gonzo
09-04-2007, 01:56 PM
On Saturday morning I met up with a few SP'ers (http://www.summitpost.org/) to do the Triple Traverse (http://www.summitpost.org/route/160024/triple-traverse.html) from Broads Fork Twin Peaks to Mt. Dromedary. The idea is that we would hit five peaks that day (both Twins, an unnamed, Sunrise, and Dromedary) before hiking back down via Blanche Lake.
We met at the ungodly hour of 4:30, and were on the trail by 5:00 AM. As we hiked we were fortunate enough to catch the tail end of the Aurigid meteor shower. I didn't see a ton of meteors, but the few that were still visible were spectacular. At one point I saw a double that shot green streaks across the northern sky, and lit up the entire northern horizon as they passed behind Mt. Raymond and Gobbler's Knob.
After a little over an hour of fairly steep trail hiking we reached the meadow. We had previously decided to take the Robinson Variation (http://www.summitpost.org/route/157064/robinson-variation.html) to a saddle below Broads Fork East. This route bypasses the traditional boulder field route, but involves some very steep hiking up a talus slope, followed by some class 3/4 scrambling. It's a long grunt, but you take care of 85% of your elevation gain in a little over a mile. Another bonus of this route was the (wild?) mint growing everywhere - it smelled really nice. (I know it sounds silly, but it really made the hike nice)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1249/1302874907_a4ad28048c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302874907/)
As we approached the saddle we saw a juvenile mountain goat watching us on the final scramble. He was probably thinking "those dumb humans, they're doing it all wrong". Unfortunately, he was gone by the time I was close enough to take a picture.
The saddle gave us a view of the Salt Lake valley, and over towards Mt. Olympus. I spend so much of my day staring out my office window and up towards Mt. Olympus it was weird to be above it.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1014/1302886207_783f2c81de.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302886207/)
After a brief rest we scramble the ridge line up to Broads Fork East. The scramble was easier than I expected, but there were still a few class four moments, with a fair amount of exposure.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1036/1302894235_b900376ede.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302894235/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1393/1303779014_65b9342ef6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1303779014/)
After about 25 minutes of scrambling we made it to the summit of Broads Fork East! We spent a few more minutes resting and eating snacks, before heading to the west peak. The views from the Twins is amazing. You can see all the way out past the Stansbury Range in the west, and down to Nebo in the south.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1060/1302908415_0754239ca6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302908415/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1128/1302916835_69d948b45a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302916835/)
After leaving the Twins our next destination was the unnamed peak before Sunrise Peak. This involves a long downward scramble that is nearly verticle in some places, and a short class five decent to get onto the saddle. But, for as hard and exposed as the decent, you get some awesome views of the coming route, and of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1124/1302930385_601b7b175a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302930385/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1020/1303816612_6e1c2eb408.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1303816612/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1382/1313342185_6eca631a6d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1313342185/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1093/1302949423_34dd5abf60.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302949423/)
Once we hit the saddle a few of the guys decided that they didn't have the legs to continue with the entire traverse, and decided to head down the traditional Broads Fork route (massive scree and boulder field). But, I decided to push on with two other guys to hit at least Sunrise Peak.
The route along the saddle takes you around the south side of the Unnamed Peak, and it was starting to get a little sketchy. A fair airy moves, lots of loose rock, and narrow foot ledges. I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed, but figured I would continue on with the remainder of the party. As I came out on a relatively flat area on the south side of the peak I looked down on a long, steep slope to the bottom of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
I could see one member of my party a couple of hundred yards ahead of me, but lost track of the second guy. As I looked at the mountain ahead of me and tried to decide on a good route I heard the sound of a rock falling above me, quickly followed by my partner yelling "ROCK! ROCK! ROCK! ROCK!" I sprinted a few yards across the slope until I was stopped by a rock outcropping, I looked up just in time to see a big rock coming over a ledge, straight at me. I turned my head away as I felt the rock hit me on my left the shoulder, and glance off my head. Another rock hit me in the side, and a third smashed into my right ankle. I tried my best to keep my balance as I yelled "Ow! Ow! F*ck! Ow!" with each impact.
