07/03/14 Swiftcurrent Mountain 8436' #52

Swiftcurrent Lookout

I had climbed Swiftcurrent Mountain a couple times before but not during this year period for my project.  The last time I had been up to the top was with Carrie in 2009 and we made it up just before clouds enveloped the summit.

Continental Divide heading north

I had been working for over one week and was tired.  I decided to take the morning of the 3rd off and climb Swiftcurrent Mountain.  I was up early and left the chalet by 6:30 a.m.  I could tell by the tracks in the snow that there were two hikers in front of me.  That seemed to motivate me to hike faster and try to catch them so that I could be the first to the summit. 

When I was a bit below the pass in an open spot I could see them crossing the big snowfield higher up on the trail to the lookout.  I could tell it was a couple of older guys I had met the night before and knew I could catch them.  It wasn't that I was cocky, but I knew one of them was from Brazil and probably wasn't very used to hiking on snow and the other guy was just about to turn 72.  If I couldn't catch them then I needed to get in better shape.

I made it to the junction just below the pass and started up the trail to the lookout.  There was one snowfield to cross and then it looked like the rest of the trail was free of snow.  I crossed the snow quickly and made a couple switchbacks before I caught them at the next small snow drift.  We talked for a bit and then I carried on to the top.

Iceberg Peak

It was a beautiful morning and I was moving pretty fast.  I worked my way through the rocky switchbacks all the way to the lookout.  I checked the time and had made it in an hour and 15 minutes.  I felt good and took some photos of the surrounding peaks and then sat on the steps of the lookout to snack and enjoy the morning.  It was a bit windier than I had expected and the clouds were building.  I thought it would have been a bit nicer, but it still wasn't too bad.  I sat for about 45 minutes before Reggie and George made it up.  We sat together and talked about climbing peaks while shooing away the ground squirrels that seemed a bit too brave.

Vaught and Heavens and the oncoming storm

As we talked I noticed the clouds getting darker in the west.  At one point, I heard some thunder and decided I would head down.  They also chose to hike back to the chalet.  We were not in a good spot if the weather was to turn bad.  I said goodbye and started down, hustling to make it back to the chalet before any lightning struck or before it started to rain.  As I made it lower I felt better about the lightning, but the clouds were looking worse over Heavens and Longfellow.  I moved quickly and when I was back on the main trail I sped over the snow back to the chalet, getting rained on just a bit.  Fortunately the storm moved to the north and the rain was brief.  Not long after making it back to the chalet in 45 minutes the storm passed and it started getting sunny again.  It had been a quick yet enjoyable climb of Swiftcurrent Mountain.

Elevation gain:  1760'     Total gain:  84,770'