(UT-) Montana: Granite Peak

Montana's Granite peak might be the most technical of the state highpoints that are not glaciated. It was not until the 1920s that it was climbed for the first time. To have a good chance of reaching the peak I decided to sign up for a trip guided by Sam of Jackson Hole Mountain Guides. Before starting the 4-5 day hike I met up with guide Kenny and two more climbers (Lisa & John) for a climbing school covering ropeclimbing on rock and simul-climbing and some other useful techniques.

We met up in Cody, and traveled to close to Buffalo Bill dam where we climbed on a nice location which required walking through a couple tunnels with traffic. The site was quite popular and several climbing parties were there to practice skills and test the different routes available. We climbed on a nice piece of rock with low difficulty, but with a lot of variation in stone and moves.

After we all managed to climb up connected to a single rope we also had some time to enjoy the view and practice being lowered by the guide. Weather was great with slight wind which we hoped would last for another couple of days.

On Saturday we met in the morning at the trial head at west rosebud lake. Our guide Sam divided some food  and shared items among our packs while he carried most technical climbing gear including the rope. Once everything was packed my 85 L pack was quite full, but I managed to keep everything including the sleeping pad inside the pack, and only had the mandatory group bear canister attached on the outside of the backpack. Starting weight was about 55 lb, but it quickly moved down in weight as water was consumed together with food.

The first day involved hiking some 4 000 ft of elevation difference along about 7 mile of trail. We started up to the dammed mystic lake feeling pretty good in the nice weather as can be seen from the smiles displayed by Lisa and John below.

Mystic lake (below) provided some nice campgrounds and rest places before we would need to hit the switchbacks up from the valley. The dam itself is actually 85 years old completed in 1927 as a hydro energy plant!

Going up the switchbacks towards the froze-to-death plateau was the real obstacle the first day, we made good progress though and once you reach the man-sized cairn at the top of the switchbacks it is only a small distance further to reach the first good camp sites on the plateau.

Previous campers have build solid windshields of stone as can be seen below where me and Sam pitched our tents at approximately 11 000 ft elevation. The nearby snow field seen in the background provided a convenient source of fresh melt-water.

The sunny weather the first 2 days actually caused the tents to be too warm to stay in them just up to when the sun started setting behind the mountain ranges, although the air was only about 60 degrees, the sun was very strong and exposed skin without sun protection is a good recipe for disaster at this altitude.

The night was somewhat chillier going down to 30s and 40s. The water stream from melting snow started freezing up during the night and created quite interesting ice formations that could be seen the following morning.

The next day we had a shorter day and packed up camp around 10 am, and started hiking up towards the second camp which would be our starting point for the push to the top. Once again we had fantastic weather. And it was almost hard to believe that the last time John and Lisa were here together with Sam they were essentially snowed in on the froze-to-death plateau ruining any good chance to climb the peak, and that was the exact same time of year (early august)...

Once we got to within a mile of the high-camp we got our first glimpses of granite peak in the sunshine. The shot below shows Granite peak as the highpoint on the left in the picture below.

The higher camp was a bit more arid but also here one could find water in the form of melting snow.  A number of wind shields provided the protection from the elements that was much appreciated. compared to the first camp the wind was quite a lot more prominent higher up, even though it was still quite a mild and good weather.

We woke up on the third day around 4 am and left camp for the climb shortly before 5am. Weather forecasts had warned about a 30% storm chance. and with the nature of the sharp granite peak even a mild thunderstorm is an insurmountable obstacle that force you to turn around if close to  the peak. The morning/night started clear though and strong stars and moonlight even made it possible to hike completely without headlamp even tohugh the hiking is more rock hopping than following a trail this close to the peak.

Once the sun rose the peak and the path looked very impressive and we hurried up quickly to get into the warmer sunny weather and to hopefully reach the peak before weather would turn foul. It took about 30 mins to climb to the top f the trail near tempest peak ,and then dropping down for close to an hour to the saddle between tempest and Granite peaks. The Route up from the saddle was class 1-2 hiking where a hiking pole was a welcome tool for balance.

Once we reached the notch just before the steep snow bridge we put on harnesses, and roped up and put on other protective gear.

