Dead Indian Peak

Dead Indian Peak

View of Dead Indian Peak (12,216 feet) from the top of Crag Peak.
musicman82
on Aug 24, 2009 11:49 pm
Image ID: 544679

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Bob Sihler

Bob Sihler - Mar 12, 2010 2:04 pm - Voted 10/10

Dewey?

That's Dewey in the foreground, right? This view definitely makes the ridge look doable. The descent from the summit block itself looks like the tricky part, but I suspect there's a gully on the ridgeline or something gentler that we can't see just on the other side.

musicman82

musicman82 - Mar 12, 2010 3:49 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Dewey?

No - that point in the foreground is about 11920 feet at 44.5935, -109.5742; it's just above the spot where a trail on the topo map crosses just below 11,600. If you zoom to full size you can barely see the trail on the grassy slopes. If you look at this picture of Dewey taken from the same spot: http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=544680, you can see the same two snowfields on the extreme left that are on the right side of this picture. The connecting ridge from DI comes directly towards the camera here (Dewey is closer - deceptive because of the zoom on DI) and leads to the far left ridge visible in the other picture. I do agree with that the descent from DI will be the tough part; if there's a way down to the saddle just below 11,000, the climb up Dewey shouldn't be a problem.

I'm sending an email to Tom T. to check if he has any beta on that ridge...

Bob Sihler

Bob Sihler - Mar 14, 2010 11:40 am - Voted 10/10

Re: Dewey?

Okay, I see now. At least I had the DI ridge right.

Let me know what you find out from Turiano. The cowboys who did that big traverse probably went without rope, which means the ridge below the DI summit shouldn't be worse than a low Class 5. However, they went up it whereas we would be descending it, which will be much harder.

If you find out the descent is inadvisable, I'm inclined to go back to making it a one-nighter or a day climb. That extra backpacking day is just going to be too long for me for just one peak that will likely be only 2-4 miles from camp. I have to keep busy when backpacking or I go nuts just sitting around with nothing to do. Besides, I may need to slice a day from DI or Kirwin or both in order to get back home on time without epic driving days.

If that is the case but you wouldn't one to do it in a day or just one night, maybe we could spend one day in Sunlight Basin, doing Elkhorn in the afternoon and Windy Mountain the next morning. Elkhorn actually looks more interesting to me than Dewey does; it's the traverse from DI to Dewey that appeals to me, not Dewey itself.

musicman82

musicman82 - Mar 14, 2010 2:33 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Dewey?

I sent you a PM with Tom's info in it. I'm thinking to do his route dropping into the north basin on the way to Dewey and possibly trying the ridge on the way back depending on how it looks. Elkhorn looks good as well; I'm really hoping to do Dewey since it would complete all four of the Big 12ers in the N. A's for me - I figure if I'm out there I might as well do it rather than do another whole trip out that way...

Bob Sihler

Bob Sihler - Mar 14, 2010 2:42 pm - Voted 10/10

Re: Dewey?

Got the PM. I'll get back to you later with some thoughts on it and this message.

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