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08-12-2010, 10:30 PM | #11 |
Crimson Guard
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Good call on the bear spray. The only downfall about that is if it's windy. That shit knocks you down. I got hit with a small spray from about 15 feet away and it dropped me and fast. Of course make noise the whole way too. Surprising a grizzly is a bad scene. Good luck on your climbs bro'. Those are some nice peaks you are bagging!
I carry bear spray in case the drunks get on my case on my bike ride home at night. Given my money issues making the trip, I'm going to shave off 800 miles on the trip and not climb in the Canadian Rockies and instead tackle one of the big boys and try to do the Grand Teton (yes A-tat, that literally means I'm climbing the big boob). Which means I gotta take a ton of gear with me :P |
08-12-2010, 10:37 PM | #12 |
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I tested that bear spray yesterday to make sure everything worked well, that thing has a kick to it. I bought the highest rated most powerful one on the market.
Given my money issues making the trip, I'm going to shave off 800 miles on the trip and not climb in the Canadian Rockies and instead tackle one of the big boys and try to do the Grand Teton (yes A-tat, that literally means I'm climbing the big boob). Which means I gotta take a ton of gear with me :P |
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08-12-2010, 10:42 PM | #13 |
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To be honest, if the conditions are not completely dry, I'll do the middle teton as a back up. I've had too many hairy situations on wet rock walls in the past. It's just not worth the near heart attack when you climb fifth class solo on a slippery pitch.
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08-23-2010, 02:11 AM | #14 |
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Back home after another climbing trip and after a couple of 12 hour naps, I'm ready to tell tales.
After handling my money situation, or lack thereof, I got in the car a day late and took off for the rockies. Weather forecast looked good for much of the northern rockies, so I had high hopes of a clean sweep of my climbing goals. Pushed through the plains states stopping only for a two pound burger and King Kong Burger in Omaha and went to sleep just west of Laramie, WY. http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02233Large.jpg Woke up early and headed out to the trailhead for Medicine Bow Peak. Two hours out of the car, I'm at the top of this easy warmup peak. Beautiful mountain to look at from the valley, but pretty straightforward once you get to the other side of the peak. http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02234Large.jpg http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02236Large.jpg Album of the climb - A Silent Film - The City that Sleeps Once I got back down, took the rest of the day to drive out to Arco, ID in preparation of Borah Peak, the highest point in Idaho. I met a really awesome dude at the trailhead preparing to go. The guy was climbing on an artificial leg. Just one badass dude. Anyway, this climb was about as straight up as you can get for an approach. It was 3.5 miles with 5500 feet elevation gain, which is a crap ton of feet for such a short approach. Once you get on the main ridge it's an upper class 3 climb, so there's some moves where if you fall, you're gonna mess yourself up pretty bad. Took a while, but I made it up without any serious issues. Climbed with a guy on the way up who was summiting this peak for the 29th time. Eeesh. Got lucky and had a thunderstorm pass to the south on the way down. http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02252Large.jpg http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02264Large.jpg Album of the climb - Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing A little beat down, I went to bed at the trailhead, and the next day headed out to Grand Teton National Park. I was originally going to climb the Middle Teton, but looking at the crowds of slack jawed yokels lining up to have themselves dragged up the peak by paid guides, I really lost interest. I like the solitude in climbing, or the very least, not having a train of people above and below me as I climb. The Tetons in summer are a tourist trap of the tourist climber. Pay enough money, and someone will carry any out of shape person up the mountain. Bah, that;s enough ranting for me. So I just decided to move straight on to Granite Peak. On the way to Granite Peak, the high point of Montana, I came across a mother Grizzly and her cub up on a high ridgeline as I was on the northwest end of Yellowstone. It kinda spooked me, cause I was hoping to sleep above treeline on my two day climb of granite, and the thought of grizzlies getting that high up kinda freaked me out. The trailhead for the Granite climb is only a couple of miles from where both of this summer's death by grizzly attacks happened. That didn't help my nerves either. The morning of the climb, I uneasily got out of the car with a full pack and armed with the largest can of bear spray you can buy. But even with the bear spray, I just couldn't shake the level of fear that was rising in me as I was getting deeper into the woods. Two miles in and another 7 miles of deep woods to go before I broke tree line, I decided to