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| Far Reaching Return   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Wyoming, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 33.35806°N / 113.91037°W Route Type: Mixed Season: Spring Time Required: One to two days Difficulty: M4-5/WI4+ Number of Pitches: 7
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| Page By: knoback Created/Edited: Feb 16, 2006 / May 13, 2007 Object ID: 173017 Hits: 1416 Loading... Page Score: 82.09% - 8 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
OverviewThis is a moderate alpine route with good gear and excellent, sustained climbing. It comes in reliably every Spring. On the east side of Bighorn Peak, there are two large cirques divided by a steep rib. The rib is marked by a deep notch in its upper section. The route follows a gully up the south face of the rib directly to the notch. Take advantage of the ample opportunities for protection on this route. If you get hurt back here you are on your own. Cell phone reception is spotty, there is no vehicle access, and a helicopter extraction from this narrow, windy place would be problematic at best.Getting There This is the hard part. Take highway 16 to National Forest Road #20, Circle Park. Drive out the dirt road to the Circle Park trail head. This road is gated and will be closed under very snowy or very wet conditions, adding about 2 miles to the trip. From the trail head, take trail #46 past Sherd Lake to Rainy Lake. Stay left at Rainy Lake, go up a small hill and you will come to a clearing with a view of the mountain. Follow the trail about 30m more down hill. When the trail turns left, go straight and take to the woods. You are in for a bit of a bushwack for the next 2.5K. You then break out onto a ridge bordering the valley that contains Lame Deer nd Chill Lakes. When you have passed Lame Deer Lake and the ridge steepens, angle down into the valley, cross the stream (easy), and make your way up the wooded spit of land on the valley floor to the lake at the head of the valley. Head for the closest (southernmost) of the two basins before you. Look for the notch in the rib forming the northern wall of the basin. The route follows the tight gully leading to the notch. Topo. map and compass are mandatory, a GPS unit with pre-programmed way points is highly recommended. If you plan to make this trip please feel free to contact me. I can provide additional details that could reduce your suffering substantially.Route DescriptionClimb a snow cone up into the gully and make your way up a couple of steep mixed steps to the base of a short wall. Pass the wall on about 5-6m of steep ice to the right or by thinly iced slab and corner to the left. run out the rope up the snowfield and belay on the right. continue up the snowfield, climb another short steep mixed step and belay below a column of ice in a right facing corner. Climb the ice with a few mixed moves at the bottom. Ramble up some more moderate mixed ground several more pitches, passing a few chockstones in the upper gully. Enjoy the view from the notch, then climb 4th class ground to the right out of the notch onto the top of the rib. Go down the rib until just before it cliffs out. Work down to your left to a snowfield that will take you down into the basin on the other side of the rib. Walk back around the rib, now to your right, to the lake at the head of the valley where you started. Essential GearSingle 60m rope is adequate. Technical ice tools and crampons. Chocks, tri-cams, hexes or cams up to fist size, 4-5 ice screws (incuding stubbies), and usual assortment of slings. Pitons are not necesary.External LinksAdd External Links text here. Images
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Big Horn Range
