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| View of Unnamed 7980 taken on July 7 |
I finished shoveling snow up at Granite Park on the 12th of July and decided to climb Unnamed 7980 in the morning. The peak-climbing website I use to help track my climbs calls this peak The Garden Wall. Since the Garden Wall is long and has higher points on it than this, I choose not to use the name and call it Unnamed 7980 instead. This was a peak that I had been looking at often while I had been staying up at Granite. I looked at it closely when I hiked up to the Grinnell Glacier Overlook on the 7th of July and had been using the scope to try to see a way up while I sat outside the chalet. I felt I had a good idea of the best possible route and decided to see if it would go on the 13th. I spoke with a guest that I had heard had tried the day before and he suggested I try the way I had been intending. He had taken the ridge and became cliffed out and had to descend.
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| Upper portion of ascent gully |
I left the chalet in the morning and quickly found myself at the Grinnell Glacier Overlook Trail and started up that. I was surprised at how much snow had melted higher up on the slope and made my way across it quite easily. I carried on to the overlook and found I was a bit intimidated by the view of the peak. I followed goat trails from the overlook to where a gully cuts through the middle of the cliffs. The view up the gully was not great as it was filled with loose rock. It was, however, the only logical way up toward the ridge.
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| View of Mount Gould and Grinnell Glacier from the summit |
The gully was steep and very loose and I slowly picked my way up it toward the ridge. Near the ridge it became less steep and I found many ways to get out on the upper face. Here I found the route finding to be very enjoyable with fun little passages between rocks and through cliff bands. Before long I was standing on top. There was another summit just to the south that looked to be about the same height. I found my way over into a notch and then out onto the east face where I found passage up to the top. From the top of that summit I could tell that the first summit was higher. I walked back over to the highest point and enjoyed a snack along with some incredible views.
After the break, I worked my way back down to the gully and then carefully down that to the goat trail. I decided that since I had never been to the second overlook, reached by following the goat trail, I would walk over to it. I had descended a slightly different way instead of exiting the bottom of the gully and as I passed below it I saw a marmot licking the salt off a rock where I had placed a hand to pull myself up it. I passed below this and carried on around the mountain below all the high cliffs and eventually found myself out in the second overlook. The view of the glacier was great, as was the view down the whole valley. A goat came into the saddle the same time as me but from the south and he crossed below me and headed out onto the east face of the mountain. He stopped from time to time, seeming to take in the views.
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| View down the valley |
After enjoying this new viewpoint I headed back along the goat trail to the maintained trail and down that back to the chalet. I spoke with Morgan and he wanted to climb Swiftcurrent that afternoon. I told him that after a nap I would join him.
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| Unnamed 7980 from the second overlook |
In the afternoon, we left the chalet and started hiking up to Swiftcurrent Lookout. Morgan had never been up it and I was excited to be going with him. We made good time up to the junction and carried on toward the lookout. Below us we spotted a couple bighorn rams and pointed them out to a couple hikers coming down the trail. We continued on and quickly found ourselves up on top. Buck was in the lookout and saw and recognized us and came out to sit on the steps with us. He poured us some wine and we sat up top, taking in the views with a glass of wine. It was beautiful and the weather was better than the 3rd and we stayed up top for some time. Eventually we figured we should head back and get dinner. We said goodbye and hiked back down to the chalet.
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| Iceberg and Wilbur from the lookout |
Since I climbed Swiftcurrent Mountain on the 3rd I will only count that ascent toward my goal.
Elevation gain: 3145' Total gain: 87,915'
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