Gannett Peak

DAY 3 – SUMMIT DAY

We knew summit day would be rough, and had talked the previous evening at dinner about getting a 7 AM start at the absolute latest. We all woke up around 5AM for the big day, however we ended up not leaving camp until around 8:30 AM. I knew we wouldn’t make the summit with that late of a start, but decided to push forward anyway. The summit was in jeopardy due to 1 PM thunderstorms that roll through in summer months, and you do not want to be at the highest point in the state during a thunderstorm! Hail is also common in these storms. The hike was remarkably flat at the beginning of summit day, following the lake shore and then a clear mountain stream towards the summit (which we still have not yet seen at this point). We got to the end of the second Titcomb lake and all stood and scratched our head, saying “so where’s the trail?” What we saw was the lake valley end with all three sides surrounded by cliffs.

It turned out; one of those cliffs was our trail, called Bonnie’s Pass. We started our push up Bonnie’s Pass which was enormous. At a 45% incline, 13,100 foot elevation and 1200 foot elevation gain, saying it was a challenge is an understatement. Combine this with the fact that the “trail” was bus size boulders, glaciers, melted glacial streams and rocks that broke loose with every step, potentially hurting the climbers below you. We got about 20% of the way up and had to stop to gear up for snow and ice. We changed into our winter gear as the temperature dropped, put on our crampons and broke out the ice axes, and we needed them. Because we got a late start, the snow was softer than we wanted, which caused clumping, sliding and breaking through the snow. After about 4 hours of non-stop climbing, I reached the top of Bonnies Pass. Mark arrived about 30 minutes behind me. Shawn and Michael brought up the rear about an hour later.

Because it was around noon at this point, we knew the summit was a bust. We still had 3 miles, 1200 feet down, and another 1200 feet up of climbing before reaching the summit. None the less, we finally got our first look at the summit after 4 days of traveling. At 13,100 feet elevation we were only 700 feet below the summit, but still so far away. Mark and I decided we were going to summit SOMETHING on this trip, so we pushed for the nearest peak while Shawn and Michael rested and fought off elevation sickness. We climbed about 600 feet straight up reaching the summit of Miriam Peak and snapped some amazing pictures. We rested about 30 minutes at the peak and headed back down.

After another quick snack, we started our climb back down toward basecamp before the storms rolled in. We were utterly exhausted, but kept going. Admittedly, even with prior experience, going down Bonnie’s Pass was quite scary due to its steep slope. It felt like standing on a vertical wall, and it was a long way down. I decided to use the axes and commit, while the rest of the group moved at a more tepid pace. We met back up at a more shallow spot in the middle of the pass and I shared “glissading” with the group, and taught by example. After a running head start we slid down a 500 foot sledding hill. Half way through the slide we passed an Asian climbing group and watched them all break out their cameras and start snapping pictures profusely. I suppose they had never seen anything like it. We got back to base camp around 4 PM and crashed hard. We ate dinner and watched the sun set, without much conversation. We also knew we had a big day ahead of us…again.

DAY 4

We woke without an alarm and ate breakfast around 8. Filtered water and hydrated as much as possible. Day 4 consisted of 20 miles, straight out, with 9,050 feet of cumulative elevation gain. About a mile into the hike we were met with a thunderstorm and lightening. Mark and I were traveling in a pair, with Shawn and Michael traveling together. When the storm hit Mark and I knew we had a long day and couldn’t afford to sit around while the storm came down. We put our waterproof glacier gear on and pushed forward through the downpour. We passed a few people heading towards the summit taking refuge during the storm. The rain let up in about an hour and the sun broke through. We broke for lunch at Island Lake and took a 30 minute break. Shawn and Michael caught up with us just as we were leaving and did the same. After a steep climb up Indian Pass we pushed for Seneca Lake. Just as we reached Seneca Lake another storm hit, and this one was bigger. We were just about to keep hiking and the hail hit hard. Nickle sized hail cracked on the rocks around us and there was no cover anywhere near us.  We started sprinting down the trail and found a pine tree as shelter. The hail still broke through the pine tree, but not as severe. The view of Seneca Lake during a hail storm was really unique, and it looked like the surface of the water was boiling due to all the splashing. We had a quick snack, and as I was packing up my gear I smashed my head into the sharp end of a broken off limb. I felt the blood roll down my face, so I knew it was deep, but I didn’t think it was that bad. Mark wasn’t pleased while he waited, but it eventually stopped bleeding. We started hiking and after passing the other end of Seneca Lake a couple day-hiking groups asked “how much further to Seneca Lake?” We told them we just came from there and it was quite a bit further, and they shouldn’t be caught out here without overnight gear. It was about 5PM at this point, so it was approaching dusk and these people still had to hike back out. That’s when Mark pointed out we forgot my head was covered in dry blood, and we hadn’t showered in 4 days. That explains why they kept saying “It must be a much harder hike than we thought!”, which it was. 2 hours later we passed our Day 1 camping spot, and kept going.

Mark and I maintained an impressive pace, and hadn’t seen Shawn and Michael for hours, but we knew we were going to get back to the trail head after dark as it was. Then we got hit by another thunderstorm, bigger than the last. The lightning was pretty terrifying, and every bolt hit the ground somewhere near us. And then it started to hail. We didn’t have any shelter so we pushed for a valley, fast. By the time we found one, the storm let up, go figure. We kept moving for the trail head and skipped dinner. We finally reached Photographer’s Point, which was a welcome site. My ankles and knees were so stiff I couldn’t bend them at this point, which made sitting down a little difficult. We stopped for 10 minutes to eat a snack and it was about 8PM. We both realized if we sat any longer we may not get back up again, so we got back on our feet. Mark had a shooting pain in his hip develop at about this point, and I couldn’t bend my ankles or knees, so walking was pretty tough and we must have looked ridiculous. We hiked another 3-4 hours through a light mist and the dark, and started to worry we took a wrong turn somewhere. Eventually, I was about 10 minutes ahead of mark to scout out the trail, and finally saw a sign we had passed on Day 1. The parking lot was another 30 minutes and I waited for Mark at the car. It was raining at this point and about 45 degrees, and some hypothermia started to set in, which has never happened to me before, even in Wisconsin winters.

When mark got back we fired up the car and turned the heat on full blast. We looked at each other and busted out laughing that we actually made it. We decided Mark was in better condition to drive because I couldn’t stop shaking, so he drove into town and found a local brewery that was open. We told them we just got off the mountain, to which they replied, “at 10:00 PM?!” They had awesome beer and burgers, but we really didn’t eat much. I was still freezing and shaking so I bought a sweatshirt from the display window, which Mark is still probably laughing at. A short while later we got a call from Shawn saying they made it off the mountain at about 11 PM. We had a lot of trouble finding a hotel room because they were all full for some reason, but we did eventually, took showers and crashed hard.

 

Day 5

We had to be up at 7 and depart at 8 to make it back in time for our flight. We were tired and looked ridiculous trying to walk in funny ways in the lobby the next morning, but oh well. We drove back to Salt Lake City the way we came in, and enjoyed the nice views. We made our flight and headed back to civilization and the daily grind.

We will be back! And we will make the summit next time!