feel that you are truly “on the mountain.”
I had envisioned the infamous snow bridge crossing was lower in the
talus, but it separates the casual hiking and scrambling on the rocks to the
actual rock climbing. At the snow
bridge this is where we dropped our poles, careful to leave them upright so the
marmots don’t eat the grips to get the salt and roped together, and roped up
together for the first time.
The snow bridge was frozen solid so Lindsey, the only one
with an ice axe crossed first and tried her best to carve foot steps for Todd
and I to use to cross. It was a very
short section, but someplace that if you fell either way it would be the end of
you. After safely crossing the snow
bridge, this is where Class 3 and occasional Class 4 moves are required to
continue up the mountain. There would
be 7 separate sections that our rock climbing training would come in and we
would need to belay up. Lindsey took
the lead and then helped each of us up the route from above.
The three things to worry about at this point is the
weather, falling off the mountain, and not getting hit by rockfall from
climbers above. I was in the middle so
I was mostly safe from rock fall because Lyndsey was more fluid across sections
she scaled ahead of me. I knocked a
couple rocks down as I tried to scramble up and Todd took a couple hits with
rocks I bumped down. There were a
couple sections where we had two separate pitches on the way up so it was real
similar to our training, however, the rocks had much better hand holds so it
wasn’t as difficult as training. Also
all the nerves and dry mouth I experienced on my training climb prepared me
well and I felt safe and confident all they way through each pitch.
The couloir forms a mostly natural route, so even in the
dark Lyndsey seemed to know where she was going. While Lindsey would climb in front of us it
gave us each a break to catch our breath.
Between our different rock
climbing sections on belay, there was traversing along a cliffs which we
remained roped together ever since the snow bridge. The
next two sections are called the upper notch and the keyhole. Near the top of the couloir the route
reaches a notch in the skyline.
Exposure of fall increases dramatically. Especially here is where our guide paid
off. I would have never been able to
climb the route as well the route is not all that straightforward so it’s not
hard to make a wrong turn or try to climb up a more difficult route. This section’s terrain becomes more
technical and airy.
I looked at my watch at one point and it appeared we were
only 100 feet below the summit and shared with Todd and we were both surprised
how fast we got to this point. It was
still dark so it’s not like we could look up and see how far we had left to
climb but we gathered that we were almost there.
The final section is the most exposed climbing section of
the route and often referred to as the summit ridge and final scramble. The final climb is just below the ridge on
exposed ledges and gullies. This is the
psychological crux for most climbers because of the exposure rather than the
difficulty itself. The sun still had
not started to rise so of course we couldn’t see what was below us so I never
had and jitters the entire route. The
summit is reached after a short but dramatic finish. Just shy of the summit was the first time
Lindsay suggested to us that we were almost or actually there.
Our turn around time was supposed to be 6 hours, we did it
in 4. If we climb down the same speed
that would put is 8-9 hours or 3-4 hours faster that her cutoff parameters. She often hikes with only 1 client and I’m
pretty sure the 3 of us hiked/climbed more quickly than all of her other
summits while be it she had two people, not just 1 to belay up the 7 sections. We did try to drink and eat all the way up
and had a few minutes every time she went up a pitch first. We had shared a few high fives and tried to
take in a few more calories.
I’ve seen so many summit pictures, but they are always in the daylight. While I’m happy we made it to the top without running into any weather, I was also a little disappointed that we hadn’t taken a single picture on the way up. While we were on the summit the morning twilight had began to shine, so with night mode on the mobile phone we surprising got a couple decent photos on top. I had layered just right and was never too hot or too cold the entire way to the top. We stayed on the top for a little while but she was dressed the lightest and was getting the coldest so we soon had to turn around and head back down.
There is a saying that getting to the top is only half way
home. Getting back to the car safely is
the most important part. Loose rocks,
fatigue, and downclimbing exposed sections require concentration. Many accidents and near-misses occur during
the decent. We now got to rappel the 7 pitches we climbed
on the way up. I can’t stress enough I
could have never rock climbed up myself nor down myself without killing
myself. While the cost of guide isn’t
cheap it’s the best money I ever spent.
All the way up I was never scared and owe partly to the darkness, but also to the confidence I had in our guide. Each pitch we descended there was more and more sunlight and finally we could get out our phones and take some pictures of the terrain below. Our best pictures of the 4 days were taken on the way back down to camp 2. We maintained the same order, Lindsey first, then me then Todd. I took pictures of Todd and he took pictures of me on each pitch. The final pitch was a two part so it just worked out that we changed positions and he climbed in the middle so he got one shot of me from above as I rappelled which is the best shot of the hike. Of course I then got one chance to get him rappelling from below. The two of us never really got the technique just right and more or less walked down the rappel vs gliding down like Lindsey. I guess is just something that comes with time.
