MY FAVORITE PLACE.

There, it's updated! Are you happy now?

Sorry it has been awhile since I have written anything. Since my exciting trip to the edge of the world (Grand Teton), Christy and I have been backpacking in the Uinta's and I have been busy with all my jobs. Intermixed in all this was a class I took through the University of Utah. The class is called Vertical Rescue Technician which is long and short; high angle rescue. I spent 4 weeks with every spare time studying and in class learning how to rescue someone or myself off the side of a cliff. It was insanely fun and would recommend this class to anyone in the climbing world!!! I will try and post pictures later but for now I just wanted to let everyone know I have not fallen of the face of the earth.....yet!

Cheers.

Grand Teton

Where do I start? How do I write about a trip and make a long story short? I guess I could sum it up with one phrase: We went up and up and up, then came down; FAST, Why? Because it was INSANE! But what fun would it be to sum up a very fun trip into one phrase? So here is another attempt, a very LONG attempt:

The trip was set up months ago by a co-worker. There were six of us on the team. Phil was the organizer then there was myself, my brother Steve, Evan (from work also) and two friends of Phil’s; Jen and Sara, Jen’s older sister. Several weeks ago we did a practice climb up Big Cottonwood Canyon. This was designed to get everyone together and practice on the ropes before the big climb.

So here we are, Thursday morning. I drove up to Jackson Hole with Steve and Evan. Phil, Jen and Sara drove up later that night. Once we arrived in Jackson we headed into the Grand Teton National Park. Our first stop was at the Jenny Lake Ranger Station to pick up our backcountry trip permit. After visiting with the rangers for a bit we headed over to the trailhead to check things out. Once we familiarized ourselves with the parking lot and getting excited about the climb we headed over to the Climbers Ranch. This ranch is located inside the park but ran by the American Alpine Club. It is basically a bunch of bunk houses available for really cheap, much like a hostel. So we were able to secure our bunks for the team and then we headed into Jackson for dinner.

After walking around town for a bit trying to find a good place to eat, we finally settled at the Cowboy Bar Steakhouse. Some elk stakes later we were back at the Climbers Ranch finalizing our backpacks and getting ready for the arrival of the other team members. Around 10pm we were ready for bed and so we hit the sack. Around 12:30am the others arrived and sneaked into the bunkhouse, found their bunks, and before long we were all up bright and early the next morning.

After a bite to eat we were at the trailhead getting the classic “group photo” before the big climb! With heavy packs on we were off. The trail was a good one to start with. Good packed dirt on level ground. Then it began to incline. Soon there was switchback after switchback. As the trail rose in elevation so did our spirits. Every step was one step closer to the summit. Before long we were leaving the front of the Teton Range and heading into Garnnet Canyon. The trail turned from dirt to rock. It was still a good solid trail and before long we were leaving pine trees and squirrels going into high alpine meadows and marmots.

Over a bunch of car sized boulders and stream crossings later we were at the meadow portion of the canyon. We stopped to rest and filter water. Above us lay high peaks, talus slopes, glacier filled coliours and lots of anticipation. As we rested we looked around at the surroundings wondering aimlessly at what direction the trail would send us next. We soon found out; UP!!

I had no idea switchbacks could only be five feet long. I should have counted them as we wondered back and forth going up foot after foot in elevation with every step. It must have been over 200 switchbacks just to raise 800 feet in elevation. Step breath, step breath, step rest ten minutes, step breath. It seemed to take forever! But like every good trail, we soon popped up on top of the bowl and looking into a moraine. Before us laid lots of rock, snow and more trail to walk. But the good thing, before us laid the lower saddle. The lower saddle is a mark on the climb. It is the point we will reach the following day. The point where easy turns to hard. Somewhere between where we were currently standing to the point of the lower saddle was base camp.

Twenty or thirty minutes later we had found our sites and set up tents. We hung out watching the countless number of climbers heading up and down the lower saddle. Some were heading for the summit and many more returning. We timed the ones heading up so in the morning we would know how long it should take us. Before long, night was upon us and 3am was coming quick. We gathered one last time for a team meeting to determine logistics of the climb and in to bed we went.

For those who have never been backpacking, sleeping in a tent with a threat of bears looming around can be rather intimidating. As you lay there in the pitch black tent waiting to fall asleep it is hard not to ponder about every little noise you hear and think about what it could be. I have spent many countless nights in the back woods straining my ear lobes in hopes of avoiding any kind of animal attack. With this comes sleepless nights and hard camping. The solution? Earplugs, especially when your tent mate snores. With that said I was asleep in no time and “patiently” waiting for 3 am to hit.

So I am getting carried away, let me get back to the meat of the story. The alarm goes off, we get up quickly, and out of the tent we went. Steve and I decided to get up earlier than the others so we would have time to cook a warm breakfast prior to leaving. I had banana cinnamon oatmeal and Steve had chicken flavored ramen noodles. Don’t ask me why I remember this. So we ate as everyone else was getting ready. Soon our packs were on and off up the trail we went. Pitch black and being guided by the energizer bunny (hippie slang for headlamps).