The snow bridge was fine to cross and the warm weather had heavily reduced the distance we needed to travel on the snow. The climbing sections were led by Sam with John, then Lisa and finally me last on the 200ft rope. most sections were ascended using simul-climbing where we moved as a single long rope team with the rope taut between each person. Using the varying rocks to provide critical friction on the rope in case anyone would suffer a fall.

The ascend went fine with no falling incidents although some care had to be taken especially at some trickier sections like a technical move to move up a rock, and some climbing up narrow chimneys. The top consisted of a jumble of large rocks as seen below.

The peak was reached around 9 am shortly before the clouds would move in as we soon found out. We spend a brief break on the top not wanting to push our luck with the weather. We were the first group of people to reach the summit that day and felt happy to avoid any slow traffic on the way up. Below is me posing together with Sam on the top.

I believe I could probably have climbed up solo in the best of conditions, however the path finding and security of the rope surely helped, and for the decent it was a pure necessity, as I would not have wanted to attempt a down-climb without protection. And the prospect of a rescue action due to taking on took tricky of a climb is definitely a scenario to avoid! Also route finding was sometimes hard when it was hard to see the rock surface going down. Most of the views were magnificent showing tranquil lakes, rugged mountain ranges and snowfields among other things.

As can be seen below the weather was inclement and we tried to make out way down as quickly and efficiently as possible, using the rope to lower/rappel down dome of the more vertical sections when no other climbers were direct beneath us.

The snow bridge looked more harrowing from above than I remembered it going up. A good shot can be seen below.

To make things worse the snow bridge was also guarded by a couple of mountain goats! Luckily they were quite shy and by the time we approached they decided to go in another direction. John found a loose stone close to the snow rbidge and we got a first hand demonstration of just how fast a person might accelerate on the steep snow and ice to later crash into the rocks below in massive loud crashes. Luckily the rope and safety gear meant we kept safe!

The Goats were otherwise most notable around the camp sites where they would streak around hoping for some food. But also in desperate search of salts which they lack  in the harsh climate on the alpine tundra. This phenomena is mostly seen in the fact that the goats would magically appear when one had to pee, to then try to lick up alll the salts that the urine contains...

The young goats were quite adorable and especially after having reached the peak they were quite entertaining to spot and observe togtheer with a bunch of other four-legged animals such as marmots and pikas.

Coming down from the peak we took some last minute photos as the clouds and rain moved in. By 2 pm we had reached camp again and decided to pack it up and move down to lower camp the same day to hopefully have better weather for the night, and some much needed rest!

The down hike on the fourth day (which could otherwise have been used as an alternative peak day in case of bad weather on the third day) we saw the valleys and nature form another perspective showing some of the water falls, and beautiful lakes in and around the valleys.

The trail near mystic lake actually pass only about 1 ft above the water level of the dammed mystic lake, however if the water rise any further it would just pour over the dam wall so the chance of flooding the trail was quite minimal, and the small size of the lake meant waves were not really a problem either. The fourth day was once again mostly sunny and as we descended towards the trail head the temperature quickly crept upwards.

All in all it was a wonderful experience, with good company. John and Lisa deserve a big congratulations on reaching 49 states and not giving up despite their previous horrible experience on Montana's highest mountain. Likewise, the guide Sam provided expert advice and crucial route finding both on the froze-to-death plateau as well as on the main peak. Over all I had no complaint's whatsoever on this trip especially considering the strenuous nature of the climb!

Stats:
State: Montana
High point: Granite Peak
Elevation: 12 799 ft (3 901 m)
Date: Aug 6th, 2012
Total elevation to date: 233 013 ft (71 495 m)
Access: Hike
Difficulty rating (of 10): 7
Potential Difficulties: weather!, route finding on froze-to-death plateau and upper climb of mountain.

Utah: King's Peak (-MT)

Utah's King's Peak was the first of 2 high western peaks to be attempted in early august. Work provided a good excuse to leave with no access to my original office due to reconstructions. So to raise productivity after this inconvenience what better way to do so than getting the batteries recharged with some high altitude training...

