Every aspiring alpine rock climber knows of the Hulk. Time and time again, we open the mags to see
images of Peter Croft stemming his way up the perfect granite dihedrals that
the Hulk is know for. Drawn to these
aesthetic lines, we image what it is like to tiptoe our way up them. For Kyle Neeley and I, we decided this year
it was time to get a first hand look.
After 16 hours in the car, we found ourselves at Twin Lakes
and the trailhead to the Hulk. We gather
the necessary permits and began the hike in.
The approach turned out to be mellow, heading up the valley to Barney
Lake before turning left for a slight grunt to the upper basin. After 2.5 hours we were at camp and the base
of the Hulk. The granite fortress
stretched tall above us and all of the striking features we had seen in mags
were now at our fingertips. 
The short approach gave us plenty of time to crag a little
so we decided to start out with a stinger: Venturi Effect. Kyle’s goal was to take a look at the crux
pitch (3rd) and possibly give it a go. From the moment you leave the ground, Venturi
Effect is on ya. Very delicate smearing
and stemming kept forcing our best technique.
I took on the second pitch, which started out quite casual then became
real. More delicate moves with spaced
out gear kept me on edge. Eventually we
were at the base of the crux pitch and looking up one of the most impressive
stem corners either of us had seen.
Unfortunately it was baking in the heat and we were tired from the other
two pitches. We decided to head back to
camp for shade and some dinner.
The next day we got on Sunspot. An amazing 7-pitch climb up one of the
stunning dihedrals. It shares the start
with Positive Vibrations then branches off left. It follows an amazing finger crack up the
dihedral for four long pitches. Barely
letting up at all, we stemmed and lie-backed our way up the beautiful
line. Clouds were building over the
valley so rather than continue to the true summit, we stopped at the top of the
difficulties and began our descent. A single
70m line allowed us to rap another route and quickly reach the base.
For day 3, it was time for another classic, so we decided to
climb Positive Vibrations. This time
after the first two pitches, we branched out right towards a slight chimney
pitch. This route followed closely to an
arête giving it great exposure. Different
from Sunspot, Positive Vibrations threw at us a variety of climbing
challenges. We worked our way up some
amazing pitches: stem corners, finger cracks, and some of the best granite hand
cracks I’ve ever climbed. After 9
pitches of brilliant climbing, we reached the top with soar hands and
feet. Again, with the 70m rope we were
able to rap down most of Venturi Effect and reach the base without a
problem.
Our final day turned out to be just a descent day. Hoping to climb Red Dihedrals, we decided it
best to pass when we woke to find 4 other parties gearing up for it. It was at the bottom of our priority list and
we were very please with what we had already climbed. After a casual morning, we packed up and hit
the trail. Eventually back at the car,
we mentally prepared ourselves for the grueling drive home. We drove through the night and after another
16 hours on the road all strung out on energy drinks, I found myself back in
Missoula and easing back into reality.
Pitch 1, Venturi Effect
Pitch 2, Venturi Effect
Pitch 4, Sunspot
Pitch 5, Sunspot
Pitch 6, Sunspot
Pitch 7, Sunspot
Pitch 1, Positive Vibrations
Pitch 4, PV
Pitch 5, PV
Pitch 6, PV
Final pitch, PV
Nothing like a peanut butter burrito when you are all out of water!