I don’t know what it is about hiking while the sun is down but it makes a hike so much more enjoyable. Before long we found ourselves to a point in the trail that makes this climb so unique. Before reaching the lower saddle we have to climb a small but easy rock face. There were a few ropes with knots hanging. One at a time we went up the pitch. It was fun but slightly challenging. After we were all up it was a short hike up a switch back to the saddle.

At this point we stopped and rested. There was a spring so we filled up on water. Steve decided his legs were not getting the excitement they needed and decided to turn around. His decision was based on the possibility of running out of energy at a critical point in the climb and put the team in danger. I imagine it was a hard decision to make but we all respect him for taking that step early in the day. For me personally it hurt deeply having to face the fact I was not going to enjoy the summit with my brother. For a few seconds I actually considered turning around with him. What’s the point of going on if I can’t have him with me on the top? But he assured me he was OK and to continue, so we did.

From the lower saddle we passed the Exum huts and continued climbing in elevation to the upper saddle. Exum is the name of a guide service that contracts with the park service. They have lots of business on the mountain and anyone who is anyone in the climbing world knows Exum. On and on we went taking each step higher and further up the mountain. By the time light was starting to show on the horizon we were getting close to the upper saddle. Right before sunrise we found ourselves arriving at the upper saddle, about 13,000 feet in elevation.

Now the fun begins. From this point the hike turns into a climb. Unfortunately there were two teams already on the next area we planned to climb so it was time to sit back and wait our turn. It was good to rest anyways. Phil always gets nauseous at this point so we hung out until the other teams were of the pitch and Phil was feeling better. After thirty minutes we were ready to go on. The other teams were off the section we were ready to do. So Phil went first and up and out of sight he went. Before long we were at a stopping point again because we caught up to the other teams.

So this first section is called the Belly Roll. It’s called this because it is about a twenty foot traverse across a very scary section. It is a thin undercut ledge that you have to actually crawl under to get across. To make things even worse the ledge sticks up a bit. So with one side of your body crawling on the inside ledge the other side of your body is crawling on the outside of the ledge. Did I forget to mention the outside of the ledge has a few thousand feet drop-off to the VERY bottom of the mountain? Let me move on, no need to focus on this anymore, I already have nightmares from this.

Getting to the end of the traverse we would clip into some anchors that were placed by Phil. Here is how the multi-pitch climb worked. Phil would go first and lead the pitch with Evan belaying him from below. He would place gear or what the climbing world calls “protection.” When he arrived at the end of the pitch he would place several anchors and then tie himself in. He would then take the rope and “belay” the next climber, which was Evan. Evan would then climb the route and “clean” the anchors as he moved to the top of the pitch. At this point the anchors would be given back to Phil for the next climb. Evan would then belay the next climber. Usually it was Sara that would follow. Because there was five of us climbing two ropes were needed. So Phil would be at the top of the rope, Evan would tie into the middle and Sara would tie into the end of the rope. As Sara would move up the pitch she had the beginning of the next rope. Once she arrived at the belay station, or top of the pitch, she would then belay me up. I was usually tied into the middle of the second rope. Once I was atop then Jen would be tied into the end of the second rope and make sure everything was cleaned from the last anchor. At any point of the climb we were all tied in and anchored to the rock. But do you think this made it easier on me and the being afraid of heights issue?

So as we followed the team before us so did other teams behind ours. This is how it went for three or four more pitches. Almost every pitch brought something interesting. If it wasn’t a jogger coming down and climbing over us it was another team trying to pass us on a col next to ours. The mountain was packed with people and it was almost to the point of being dangerous. Some people, not even equipped with climbing gear, were climbing over us to get to the top. I thought for sure I was going to see an accident, the kind that comes in the form of a body falling very fast and landing very hard at the bottom. Luckily Phil would not budge on the route or game plan and our team was very safe. It was just everyone else that was being risky. But at no time were we ever in danger.

Another interesting point in the climb was the Owen Chimney portion. Because of the north-

western facing slope we were climbing, this chimney still had snow and ice on it. This made climbing it a bit of a challenge. We succeeded in it and soon found others climbing it without any protection. I will tell you about them later. We soon found ourselves less than a few hundred feet from the summit. From this point it was a class 4 scramble to the top.

Let me tell you about the mad dash for the summit. With many people coming up the mountain every which way and sideways the top could only hold so many. Imagine placing two sedans end to end, this is how much space there was atop. Now place 28 people in that space and you have our summit celebration atop the Grand Teton! With it now being around 1 pm, the sky turning dark with thunderstorms, it was time for the mad dash to get down. We only spent a few minutes enjoying the windless views. Long enough to send out our text messages and attempt to call our spouses and friends. It was so crowded we actually had to ask a person to step off the BM marker to get a picture of it.

