Tom Grundy's TMF 2010 Expedition Page (part II)

This story is continued from part I
It is essentially the same as what you see here on the Wend Blog with a few changes.

Day 3

morning view of Mt Helen (yes, that is ice inside the tent)

We traversed over to near the base of the South Buttress and started up an attractive dihedral. We climbed as 2 parties of 3. I started off simul-climbing, but after pulling a few hard moves (and/or low on gear) I'd set up a belay and bring the others and the gear back up. We continued this pattern for the rest of an enjoyable morning. It was also nice to see that the weather appeared to be holding off for us. From time to time I'd point out a better route for the second team, but mostly we just climbed whatever features looked fun and easy enough.

Jason on Mount Helen

Andy on Mount Helen

Nearing the top of Tower I

There were some cracks that looked fantastic, but I am guessing that they were a good bit harder than 5.7, so we traversed around them. As we neared the summit, the climbing got even more exposed and fun, although I reluctantly agreed to no go to the summit of Tower 1 (due to time constraints). When I got to the notch between Tower 1 and 2 I could see down the seemingly vertical gully we had planned to come up originally, and I am glad we opted for the rock climbing (although things really do look steeper from above). Then we had to figure out how to get around Tower 2. The guide said to skirt it on the south side, but that looked pretty desperate. Finally we decided to rappel back down and climb up around on the south side. Then we went through the notch between Tower 2 and Tower 3 and started up towards the summit. We got our first good look at the summit of Gannet Peak from here.

The couloir we rapped to

Looking way down to our camp

near Tower II notch looking W and N (Gannet is the tall peak with snow across the top on the rightish side)

Tower 2 notch

Jason belays Chelsey up

Daniel Belays (Gannet is the tall peak with snow across the top)

The next bit was complicated by water running down the most obvious dihedral. With gusts the water would blow back up the face and onto any unsuspecting climbers downwind. We continued on with a crux move protected by an old piton. Clipping it was exciting though, as my foot slipped off of the ice patch I was stemming on. The next bit of excitement was a bit of poorly protected traversing rock climbing which I did, or stemming between another snow/ice patch and a wet wall which Jason led. Neither was particularly secure feeling. Then there was a bit of fun scrambling which ended on a pile of rocks at the angle of repose. Daniel went up this first and found the mine field (he held one sliding rock while Sam was stemming up the dihedral below). Luckily no major rocks came down to crush him. The rest of us went up carefully while the others hid off to the side. One more step across some ice and some scrambling led to the summit from there. We enjoyed the views, signed the register (we appeared to be the first group this year), and plotted our descent.

The last step across before the summit

Summit shot

Summit shot without me in the way

rough 360 degree + Panoramic image from the top of Mount Helen

Summit composite looking E and S

Heading down the ridge to the east and north was the chosen course. One ridge of snow was a bit exciting. Then we downclimbed to the north and finally were able to glissade and plunge step down to the top of the north gully. From there we descended rapidly (for the most part) back to our camp. After another delicious Alpine Aire meal, we packed ourselves back into the shelters and tried to sleep.

snow ridge on the descent

We descended the rocks down to the snow

and then down to the north couloir

glissading north couloir

packed into our shelter for the night

Colorado State postage stamp - is it Mount Helen reversed (or from the other side?) (USPS image)

view of Mt Helen from hiking up Bonney Pass

Day 4

This morning we got up early as we had a long day planned. It was still quite cold, but that helped with walking on top of the snow instead of post holing. We ate breakfast and packed up quickly and then headed up towards Bonney (once Dinwoody) Pass. It looked like a long way from Mount Helen, but it seemed even longer slogging up it with our packs from our camp near 11,400 feet to the pass at 12,831 feet. At the pass we took a short break for some food and to marvel in the view.

