Easy Living at the Elephant's Perch

Thursday afternoon Justin Woods, Kyle Neeley, and I hit the road for a few days trip to the Elephant’s Perch.  The Elephant’s Perch is a 1,200ft granite formation in the Sawtooth Wilderness of Idaho.  It has to be some of the highest quality rock and crack systems outside of the high sierras. 

With August here, the fire season is now upon us.  When we reached the town of Challis, ash was raining from the sky.  Reluctant to continue on, we were assured conditions were better by the Perch from a quick phone call.  As we neared the Sawtooths conditions did continue to improve.  We got to Redfish Lake and quickly packed to make our boat shuttle across the lake. 

The place was just as I remembered it.  A mellow approach led to a beautiful cirque where we camped.  As darkness fell, we set up camp next to the lake and settled in for the night.  The next morning, being so close to the buttress, we had a casual morning before setting off to climb.

We set our sights on a newer route (“Mojo”) with hopes of learning some of the pitches.  After two pitches, weather started to move in.  Gusty winds and slight rain pestered us, forcing the decision to either bail down or up the “Mountaineers Route”.  Since the weather wasn’t too bad, we decided to finish on the Mountaineers Route.  A few great casual pitched got us to the summit.

The next day we decided to climb the “Becky Original” route.  It’s about 10 pitches up the center of the buttress and I would describe it as a plethora of amazing corner and crack systems.  One of the best routes I’ve done.  We cranked away making good progress all day.  Two pitches shy of the summit; we ran out of water and with the sun beating down on us, our pace slowed.  We topped out in the early evening and made it back to camp with enough time for a quick dip in the lake and some fishing.

We were now feeling a little worked from all the climbing, but felt it necessary to get one more day in.  With that, we headed back to “Mojo” to try and explore more pitches.  This time the weather was great, but we were worked.  We explored two more pitched before succumbing to the heat and exhaustion.  We were happy taking the mystery out of two more pitches and are excited to return.

Monday we slept in and had a very casual morning before beginning the return journey home.  The descent was mellow and soon we were on the road heading back to Missoula.  It was another successful trip to the Perch and I’m excited to return.

Soaring Mt. Sentinel

Wednesday Jeff, Josh, and I were busting out some harness parts when the sky started to look promising.  Promising was all we needed.  We called it quits for the day and grabbed our flying gear.  As is typical, the sky looked amazing over the mountains with well spaced cumulus clouds, but over the valley the sky was blue.  No worries though, we knew there was still some activity out there.  

The new Wild Things logo on my glider

Everyone headed up the hill and began setting up immediately.  Josh launched his paraglider quickly and after a short period, was well above launch.  I hooked in and joined him in the sky.  I climbed out immediately to 6800 ft and went on glide to Dean Stone mtn where I met up with Josh.  We thermaled together for a short bit before he headed south down the Bitterroot valley.  I did my best to gain enough altitude to pull the trigger and head south but it just wasn't in the cards for the day.  After an hour of trying, I called it quits and headed towards the north.

 Looking north from Dean Stone mtn

I noticed everyone was beginning to land so I took a quick tour of the Rattlesnake and town before headed for the LZ.  After a misjudged approach, barely clearing some trees, my feet came back to earth and I met the others to break down.  The flight was exceptional and cleared my overcrowded mind.

 South down the Bitterroot

Pattee Canyon

California Climbing

The road stretched out before me as far as the eye could see.  The left led to home and the right, Yosemite.  I sat on the porch of “Latté Da” in Lee Vining enjoying an iced latté contemplating my options.  With no climbing partners I could either head home or go to Yosemite to take pictures.  I made two calls; one to my buddy Roger and the other his girlfriend Robin, as a last ditch effort for a partner.  Then I waited. 

 Brad climbing in the Owens

 Unique rock layering of the Owens

 Pine Lake

I had just come from Bishop and the Owens River Gorge where I was climbing with Brad Potter.  The gorge was great.  Filled with amazing climbs, well-groomed trails, and the occasional swimming hole.  He gave me the royal tour through all the classic areas enjoying all the great climbing the place had to offer.  Temps in Bishop were around 98 degrees, but conditions weren’t too bad in the gorge.  Temps were still high, but shaded areas made climbing possible. 

 Yosemite Falls

 Roger rapping into the Muir Wall

We enjoyed two days of great climbing and camping at the gorge before it was time for Brad to head home.  Bishop isn’t too far from Yosemite so before driving North, I went for a hike to Pine Lake.  It’s a crystal clear lake filled with trout nestled in between the peaks of the high Sierras.  I spent the afternoon at the lake and then continued my journey North where I found myself in Lee Vining.

