Glockguy
09-06-2006, 02:47 PM
I took my little bro in law on an attempt on the Pfeifferhorn on Monday morning. It was a fun trip and a good experience for us both.
This was Colton's 1st major hike. He is an active football playing 12 year old and I have taken him up to Cecret Lake before and he really liked that.
Anyway we got a very early start. We left the White Pine TH at 3:00 AM. We were all set up with headlamps. Mine is a Princeton Tec EOS that was awesome. I had aPrinceton Tec Aurora that is abit smaller that I let Colton use.
About 30 seconds into the hike we got quite a scare. We had just crossed the 1st bridge when there was a HUGE crashing noise. Sticks were splintering and flying through the air. Our lights cast a beam on 2 big moose standing 20 feet away from the trail. One cow took off up hill away from us. The bull was huffing and snorting and coming towards us. We got behind some brush and I was about to unlaod some rounds from my Glock G19 to scare him away, but fortunatly he took off up the hill as well.
The hike to the lower lake was uneventful and we arrived at about 5:15. It was still a bit chilly so we got out the Jetboil and had hot chocolate with our GU. I was hoping that it would be light by the time we lft the lower lake but it was still pitch black. We pressed on towards the upper lake, staying a bit west by a treeline to avoid as much of the boulder field as possible.
As we were coming to the upper lake the sky was pink. We pressed on and were amazed at how fast it got light. I think it was because we were gaining elevation pretty quickly as was the sun. We went from black night to being able to see perfectly within 5 minutes.
colton had alot bettereyes then me. We were taking abreak when he says,"Hey whats that skeleton over there?" he headed east about 50 feet and there was a skelton of what I think was a mountaingoat. I couldn't believe he spotted it from where we were
We continued up towards the ridge. I headed us a bit more east to get on the ridge becasue there were some other cracks up there I wanted to check out for later this winter.
Once on the ridge Colton began to have some probelms. He is a bit scared of heights and was kind of dizzy. I assured him that we were in no hurry and to just take his time. I was also concerned for his wellfair because he doesn't own any hiking boots.
As we looked over the ridge into Utah County we were surprised to see a heard of deer running west through Dry Creek Canyon. Then we heard all this yelping that was some coyotes. we tried looking for them through some glass but couldn't spot them. It really echoing loud in the bowl below us.
We also spotted some mountain goats feeding below. Seeing all this animal activity helped Colton get over his fear of heights and he seemed a lot more confident in himself.
We continued along the "knife edge" (all the books call it that, but there are only a few place where there is any great exposure without much room on your sides).
We got to the spot just elow the summit cone. Coltong saw it and got kinda scared again. We decided to stop and have some lunch. I was surprised that no one else was up there yet. Anyone leaving the TH at 6:00 AM should have caught up to us by now.
So I talked to Colton about being safe and how you need to make careful decision making while mountaineering. He took all that into consideration then decided he wanted to continue on. We were packing up lunch when he said he felt dizzy again. The he ot a nosebleed. I checked his heart rate and it was really cruising at about 180! We had been sitting there for 20 minutes at rest so I figured something was wrong.
We decided to get down to lower alttitude and save the summit for another day. I am sure he could have made it, but I was worried about him passing out and falling or something like that. (Not the kiond of thing you want to deal with the family at Thanksgiving lol.)
The hike down was pretty uneventful. We decided to count how many people were hiking up as were were on our way down to the TH. We got to 147. (19 of which had NO water or any supplies at all)
We got back to the car at 11:30 am. I always keep some Gatorade in a cooler in the car for when I get back. It was a nice treat and Colton liked it.
Anyway it was a great trip. Colton felt good about our decision making and I felt good everyone was safe in the end. Next time I would:
1.) Try to prepare my hiking partner(s) better for alttitude by going on a few hikes beforehand. I was fine because I have been in the Wasatch and the Winds a lot of the summer.