Starting up Bonney Pass

Sam balancing on Bonney Pass

descending Bonney Pass

Panorama looking towards Gannet descending Bonney Pass

Chelsey leaps a crevasse

Then we dropped way back down on the Dinwoody Glacier to skirt around below a large rock rib. From there we headed up with a little difficulty on some crevassed ice and onto the Gooseneck Glacier. Here Mountain Man Dan took the lead and kicked some most excellent steps up the steeper part of the glacier. Then we had a bit more rocks above Gooseneck Pinnacle and we were on the summit ridge of Gannet Peak. Gannet is the highest point in Wyoming at 13,799 feet (4,209 m). Some say it is the second hardest of the state highpoints after Denali in Alaska. It certainly is a spectacular peak in a spectacular setting.

We are glad we weren't here when this rock came down

Dan kicking steps up the Gooseneck Glacier

Sam heading up Gooseneck Glacier

Andy on Gooseneck Glacier

more Gooseneck Glacier madness

The final ridge on Gannet

Panoramic image from the top of Gannet looking SW through W to N (The Wells Creek drainage is in the center)

We signed the register and enjoyed the view. Then we decided that doing some AcroYoga on the summit would be easier than finding the descent.

Sam and Daniel on Gannet

Chelsey on top

Sam does a handstand on top

Daniel and Sam flying on Gannet

Jason and Chelsey flying on Gannet

More Acro fun

Sam and Tom counterbalance on Gannet

Andy and Jason flag on Gannet

An obligatory summit pose

Panoramic image from the top of Gannet looking NE through E to S

After some fun, we had to face up to it and find a way down. I wasn't sure how we would get down to the west, as the cliff descended thousands of feet to the glacier in that direction. We started out heading down the north ridge. When we hit the rock we rappelled, although it looked like downclimbing would be possible. I downclimbed from the bottom of the rappel and saw that we would be able to descend the talus to the top of a snowfield. Some of the group did a second rappel. Then we picked our way down the loose talus to the snowfield. It cut down around some rocks, so we couldn't see if it went all the way down, and an uncontrolled slide would end up on rocks or going over a cliff. We carefully headed down until we could see around the corner that the angle eased below. Then we were able to plunge step and glissade down a good distance before having to cut left around another cliff band. Then we crossed the Minor Glacier (which is still quite large). This featured a few sections of painful post holing into slush, especially as the crust was hard enough to hurt your shins. More talus, rock, and a snowfield brought us out of the land of rock and snow and onto a beautiful little meadow for another break.

Andy descends from Gannet

descending down to the snowfield above the Minor Glacier

consulting with the map

crossing the Minor Glacier

Jason and Chelsey with 80's hair by the Wind River Range

Sam's hair got interesting too

Next we dropped down to and traversed around a lovely little lake before making our way past Scott Lake. We were planning to go down Wells Creek, but weren't sure exactly how. It didn't look passable from the head of the long extension on Scott Lake with either cliffs or undercut snow going down to the water. Chelsey pointed out what a lovely place this would be to camp. We pressed on heading up the rounded buttress to the north of Wells Creek looking for a good way down. Or even a not impossible way down. This was made more exciting by the fact that many of the cliff tops were rounded so it was hard to get to the edge to see what was below. Finally we succumbed to the lure of Chelsey's beautiful meadow campsites and the idea of stopping before we lost the sun (so that we could dry things off before it got cold and dark). We stopped with the usual gear explosion across a meadow. We found a number of sardine cans near where we camped, but nobody was brave enough to open one (they looked like they had been there for years). A few days earlier it seemed like we had maybe brought too much food, but now we were thinking maybe we hadn't brought enough. There was some bartering for various bars and other treats. Before we lost all the sun we posed for a group photo with our Mont-bell thermawrap gear on. That evening a full moon rose over the mountains.

nice lake

hiking along the nice lake shore

Wells Creek drainage panorama above Scott Lake (Gannet in the middle)

Scott Lake

looking down to Wells Creek

Meadow still life with sardines

gear explosion at camp

The team in our Mont-bell thermawraps

To be continued....in part III here

link to the spot track from this trip
The spot track is nice, but it sure didn't get the start and end right (by the lake to the southwest).

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