| Gannett Peak Solo Adventure Trip Report |
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| Gannett Peak Solo Adventure   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Wyoming, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 43.18440°N / 109.653°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Aug 3, 2005 | Page By: zodis Created/Edited: Aug 22, 2005 / Sep 1, 2006 Object ID: 170363 Hits: 2165 Loading... Page Score: 88.6% - 11 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Gannett Peak Solo Adventure
Sunday July 29, 2005
This Gannett Peak expedition was conceived only about two weeks before I departed hence. Originally, I had planned to spend my vacation in Colorado climbing fourteeners and visiting Rocky Mountain National Park. But as I studied the road map my glance turned north to Wyoming and I recalled my brother Bob's climb to the summit of Gannett Peak, Wyoming's high point, some years earlier. I excitedly began to read trip reports and talk with Bob about a solo trip to mighty Gannett. I acquired topographic maps of the route and began to make plans.
I arrived in Dubois, Wyoming on Sunday July 29 after driving three days from Richmond, Kentucky. I splurged and got a hotel room outside of town in order to sort out and pack my gear and also to get a good night sleep before hitting the trail. I found the town of Dubois to be rather frustrating because there were no fast food places and the small grocery store had a limited selection and sold food that was stale.
It took me longer than I expected to organize and pack the kit that I would be carrying on my back for the next five days. Once I had finished the task, I tried on the pack and groaned under the weight. I only slept about three hours that night probably due to excitement about the trip. The previous two nights I slept about four hours each due to noisy campgrounds.
That evening I drove out to look for the dirt forest road that leads to the Glacier Trail head. I followed the excellent instructions of my trusty Highpoints of the United States, by Don W. Holmes and found it easily. I stopped by the forest ranger office outside of Dubois for information about the trail, but it was closed. They had a sign outside about dealing with grizzly bears. I hoped that I would not have the pleasure of meeting any of those furry fellows.
Day 1, Monday August 1
I departed the hotel at daybreak. It took me longer than I had expected to travel the nine mile forest road because it was rather rough, with a “washboard” effect. I ran into a fish and game officer along the road and asked him if he knew of any special conditions on the trail of which I should be aware. He didn’t. A tent was set up near the trail head, but I didn’t see anybody. I signed the register and made a last minute check of necessary gear to bring. I put on my pack and headed up the trail at 7:00 AM.
The trail begins right away with switchbacks. The air felt thin here, compared with balmy Kentucky, but I was in very good physical condition and felt good. I began the walk slowly in order to warm up gradually to the pack work to avoid injury. The day before I had felt a little pain in my knee from three days straight driving in my little Honda Civic. Fortunately the pain never returned during the rest of the trip. A couple of hours into the hike I stopped to cut off a couple of buttons on the waist of my trousers that were being pressed into my flesh by my hip belt. Later I applied some mole skin around the abrasions caused by the buttons. That solved the problem, and the mole skin remained firmly in place for five days of backpacking. The hike through Bomber Basin was cool and pleasant. Most of it was in the shade of the mountains and the woods, although the sun had come out and the day was beautiful.
After Bomber Basin I was greeted at the switchbacks leading up to the high pass by a grizzled old marmot watching me walk by from his perch on the rocks. I trucked on up the switchbacks and still felt pretty good. I met a fellow coming down and he informed me that the switchbacks did not take you to the top of the pass. Farther on there was still a very long slope to go up above the tree line. I found it to be so and carried on. I began to feel pretty tired going up this slope. The trail was very rocky and it was necessary to pick each step. I made the pass at 12:30 PM and the sky was beginning to cloud up with rumors of a storm. I passed a cowboy and cowgirl on the pass leading horses toward the way I came. I asked where their riders were and they replied that they were heading to town to pick them up. I did not tarry on the pass except for a quick drink of Tang. I wanted to get off the pass and into the shelter of the woods down on the other side in case it stormed.