A famous quote by one of America’s top mountaineers, Ed Viesturs, “Getting up is optional, getting down is mandatory! Ya I made the summit, but it wasn’t over yet. As quick as we went up we were heading down. The nice thing about going down is it’s a different style then the way we came up. Usually when you climb up you rappel down. So off to the rap stations we went. The nice thing about the mountain is you climb up one way then rap down another. This helps so you don’t come down on those trying to come up. The first belay was about 60 feet high. Was I intimidated? Hell ya I was! Going up was easy having my psyche being influenced by looking at the rock and not down the thousands of feet below. However, rappelling is a totally different game. Try falling backwards placing all your trust on a rope and looking behind you and seeing nothing but air and space going on for miles. That was intimidating for me.

But I conquered! Luckily I have a very loving wife who took me rappelling for my birthday in June. I felt totally comfortable rappelling and after the first few feet of dropping actually enjoyed it. Maybe it was the simple fact I was getting off the mountain in a very fast way? From the bottom of the first rap there was a small scramble over to the next and final rappel. This final one was a big one too, 120 feet down to the upper saddle! As I started over I could not see the bottom of the rap. This is because you come down off an overhang and then free-fall for half of the rap. As I was going down I was looking out over the range. IT WAS MASSIVE! And I was HIGH UP!! A few yells and whoops and I was soon on the bottom unclipping, grinning from ear to ear! As fast as it was there it was all over.

After collecting all the ropes and stowing the gear we began our decent down to the lower saddle. It was much easier going down the talus slope in the daylight versus being in the dark. Before long we were at the lower saddle and then down the knotted ropes. After leaving the upper saddle and before arriving at the lower saddle I was able to make contact with Steve back at base camp. Luckily we all had the little Motorola FRS radios. This really made the climb easy. You have no idea how hard it is when multiple teams are yelling the same commands. It becomes very easy to make a mistake and have someone think your off the rope when your not. With our radios on and clipped to us the communications were easy, and it made our climb VERY safe.

I let Steve know where we were and how soon we would be back. And within the time allotted we were back at camp; soar, tired, and filled with joy from summiting. Since our permit only allowed us one night on the mountain it was time to pack up camp. There were other hikers coming up that were patiently waiting for our spots so without wasting time we were loaded and on our way.

I would like to say it was easier hiking out than it was hiking in. Pack had to be lighter due to eating all the food. It was down hill versus uphill. But because of the intense hike to the summit and back I was sore. And one thing made it even worse for me. My knees! The grade of the trail going down on some spots was just enough of a steep pitch to send burning and shooting pain through my knee with every step. I took my time and made sure each step was a solid step to avoid any extra twisting. Though it didn’t seem to help some parts of that blinking trail got the best of me. But like always, I survived to tell about it. Sometimes I wonder if I’m not the poster child for Ibuprofen.

While on the summit someone mentioned Bubba’s BBQ in Jackson Hole. Once Phil heard the words he was dead set on getting there before closing. Once we were on our way out we could sometimes see him on a bend almost running. I had no idea but soon found out. We heard the place closed at 9 pm. We figured we would barely catch the closing. Soon found ourselves hiking in the dark once again, which only meant one thing; it was after 9 pm.

Steve, Evan and I were the slow ones getting out. Phil, Jen and Sara were way ahead of us. Seeing Phil’s excitement for the BBQ I figured we would get back to the trailhead to find a note stating they had already left and would save us a seat. But to my surprise we were actually only minutes behind them. We arrived at the trailhead around 9:30pm. As we began to load the cars of our packs the heavens opened and rain fell upon us. It was almost like someone was waiting for us to get out before having it rain.

On to Jackson Hole we went. As soon as we drove out of the park the rains stopped. Into town and figuring Bubba’s was closed we headed for a Wendy’s. As luck would have it, Bubba’s was next door and they had their open sign on. Phil walked inside just in time to get a table before the sign was turned off. So we enjoyed a big BBQ dinner in celebration of our climb. I am sure the staff understood of our stench and dirtiness. I didn’t care much; I had an appetite that was screaming for more.

After dinner Phil, Jen and Sara got a room being too tired to drive home. Since Steve was able to catch 8 hours rest at base camp he was in the condition to drive home. So that is what we did. With one stop in Idaho Falls to get fuel and load up on Pepsi’s it wasn’t till 4 am I found myself crawling into the shower at home. You think Christy was going to let me climb into bed smelling like I did? Tried it once, didn’t work!

That’s the meat of the story. That is the trip in a net shell. Yes it was a long read, but I am not done yet. Now the emotional aspect of the climb; here is where one comes face to face with a situation and “meets god” if you will. After attempting Gannett several weeks ago in the Wind Rivers and now climbing the Grand, something has come over me. I have spent this summer learning, experiencing, and seeing many new things. Have I got your interest yet? Severe heights! NO MORE, NOT FOR ME!!!!!!