 El Cap and the Cathedrals 

 Roger jugging high on the Nose

 Last belay on the Nose

 Justin on Central Pillar of Frenzy, Middle Cathedral

I had been scrolling through the Internet for about twenty minutes when my phone rang.  It was Roger and he was on his way to Lee Vining with some buddies for dinner.  When I met them at the diner, everything started to fall into place.  Roger would be busy doing some geological mapping of El Cap, but would have a little time to climb.  His friend Justin however, was on the same program I was so we quickly made plans to climb.  After meeting a few other folks, I had more options than I had time for, cragging in Yosemite, walling on El Cap, or the Whitney range.  In the end, I decided to hang in Yosemite to experience the great climbing it had to offer. 

 El Cap

 Brad and Roger crushing the Dawn Wall, Day 3

Over the next week I ran around Yosemite climbing several of the classic lines.  Our casual pace in the mornings had us savoring coffee and missing most of the usual traffic jams at the base of climbs.  We would role in around noon and comfortably finish the climbs with enough time to enjoy the evening lighting from the valley floor.  After a week of great climbing, our time in the valley eventually came to an end.  With many more amazing climbs to experience, I look forward to my next visit there.    

Mt. Jackson, GNP

It had been around 10 years since I last stepped on the summit of Mt. Jackson in Glacier National Park.  Back then the goal was just to climb the peak, this time however, Patrick and I were hoping to ski it.  The weather forecast was ok and we had three days for a comfortable round trip.  When we reached the trailhead, there wasn't nearly any snow.  Our planned casual 6 mile ski was turning into a long hike.  Its hard to complain though when that hike is in Glacier.  We quickly packed up and hit the trail.

The approach to Jackson must be one of the chillest in the park.  600ft elevation gain over 6 miles.  We crossed several creeks and negotiated our way around several downed trees as well as soft snow patches.  For the most part the trail was easy going and we soon found ourselves at the Gunsight Lake campground at the base of Mt. Jackson.

Moose on the trail

The NE face of Jackson on the left

With a slightly ominous sky, we made camp and prepared for the night.  In the morning, we woke to the sun creeping over Mt. Citadel.  Excited by the good weather, we quickly made breakfast and began our way up Jackson.  The bridge at the outlet of the lake had been taken out by an avalanche last year so we were forced to wade across.  The first few steps weren't bad, but by the time I was half way across, my feet were in so much pain from cold that the snow on the far side actually felt warm to stand on.  After a short rewarming period, the boots went back on and we began the climb.

The slope and snow conditions made skinning up impossible so we immediately put on crampons and began booting up.  It was pretty straight forward.  5,000 vertical feet of kicking steps.  Once we were off the East face and on the summit ridge-line, we ditched the skies and continued up to the summit.  We climbed the final headwall of the North face and I decided that it wasn't in conditions that I could manage,  too steep and wind effected.

Patrick on the summit

We spent a little time on the summit enjoying the views then headed back for our skis.  Once at our skis we were ready for the fun part.  We still had 3,400 feet to descend and conditions looked good.  Patrick dropped in and began ripping what looked like perfect corn snow.  I quickly followed and confirmed it.  Patrick and I got about 2,000 feet of a perfect fall line and corn snow.  As the slope mellowed out, we made our way around to the North aspect and skied the trees back to the creek.  One more dash through the creek had us back to camp with plenty of time to relax.

Patrick ripping the slop

Back in Blodgett Canyon

Friday morning I met up with Shapiro planning to climb in Blodgett canyon.  We had our sights set on an eight-pitch route, which recently went free, by one of our friends.  We’ve been spending most of our time sport climbing this spring, and were eager to get some air under our feet.

Jeff and I had a bit of a casual start, getting to the parking lot around 10am.  The approach went as expected and by noon we were racking up at the base.  As I began the first pitch, I quickly realized that my recent inner ear infection, which had been causing balance issues, hadn’t quite passed.  Despite the unsteadiness, I continued up the pitch reaching the anchor.  Meanwhile Jeff was posed in the classic belay position, which was starting to take its toll on his neck.  A recent rear-ending car accident has left Jeff with a lingering injury.  Jeff climbed up the pitch and when he reached me, we laughed, discussing how we both felt like a couple of old guys.  Since we both felt off our games, it was time to change plans.

We thought it would be best if we took it easy, opting for some moderate climbing and a relaxing day on the wall.  Another pitch put us on a nice ledge where we could hang out and TR a more challenging pitch.  Jeff and I spent the rest of the afternoon working a very aesthetic corner and enjoying the views.