The temperature dropped probably twenty degrees in ten minutes and it began to sprinkle. I put on a light rain jacket and headed for the woods. The rain didn’t get any worse and I stopped for a lunch break of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich under a pine tree. I really didn’t feel hungry at all, which I thought was rather odd, considering the strenuous hiking I had been doing for the past six hours. As I was eating four teenage backpackers, with whom I had spoken earlier, passed me. One turned around and informed me that a moose cow and her baby were just twenty yards behind where I was sitting. I got up and snapped a photo. I met a team of five climbers hiking back to the trail head. They had attempted the peak and failed. They said they went up the wrong glacier. They seemed irritated and tired, so I didn't press them as to the how they made such a mistake.
I continued on and reached beautiful Double Lake and was very tired indeed. I consulted my map here and decided to press on past Honeymoon Lake, which is roughly half way to Gannett, according to my quick calculations. Later in the afternoon this lake came into view far beneath me. A deep valley opened up and it was obvious that the trail led thither. Towards the end of a tiring day a long series of switchbacks appeared, going down some thousand vertical feet. It was no honeymoon. There was nowhere flat enough to camp so I decided to descend the rocky trail and dream of a nice camp spot somewhere below.
After a tired walk down the switchbacks and most of the rocky slope I found a flat area on the side of the mountain near Honeymoon Creek and called it a day at 5:30 PM. I put up my tent and laid down for a half hour or so. I was totally beat. Almost sick with weariness. I was rather worried because I had no appetite at all. It must have been an effect of the altitude. I knew I had to eat something to regain my strength for the days ahead. I forced down some meat lasagna and a cup of milk and took 400mg of ibuprofen. In a while I felt a hundred percent better. I then looked for a good tree in which to hang my food to keep away from bears. For some reason this task always annoyed me. Damned bears. I did the usual evening camp chores and retired at 8:20 PM. To my dismay I pulled out my head lamp and found that it did not work. I definitely needed it for walking in the dark on summit morning. I had no spare batteries. I fiddled with it for a bit and after rubbing the contacts I got it working. Actually, my camp site that evening was quite picturesque. Under some pines near a fifteen foot waterfall in the stream. I'm glad I made it that far the first day. Less hiking for the morrow. Also, I wanted to set up base camp the next day early in order to have time to scout out the trail to the summit.
Day 2, Tuesday August 2
I slept a good six hours and woke up feeling better. I had trouble finding my "bear bag," having hung it too far from camp. Coffee, a bagel, and half a Power Bar served as breakfast. Spent some time repacking my kit and was ready for another day of hiking at 8:20 AM. Felt pretty good. The second day's hike was not as strenuous and I made good time. I passed what I determined to be the fifteen mile point of my trip at 1100 AM half way across Big Meadows. Around noon it clouded up and rained a little for an hour or so, then cleared up again. After passing Big Meadows I stopped for a lunch of deviled ham on a roll, with M & M peanuts for dessert. Protein, fat, sodium, carbs. Good trail food. By now I was feeling pretty tired, but had a good attitude because it was still early and the end of my trail was only about three hours away.
I continued on through the valley leading up to the mountain I desired to climb. Beautiful Dinwoody Creek was on my left as I hiked. I crossed Klondike Creek at 1:00 PM and made it to Wilson Meadows within an hour. I didn't camp here, as many climbers do, but pressed on and crossed Gannett Creek and the many rivulets that form the headwaters of Dinwoody Creek. There are three or four of these to cross in this area and each has a makeshift bridge formed by logs thrown across. I ran into a man and his teenage son who pointed out the way through this confusing area. They had purposed to summit Gannett that morning but decided against it due to cloudy conditions at the summit. After crossing the streams I found a convenient place near the trail for a base camp and dumped my pack at 2:40 PM.
I immediately continued up the trail toward Gannett. It was nice to walk without the pack. After twenty minutes I passed the tree line and walked up the valley toward the mountain. With green meadows, wild flowers, and thousands of feet of towering rock on both sides, this valley was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. But my enjoyment of nature was much mitigated by my tired body and by my concern to find my way up the mountain the next day. I walked for an hour or so which brought me almost to the end of Glacier Trail and the beginning of the boulder field. I met a young couple from Montana who were returning from a successful summit bid. My main concern was with the condition of the snow bridge across the bergshrund. Everyone I spoke with said it was good enough to cross. I turned around and went back to my pack.
