Reflections on the Gunsight Range

Climbing trips often take on new meaning a few days or weeks after the return to civilization.  Sometimes the most successful trips paradoxically elicit a bout of depression, a casting about in the drudgery of every day life.  On the other hand, the failures, and even the semi-successes, if coupled with the right amount of sheer suffering, can somehow seem in retrospect like a good time – maybe even a good idea!  A few days and a few hundred miles can change the perceptions of an intense experience. 

So it is with my recent trip into the Gunsight Range of the North Cascades, a remote ridge of granite in a wild and committing setting.  36 hours after getting back to Portland, I pulled off my socks in a hotel room in Detroit on the 45th floor of the Marriot Renaissance.  I looked down and saw swollen ankles bulging over the tops of my shoes.  As I peeled away my black dress socks, I revealed track marks in my skin, where my legs had swelled around the confining mesh of the material.

Mt. Adams - SW Chutes

The best medicine for withdrawal is a quick fix.  After returning from 10 days of climbing in California, I was still jonesing for more mountain time, knowing that the deep Pacific NW snowpack was making for some amazing summer ski conditions. 

Jaime had planted a seed a few weeks ago, suggesting the SW Chutes on Mt. Adams for the weekend after my CA trip.   Zach jumped on board, and by Saturday evening, we were driving through Trout Lake on the way to Mt. Adams. 

Lover's Leap

Lover's Leap

After a few days in the backcountry, we decided to spend the rest of the our week in the friendly confines of Lover's Leap near South Lake Tahoe.  With beautiful camping, impeccable rock and 4-600' routes, we could take the foot off the gas pedal a bit and still enjoy some fun, airy climbing.

The days were hot, but we still managed to climb - mostly in the morning and the evening with a brief siesta in between - the luxury of camping a mere minutes from the base of the wall.  I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Anniversary on the Moongoddess Arete

Moments of uncertainty - miles from the trailhead.  High up on a route with the mountain all to ourselves.  Casting about in loose, vertical terrain looking for the supposed 3rd-4th class ledges.  A striking alpine arete, towers of granite, wildness - the John Muir Wilderness.  What better way to celebrate our 7th Anniversary?  The Moongoddess Arete.  

Each year, by the end of the Spring, I start to daydream about long, alpine routes on granite peaks - remote objectives offering solitude, altitude, and vertical terrain.  I'll lie in bed, rifling through guidebooks looking for promising route descriptions.  Ideas get passed back and forth with friends.  Prior failures push back into my consciousness, tempting me with redemption.  Motivation.  Anticipation. 

Desert Days

With more rain in the forecast, Jaime and I escaped over the Cascade crest to the desert of eastern Oregon.  The drive paid off with sun, perfect temperatures and a seldom visited crag lined with splitter cracks.  Another excellent day of climbing!

The Tieton Valley

Onie on The Western Front, Tieton River Valley

Lane Peak - The Zipper Ski Descent

Improvisation . . . on the fly.  A washed out climb/ski of Mt. Rainier turned into a soggy descent of Lane Peak in the Tatoosh.

The original plan had Jaime and I climbing in Tieton on Saturday, meeting Doug and Alex in the parking lot of Paradise on Saturday night, and then climbing/skiing Rainier on Sunday.  Things didn't exactly go as planned.  On Saturday, we got in one pitch of climbing at the Bend before getting rained on and retreating to the car.