[Go Jo]

Let's preface this TR with my new mantra ~ When in doubt, always follow the Don.
We found what appeared to be the right place and were joined by Eric, Joseph and Matt with Kona as we hit the trail. I had thought I saw Don's rig pull away and up the hill, but after discussion of previous trip reports, etc, we decided we would start here. Trail walking made it a leisurely pace and then we came to our first test, do we follow the road or turn right at the car bumper? Road signage and some exploration by Matt sent us, you guessed it, straight up hill. Must be right, TNAB rarely holds a flat line anywhere.

So up it was and we were loving the soft trail when we came upon the other road. Maybe this is Don's road? Inspection of the ground led me to believe that he was indeed dropping breadcrumbs for us in case we missed the 'huge' cairn that marked the turn to the trail. We threw Kona in the picture for size reference.

We made our way up through beautiful forests and across the ridge with peek-a-boo views of what was to come.

left behind

As we crossed the final talus field, softly applauding ourselves for leaving the dogs home, the sound of cheering rang through the range. We hardly noticed the wonderful Merlot Joseph had awaiting us, the views were too impressive to pull away from.

faster than a speeding bullet

Don was also comfortably seated at the summit offering us salted nuts and a smile that said 'should have followed me'. 

don is not a bear

The cameras immediately came out... as did the cell phones if we're being honest here. Four bars from the top o' the world and everyone took advantage of the chance to let someone else know they were missing out 

true summit

getting chilly

Scott & Don played name that peak while we waited for the late start crew to crest the horizon and we watched what appeared to be a SAR helicopter over Granite Mnt. It chilled off quickly and we were excited to see Mark & East King climbing up through the rocks just in time for the sunset. 

death defying moves by mark

the only east king

We're talking a jaw dropping, never seen anything like this before, totally worth climbing mountains sunset.

Group picture, a nod to Yukon in spirit as the canteen was passed around and then down, down, down.

Humpback Mt Summit Shot

I am happy to report that the trip down had nothing to report. My shorts were clean and shiny when we arrived at Pour House.

Stats(pulled from another site so please correct me if they are wrong):
Distance~approx 3.4miles
Elevation Gain~2815ft

[Go Jo]

"makes a claim"
Forgot to mention the gold pans and makeshift miner's abode we stumbled past on the road, heard part of our group dead ended in a mine also. Maybe we struck it rich? guess that will remain our sekret...

[Malachai Constant]

A few more pix:

Silver

The Trinity

The Big Guy

Another boring sunset

--------------
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn

[Yet]

I heard about the beautiful sunset.

WOW!

[gone]

Thanks for the report, Jo!  Glad you caught a shot of that collapsing, dirt scramble marking the trail's start - I was so surprised to see it that I forgot to take one!

Humpback is my new favorite up, up, up hike.  I've enjoyed Mailbox since being introduced to it on a TNAB earlier this year, taking three attempts to finally tackle it, but this one beats it hands down.  About the same steepness as Mailbox (sometimes better, sometimes worse), but with a mostly rootless, duffy, spongy trail floor that makes coming down a cinch.  Add to that a thick forested beauty not found on Mailbox, and you've got a real winner.

Now if I can just make it to the top! 

I had hoped for an earlier start, but got out of my office late and wound up leaving just ahead of the group, which caught and passed me just before the upper road around 3,250'.  With another hour for rest and fuel, I probably would have made the top, but with the impending darkness and increasing cold, even with Mark's encouragement, I felt like I had to turn around, which I did just after the rocks started at about 4,700'.  Even with my elevation head start, I just barely outpaced the group on the way down, arriving at the cars about 5 minutes before everyone else.  I can't wait to try this again, maybe this weekend.

Some of my slowness might also be attributed to my getting acquainted with a new camera, a Canon PowerShot S5 IS.  I spent a lot of time getting used to taking it out and putting it back into my new LowePro bag, as well as playing with the camera's numerous settings.  At one point I was standing on my toes (it's that steep) facing straight up the hill trying to get a shot of the group disappearing into the woods ahead of me when both feet slipped out from under me.  I hit the ground on both knees and slid downhill about 10 feet while the camera tumbled after me end over end.  Luckily everyone and everything survived intact.

Here are some shots:

Mossy trail

Duffy trail

Forest land marker

Into the trees

Blue skies between the trees

Drippy shelf lichen

Mountaintop pano view

Rainier sunset view

I'm skipping Guye to backpack Deception Creek.  Have fun and be safe!

[Gabigabs]

Beautiful pics.

--------------
Life is simple... Eat, Sleep, Hike!

[EastKing]

Here are more pics from the trip!! Mark and I took a more direct way to the summit. It was good training for the snowfields of Adams this upcoming week. It was a great time and good workout before I attempt Adams on Wednesday. The sunset was absolutely amazing!!!!! Great times and great views.

Humpback 002

Humpback 003

Humpback 006

Humpback 007

Humpback 008

Humpback 010

The group head down

At the Pour House

Humpback 022

Humpback 021

Humpback 014

Humpback 013

Humpback 012

--------------
I am addicted to summits! I can't eat, drink or breath without them. Life without mountains would really suck.

http://www.myspace.com/climbandsurfmackg | http://www.summitpost.org/user_page.php?user_id=894

[Kat]

[gone]

[EastKing]

I am heading for Adams so I will miss you on the next round!

--------------
I am addicted to summits! I can't eat, drink or breath without them. Life without mountains would really suck.

http://www.myspace.com/climbandsurfmackg | http://www.summitpost.org/user_page.php?user_id=894

[Go Jo]

[tigermn]

What? Adams on Wednesday right? Should be back in plenty of time for TNAB Thursday evening? What's the problem? 

--------------
My flickr photo site.

[the Zachster]

Sounds like another fun trip! I've only done Humpback in snow. It looks a little more, well , interesting the way you went. Especially in the dark. 

--------------
"May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am"

[Magellan]

What a lame sunset.

Who is the guy on the left, and how did he get those dog legs grafted in?  Did it improve his hiking speed?  Are the arms scheduled next?     

[Schmidt Alti-Dude]