Yes I knew what I was getting into. But somehow the size and capacity of the mountains are always diminished in photographs. Being there in person and seeing the outdoors with your own eyes gives you the real aspect. Don’t think I didn’t have fun on my trips, I am merely saying some stuff has happened and I am seeing my limits. Some situations I witnessed first hand, some I imagined happening; and certain situations happening on the home front.

I will never do a big wall climb, especially one where many people are present. Multi-pitch climbs in the Cottonwood Canyon’s are still within my capability and enjoyment level, as long as they are under a 5.8 rating. I am still looking at achieving my goal of completing the 50 state highpoints. Hopefully I can achieve that goal sooner than later. However, there are still many lakes and rivers that are calling my name! With that said, the heights got to me on this one. Slot canyons, here I come!!!

Maybe someday if you invite me and the wife over for a “Grand Teton Brewing Company Teton Ale,” I just might give you the story behind the story. I think it could only be told over some beers! At least that is how Christy heard the story, the day I came home safely to her!
Now for the pictures:

The pic above shows the view driving into Teton National Park. The pic below is what we saw standing by the front door of our cabin at the climbers ranch.

Here is a view up close of the peak. You can see the lower saddle to the right. The upper saddle is behind the peak and you can not see the routes we climbed to the summit.

This is the cabin we all stayed in at the climbers ranch. Not bad for $20 a night uh?
At the trailhead. From left to right: Phil, Dan, Steve, Evan, Sara, and Jen.

This was taken prior to entering Garnnet Canyon.

As we turned the corner and headed up canyon we could see this peak off to the left. I believe it is Nez Perce Peak.

This is prior to arriving at the meadow. You can see the meadow down in the left hand corner. The saddle is the beginning of the moraine area. So ya, we have to hike up past the waterfall and over the saddle to where base camp awaits.

Closer view of the waterfall. This is all from glacier run-off.

If looking at the waterfall then turning left, this picture is off the area on the other side of the meadow.

Once we got up and over and into the moraine, this is the view we got. Camp is somewhere in the middle of the picture. Directly above the snow field to the right of it is a small cliff where the ropes are at. Above that is the lower saddle where the Exum huts sit.

Here is a good pic of our base camp. Steve is standing next to our tent. The other tent is Sara and Jen's. Evan and Phil's is behind the photographer.
Looking south from camp:

Team meeting prior to bed. It was taken at 7:13 pm.

Here is the beginning of summit day. 3:30 am. Steve is cooking noodles as Jen and Sara are awaking and getting ready.

This is one of three ropes prior to the lower saddle.

Just before we arrived at the upper saddle as dawn was coming:
The picture above is looking west of the lower saddle and out into Idaho. If turning around and looking east, this is the view we had. Look really close and you can see another climber on the ridge about 2/3rds of the way up. No, this is not the direction we were heading. The climber is on the Upper Exum route.

Here I am on the upper saddle waiting for our turn on the Belly Crawl.
After the first traverse we had our first pitch. The pic below shows Evan coming up, about half way into the pitch. I believe the next pic shows the Owen Chimney, which was our second or third pitch. This is the pitch that had ice and snow on it. About where Phil is located is where the ice is.
Here is the Jogger about to come down on Jen. The Own Chimney is behind us.
The mad dash for the summit.
And at last, me on top of the freaking peak!! This next pic shows Evan coming down the 120 foot rappel. He is already about a third of the way down.

Here is a look back up to the upper saddle, already on our descent to the lower saddle. Evan is in the pic to give somewhat of a size comparison. Didn't help much!

Looking down to the lower saddle you can barely see an orange hut. That is the Exum hut.

Just a picture showing the weather; nothing more, nothing less!

Arriving at the lower saddle:

Looking back towards the upper saddle from the lower saddle. If you look close you can see several teams coming down on the scree field:

Halfway back from the lower saddle to base camp. That is Sara in front of me. Packing up and heading out:

And finally, Bubba's BBQ!!!!!!

So in years past I have made a video of all my big hikes for the year. This year should complete a trilogy. 2007 was the Utah County Highpoints celebrating my 30th birthday. 2008 was Mount Whitney (oh ya baby!!). 2009......This will be an interesting title and video...Any suggestions? Please comment and help me title it and give me some ideas. After all, what point is scrapbooking if others can't enjoy it.

Gannett Peak, Wind Rivers Wyoming

Before I started documenting the trip this morning I was on my sisters blog and read this quote by an unknown: “The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it and the faith to believe it is possible.” This really hit hard inside of me and inspired what I am about to write.


