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Thunder Mt. and Nimbus peak. The Battle Within

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Thunder Mt. and Nimbus peak. The Battle Within

Trip Reports

Thunder Mt. and Nimbus peak. The Battle Within

Thunder Mt. and Nimbus peak. The Battle Within

Page Type: Trip Report

Location: Washington, United States, North America

Lat/Lon: 47.65845°N / 121.13937°W

Date Climbed/Hiked: Oct 1, 2006

Activities: Hiking, Mountaineering, Trad Climbing, Sport Climbing, Toprope

Season: Summer

Page By: tazz

Created/Edited: Oct 4, 2006 / Oct 27, 2006

Object ID: 231689

Hits: 1193

Page Score: 88.98% - 14 Votes

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Table of Contents

Where is dicey?

The Battle Within

Advise please =)

Where is dicey?

I had the pleasure of joining a few folks in the Thunder lakes area this weekend. Richard(for a day scramble), dicey, and Gabriel. For me this weekend was about, fighting and winning a battle inside myself, that I have been dealing with all season (a fear that came on me this year for some reason. I have never been this fearful of falling, failing, and the unknown like this in all the years and peaks I have climbed. This year has been tough.) Enjoying the area, taking in all the beauty Fall has to offer in the mountains, and the enjoying the company of some very wonderful friends.

We all had different schedules so we had plans to meet on the trail or at the lakes. I reached Hope lake right as the sun was rising. The color was nice on the way up but wow once you reach the lake and the meadows around and above the lake the color was incredible. It didn’t stop there! It just got better and better and better!

Richard caught up to me (shocker! I think this trip I was the slowest I have ever been.) just above Hope lake. We hiked the very nice PCT trail. We stopped a couple of times for water and just hanging out. Dicey and Gabriel should be catching up to us real soon.

We arrived at the jump off point at Trap pass. Still no dicey. There is a path that takes you along the ridge up towards Slippery Slab tower. Once you arrive below SS the path disappears into slab, boulders, rock, and meadows.

At this time I am wondering why dicey has not caught us yet. She is the most reliable person I have had the pleasure to climb with and this was odd. So of corse I am thinking something happened. It could be, an car accident, the car broke down, maybe Gabriel could not make it last minute, or they ran up K9 peak, or ,or ,or.....Too many things to wonder about. I was a little worried about them.

Richard and I continued along the traverse to reach Thunder pass. The traverse is pretty strait forward. A lot of boulder and rock hopping along with many ups and downs. Once below Nimbus peak you can pick either saddle to get into the Thunder lakes area. We chose the one on the right. This saddle lands you right to the base of Nimbus. We arrived and Richard wanted to tag Nimbus. After he waited for me to rest a bit we headed up Nimbus. What a great little summit! We both sat up on the summit. I looked for dicey. We hollered to dicey. Nothing.

As we sat up top we looked for Thunder peak. You can see the peak but we were not sure which one it was. We knew it was not the high point looming over Upper Thunder Lake. According to the map it is another ½-3/4 of a mile behind the highpoint above the lake. We dropped down off of Nimbus after signing the register. I left my camera so I have no pics from the summit.

Dropping down to the Lake was nice. A few small tarns left and the lake was nice. The Fall color was glowing all around. I was in heaven! Richard was trying to figure out the best route to Thunder while I looked for a good spot to camp for the night. Still no dicey.....

I found a good spot and started to unload. Richard wanted to get Thunder before he had to leave. I thought it would be best if I stayed as to not slow him down. Plus dicey, Gabriel, and I where planning on climbing Thunder too. I figured I would wait for them and maybe we could catch Richard. Richard took off for Thunder and I set up camp.

What now? Well this is when I sat back and enjoyed all that our beautiful mountains have to offer. I poked around and took pics of the area.

After another hour or so I really was thinking dicey and Gabriel are not coming. I watched for them at the passes. Worried a bit about why they have not shown yet. Then I started to wonder why Richard was taking so long. (Ok so I am a mom and that is what moms do they worry. It is our job.) It was too late to plan on hitting any peaks this day so I pulled out the whiskey. I had resigned to the fact they where not showing up and I was solo after Richard left. Although a bit boring I was fine with being solo.

Richard was successful on Thunder and came back to camp. I made him a cup of tea and we sat and talked about the route to Thunder, why dicey was not there yet, and just plain good conversation. I very much enjoyed your company Richard! Thank-you for just being... you!

All of a sudden “HEEELLLLOOOOWWWW!!!” It was dicey and Gabriel at the pass. What a relief! They climbed Slippery Slab! Dicey said she sent me a message about SS and gear but I never got it (I checked when I got home.) That’s ok because I would have slowed them down anyways. After much laughter about the mix up we settled down in camp. Richard headed home.