2.) Not forget my GPS. I know that area well but it is a fun tool to have. I really need to start using a checklist so i don't forget stuff.
This was Colton's 1st major hike. He is an active football playing 12 year old and I have taken him up to Cecret Lake before and he really liked that.
Anyway we got a very early start. We left the White Pine TH at 3:00 AM. We were all set up with headlamps. Mine is a Princeton Tec EOS that was awesome. I had aPrinceton Tec Aurora that is abit smaller that I let Colton use.
About 30 seconds into the hike we got quite a scare. We had just crossed the 1st bridge when there was a HUGE crashing noise. Sticks were splintering and flying through the air. Our lights cast a beam on 2 big moose standing 20 feet away from the trail. One cow took off up hill away from us. The bull was huffing and snorting and coming towards us. We got behind some brush and I was about to unlaod some rounds from my Glock G19 to scare him away, but fortunatly he took off up the hill as well.
The hike to the lower lake was uneventful and we arrived at about 5:15. It was still a bit chilly so we got out the Jetboil and had hot chocolate with our GU. I was hoping that it would be light by the time we lft the lower lake but it was still pitch black. We pressed on towards the upper lake, staying a bit west by a treeline to avoid as much of the boulder field as possible.
As we were coming to the upper lake the sky was pink. We pressed on and were amazed at how fast it got light. I think it was because we were gaining elevation pretty quickly as was the sun. We went from black night to being able to see perfectly within 5 minutes.
colton had alot bettereyes then me. We were taking abreak when he says,"Hey whats that skeleton over there?" he headed east about 50 feet and there was a skelton of what I think was a mountaingoat. I couldn't believe he spotted it from where we were
We continued up towards the ridge. I headed us a bit more east to get on the ridge becasue there were some other cracks up there I wanted to check out for later this winter.
Once on the ridge Colton began to have some probelms. He is a bit scared of heights and was kind of dizzy. I assured him that we were in no hurry and to just take his time. I was also concerned for his wellfair because he doesn't own any hiking boots.
As we looked over the ridge into Utah County we were surprised to see a heard of deer running west through Dry Creek Canyon. Then we heard all this yelping that was some coyotes. we tried looking for them through some glass but couldn't spot them. It really echoing loud in the bowl below us.
We also spotted some mountain goats feeding below. Seeing all this animal activity helped Colton get over his fear of heights and he seemed a lot more confident in himself.
We continued along the "knife edge" (all the books call it that, but there are only a few place where there is any great exposure without much room on your sides).
We got to the spot just elow the summit cone. Coltong saw it and got kinda scared again. We decided to stop and have some lunch. I was surprised that no one else was up there yet. Anyone leaving the TH at 6:00 AM should have caught up to us by now.
So I talked to Colton about being safe and how you need to make careful decision making while mountaineering. He took all that into consideration then decided he wanted to continue on. We were packing up lunch when he said he felt dizzy again. The he ot a nosebleed. I checked his heart rate and it was really cruising at about 180! We had been sitting there for 20 minutes at rest so I figured something was wrong.
We decided to get down to lower alttitude and save the summit for another day. I am sure he could have made it, but I was worried about him passing out and falling or something like that. (Not the kiond of thing you want to deal with the family at Thanksgiving lol.)
The hike down was pretty uneventful. We decided to count how many people were hiking up as were were on our way down to the TH. We got to 147. (19 of which had NO water or any supplies at all)
We got back to the car at 11:30 am. I always keep some Gatorade in a cooler in the car for when I get back. It was a nice treat and Colton liked it.
Anyway it was a great trip. Colton felt good about our decision making and I felt good everyone was safe in the end. Next time I would:
1.) Try to prepare my hiking partner(s) better for alttitude by going on a few hikes beforehand. I was fine because I have been in the Wasatch and the Winds a lot of the summer.
2.) Not forget my GPS. I know that area well but it is a fun tool to have. I really need to start using a checklist so i don't forget stuff.