This trip was the yearly big adventure I always plan annually. My current goal, which will be an adventure for many years to come, is to step foot on the highest peak in each of the fifty states. So far I have two down and forty-eight to go. This last trip was to knock of Wyoming’s highest peak which sits in the middle of the Wind Rivers. The Winds in itself are one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in America. I will compare their beauty closely with our Uinta’s. With that said, here goes the trip report


Out of all fifty highpoints, Gannett Peak is one of the most remote to get to. It sits at an elevation of 13,804 feet above sea level. The best route according to guidebooks is to take the Elkhart Trailhead out of Pinedale Wyoming and hike twenty miles in, forty miles roundtrip. It requires 2 days backpacking for the approach and a full day of summiting. This hike will require a skill I have never used before and have been learning about for the past several months: Mountaineering! Hiking a trail is one thing; crampons, ice axe, ropes, glacier travel and snow is another reality of being in the outdoors. These skills I had to learn before leaving. I attacked the books, the Internet, friends, co-workers; just about anything to learn the skills. But the only thing that would teach me the things I needed was to be there, on the snow, on the ice, on the mountain itself! Oh, and the other lesson I learned on this trip; Safety is always number 1! At HOME and on the mountain. I didn't loose an arm, but I did loose a piece of equipment that turned out to be invaluable to have!!


It starts several days before leaving. I have put together a gear list and started packing my pack. First thing I did was laid out everything I thought I needed on the trip. Then I went through and pulled the unnecessary to decrease my pack weight. The next day I went through it again. Then I packed it all up and weighed the backpack. Fifty pounds! This was not acceptable. I went through it again and again, repacked and packed several times. After the fourth time I got it down to forty pounds. This was acceptable to my standard.
Early Monday morning at 0600 I picked up Steve, Brett and Brett's neighbor Art. The four of us piled into my 4-Runner and headed towards the middle of Wyoming. Four hours of driving and five McDonalds Egg McMuffins later (all Brett), we finally arrived at the trailhead. The parking lot was packed with cars and as we started to unload, three HUGE van loads of people pulled in after us. We found out there were two missing hikers and a SAR (search and rescue) operation was in progress. Their command post was in the parking lot and everyone and their dog were getting ready to travel our same trail.

So we talked with the ranger and found out the details of the missing hikers. An older gentleman and a twenty year old gal missing for the past two days. They didn't check in when they were suppose to. So we would keep our eye out. The picture below shows us at the trailhead before starting our five day adventure. From left to right; Art, Brett, Steve and Me.

Within a mile or two we crossed into wilderness boundary. This means no motorized equipment or bikes from here on out. It also means bears, moose, elk, deer and cougars; which we saw none of!

About five miles in we came to a point in the trail called Photographers Point. The views of the mountain range were awesome! If you look way up close, you can see the mountains we are heading for. Ya, way out there, way out in the middle of nowhere!! I guess I should mention now Christy was at home following our every move. For the past two years I have had a spot tracker along with me on my trips. Many of you are familiar with this little piece of technology. For those who don't know what it is, let me tell you about it, because it played a very intricate part in our trip. Here is a picture of it when I was on top of Angels Landing in Zions (Orange thing on my pack): It is a satellite communicator of sorts. It has three main functions. You push one button to send out an OK message. This message can go to either an email or text message with a predetermined message and the exact GPS coordinates of where I am when pushing the button. The message will also have a link to click on and show you on Google Maps where we are, either by satellite image or topographical map. I can go onto my account and put in the people I want to send the message to and what the message says. It's actually kind of cool. The other function is a "HELP" function. I hit that button and it sends out a message to those I pre-determined will come help me if I needed it. It's a message that says I am OK, but stranded. I would use this if I ran out of gas or broke down somewhere. The last function is a "911" button. If I hit this button, the GPS coordinate would be sent to Spot Tracker (the company) and they would immediately dispatch the closest search and rescue. This function is for the emergency, when I have injured myself or need help ASAP! It's kind of nice to know if I am out of cell phone range I can still communicate if I needed help, which is a great thing to have in the back country. So for an extra $30 a year, I can add another function which is called "tracking." It would send out a message with the GPS coordinate every ten minutes to my account. Chirsty was able to log on whenever she wanted and see exactly where we went and where we currently were. It was fun for her to watch our progress. I had this function mainly for summit day since that part of the hike was going to be VERY hard for us. Like I wrote earlier, I have used this device many times in the past. I would send out an OK message when I got to camp letting everyone know I made it OK. Then every night I would send out another OK message letting them know I was back at camp and doing fine. My parents especially like this because it gives them a sense of relief knowing my day of hiking was done and I was back at camp safe. So anyways, here is a picture from Photographers Point:

Photographers Point was five miles in. Another five miles later and we would be at Seneca Lake, which was the stopping point for the day. On our 10 miles in we ran into a lot of hikers. Some of them fit the description of the two missing hikers so we always asked if they were the ones. Of course they were not so we chatted for a minute or two and moved on. One group we ran into said they had a tent at Seneca Lake set up for them in case they made it back to their camp. The tent had a note in it stating to stay there and wait for SAR. They had a sibling who made it out I guess and left the tent for them. He was the one who notified SAR of the overdue hikers.

