[bonobo]

All these years hiking and never summited? Yes, it's true.  Unless you count Little Si or "M" Mountain in Missoula.

"But bonobo", you may say, "How is that possible?  I've read your trip reports to Sauk Mountain, Green Mountain, and Rock Mountain."

My response? HA! You never read any of those trip reports.  If you had, you would know I didn't summit any of those mountains!


Not only did this trip see me summit my first real mountain, I gained my most elevation in a day and did the most scrambling I've done.  It was an incredibly exhilarating trip that redefined what I think I am capable of in the mountains.  A big thanks to Yana for putting up with me huddled and crying for my mommy on the scramble on the way up  , as well as for being such a gracious partner and really helping me get through what was a pretty new experience for me.  I've got some horrible pictures that I took with my crappy camera, I'll let them show a bit of the destination, along with a few of Yana headed over to Destination X.  The three or four almost okay pictures I shot through my sunglasses to filter the super bright light and snow /glacier glare.  How's that for yer fancy lenses?

Southern Pickets

Middle and Upper Thorton

Me jumping into Middle Thorton

Yana on top

1 label

What an ugly place

And a really bad vid of Yana on the ridge

[Go Jo]

+ Woot, woot! Well done! 

[kite]

Awesome!!     

[bonobo]

Thanks!  It was an incredibly beautiful place, which is always nice too.  Yana saw a bear but sadly I did not. I did see a ground squirrel trying to raid my pack, though.

Fall colors were great, and there was an amazing variety of fungus on the trail.

[Magellan]

Not a bad place to start.     Disregarding the reputation Yana tries to perpetrate, she has put a few rookies on top of some high places. 

[Yana]

Thanks for the report, bonobo. I'm glad you weren't permanently traumatized by the experience. I'm always happy to expand people's (hiking) horizons. I'm only sorry that I chose such a horribly ugly place for your first summit. I hope the resulting blindness is only temporary and subsiding already. 

The ridge between Trappers and X Mountain is truly something else, so naturally I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. It was like standing right on the boundary between two universes.

Here is an excessive amount of photos from the trip.

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PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!

[Sadie's Driver]

[dicey]

Yay!  One of my favorite places for views

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I'm not always sure I like being older but being less stupid has advantages.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32121172@N00/sets/

[Matt]

Great choice for a first summit.  One of my favorite high viewpoints.

Regarding "... bad video of Yana..." 
Is there really any other kind of video of Yana?

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“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien

[Hulksmash]

Dam!   

[BarbE]

Me wants to go there!
However I'm not fond of the cliff boot shot.
It's truly ugly!

[Matt]

Hey, that cliff-boot picture is sideways.
Either that, or there are a lot of trees growing horizontally out of the cliff down below.
However, even after twisting my neck 90 degrees to look at it, it's still just as steep, maybe even worse.

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“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien

[Obi Tony Kenobi]

Way to go Bonobo! There is no better hiking partner to take with you than Yana when expanding your horizons on the Mountains. If there was an award that best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to the outdoors, than she deserves it. She got me up to the top of Three Fingers and I have never looked back!

Congrats!

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Tony
http://flickr.com/photos/obitonykenobi/

[bonobo]

Thanks, folks. I had a blast, and Yana is indeed a patient, courteous, and highly entertaining partner.

Anyone know what the crazy orange fungus (?) in the last picture is? That stuff was alien!

[Hikingqueen]

Excellent pics! Way cool!