[Tvashtar]

Dumfounded on Dumbell Route Summary: Day 1: Phelps Creek TH > Leroy Ck trail > Pass W of Seven Finger Jack Day 2: Drop to lake W of Seven Fingered Jack, then go N up S Fork Big Crk Ascend to upper bench S of Dumbell Lake, proceed to Lake. Ascend slope N or Dumbell Lake to upper Dumbell Lake. Day 3. Run away. Trip Summary: When a ThermRest Becomes PermaFrost. I admit it. I’m sometimes lax about repairing gear. When I do, however, I go big. Take my ThermRest, for example. Who else’s sleeping pad sports a patch fully a foot long, adhered with about a pound of glue, because its owner threw it in a gym bag with a machete? I suspected it still had a slow leak at the start of my trip to Dumbell Mtn. I just didn’t know how much it would hurt. During my last trip (see “A Walk Around Sitting Bull”), I spied a pretty, white mountain named Dumbell. Beckey describes it as ‘strategic’. I liked that. Below Dumbell, the Peak, was Dumbell, the Lake, which Beckey describes as ‘attractive’. I liked that, too. ‘Strategically attractive.’ Kind of like Iraq. Simple reasons for a simple man. . I got a crack of 4:00 pm start on Sep. 12th from Phelps Creek, and took the Leroy Creek trail up. At the start of the basin, I left the trail and headed up towards Seven Finger Jack, where I made use of a pre-existing bivvy site several hundred feet beneath the col west of Seven. At that point, my ThermaRest’s leak was no more than a minor inconvenience. The next morning I left at daybreak and proceeded to find a way over the ridge and down to the lake west of Seven Fingered Jack. Any route over this ridge this late in the season is steep and chossy. From the lake I down climbed a short, fractured rock band (a broad, loose gully is another option) to gain the upper talus slopes of the south fork of Big Creek. Once in this drainage I saw no sign that humans had ever walked the earth, barring the occasional satellite, which could be, after all, of alien origin.

Dumbell Lake and Mtn from the pass above Big Creek, looking north

The route to Dumbell Lake in late season is not obvious, but not particularly brushy, either. I followed Big Creek down on skiers left until the brush became too thick before crossing it to walk more open forest. The creek steepens into a stepped cascade at this point. I re-crossed this cascade about midway down, then pried my way through some tight conifers to gain the lower talus slopes beneath the lake. From here I traversed to and ascended a steep, dry creek bed at the talus’s northern (far) side. This provided passage through the slide cliffs and slide alder below the lake. Not a good route if wet, obviously. Dumbell Lake has a lovely camp spot surrounded by larches. How I wish I’d stopped there.

Dumbell Lake, looking south

Visions of victory compelled me to I continue up to the saddle and tarn east of Dumbell’s main summit. An obvious creek bed provides passage through the lower rock bands.

Looking south.

Failure is not in question.

At the top I came upon what might be North America’s smallest active rock glacier. This glacierette is only about an acre in size, and feeds into a small pocket lake. The entire system is nestled on top of a moraine, which leaks like a sieve. Every hour or so a few rocks tumble into the lake. I had to bivouack so close to the lake outlet that a really large boulder might have sent a mini tsunami over my sleeping bag. The rock on the east side of Dumbell is anything but white. It’s more of a geological goulash; steep, heavily dyked, and rotten as hell. I explored the mountain’s east face and north east corner as thoroughly as time, a toy axe and six point crampons would allow, but the few manky lines I found made poorly dressed sirens. Swirling clouds and a determined, frigid wind stiffened my resolve to cut and run. I bedded down for one of those nights you’ll always remember for what you’d rather forget. My ThermaRest no longer held any air at all. Dinner was served on a limp nylon crepe over a bed of chilled rocks. Temperatures and wind speeds in the 30s provided the ambience. To pass the night, I cursed myself, the illusive leak (there were actually three), MSR, my bladder, and Mother Nature, all the while checking through my peephole for dawn’s early light. When daybreak came it was colder and windier than ever. I shot a few digitals from my peephole, and ate a hurried breakfast by headlamp fully enclosed in my bag.

Morning, at last.

I was dressed, packed, and hopping around in the cold in five minutes. I wanted to find an alternative descent because my ascent route, well, sucked. Instead of backtracking down the dry creek bed I had ascended to get to Dumbell Lake, I traversed southward via the upper talus bench to its end. From there, I veggie belayed down a short, steep game trail to a boulder strewn bench, which I followed south and slightly upwards. At the end of the bench, I dropped into a steep gulley to Big Creek. So, in summary, a more efficient way to get to Dumbell Lake is as follows: Ski it. Or… While descending into Big Creek from the south, look for the largest talus field on the creek’s west side. A stand of trees grows right out of this talus at its far end. This stand hides the ascent gulley which leads to the aforementioned boulder strewn bench and vertical game trail (which might require some hunting and pecking to find), which in turn leads to the upper talus bench and Dumbell Lake. Rather than backtrack to Leroy Creek, I descended to Phelps Creek directly from the lake west of Seven Fingered Jack. Here’s how: Follow the gently sloping drainage down, trending skier’s right, to its very end, then descend, again trending right, through the steep, tall timber. Don’t drop into the tempting, open hanging valley to your left, or you’ll be soundly rewarded with a horrendous labyrinth of brush and cliffs. I wouldn’t exactly recommend this trip (particularly late season) with or without a working ThermRest, although Dumbell Lake is attractive. As for the peak itself, the northeast corner of Dumbell might have a more solid line on it, but it was too sheer for this lily livered soloist. I certainly wasn’t going to have my friends read an obituary that read “Solo climber killed on Dumbell Mtn.” In any case, it’s a long way in for a 700 ft climb. If, however, you seek solitude with absolute certainty, you’ll certainly find it here.

[MtnGoat]

I feel your pain. I too went to Dumbell alone, apparently it is quite aptly named. After descending the treacherous, rotten rock over from upper phelps creek, while not listening to my inner voice telling me it was stupid to want to bag a lake this badly, i spent an afternoon worried about the exit the next day, and finally climbed back out that evening instead of spending the night camped at the lake sweating the exit. super crappy rock back there, some of the worst I've ever seen.

[Magellan]

You make me want to go there. Mmmmmmm, Dumbell.

[Dayhike Mike]

What more can I say?

[Tazz]

another great read. keep them coming!

[nuclear_eggset]

oh, that was a great read! I'm sorry the trip wasn't 'better', but it still sounds like an exciting time!

[wildernessed]

Nice, I think I'd be dumb enough to do it, but I have dumber things to do first. Thanks for the pics and the great read.