We set up our camp just north of the lake. About 100 yards from the lost hikers tent, which was the exact tent I have. Every couple of hours or so a helicopter would fly over, circle the tent, and fly off. We ran into many SAR people on horseback and foot looking for the hikers. It was a brutal ten miles in but glad to be at camp. I sent off my spot message stating we were at camp and started spraying up on bug dope since the little buggers were horrible. Sunset came and we were in our bags sleeping. The next morning we got up, broke camp and started heading for our next stop, six miles to Titcomb Lakes. I started the tracking mode on the spot tracker and off we went. About two miles in we ran into two hikers just below a pass. Once again they fit the description of the missing hikers so Steve asked if they were the ones. "Ya we are, but were found!" They started to move on and we all looked at each other like "Don't joke around people, this is kinda serious!" So Steve stopped them and asked again, and they stopped and sure enough, they were! We chatted with them for a bit. We asked if they were OK and if they needed anything. They were in good physical shape, mentally they were perfect, and they still had plenty of food and water. They apparently got snowed on going over a pass and missed their trail, sending them into another drainage. This set them back two days. They said they knew SAR was out looking for them because of their two days overdue. They even had seen the helicopter fly over several times and tried signaling it with no avail. We told them their sibling was OK and with SAR. We also let them know their tent was still set up at Seneca with a note stating to sit put. They were very appreciative of our information and sparked up at the thought of being at their tent in another mile or so. Since they were still in good shape and knew where they were and what they were doing we split our ways. When we got onto the pass we thought it would be a good idea to see if we had cell coverage and call the forest service to report our sighting. Luck would have it we did and we called. That was the first they had word the missing two were OK and their location. About five minutes later we heard the helicopter flying and sounded like it landed over by the lake. This event would prove helpful to us later in our journey! So on we went to Titcomb Lakes.

We arrived at a good campsite above the lakes and set up camp. I sent off my OK message to let everyone know we had arrived at camp two OK and resting the rest of the day preparing for the big day.

Looking north from our camp you can see the pass we have to travel over the next morning. The couloir to the far right of the pic below is Bonney Pass. 2,000 feet elevation gain to go up and over it into another drainage before ascending Gannett Peak. It looks steep, which it is! Ice axe and crampons are a must to travel this part. We came prepared!

03:30 came early. Some of us slept well from hiking in 16 miles, some of us were too excited to sleep! But the time came for summit day. We loaded our packs with what we thought we needed and off we went into the dark, headlamps blazing our way.

Since this day was going to be the most challenging day for us and the most dangerous, I had the spot tracker on and Christy was following our every move. Up Bonney Pass and down the other side. We were half way up the pass when it started getting light. I took a few pics to show the ordeal it took getting up.

Here I am atop Bonney Pass looking north. Gannett Peak is rising in its glory behind me. Three hours down, many more to go! And I was not looking forward to going back down what we came up. It was freaking steep!!!

So down the pass and onto Dinwoody Glacier. We traveled across that glacier towards Gooseneck Glacier. All day we were leap-frogging with a couple of other teams. One group was from Alaska, another from Oregon. There was one team, unknown where they were from, but had summited Rainer seven times and was hoping to bag this one. You can see the Alaskan team ahead of us in the pic below. The Oregon team were already up on the other glacier.

You can see from the pic above and below Steve is in front of me then Art.

Here we are crossing over the ridge from Dinwoody Glacier to Gooseneck Glacier. The "Rainer Team," what we came to call them, caught up to us here. This is the point we rope up, so all three of our groups were tying in and getting ready to hit the worst part of the trip: THE BERGSCHRUND!

A "bergschrund" is the beginning of a glacier. Usually there is a snow field that comes down the top of the saddle and then a cravasse splitting the field to where the actual glacier begins. Sometimes there is no cravasse other times there is. This one had one. Usually in the early months there is a snow bridge that crosses over the cravasse. This is the only way to cross the bergschrund. In later months the snow bridge will melt off and there is no way to cross it. We inquired about it with passing hikers who had been up the day before. They said the bridge was still there and we had no worries. So the pic below shows the Rainer team (three of them) roped up heading towards the bergschrund and the Alaskan team (the next three) following.

Here we are roped up and actually on the snow bridge. Art, at the top, is looking right at the massive cravasse. Brett is in the middle of the bridge and Steve is looking left towards the other side of the cravasse. At this point Steve tired out and called it quites. He unclipped and headed back down towards the ridge. This freaked me out because he was unclipping at a point he should not have. But he made it OK and we continued up and over the bergschrund. I took a picture of the cravasse towards the left, but when I got to the point looking to the right, I saw I was on a foot of snow going over the cravasse and did not want to stop! It freaked the crap out of me and I just kept on stepping. I think, no pretty sure, Brett was feeling the same thing because we both were cruzing up the glacier to get out of the area.