I set up camp and cooked supper. My appetite had returned somewhat and I had some beef stroganoff, milk, and took two ibuprofen tablets for soreness. I prepared my pack for the summit climb in the morning. I included a good rain parka, sweater, wool watch cap, gloves, and rain pants. Also, water, Tang, Power Bars and some M & M's. My ice ax and crampons with a few other misc. items completed the kit. I hadn't tried on my crampons for three weeks and I had forgotten how the straps were supposed to go. I fiddled with them for half an hour and got the puzzle straightened out. I retired around 10:00 PM, excited about the next day's adventure.
Day 3, Wednesday August 3
Summit Day. I rose at 2:30 AM, having slept only three hours. It had rained quite a bit that night, and this did not bode well. When packing my gear I was surprised to find that one of the lenses of my sunglasses had completely popped out of the frame. I must have rolled over on it or something. Fortunately, I was able to reinsert it without much trouble. When I emerged from my tent I stumbled from the soreness in my legs and from the large blister that had formed on my heel. I headed off into the dark to get my "bear bag" muttering to myself that things always looked cheerier after a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. And this is true. After my meager breakfast of a bagel, coffee, and M & M's I felt much better and was ready for a climb.
I left camp at 4:00 AM with my day pack. After carrying all of my gear in that heavy pack for the last two days this day pack wasn't even noticeable. It was cool and windy, but I only wore long pants and a tee shirt to start out with because I hate to sweat under heavy clothes that are unnecessary. My head lamp served me well as I made my way up the trail, past the tree line, and on towards the mountain. It was rather gloomy walking in the dark with the sky full of low clouds and threatening rain. As I went further up the valley the wind picked up and I stopped to put on a light long sleeved shirt.
I arrived at the boulder field about 5:00 AM and it was still dark. I started the skipping and hopping work across the boulder field in the dark. This was no problem with my head lamp. I was surprised to find a tent set up in the midst of the boulder field. I passed it by, hoping I didn't wake the occupants. Dawn finally arrived and I was grateful for that and pleased with the progress so far. I was a good way through the boulder field when I spotted some snow fields running parallel to my direction off to the right. I got off the boulders and enjoyed some easy walking on the snow.
Having bid farewell to the boulder field, I now stood at the base of the mountain. For the route up the mountain I am indebted to the photo posted by grandwazoo (click under Ink Wells routes) with a red line drawn for the route. My brother referred me to this photo and I brought a copy of it with me. The first and lowest part of Gooseneck ridge is a mountain and I skirted this to the left, going sideways across its slope and dealing with talus and more boulders. My brother Bob later told me that he went to the right of this section straight up the talus slope, always keeping to the north side of Gooseneck Ridge. I made my way around to the left then continued to circle to the right once I passed the high part of this part of the ridge. The slope was rather steep and at a couple of points I was on my stomach crawling and slipping. I cursed and the thought as to the exact reason I was doing this crossed my mind. This brief interlude of philosophy/psychology quickly passed and was replaced by practical thoughts of how to get up this slope. The slope lessened somewhat as I continued and I did some more boulder hopping and scrambling. I continued my scramble toward the north side of Gooseneck ridge and came across a snowfield that crosses the ridge, north to south. I followed this northwards on the rocks along its side. I then came to Gooseneck Glacier and was looking up a slope steeper than anything I had expected. At this point I was unclear about what my brother said to do. I thought he had said to climb up the rocks next to the glacier. I tried to do so and found it too treacherous. Not enough handholds and too steep. So I put on my crampons (Crampons are sort of steel sandals with long spikes that are strapped to your boots for walking upon snow slopes and glaciers.) and pulled out my ice ax and started up the snow slope. Part of it was so steep that I was almost laying on my belly for a while. I made it to the top and if I remember correctly there was a stretch of rocks to cross next. I took off my crampons and continued on.