The Henry's fork trail follows a valley slowly uphill towards King's peak, mostly following the river Henry's fork, before it start reaching arctic tundra and rock hopping trails near the peak. The apprach to the trailhead is an extremely well maintained gravel road rivalling some highways in width and smoothness. after some 30 miles it reaches a small turnoff to henry's fork trail head, which also have a separate trail head for horse trips.

Once the terrain opens up one can catch glimpses on King's peak after some 3-4h of hiking. Here Kings peak is the smaller peak in sunshine to the right of the peak in center picture (the pass on the left is gunsight pass which the trail passes through).

I camped about 8 miles in along the trail at about 11 000ft elevation near dollar lake.  Dollar lake offer some nice secluded fishing and wonderful campsites without crowding even on this relatively poplar trail.

Dollar lake also offers some animal company mostly in the form of Uintas ground squirrels (see below), but there are also tame sheep grazing the plains and sometimes horses which people can use to travel some of the longer trails.

The next morning the thunderstorms during the night in combination with some light-headedness due to elevation made me have a very slow morning and I didn't leave camp until just before 8am. Once the hike started it soon started the uphill climb towards Gunsight pass which is where I took the photo below looking down the valley which the trail ascends.

After reaching Gunsight pass one can save quite some distance by contouring around the 13 000 ft sub peak at about 12 000 ft elevation rather than following the trail down the valley after Gunsight pass and then back up towards Anderson pass again. After that last pass the hiking turns form rock hopping to scrambling and mostly class 2. If one goes off route to the west edge of the ridge the exposure gets very intimidating quite quickly. After some effort though I safely reached the top together with about 10 others also reaching within about the same half hour.

The route down is somewhat slow especially if inclement weather rolls in which is common around midday. I had 2 hail and rain mixes hitting me on the way down, but the high thin air dried out stones quite quickly making the hiking much easier once again.

One of the main features of the valley is a very diverse mix of rocks and stones. Many looking striped just like tigers. Below is a stone which resembled wood somehow which a very intriguing break and erosion line separating it from other rocks.

Some samples of the giant tiger boulders are also shown here, the scale of them are from about 5 ft diameter (1.5m) to about 15 ft (5m) diameter below. They were all dislodged from about 1000-1500 ft higher up on the valley walls.

After making it down from the top I reached camp about 3 pm after some short cuts on the way down. So I decided to pack up camp and hike all the way out for a day of close to 20 miles of hiking and scrambling. A fresh shower and soft bed was also badly appreciated after a thunder riddled night at high elevation in the tent.

Stats:
State:  Utah
High point: King's Peak
Elevation: 13 528 ft (4 123 m)
Date: Aug 1st, 2012
Total elevation to date: 221 764 ft (67 594 m)
Access:
Difficulty rating (of 10): 4
Potential Difficulties: routefinding, inclement weather

ME: Katahdin

Maine's Katahdin is a nice 5000+ft mountain which is relatively isolated with over 4 000ft prominence. Katahdin also marks the northern end of the Appalachian trail. I chose to hike up the Abol slide trail, although there are many different options for reaching the peak which is Baxter peak, including among them hiking on knife's edge which I avoided in a decision that would prove to be quite lucky.

The trial started with some minor nuisances of mosquitoes and mild rain, which lasted the first hour or two of hiking after starting around 730 in the morning. The rist mile or so is fairly slow inclination change in forest along small streams, actually the trail itself was a minor stream in sections.

Once the trail turns upwards there is a rockslide to follow for about 3000 elevation ft in not much more than a mile. The slide have a mix of gravel and larger rocks, which is quite straightforward to hike and scramble on and which doesn't move too much even in the wed slippery conditions.

Parts of the trail involve some semi-tricky class 2 scrambling, had it been dry it would probably have been mostly pleasant, but the wet made for a challenge especially on the way down later... As the elevation increased the clouds started sweeping in around the trail and the top of the mountain, but for a while there was some very nice views of the surrounding lakes and nature.

Once you reach the top of the slide the trickiest part is over, but a completely other set of challenges might present themselves, inmy case it was a very very reduced view as can be seen in the pictures below. That in combination with extremely heavy wind gusts on hte edge of the tabletop on the mountain. 