A few more steps and we were up on the last saddle before the final ascent. At this point we were tired. We had come a long ways and over some pretty hairy stuff. Looking west the weather was bringing us a good thunderstorm. A guy was sitting there and we chatted with him. He said his team went on and he has been watching everyone else go up. From this point on he said it has taken everyone about an hour and a half to summit. Looking at the weather, seeing how tired I was and Brett not wanting to go any further I came to a decision. They always say to get up and down before the snowbridge over the bergschrund gets soft in the afternoon. It was already afternoon and another couple of hours would only place us in more danger of falling into that cravasse. I faced defeat knowing the mountain would be there another day and made the call. Art was disapointed. This was his second attempt on Gannett and he really wanted it bad. I told him if he wanted to go then go but we were turning around. He was off and running towards the summit! Me and Brett stood there wondering what to do next. I visited with the gentleman a little bit longer then headed down off the saddle a bit to wait for Art. I didn't want to be up there when the thunderstorm hit and wanted to be a bit protected. We sat on a small ridge and watched as everyone came down and Art went up.

Team after team passed up going down. Art barely made it to the summit before the last ones were going down so he had someone to take his picture on the top. By the time he made it back to us the storm blew to the north of us and nothing hit. He made a gamble and it paid off for him. I made a decision based on safety and missed the opportunity to summit. Did I regret making that decision? Not one bit, like I said, the mountain will be there another day. Thats not to say it doesn't hurt not bagging it! It feels much like those who love to waterski and have their boat sink to the bottom of the lake. A gun fanatic having all his guns and ammunition stolen. A family history buff having all the documentation of generations upon generations of relatives go up in flames. A hockey player being told he could never walk again. Ya, it hurts, but at least I am alive and living to see another day and hopefully another summit. So we all met up with each other again and started back down Gooseneck Glacier. Ya it was scary and hairy coming back down the snowbridge but we made it OK. As we headed over Dinwoody Glacier back towards Bonney Pass another little storm rolled in and it started to snow on us. Nothing heavy, just a few little flakes. Up and to the pass we went. The final step of the day, down Bonney Pass. This was a challenge within itself because it was already late afternoon and the sun had made the snow into mush. It was VERY steep and was going to be VERY hard going down. Art took off his crampons and slid down on his butt, using his ice axe to brake. Steve used a technique of skating backwords and using the ice axe as an anchor. Brett slid down on his stomach using the self arrest move. Me? I couldn't master any way of getting down. I was tired. Dead tired. I didn't feel safe and secure using any mode. When I tried to slide on my stomach using the self arrest move I wouldn't go anywhere, which I guess was good because the skill is designed to stop you from sliding. So I down stepped it, one step at a time. However, it was so steep I wasn't downstepping as much as sliding down on my knees using the ice axe and crampons each step. It took FOREVER!!! Art and Brett were already back at camp by the time I made it down. Steve was a good brother and waited for me. I think I forgot to tell you I ran out of water coming down from the saddle and grabbed the wrong bag of food. So the whole day Steve shared his water and I hauled up a bag of garbage instead of food. That is why I was so tired. So here I was at the bottom of this very steep bowl. Glad I was done with the hard stuff. Only another hour of hiking and we would be back at camp. Before heading off I asked Steve to make sure the spot tracker was still on the pack. IT WASN'T!!!!!! Now begins the part of the trip where everyone else at home gets involved. So being summit day, Christy was in front of the computer watching us go up and over Bonney, down Dinwoody, over Gooseneck and up to the saddle. Back down Gooseneck and back over Dinwoody glacier and up to Bonney Pass. Down the very steep Bonney Pass and then NOTHING! There the tracking stops. There the satalite continues to ping and send off messages showing we have stopped at the bottome of a coulier. A very steep cliff of sorts. As she is sitting at home wathcing us sit at the bottom of this cliff, we were so tired we continued to camp. I last saw the spot tracker on the other side of Bonney and had no idea where it had fallen off. I was too tired to go back up the pass to look for it. We would rest and see what the following day would bring. Here is a pic looking back up the pass after realizing I lost the spot tracker:

The next morning came. We got up and got some food in us. Me and Steve talked about the scenario we were in. Knowing Christy was at home looking at the spot showing we were still at the bottom of this cliff we had to either go find it and send off the OK message or high-tail it out to where we could get cell coverage to let her know we were OK. I was hoping she wasn't looking at the computer wondering if we all slid to our death but as luck would have it, she was. I was beat. I had little energy left. Not knowing where exactly the spot tracker was and not really wanting to go back up Bonney Pass we decided to pack up and high-tail it out. So thats what we did! As I packed in as much food as I could eat knowing I needed as much energy as possible, Steve rested knowing it was going to be a hard and fast hike out.

As we hiked a storm rolled in. It snowed and rained on us but we continued to move. We knew we needed to get to cell coverage to call Christy so she wouldn't freak out and call SAR.

