Redwic - Jun 27, 2010 10:32 pm Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2010
Two Top 100 Peaks, One Day!
Gimpilator and I summited North Gardner Mountain, and then planned to summit Gardner Mountain via the Gardner Traverse. That particular ridge was half-snow, half-scree, and looked more dangerous than it might be later during Summer. We opted to down-climb from the saddle near Point 8487, side-traverse along the southern slopes of Gardner Mountain at ~7400' elevation, and then ascend the middle southern gully of the peak to the eastern summit ridge and easily hike to the summit. The snow in the open areas (gullies/couloirs) really helped the ascent, and avalanche danger had already passed. However, the scree slopes definitely made our descent faster. We were glad to follow mostly snow going up, and mostly scree going down, for possibly the easiest traverse for the mountain. No scrambling was required for this ascent/descent route of Gardner Mountain, and no ice axe was needed either, as the snow was soft from sun exposure.
Redwic - Jun 27, 2010 10:32 pm Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2010
Two Top 100 Peaks, One Day!Gimpilator and I summited North Gardner Mountain, and then planned to summit Gardner Mountain via the Gardner Traverse. That particular ridge was half-snow, half-scree, and looked more dangerous than it might be later during Summer. We opted to down-climb from the saddle near Point 8487, side-traverse along the southern slopes of Gardner Mountain at ~7400' elevation, and then ascend the middle southern gully of the peak to the eastern summit ridge and easily hike to the summit. The snow in the open areas (gullies/couloirs) really helped the ascent, and avalanche danger had already passed. However, the scree slopes definitely made our descent faster. We were glad to follow mostly snow going up, and mostly scree going down, for possibly the easiest traverse for the mountain. No scrambling was required for this ascent/descent route of Gardner Mountain, and no ice axe was needed either, as the snow was soft from sun exposure.