Not exactly a "Piece of cake"!
The following report was written by Leo Galloway.
Anyone considering a climb of Granite Peak from the south (as one internet article suggests) should think twice about it. There MAY be an easier climb to the summit ridge, but the approach is no piece of cake. There is a reason that the West Rosebud – Froze-to-Death route is standard.
We had decided to try the southwest couloir but were warned by the espresso cappuccino man (local expert) in Cooke City that the way to go was the standard route. It was about 10:30 AM July 20 when we started our backpack to Lady of the Lake. 3 hours later we made a cold, wet crossing of Broadwater cheek, found a fair trail down the north side of the creek. We followed it down the river (creek) and up along Sky Top Creek until we had to cross the dangerous, ice cold raging stream coming down from Aero Lakes. This was nearly 5 hours into our hike and we were still near our 8800' starting elevation. We followed the somewhat sketchy (some bush whacking) trail to just below Lone Elk lake where we camped at about 10000'.
The next day we day hiked past Lone Elk lake and around the east side of Rough Lake and into the lower Sky Tops lakes area, but decided we did not have the time to summit Granite. Instead we explored the upper Aero Lake basin and worked our way back to camp. We broke camp the next morning and hiked out (5hours 45 min). It is a spectacular area and well worth the effort if you want to experience a rugged wilderness area, but if you want to climb Granite, start at West Rosebud. There was a lot of snow in the area which did not bother us, but the high water from the snow melt did.
Any time there is a report on the Internet, I always wonder about the person that reported it. The perspective of the writer is very important! Is the person a world class climber who climbs dozens of mountains a year or a couch potato who decided to try it? We do not fit into either group. We are IL flatlanders who take an annual trip (8-9 days) to drive to the Rockies (usually CO) and climb 2 to 5 mountains (not walkups, we have done most of the hardest CO 14,ers) while we are there. In 2002 we crossed the Winds from East to West in 6 days, turned around on the summit ridge of Gannett because of the weather. This year, after a couple of outing in the Beartooths we went back to the Black Hills and hiked up the 3 1/2 miles, 1100' ( + up and down hill) elevation gain to the summit of Harney Peak in 1 hour 5 minutes. This is an indication of our fitness level. My advice is: if you want to explore a great remote wilderness area with a possibility of climbing Granite go for the southern route; if you just want to climb Granite start at West Rosebud.
Mark's Notes
Here's my take on the trip.
We had a great time and even though we didn't make it even close, it was worth it. This was my second attempt for Granite - the first across the FTD Plateau about 6 years ago in early July. That year only one of our group summited. We read about the southern route on SP and thought it looked like the way to go. It surprised us that few or none of the local folks we talked to in Red Lodge or Cooke City advised us to take this route, so when we took off, we knew it would be challenging.
Mark
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