We finally made it to the pass where we called the forest service the other day to report the two missing hikers we found. I didn't have coverage on my phone but Steve did. He called Darcie and all I heard was "Really, crap; I'll have him call her right now!" So here is where the trip gets interesting:

So as I expected, Christy was in front of the computer watching us all day during our summit assault. Every ten minutes or so the spot would send off a message showing where we were. And sure enough when I lost the spot tracker it continued to send off messages. I lost it at the bottom of Bonney Pass. So Christy is sitting there seeing us stopped at the bottom of the pass. If you look at a topo map, it pretty much looks like we were at the bottom of a cliff. For three hours she was watching us sit there. She started getting concerned and thought 21:30 was the cut off point to where she would call SAR. I had not moved and not sent off an OK message showing we were back at camp. This was very unusual for me to do and she finally called SAR at 21:30. She talked to the director and together they came up with a game plan. He was very knowledgeable in how the spot tracker worked. Since a "911" message hadn't been sent they came to the conclusion that I had either dropped it or it was malfunctioning. Christy called the company and they sent off a ping to verify the device was working properly, which it was. The director of SAR asked if I was knowledgeable in how it worked and made sure it wasn't user error. Christy gave him plenty of informaton where they came to a conclusion. See what the night holds and in the morning if the spot was still sending messages from the same location they would activate.

Christy kept up on her Facebook account the happenings. Friends and family started to call asking if everything was OK. They did not get the usual nightly OK message and knew she was tracking us through the account. She let them know the updates and was going to wait for the next day. The next day came and when she woke up the first place she went was to the computer. Anyone who knows Christy, to go somewhere other than the coffee maker first thing in morning is very unusual. But to the computer she went and you can only imagine her thoughts and feelings when she saw the spot still pinging in the same spot, at the bottom of a cliff. She called the director of SAR back and updated him. She had done her research the night before and knew the trail and where we were at what point coming in. She knew it would take us so many hours to get back to cell coverage. When she informed the director of this they came up with the plan. He would not activate the team until 16:00. Christy knew we would be in cell coverage between 14:00 and 16:00 and gave the cutoff time of 16:00. Since SAR was out on an operation over the weekend (the one we called in) and another one since then, the team just got off the mountain that night and needed rest. Since I didn't send off the "911" message the team would not immediately head back out, which Christy and the director agreed on as their game plan.

All morning Christy sat in front of the computer waiting for something to change on spot. Our friend Sara came over and spent the day with her, keeping her fed and trying to keep her mind off the worst possible scenario. Our other friends were packing bags getting ready to head up if needs be, and for that I am very appreciative. My parents had already started driving to Pinedale and had hotel reservations made. Everyone was waiting for that 16:00 cutoff time. Me, Steve, Art and Brett however were hiking our little legs off trying to get to cell coverage, not knowing any of this was going on. I can't imagine the hell I put Christy through. I never wanted to put her through this kind of horror. That is one of the reasons I bought the spot tracker. But what if we were all lying at the bottom of the cliff severly injured or dead?

Christy got the call she was waiting for. 14:30, Darcie called Christy to tell her she just heard from Steve and we were OK. A few seconds later I called her and spoke with her. We had about an hour and a half left before SAR was going to be activated and go looking for us. I was dead tired hiking fast to get to cell coverage not knowing what was going on but knowing Christy was probably worried. I think we were both relieved to talk to each other. I didn't have coverage at that point but Steve did, so I told her I would call in a few hours when we got back to Seneca Lake. As we continued hiking she called the director of SAR back and informed him of the events. He was appreciative of the phone call and offered to look for the spot tracker next time the team was in the area looking for somebody, which was probably going to be within the next week or so. Christy was very appreciative of his service and how well he managed the incident, even though it really never got off the ground.

After the phone calls she went off to have a "thank god he's safe lunch" and I went back to hiking. We reached Seneca Lake and I had good coverage to where I could call and talk to her. She informed me the parents were on their way to Pinedale. I let her know about our summit attempt and how I lost the spot tracker. We were both very appreciative of the time we had to converse on the events. After resting for a bit we decided to hike out the rest of the day and that is exactely what we did! 16 miles later we were out!

We made it to the trailhead about 21:15 that night. My parents had already been there and left a note on the windshield stating they were in town. We packed up our bags and headed down to Pinedale. When we got into town we called and met up with them at their hotel room. Mom was very, VERY, VERY happy to see her kids again. After discussing the events and how they transpired we came to an agreement it all happened for the best. Anyone who may think anyone over-reacted was not in the shoes of the person seeing all the information presented. I personally am glad the events happened the way they did. I have learned many new things with this trip. And like Murphy's Law states; "Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it!"

This trip was definitely an experience. Many lessons were learned. I now have some mountaineering skills, respect for those at home awaiting our calls, and I still love the outdoors!!! So I ask this question: "Who wants to go with me on the next trip?"