The day had been sunny and really nice. I was planning on a great sunset for pics when in a matter of 10 minutes the Onshore flow fog socked us in a white out. Damn! (The forecast was for 20% chance of showers for Sunday so it was a little expected).

The Battle Within

The next mornings sunrise made up for no sunset! What a display of nature! I was so excited and running around like an idiot taking pictures.

We dilly dallied around as the clouds started to lift and clear.

Then we headed off to Thunder Mountain. Richard said he took the ridge all the way to the summit. He did say he was forces to drop down in order to reach the summit ridge but it all sounded strait forward. He also mentioned that it might be better to traverse the south side of the ridge. That is what we started out doing. Then we reached a bench with a view of part of the traverse.

I have this slight fear eating at me(“go away just go away fear!”). I don’t like traversing steep heather but will do it if it is the only way.

At this point Gabriel asked which way we wanted to go. I had it stuck in my mind that Richard made the ridge work, and we don’t know what is around the corner of the traverse. I was like lets do the ridge. For some reason I felt more comfortable knowing Richard made it work. Stupid move Tazz!! We climbed up a steep heather slope to gain the ridge. Once at the top I panicked a bit. I could not see a way down. Gabriel went down one way and dicey was looking around for another. I was having an all too familiar battle inside. I HATE this battle. I was thinking, “I don’t want to get in a pickle. I don’t want to fall. I don’t want to slow them down and make their trip crappy. They are better than me at this. I do not want them to have to babysit me either (I hate that)” God I hate this battle! I almost turned around again. This is not the first time I have had this battle this season. I have turned back on several peaks due to this fear.

Gabriel was making his way down and dicey followed. You could tell others have done the same route. I yelled at myself “FOCUS!!!” and “you can do this, you have done harder and more sketched stuff!” Dicey was telling me it was good to go. I knew she would not tell me that if it wasn’t. OK I will go. “Just focus and keep moving” I dropped down. You go through a bit of bushwhacking and lots of veggie belays over rock steps to reach a large boulder field. We went through all of that when we could have done the traverse with less gain and loss. What a waist of time. Sorry guys I will shut up from now on and tell my fears to DIE!

From this spot you can see the summit and what would be the best route.
Losing more elevation we reached a steep heather gully that takes you to a little saddle. Then from there you head up the class 3 summit ridge.

I was Having the battle again but this time it was easier to stomp it down and just climb. The summit is small but has nice views. I was proud I had made it and at the same time shaking like a leaf. Inside I was saying “There see, take that! It was not that bad was it? Silly fool!” I used what dicey told me last year. “Don’t look at the big picture. Focus on what is right in front of you.” I focused really hard on that, and it worked! Thanks lady!

We sat and enjoyed the summit for quite some time.

Then we headed back. We did the traverse all the way back using benches and steep slopes. It took us no time to get back. What a great climb! Gabriel and dicey thank you for your patience with me.

I was planning on hitting Thor with them. They had one more night and other peaks to hit too. They headed up to do Nimbus including the fin as I packed up. After eating lunch and packing I watched them on Nimbus as I made my way to the saddle. It had turned out to be such a great day! I realized that If I joined them for Thor I would be doing a pressed, headlamp descent back to the trail head. I really didn’t want to do that. I backed out of Thor and parted ways with dicey and Gabriel. They had big plans for several other peaks.

I milked every second I had up there. I didn’t want to leave. I wandered around taking pictures and enjoyed the area before dropping back down to the trail. Even the trail was nice as the sun got lower. WOW what colors we have this year.

I always say this trip is one of my favorites but this one is. The great people I had the pleasure of being with. The battle I won inside myself. The beauty of the area. The Fall colors that just burns into you. What a great trip. I will be back for Thor and others.
Thanks again for the pleasure of you company Richard, dicey, and Gabriel.

Advise please =)

I am hoping to get some good advise on how to conquer this new fear I have had all season. I don’t know where it came from. I have never had the fears I have had this year and I have done sketchy stuff without this nagging feeling/fear. It seems as though I have taken a step back in my scrambling/climbing. I know some of you have been through it at some point and time. How did you get over it?

I am thinking about getting back out for some cragging this year. i have not been for 8 years. Maybe doing some exposed cragging will help with the not so exposed stuff.

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Viewing: 1-11 of 11

Great trip report!

Voted 10/10

With the names Thunder and Nimbus I thought you were going to be chased down by lighting. Conquering the fear is like hitting the summit twice over. Congrads to summiting these mountains and conquering your fears.