The Abol trail intersected with the appalachian tral and that leads to the Baxter peak in about 1 mile distance but with a very mild inclination of only a couple of hundred feet in tundralike nature.

After about 3 hours of hiking I reached the top which is marked with a sign, and a plaque. On the sign one can see the quite intimidating distance marked as over 2000 miles to the southern terminus of the Appalachian trail. After a couple of oreos and other snacks I was about ready to head down and leave the clouds...

First a look at one of the other trails leaving up to the top, the infamous knifes edge. In the wet conditions with very strong temporary gusts I would not be surprised to see that trail being closed for the day for safety reasons.

Katahdin marks 40 states climbed which means I am officially "over the hill" so now it's just "downhill"f from here to complete the rest...

Stats:
State: Maine
High point: Katahdin
Elevation 5268 ft (1 605.7 m)
Date: June 24th, 2012
Total elevation to date: 208 236 ft (63 470 m)
Access: hike
Difficulty rating (of 10): 6
Potential Difficulties: slippery, high winds, mosquitoes

Oregon: Mount Hood

Oregon's Mount Hood, showed itself from a truly amazing side the last 2 days.It's not the highest volcano in the range and you can in fact see Mt Rainier from it which towers over an additional 3000ft. Nevertheless it's a very nice climb early in the season before too much ice and snow starts melting making conditions hazardous.

I had signed up for a summit program with Timberline Mountain guides, in total we were 9 guys of varying background and spread across the country. there were also 2 guides for the first day but 3 for the actual climb. The first day involved briefing and a couple of hours of snow-climbing school, including self-arrests, crampon techniques and roped travel. a lot of fun and a very toasty day felling like 70's in the sun.

The video shows Mt Hood from approximately the Timberline Lodge (~ 6000 ft - 1800 m). quite a part of the main trail going up the mountain can be seen. For a  more detailed description of part of our route the picture below shows that in red.

The "day" started at 1230am with assembly and by 1am we had left in a snowcat carrying us up to the top of the ski lifts. We hiked a short stretch to get our warmth back, truth be told though the temperature was quite agreeable, it had been colder last morning, but the bottom temperatures was supposed to come along at 5-6 in the morning. Layering worked fine, and although I feared wind making it worse and thus directly started with my hard shell jacket on, that was not an issue during any of the climb. Like I mentioned above we were truly blessed with weather. There wasn't much one could make out in the darkness until the moon had risen high enough to shed some light on the mountain side.

The route went nicely smooth up about 2000 ft up to the Hogsback, we were among the first people on the mountain that night. On the Hogsback one of the group climbers had to call it quits unfortunately, me and Andy set of a bit earlier with one of the guides to make it back to the last climber as soon as possible for starting the descent. the last 800 ft got gradually more steep, and roping up and using ice axes became necessary, and eventually climbing on all for for a shorter stretch, with about 40 or so percent inclination. once up though the old chute there is only a few hundred yards to the actual summit where the sun was starting to rise. The "captain morgan" look came to good use on the wind free summit. Which was reached about 4.50am.

Quickly more and more light started shining, in the picture below taken just before we started the decent one can see the Columbia river snaking along to the north east.

The picture below was taken just before descending as the first team down the old chute for the day, the people can be seen collecting on the summit watching the sunrise. I never really had any problem with the altitude which I've had a couple of times previously, but this was one very enjoyable hike.

Going down one could see the lemming train of people slowly ascending the mountain. Here is any posing who was leading us down as the bottom=most guy of the rope. The Hogsback can be seen as stretching  diagonally upwards towards the right corner having a lot of people sitting along it.

Close to the hogsback one can find a couple of evidences that it is a volcano one is climbing on. In fact already after 10-20 minutes of climbing the familiar sulfur stench similar to the HS of rotten eggs started smelling, and the picture below show one of the vents where this type of gas emminates from.

Having the sun behind the mountain for a short while showed the truly remarkable silhouette of  Mt Hood as it cast it shadow initial almost all the way to the pacific. In the Photo below it had started retreating and become more well-defined.

