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Tom
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Tom
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PostMon Mar 14, 2005 7:53 pm 
On Sunday I decided to join Dicey, Laurie, and GabrielX for a climb of Gunn Peak. I had long wanted to climb Gunn, having lusted over it from both Persis and Baring in prior years and was looking forward to this trip all week. Knowing it might be a long day, we rose relatively early and were on trail a little after 8 AM. Gunn has a reputation for being brushy when the snow is gone, so we left the car prepared, armed in long pants and gloves. Apart from two minor but slick creek crossings, we had little difficulty reaching or finding the trail thanks to this excellent drawing (and the well flagged route). The trail is well defined and "zig zags" up nicely at a steep, sustained, but reasonable grade, a rarity for a route pounded in by climbers (or perhaps fishermen). We were also pleasantly surprised by the absence of any brush. After a couple thousand feet or so of elevation we came upon a spicy gully crossing which looks much worse than it actually is, granted I would not want to scramble down or up this section in slick conditions. Once safely over the gully, the route continues to climb steeply and the trail fades into more of a boot path, eventually leveling off into a slide alder "garden". We slowly and carefully picked our way through the brush keeping a eye out for the occasional flag to assure us we were suffering no more than those who initially flagged the route. After a slow half mile or so we eventually broke out above the brush into open rock gardens and snow just below the saddle between 5842' and 5760'. We noted the remnants of a plane crash on the other side of the valley with debris strewn over a 1/8 mile radius, thinking it must have been a very violent impact. We continued up to the saddle and then toward the north side of 5780' (the prominence with no number) with views down to Gunn Lake. The snow on the northern slopes of this prominence had not yet softened up and it was steep and slick. It looked like we would need to descend several hundered feet toward a large slide that had released earlier in the year. Discussion ensued as to whether to continue. My recommendation was to traverse around the southern exposed side where the snow would have softened up nicely during the day (and also which I recalled being the correct route per Beckey). However, it became clear the rest of the party had a strong preference to bag "consolation peak" aka 5842' and enjoy a liesurely afternoon in the sun rather than bag the more complicated summit. bawl.gif After dropping the 8 pound rope we had lugged with us to that point, we scampered up to 5842', somewhat surprised to find a summit register. I was too chagrined to sign the consolation register, and after taking my fill of pictures I headed down to the NW ridge hoping to get some views down to Gunn Lake. Unsuccessful, I let the others know I was going to head down early and scramble up 5780' to get some shots of the lake. This was a fun little scramble and near the top I was able to get the shot I wanted before heading down to join the others for a liesurely descent. All in all, a good day. It would have been nice to summit Gunn, but in retrospect the real prize is just being out there on a nice day with great folks... Edit: (Pictures added)
Gabriel at the bottom of the gully
Gabriel at the bottom of the gully
Laurie descending to the gully
Laurie descending to the gully
Dicey navigating brush gardens
Dicey navigating brush gardens
Temporary clearing in brush gardens
Temporary clearing in brush gardens
Barclay lake from brush gardens
Barclay lake from brush gardens
Looking up to the saddle
Looking up to the saddle
Consolation (5842':) from the saddle
Consolation (5842') from the saddle
The gang at the saddle below 5780'
The gang at the saddle below 5780'
Townsend and Merchant
Townsend and Merchant
Gabriel surveying the path to Gunn
Gabriel surveying the path to Gunn
Looking NW to Highway 2 and Goldbar
Looking NW to Highway 2 and Goldbar
Townsend and Merchant from 5842'
Townsend and Merchant from 5842'
Gabriel nearing 5842'
Gabriel nearing 5842'
Zooming toward Townsend
Zooming toward Townsend
Gunn from 5842'
Gunn from 5842'
Gunn Lake from scramble up 5780'
Gunn Lake from scramble up 5780'
Snow Tarn and Mt Baring
Snow Tarn and Mt Baring
Looking east from the saddle
Looking east from the saddle
GPS Tracked Path
GPS Tracked Path

