b00 Member
Joined: 29 Sep 2003 Posts: 1144 | TRs | Pics
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b00
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Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:28 pm
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gunn + tailgunner 5842 + wing 5760 9-30-2012
neher-man strolling over to tailgunner tarn - wing and merchant peaks rise in the background
iron and i set in motion a plan to assert our second amendment rights, the right to ascend gunn peak.
iron was with our group when prior to the previous presidential election we were denied our access to gunn peak due to wet conditions.
although neither of us have actually joined the nra, this election cycle, we have now asserted our rights and demanded a gunn!
if you are interested in all that is good and fair, the constitution and what it stands for, if you will not let the government abrogate your rights and take your gunn away, and if you had enough of these bad puns...
discussing the second amendment and enjoying our constitutional on _____ (name that peak)
normally a gps and route info are helpful on a climb. i brought along an unbelievably detailed 24 part route description, but it was so easy, i never even read it nor pulled it out of my pocket. i never needed the gps either.
the neher-man, iron and i did a lot of visiting while we walked down the road, across the creek and up the mountain. we occasionally paid a little attention to the route. somewhere about halfway up, before the dry falls, scott and dan caught up to us. even more visiting ensued and we were easily and quickly up to the meadows a few hundred feet below tailgunner, aka 5842. although we had been going at a moderate pace and were not tired in the least, the crew stopped for a break and patiently waited for me to get some water from the snow melt. a little easy descending, traversing and then up some easy talus led us to the not so hidden gully. without pause, we walked up it and began traversing around the mountain. we knew we should not ascend too quickly and somehow we found, without looking for it, the correct notch
correct notch directly above us
that led us to the easy ramp to the summit.
these guys are giving you a hint about which summit they are on. they are showing you their ____s --- ps - good thing i was not in that picture or i would have to be showing off my derringers
we had a lengthy summit stay enjoying our first summit in a long time without smoke obstructing our view. it was really nice. since it was so very early and it had been so effortless, it was easy for iron to talk us into bagging another peak or two. we reversed our steps and then did a mostly class 2 loop trip up to tailgunner, aka pt 5842.
tailgunner summit - dan walks away while neher-man, scott and iron enjoy the views of: gunn left, merchant center, baring right
the views from tailgunner were quite possibly were better than from gunn. i think the pictures definitely came out better. well, tailgunner went easy so we followed the ferrous one over to wing peak, aka pt 5760.
iron shows us how to wing it to wing peak
wing had a small crux near the summit. iron scrambled the summit block from the climber's right(south),
iron winging ut
us others descended a little and traversed climber's left(north) and then scrambled the crux to the top. all of us descended the way i came up. iron claimed the crux was class 3 and i found it to be class 4(vote with me, if iron's idea is validated, i'll never hear the end of it :>). either way, it was solid, fun and the best scrambling of the trip.
these guys are giving you a hint about which summit they are on. they are showing you their ____s -- -- ps- be careful, they might take off
quick and dirty late season route description: drive hiway 2 west from index. near the baring store, turn left (north) on the barclay creek road (fr6024) and 4.1 miles from hiway 2 and park near the spur road. head north up spur road to creek, hop rocks and follow the trail, flagging and cairns up(yes it is that obvious to anyone who does these types of trips regularly). there are some junctions to deal with and a dry falls to cross. the trail peters out somewhere east of tailgunner, pt5842. we found a little water flowing from snow melt there(we also found water at small tarn we saw from the summit of tailgunner - southeast of the summit) . pick a gully and descend east. while descending, look over at gunn peak and notice where the talus meets gunn's south face(this is where the hidden gully is). take the easy class 3 hidden gully up to above trees and traverse climber's right. do an ascending traverse but don't get summit fever and ascend too much to a notch. once through the notch follow the obvious and easy class 2 ledge up to the summit block. if route is wet, replace the word "easy" with "quite challenging." :>)
7.39mi 5408' gain
4:00 car to gunn summit
0:47 summit stay
1:33 gunn summit to tailgunner summit
0:08 summit stay
1:11 tailgunner summit to wing summit
0:09 summit stay
2:35 wing summit to car
10:22 car to car
references: smoot's climbing washington's mts, summitpost.org, randy's nwhikers.net post(most helpful), fast feet jt's route info(most helpful)
equipment: helmet, no ice axe, no crampons
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