call it quits. I just couldn't handle the situation, and knew if I was going to do this mountain, I'd have to climb it with someone else. I don't want my kids to have to be told their dad was eaten by a bear cause he had the bull headed idea of soloing all 50 state highpoints. So, disappointed that I couldn't conquer my fear, I got back to the car and started searching for a non-grizzly range within driving distance to use as a backup. I wanted something punishingly difficult. I ended up heading to the big horn mountains to do Cloud Peak. Usually this is a mountain climbed in two and half days, but I set out to take it in one. 24 miles round trip with about 5000 foot elevation gain. I started out just before first light and after 8 and half hours I finally made it to the top pretty worn out. There were a couple of other guys at the top who were on their second day and when they heard I was doing this as a day hike, they laughed, and said they'd be saving a spot for me in their tent at base camp when I collapsed. By the time I got back to base camp I felt like taking them up on their offer. But I pushed on 15 hours after i started the day, I made it back to the trailhead parking lot with the last shades of sunset fading away. I quickly collapsed into the car and fell asleep for about 10 hours http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02290Large.jpg http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02308Large.jpg (what I looked like after a 24 mile slog) http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02309Large.jpg Album of the climb - Disturbed - Indestructible The next day I headed off for south western North Dakota to hit the ND state high point, White Butte. Only a two mile round trip through some tall prairie, but it was a pretty end to the trip on top. Number 41 on the state high point list. http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02329Large.jpg http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02320Large.jpg Album of the hike - Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow Finally, a bit of joe business needed to be handled, as I drove over to Highmore, South Dakota to deliver the grand prize Terrordrome of the Cross Continent Cobra Classic to the mayor of Highmore, Hisstank's very own Gunzlinger! I think he's going to have some competition with his son on who gets to play with it more http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...02335Large.jpg Well that's it for this climbing trip. I'd love to hear about some of the adventures you guys have had as well. Hopefully we can turn this thread into a nice adventure report section. |
08-23-2010, 02:30 AM | #15 |
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Awesome stories Roshan! Arco Idaho is a crazy looking town I felt. It was the first one powered by nuclear energy and it just felt odd when I went through there. I passed through on the way to Craters of the Moon but the mountains out there are breathtaking. That is awesome a dude with a prosthetic leg was climbing. I feel like a pussy now that I won't even attempt them.
Good choice not sticking around where you saw the mother and her cub. That really just would have been a bad scene to be around. Better to do something else than take the chance. The Big Horns was a nice choice as a back up but I would have still been a little concerned about grizzly's. The Tetons are tough to do if you want solitude. Mt. Moran may have been one to do there but I think you need to take a boat to get there if I remember correctly. It is quite a challenge from what the cats I lived with said. Awesome pictures and why the hell do you have a stuffed animal and not a GI Joe with you?! Either way, thanks for sharing your adventures. You made me really miss that part of the country with your pics. |
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08-23-2010, 02:53 AM | #16 |
Never Say Die
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That is a cool story Roshan... I wish I could attempt such cool adventures, but I'm a lazy b@$tard.
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08-23-2010, 02:54 AM | #17 |
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08-23-2010, 03:04 AM | #18 |
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I'm still amazed that someone else has been to Arco. It really is not somewhere that most people would go towards. There really is not much out there except recreation. Wasn't there different years painted on the mountain side from all the different classes that graduated there? Did you take a few minutes to go to the breeder reactor while out there? That place is spooky. At most maybe 5 people visit it and the whole place is spotless. It is such a trip back in time. It's been years since I've been out there so I'm sure the town has changed at least a little bit. |
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08-23-2010, 03:24 AM | #19 |
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Yeah that mountain with the class years on it is pretty cool
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08-23-2010, 03:32 AM | #20 |
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Ha! You totally made my night bro'. That is awesome. I'm amazed that the ones from the 30's are still so visible. Do they name that anything special in town? I didn't really stop there too long to find much out.
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