Our final obstacle of the decent was the final crossing of the snow bridge, once safely across we could unrope and it was more or less just a hike/scramble back down to the talus field of rocks. While there was no more fear of falling, but the hike down is still steep and progress is slow as getting up at starting the hike at 1am as well as nearly six hours on trail was setting in. We passed our first climber on the way up. He would have started from Camp1 and while we were nearly safely off the high ridge, he had just began. He asked me for directions and I was the last person on the mountain qualified to give him directions. We would later meet again at Camp 1 the last morning and learned he lost his way and it was a little more technical than he planned so did the right thing and turned around just below the summit.
Looking back over our shoulder we could finally see the mountain we had just climbed for the first time. Wow! Again there is no defined route through the talus field but there are a few small cairns that you can follow. We ended up descending well below where we should have been so had to make an ascent back up to get back on track. Ugh. On the way to the summit you drop 500 feet thru the talus which means on the way back to camp you need to climb back up the 500 feet. I think the climb back up the talus was the hardest part of the day as I was already tired and exhausted from everything we hiked/climbed all morning.
At last we made it thru the talus and it was all downhill back to camp 2 from here. We got back to camp and neither Todd or I were in any rush and hoped to take an hour nap before descending further to camp 1, however, Lindsey apparently afraid of thunderstorms wanted us to get back to camp 1 as soon as possible, which meant no rest break, packing up our camp and beginning the 2.5 mile hike. Hiking back thru the Froze to Death plateau was easier than the way up but footing is a constant challenge so it progress was still slow once again with heavy packs. I knew I would be a little slow so asked if I could start off by myself knowing that they would catch me. I was directed to head towards a tall cairn that you could barely see in the distance and started on my way reaching only a couple minutes ahead and was able to put my pack down and take a quick breather.
The next 1.5 miles to camp 1 we all picked a slightly different pathway and soon were split up, but not before Todd and I had a chance to talk. Apparently Lindsey had talked to Todd about hiking all the way back down to the car. After getting up at 1 a.m. the last thing I wanted to do is hike another 8.5 miles with a heavy pack farther than we needed to. I wasn’t shy with Todd, I said to him no way. He kind of thought the same thing and we both thought would be find for a night on our own and if she really wanted to hike all the way out she could do without us. The three of us finally arrived at camp 1, they had already been there a few minutes before me and no one had began to unpack. Again the conversation was had that she wanted to go and we both refused but encouraged her to go on. It’s against her company’s policy to leave two hikers on the mountain so reluctantly she was forced to go with our wishes. We unpacked our packs setting our tents back up in the same places we did one night before. We left camp 2 at 10:42 and were back to camp 1 by noon, only about 1 hour and 18 minutes down, so again had a 2nd day of relaxing/napping in our tents.
Beartooth Mountain Guides doesn’t guide on Gannett, but another hiker with his guide came up from the trailhead to camp 1 with a different guide service that actually does guide on Gannett. His summit day cut off time we learned is 7 hours, so gives his client 2 more hours than we would have had if we were moving too slow. Todd was heading to Gannett next so he had a lot of questions about the route as he was thinking about a non traditional route which the guide knew nothing about. We had dinner together and then each settled back to their tent for the night.
No plan was discussed for morning departure but sunrise
seems to be the common theme for backpacking, so by the time I was awaken both
Lindsey and Todd had their packs all packed and ready to go so I felt all eyes
were on me as I rummaged everything back in my pack for the hike down. While it took us over 6 hours to hike up
from the trailhead she assured us we could make it down in 4. We started once again down the Froze to
Death Plateau without a trail to follow.
It wasn’t obvious which way to go and on the lower part of the plateau
there didn’t seem to be obvious cairns or they were misplaced and not in line
with the line she chose for our hike out.
Before long we were already back to the switchbacks. I had already layered down before the hike and had shorts. She was getting warm so encouraged me to keep hiking and she was going to take a quick break to take off a layer. Todd didn’t hear her say for me to continue and didn’t know I was continued on. When they got started I later learned that’s when Todd didn’t realize I kept going, nor did he know she told me to keep going. I hightailed it all the way down to the Mystic Lake and kept going. I knew there was an uphill section that they would catch me up the damn but I made it half way up before I could finally see them below along the lake. I made it up the damn switchbacks and another half of a mile before I finally took my pack off and my first break. They were along in no time and all three of us took a break together.
Since I was flying towards our cars Lindsey told me to go first. I forgot it was another 3 miles to the trailhead and started to run out of energy (and take more pictures) so let her go ahead. For a while Todd and I hiked together with her up front but eventually we all split up into our own pace. The car was sight for sore eyes. We had done it, the 3rd hardest highpoint in the country, next to only Wyoming and Alaska. The drive back to down was relaxing and filled with great stories of our adventure together. Todd called and our room wasn’t ready so since we had to drive thru downtown Red Lodge it worked out perfect to stop for one of the best Bison/Elk burgers I’ve ever had. The room was still not quite ready when we made it back to the hotel, but the pool and hot tube were available and calling my name.
Epic adventure! What courage and stamina that took. Pictures and descriptions are so cool.
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