Looks like a great group of mountains. Your sunrise pictures are incredible. They put my sunset pictures from Golden Gardens in Seattle to shame. I miss the Northwest already.

Posted Oct 4, 2006 11:35 am


	tazz	Re: Great trip report!
	Hasn't voted	Thanks EK! You have just missed some of the best color in the NW. I don't know what to do about the fear. I wish it would just go away. I have always had a healthy fear when climbing and have done harder more exposed routes than ones I turned back on this year. I don't know what has cause it to be so strong. I did work through it on this peak but others I just gave in to it. Oh well. Hopefully I can do something to work through it. Thanks for stopping by
		Posted Oct 4, 2006 4:50 pm


	EastKing	Re: Great trip report!
	Voted 10/10	To be honest I had no idea that the Pacific Northwest had such strong color. In the back of my mind I though that one of the drawbacks to moving out to Seattle was the fact that there was no fall color. I have been going to the woods in New Hampshire and taking as many foilage pictures as I can. Obviously though I was dead wrong! What beautiful pictures! As for fear, I have plenty. I have just very recently started technical climbing and had to face the fear of falling many times. Just continue to fight it and hopefully it will go away.
		Posted Oct 11, 2006 2:27 am

Great report and pics!

Voted 10/10

I enjoyed your trip report very much. I myself struggle with fear of heights and not reaching the goal I had intended. Your story gave me new courage. I can't wait to get back out for more hiking next summer! I hope you can conquer your fears:)

Posted Oct 4, 2006 1:59 pm


	tazz	Re: Great report and pics!
	Hasn't voted	Thanks OMB! HA I hope it gives me more courage too LOL! Thanks for stopping by! :)
		Posted Oct 4, 2006 4:51 pm

Amazing pics for a great TR!

Voted 10/10

Tazz, your giving away the secrets of the NW, most people don't know that the most beautiful time to go climbing up there is in September and October! Anyways, I hope you can figure out your fear problem, I guess it happens to the best of us. Great TR with great photos, the whole trap area is really beautiful, but it’s particularly pretty in the fall.

Posted Oct 4, 2006 11:04 pm


	tazz	Re: Amazing pics for a great TR!
	Hasn't voted	hehehe.... I hope I can figure it out too! I agree about the trap area! WOW!! Thanks! :)
		Posted Oct 5, 2006 12:09 am

Stunning Photography

Voted 10/10

Well done.

Posted Oct 5, 2006 5:25 am


	tazz	Re: Stunning Photography
	Hasn't voted	Thankyou! :)
		Posted Oct 5, 2006 11:37 pm

rarely visited

Voted 10/10

Hardly anyone seems to go to that area. I climbed Slippery Slab one fall day with friends and just loved the basin beneath the peak. At first with all the names Thunder/Nimbus/etc., I was like "where is that?...oh yeah I forgot that place!"

Some days you are fragile and others strong. Your friends are happy to be there with you, they aren't thinking about "babysitting" and sighing and stuff like that, no way. They are thinking what a blast it is to be in that place, and if you are a little scared, they are proud to help you mentally to get to the summit.

Once I climbed Eldorado with this retired guy who really always felt bad about being slower and cursed himself out for not grasping why we'd climb on the ridgetop, or wondering why he felt so sketchy up there, etc. But did it bother me? No, it made the summit way better because I felt his triumph more than my own. Since then he's gone on to climb higher peaks than I ever will, Huascaran, Aconcagua, Denali, etc.

Your passion for the hills will keep you out there and keep you climbing. The only other thing I can think of is to focus on the climbing moves, rather than the imagined fall, with all it's lurid images in the mind. When I get into "brain lock" that is what I was doing.

Posted Oct 5, 2006 1:54 pm


	tazz	Re: rarely visited
	Hasn't voted	MVS It is a nice area. we never saw another person there except I saw 2 climber atop of SS Sunday afternoon. Great place. I want to thank you for your input. Dicey has been a great partner for 2 years now. She has taught me so much. She has put up with me being slower than her (so have several other partners)and the put up with and helped me through the new fears the past few climbs too. I have to say these past 2 years of not climbing exclusively with my husband has been good for me. I have learned so much from others. I guess one of my concerns is they will no longer want to climb with me if I keep this up. That would be a great loss to lose such great folks as partners. I Really think having a 3 year old has helped with my unconscious fears. That along with the death of Edd. I think about it a lot when out there. I don't want that to happen to me. I do like what you said about "brain lock". That is what it is like! As soon as I talk myself into it the fear takes over. Then I am doomed and usually will not proceed further. I will continue to work on it and I hope it goes away with time. Thank you so much for you note. It means a lot coming from you.
		Posted Oct 5, 2006 11:54 pm

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