At this time the sun came out and the dark clouds began to disperse. It was going to be a beautiful day and I may just get to the top of this hill. I was delighted and surprised to see a pica, a large mouse-like rodent that dwells among mountain rocks. I didn't think anything lived that far up. I was going to give the little fellow a peanut M & M, but it was not a good time or place to take off my pack, and the critter probably would do just fine without my junk food. After I crossed that stretch of rocks I came again to the glacier. Time to put on crampons again. The path I was to follow was on a snow slope that fell away to the right, with Gooseneck Pinnacle to my left. It was a long trudge over the glacier and the altitude required that I make frequent stops to catch my breath. The path through the snow then curved to the left and went directly up the slope toward the famous bergschrund. (A bergschrund is crevasse found at the upper limit of a glacier.)
As I approached the bergschrund I was somewhat relieved to see a well used snow bridge that seemed fairly solid. I looked with dismay, however, at the long and very steep snow slope that rose above the bergschrund. Well, there's nothing for it old boy. Up you go. Thoughts of what I was doing there arose again, but I figured, hey, I'm getting near the top, go for it. Beat down the fear and go on. I did so and was breathing pretty hard because of the thin air, but I still felt pretty strong.
I made it to the top of the slope and turned right for some more rock scrambling. I don't remember precisely what terrain came next. Eventually I remember coming to a flat shelf just below the summit ridge. Here I took off my pack. There was a short rock scramble and another short snow slope up to the summit ridge. I took off my crampons at this point. The reason I did this, I think, is because there was no convenient place to sit after the rock scramble to put them back on again. I don't remember the situation exactly. Anyway I think it was a stupid decision that proved to be unsafe on the summit ridge. But later a climber asked me if I took off my crampons before the summit ridge, so perhaps it is a common practice. Anyhow, I'm not an expert at this and am learning as I go.
I made it up the last pitch to the summit ridge and was appalled at the exposure. (Exposure means if you take a wrong step or loose your balance, you are going to fall a long way.) It must be a couple of thousand feet drop with a very narrow foot path. I picked my way to the summit and arrived at 10:00 AM. 13,804 feet. The weather was warm and sunny with just a slight breeze. I took a few photos and was ready to depart. I was not comfortable with the exposure and was concerned about descending the steep slopes I had just climbed. So far I met nobody on the mountain except my pica friend and a tweety bird at the summit. What's he doing way up here? But now I looked down from the summit and saw some climbers roped up making their way toward the bergschrund. After a total of about five minutes on the summit I began to make my way down, having forgotten to sign the register.
Going down wasn't so bad after all. I was beginning to get used to the exposure and steep slopes and felt good about making it to the top. In one hour I made it back to the bergschrund. I ran into the two teams totaling five people coming up the slope above the bergschrund. They were properly roped up with harnesses and helmets. We chatted a bit and took some photos. I think I crossed over to the south side of Gooseneck Ridge too soon and spent a lot of time struggling across boulders and scree on a steep slope while skirting the hill at the lower end of the ridge. To my surprise I saw four elk, two adults and two young ones, on top of a rocky ridge pretty far up Dinwoody Glacier, far from any grass.
Going back over the boulder field I again followed the parallel snow fields to the left to avoid unnecessary boulder hopping. I post-holed a couple of times in the snow but the easy walking was worth it. I ran out of water while going back through the boulder field and took some directly from the glacier run off. I stopped and had a Power Bar. Why can't they make those things taste better? At 2:00 PM I found myself at the end of the boulder field and quite tired, but happy at my successful climb. An hour walk through the beautiful valley above the tree line along Dinwoody Creek and back through the woods brought me to my tent at 3:00 PM, eleven hours after I left this morning. It was sunny and warm.
My foot was beginning to dry after I got snow down my boot earlier in the climb due to inadequate gaiters. When I arrived at my tent the first thing I did was go to the stream to filter some water for drinking. I slipped on a rock and plunged my entire boot into the stream... Thank you very much... I ate a good supper and retired early at 6:30 PM. I woke at 12:30 AM for two hours and fell back to sleep till 6:00 AM. That felt good.
