I was looking at that as an option but the Alp Creek route is 3 miles longer, and me and my buddy have a dayhike planned for Tuesday so I wasn't wanting to burn out before that one. I will climb the snow if needed, I was just wondering if there was an alternative.

I will be leaving after work today to head to Imp. I will be camping somewhere near the end of the Taylor Creek Trail then climbing the north couloir in the morning. I believe I am going to try the left (east) side of the couloir since it is snow-free and that is what a couple pictures refer to as the NW couloir. I was originally under the impression that the west fork was the NW couloir but apparently not. I will let you know how things went when I return Monday!

Morlow wrote:I will let you know how things went when I return Monday!

I've been out for the last 1 1/2 weeks. How'd it go?

You bumped this thread just in time to hear.... I am planning it again for this weekend haha. Last weekend I decided not to go because I had a long day hike planned for the next day. This week me and my buddy are doing Buck Mountain Tuesday so that is only 12 miles (assuming we don't get lost). So I have it on the agenda for tomorrow. I am not going to say I will tell you how it went when I get back (even though I intend to) because, who knows, I may still be waylayed somehow. Third week is a charm? I hope so because I am getting sick on not doing it! The weather forecast says 59 and sunny (no chance of t-storms, right...). So anyway hopefully the weather turns out how it is forecasted, and I should have a simply gorgeous day for the hike.

In summary, Doing > Planning

Morlow wrote:Concerning the east or west sections of the couloir, are they both similar (minus the snow of course) in difficulty?

In case you're still around, the answer is most likely yes. They are both similar, to the best of my knowledge. The west section may be slightly less steep and I found better snow conditions there for skiing. I don't know about rock condition, but I'd be surprised if they were significantly different. GE imagery seems to back this up.

You should be able to avoid snow entirely this time of year, and I'd guess a glissade at this point would be dangerous with minimal if any run out.

Just got back. It was a no-summit. The weather didn't play out at all like I hoped and I found out bushwacking in forest sucks. I followed the wrong fork of Taylor Creek up and ended up who knows where lol. I was using my compass and I was headed in the general right direction but when I got above treeline (finally!) clouds were obscuring all the mountains so I couldn't see where Imp was. I ended up in a small basin I believe to be the one west of the Imp basin, so I traversed around and past the spur sticking out to the east but I couldn't tell if that was even the correct basin. I could have stuck around a couple hours (it started clearing off when I was about halfway back out) or walked around the basin looking for the couloir but I decided to head back out. Anyway I think I'm gonna mark Imp as the one that got away for now. Three weeks trying to get out there then when I do I can't find it, which is funny to say of an 11,200 foot mountain.

I guess I give up too easily. I definitely need to work on my mental game, at least when solo hiking, which I am finding I don't like very much. I have the physical ability but my mind has to work in agreement with my body, which I find it doesn't always do. I get frustrated when there isn't anyone there to give a second opinion on things and I end up doing something wrong. I can go at my pace which is nice, but I am 1 for 3 on actually reaching the summit on solo hikes.

The bushwhacking is why I suggested Alp Lake. I was just up there a few weeks ago, and we descended from where it sounds like you topped out. It wasn't too bad coming down, but looked pretty hateful for wandering around on ascent. There is a lot of country up there, so if you aren't familiar it can be a challenge to stay on course. Good luck with Buck! Stay left in the couloir just above Timberline lake, there is a little use trail that keeps you out of the line of fire from descending climbers above so you don't get brained.

Yeah I'm still learning with every hike, which is good. I guess you could say growing pains sometimes. Anyway me and my buddy did Buck yesterday and it was incredible. It was my first class 3 mountain, and I can safely say I had FUN climbing it, by far the most fun I've ever had on a hike. I can also safely say that is the longest 6 miles I've ever hiked, getting there. There was actually a decent amount of climbing involved (we probably didn't take the easiest route but that added to the fun), but the exposure was pretty minimal. The summit was pretty small which made it feel even higher, with sheer dropoffs on all sides. And the view was of course incredible. I was surprised how tiny Static Peak looked from the summit, only being 600 feet higher.

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14 by Morlow, on Flickr
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Nice work, dude! That looks like an awesome day to stand on a Teton. Congrats!

Yeah the weather literally couldn't have been better. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky all day.

Me and my buddy are planning to do camp up somewhere in Hilgard Basin the second week of September and do Echo Peak. I was looking at the map and it looks like I may be able to make an attempt on Imp from the south. I doubt anyone has, but has anyone climbed over the ridge just north of the Sentinel Creek Trail (really the west ridge of Sentinel Peak)? That looks like the only thing in the way of getting to Alp Lake to make an attempt from the south. It doesn't look like that ridge would be too steep on my map but it's impossible to tell without a USGS map. Sentinel Peak looks like it might be fun too.

That's a big couple of days. Imp isn't really that close to Echo. I'm sure it's doable, but that's gonna be a big day from a camp in Hilgard Basin. But if you go, do me a favor and check out the ridge from Echo north and see if you notice any impassable sections.

Yeah I'm hoping my buddy can get a 3-day weekend so we have more time. It all depends on the weather if we can't get an extra day. If it's clear and sunny I think I could knock out both in one day. This being my first season in the mountains, how is the weather usually in mid-September? Are most of the t-storms gone or are they still pretty common in major peak areas?

Keeping my topic alive, and actually on topic as well haha. Next week is Hilgard Basin for us. We got a 3-day weekend so the schedule will probably look like this:
Monday: Hike in to camp
Tuesday morning: Echo Peak via east ridge
Wednesday morning: Imp Peak via SW ridge

The weather forecast right now says mostly cloudy and slight chance of rain and t-storms both Tuesday and Wednesday, so unless it clears off for the afternoon I don't plan to do both in one day. I still want Imp under my belt before the season is over!

Anyway me and my buddy did Middle Teton yesterday via standard route. It was a pretty fun climb but it was a little disappointing how much traffic that area gets, and we even went after peak season. I can't imagine how much traffic there would be in July. So the wild feel was basically non-existant other than the fact that we were the first ones to summit for the day. On the way down we met about five groups heading up. Buck Mountain had a much more secluded feel to it, which I loved. I don't know how popular Hilgard Basin is but I'm sure it can't be anywhere near as bad Garnet Canyon. Hopefully we have the mountains to ourselves!

You won't see anything like a Teton crowd up there. I was in Garnet Canyon the week after the 4th of July this year, and we were the only two people camped at the Garnet Meadows, then two of four people camped at the Lower Saddle. It's kind of hit or miss up there.