A couple of the guides posing close to the top of the ski lifts where we started, unfortunately on the way down that only meant about halfway down. A good motivator for finishing the last stretch though was that we had been making good time and were there at 7.20 already and that meant we could enjoy the Lodge's breakfast buffet if nothing unexpected happened.

the final stretch doing down to the lodge can be seen below. We followed the snowcat's tracks which is what most of those ascending from the lodge had done on the way up also. A majority of the group had brought snowboards and skied down once we reached the top of the ski run.

Finally down at 8.30am (7h total hiking time), and could freshen up some, return renal boots and gear and then chat with the others in the group before having a very nice "Breakfast Buffet", We had been up close to 10h already so the concept of breakfast was not entirely straight forward. But nonetheless amazingly satisfying...

Stats:
State: Oregon
High point: Mount Hood
Elevation: 11 239 ft (3425.6 m)
Date: May 5th, 2012
Total elevation to date: 202 968 ft (61 865 m)
Access: ice/snow hike, snowcat
Difficulty rating (of 10): 4
Potential Difficulties: Too warm (falling ice, slushy snow), too cold (ice blankets which are near impossible to climb), inclement weather, sharp tools...

Hawai'i: Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea is the highpoint of Hawai'i and also the 'tallest' mountain in the world rising over 33000 continous ft (~11 000m) above the seabed. The picture taken below is taken close to the coast, so one can see how significantly the mountain rises with no other mountain range around.

BEfore going up the mountian we started at the suitable names Maune Kea Resort (owned by a mr Rockefeller...). Not much to complain bout there, slightly windy, but nice snorkeling and coral reefs as well as perfect white beach sand.

 

The road up to mauna Kea rises quickly along the sabble road on which you start driving into the clouds. once you turn off towards the Mauna Kea observatories the clouds might lighten up. A mandatory stop and half hour acklimatization at 9 200 ft (~2750 m) helps but only ever so slightly.

Once you reach the top one can see about 10 nice and unique telescopes which offers some of the best observation conditions in the world. and from the picture one can see how we now all off a sudden is practically completely above the clouds.

The summit is at the end of a short hiking trail which only takes a few minutes, the minor rise doeshowever quickly take your breath away with the views and thin air combined.

 A USGS markes shows te top and elevation, somewhich which is quite uncertain when being on such extremely young land.

The top also contains a small ceremonial spot where Leis, Fruit and other things have been offered and left.

 

 The main hotspot activity have since moved further south though and create the mountain Mauna Loa. It is less than 100 ft lower than Mauna Kea, and even from the top is hard to distinguish which is highest.

  
If you are in to snow sports (or in this case snow-juggling) Mauna Kea offers ne of only 2 spots on hawai'i where you can practice your skills, in January and February there is even some mild ability to do skiing, but you have to make your way up the slope by own power each run...

Stats:
State: Hawai'i
High point: Mauna Kea
Elevation: 13796 ft (4205.0 m)
Date: March 22, 2011
Total elevation to date: 179067 ft (54580 m)
Access: drive-up, hike
Difficulty rating (of 10): 2
Potential Difficulties: acute mountain sickness, inclement weather

Southern most point of USA

A minor goegrafic puculiarity is the true south point of USA. We (me and Tricia) had previous visited the southernmost point in continental USA, so when the chance presented itself to visit the southermost point in all of USA we could not say no...
South point on Big Island (Hawai'i) is perched on cliffs extending towards the south of the vast pacific...

It is a windswept area at which a current as well as a ruin of an old wind farm can be found. The wrecks of the old farm from 2007 is a scary sight of "clean energy". but the much more powerful new wind power plants are a welcome addition to a hard energy equation at a remote location such as Hawai'i. And remote is true it is the most remote location to any continent in the world in fact...

The south point itself is located along cliffs which one can jump from (40 ft high) into pristine turquoise waters.

It's quite doubtful I would do both the continental and overall NORTHERN points of USA, but the 2 southern points of US was surely a pleasure to visit...

Elevation: 40 ft (12 m)
Date: March 20, 2012
Difficulty rating (of 10): 1
Potential Difficulties: GPS-directions, bad navigation.