Day 4, Thursday August 4
As I was breaking camp some hikers approached me and we talked. They were not headed for the summit but for Bonney Pass. I was not familiar with Bonney but I shared with them what I knew and experienced of the approach in that direction. We looked at the route on my 7.5 minute topo maps. They had only the small scale Wind River Range map.
I departed for the return trek at 8:30 AM. I made the stream crossings again over the wet logs. There was no big drop and the water wasn't very deep, but nonetheless with a heavy pack on a slip here could mean serious injury. Further down the trail I met the climbers who had summitted earlier in the week. They were in high spirits and jubilant about their accomplishment. When I reached Wilson Meadows I greeted a couple of campers who had arrived by horse. One was wearing a mosquito net even though there were no skeeters about. The mosquitoes on this trip were really not bad. I applied repellant maybe three times during the entire hike. The mosquitoes I did encounter did not have a bad bite and were slow and easy to swat.
A couple of hours into the morning hike I met a young climber who was studying to be an Arabic linguist for the government. We had a brief chat about our mutual interest in languages. He was carrying pepper spray for bears as well as a .44 magnum revolver. He was going to climb Gannett solo but was not clear as to the route up the mountain. I explained the way that worked for me and gave him the copy of grandwazoo's photo with route marked that was so helpful to me.
I had made about five miles in three hours and at 11:40 AM I decided it was time for lunch at the north end of Big Meadows. Some deviled ham from a tin was gratefully ingested on my last roll. I also finished the last of my "Glacier Ice" flavored Gatorade, which seemed apropos for this journey, but didn't taste very good. Time to go at 12:05 PM. It was a beautiful day and I felt strong and was making good time. After three days of this I believe I was beginning to get acclimated to the altitude. At 1:00 PM I made it to the large wooden bridge crossing Downs Fork just southwest of Downs Fork Meadows. I took a brief break there to filter some water and apply sunscreen.
At 2:00 PM I arrived at the foot of the switchbacks near Honeymoon Lake. Well, the only way up that I could think of was the shoe leather express. It took one and a quarter hour of work to reach the top, with a brief rest in the middle. That climb took some of the skip out of my step and I began to look forward to my next camp site. My goal was beautiful Double Lake. I pressed on and took a brief break at 3:30 PM. I reached the lake at 4:15 PM feeling pretty tired but in a happy mood. Some hikers were camped at the prime spot under a pine grove where the stream runs into the lake at the south end. So I went further on toward the middle of the lake and camped off to the right among the rocks. I retired early after supper but slept only about five hours. After night fall I was struck by the number of stars shining bright in the sky.
Day 5, Friday August 5
I woke early, ate breakfast in the dark, and broke camp at 6:25 AM. I saw a large snow shoe hare soon after starting out. By 7:15 AM I had made it to the wooded area between Phillips Lake and Burrow Flats on the south side of the high pass. This is the area in which I saw the moose with her calf on the way in. By gum, there they are again, only with a second calf. I came above the tree line and headed for the pass. I spotted an antelope about a half mile away running to the right. I also saw another antelope grazing in the marsh land off to the left of Burrow Flats. I gained the saddle of the pass at 8:45 AM. It was a beautiful day. I went down the other side of the pass and at 10:00 AM took a fifteen minute break at the north end of Williamson Corrals. At 10:25 AM I reached the top of the switchbacks and started down. They seemed to go on forever but I made the bottom at 11:40 AM and took a break and ate a Power Bar. I met two fellows coming up the switchbacks. One was a philosophy professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
I felt pretty tired at this point and had three miles to go through Bomber Basin to reach my car. The blister on my heal was beginning to bother me and I was having a lot of pain in my left instep. I solved the latter problem by loosening my boot. The pain vanished. For some reason those last three miles were particularly wearisome. The trail was very rocky and I was trying to stay focused so as to avoid tripping and getting injured before the end of this long journey. The sun was out and it was rather hot. When I reached the high area above the parking lot I could not see my car! But the small Honda was obscured by the car next to it and I arrived at the parking lot at 2:05 PM. I signed the register and felt tired but happy for a great adventure to the top of Wyoming.
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Wind River Range