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naturealbeing
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naturealbeing
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PostMon Mar 14, 2005 9:40 pm 
Tom, That Gunn Peak sure is a temperamentally one. Steve Fossen and I tried to get up there last year (5.24.04) and there was still too much snow. As you probable know, on the north side just before you ascend to the summit, there is a steep ramp that usually contains snow or ice at this time of year. When this is the case its a deal breaker. Anyways I settled for point 5,842 also. I'm thinking if the weather stays warm like this, maybe in a couple of weeks I'll get up there. BTW, One other time I was up there exploring the climbing route with my dog Crystal. That spicy gully that you mentioned. I don't know how she did it, but she managed to down climb that thing and catch up with me as I had left her behind thinking that this was as far as she was going to make it. My intent was to get up out of the trees and see how much further the ridge was. To my surprise she came up behind me in about a 15 minutes.
Heres a shot that I took from point 5,842, of Barclay Lake and Mt. Baring.
Heres a shot that I took from point 5,842, of Barclay Lake and Mt. Baring.

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Tom
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Tom
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PostMon Mar 14, 2005 9:59 pm 
Wow, superb shot! I took a few in that direction but it was really difficult lighting due to the angle of the sun so I'm glad you posted one displaying Baring in all its glory. Looks like the clouds gave you a nice lighting advantage that day. As far as the ramp, it looked to be snow free. I'll post some of my shots a little later, but to me it appeared ripe for plucking. :sniffle:

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Justus S.
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Justus S.
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PostMon Mar 14, 2005 10:41 pm 
Tom don’t feel bad about not summiting Gunn. I seem to have read several reports about failed attempts in the wintertime. I think summer is a much nicer time to go anyway. I summited Gunn several years ago in August on a three day solo trip, it was awesome! I climbed up via Lewis Ck and spent two nights at the lake, here. I was a little disappointed to have only been able to climb Gunn in the clouds, but the other days were sunny and beautiful. Looking forward to those pictures!
Pt 5842 from northwest
Pt 5842 from northwest

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naturealbeing
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naturealbeing
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PostTue Mar 15, 2005 12:02 am 
Tom, Heres a comparison shot of Gunn Peak from 5,842 last year May 24th. Were talking two months difference and look how much snow there is in this shot compared to yours.
Gunn Peak from Pt.5,842
Gunn Peak from Pt.5,842

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gabrielx
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PostTue Mar 15, 2005 12:31 am 
If anyone heads up for point 5,842 the summit register could use some new paper, the last couple entries are written on a torn-off corner of a map. A few more pics and a TR I wrote for this trip are at http://yellowleaf.org/scramble/g/r/2005-03-13-Gunn.html. Tom, the GPS-tracked map is neat! That's the first one I've seen for a trip I've been on.

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Stefan
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PostTue Mar 15, 2005 12:52 pm 
Ummm.....all my friends call peak 6218--Gunnshy, which is NW of Gunn. It is called Gunnshy becuase it is the second highest 400' prominent peak on the USGS Mt. Baring quad just after Gunn. Peak 5842....is really nothing...but it does have 400' of prominence and I haven't done it yet! Tom. I am so proud of you. You are becoming a peakbagger. And you are doing peaks I haven't done yet!

Art is an adventure.
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Tom
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Tom
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PostTue Mar 15, 2005 1:15 pm 
OK, I will go back to calling it "consolation peak" since "gunshy" is already taken. I must be turning into a true peakbagger since I didn't climb to the top of the prominence I took the picture of gunn lake from. It must have been my sixth peakbagging sense to know it had less than 400' of prominence. Dicey sent me this picture with the following caption that sums it all up.
Tom jumps off a cliff after realizing he almost summited a peak under 400 ft. of prominence!
Tom jumps off a cliff after realizing he almost summited a peak under 400 ft. of prominence!

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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Mar 15, 2005 1:39 pm 
Tom wrote:
OK, I will go back to calling it "consolation peak" since "gunshy" is already taken. I must be turning into a true peakbagger since I didn't climb to the top of the prominence I took the picture of gunn lake from. It must have been my sixth peakbagging sense to know it had less than 400' of prominence. Dicey sent me this picture with the following caption that sums it all up.
DONT JUMP TOM, IT ISNT WORTH IT!

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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