The rocks finally stopped coming, and sank down the ground, my shoulder and head trobbing, my hands cut up from hitting something. One of my partners came running, and yelled out to see if I was okay. "I'm fine, just a headache" I shouted back. He came around the outcropping, and was visibly relieved to see me sitting there. The partner who was above heard me shouting, and came down. We sat on the ground for a few minutes, and I told them I wanted to get off the mountain, but that my shoulder was really hurting. So, we started back towards the saddle, doing a lot of bushwacking and easy upclimbs to avoid using my left arm. I was really grateful to be with them, without them I probably couldn't have gotten down on my own. They were really patient with my slow pace, and kept encouraging me to move ahead, even though I was visibly shaken, and quite literally shaking.
We hit the saddle, and started down the boulder field. My partners were moving much faster than me, so I had lots of time to think about what happened, and to realize how lucky I was to be moving down the mountain under my own power. I also had time to think back on the year and all of the crappy stuff that's happened (torn ACL, car accident, putting a knife through my hand, ACL repair surgery, a fall while hiking, another car accident) if it weren't for the impending birth of my first daughter this year would be a total loss.
We finally made it back to the trailhead about 3 hours after the accident, and about 45 minutes before my wife would really start to worry about me. A few hours later and I was in the St. Mark's ER getting my shoulder and ankle x-rayed. Fortunately I escaped with just some bruising and scrapes, but nothing serious.
Now, I think I'll go do some research on helmets!
We met at the ungodly hour of 4:30, and were on the trail by 5:00 AM. As we hiked we were fortunate enough to catch the tail end of the Aurigid meteor shower. I didn't see a ton of meteors, but the few that were still visible were spectacular. At one point I saw a double that shot green streaks across the northern sky, and lit up the entire northern horizon as they passed behind Mt. Raymond and Gobbler's Knob.
After a little over an hour of fairly steep trail hiking we reached the meadow. We had previously decided to take the Robinson Variation (http://www.summitpost.org/route/157064/robinson-variation.html) to a saddle below Broads Fork East. This route bypasses the traditional boulder field route, but involves some very steep hiking up a talus slope, followed by some class 3/4 scrambling. It's a long grunt, but you take care of 85% of your elevation gain in a little over a mile. Another bonus of this route was the (wild?) mint growing everywhere - it smelled really nice. (I know it sounds silly, but it really made the hike nice)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1249/1302874907_a4ad28048c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302874907/)
As we approached the saddle we saw a juvenile mountain goat watching us on the final scramble. He was probably thinking "those dumb humans, they're doing it all wrong". Unfortunately, he was gone by the time I was close enough to take a picture.
The saddle gave us a view of the Salt Lake valley, and over towards Mt. Olympus. I spend so much of my day staring out my office window and up towards Mt. Olympus it was weird to be above it.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1014/1302886207_783f2c81de.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302886207/)
After a brief rest we scramble the ridge line up to Broads Fork East. The scramble was easier than I expected, but there were still a few class four moments, with a fair amount of exposure.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1036/1302894235_b900376ede.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302894235/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1393/1303779014_65b9342ef6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1303779014/)
After about 25 minutes of scrambling we made it to the summit of Broads Fork East! We spent a few more minutes resting and eating snacks, before heading to the west peak. The views from the Twins is amazing. You can see all the way out past the Stansbury Range in the west, and down to Nebo in the south.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1060/1302908415_0754239ca6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302908415/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1128/1302916835_69d948b45a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302916835/)
After leaving the Twins our next destination was the unnamed peak before Sunrise Peak. This involves a long downward scramble that is nearly verticle in some places, and a short class five decent to get onto the saddle. But, for as hard and exposed as the decent, you get some awesome views of the coming route, and of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1124/1302930385_601b7b175a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302930385/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1020/1303816612_6e1c2eb408.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1303816612/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1382/1313342185_6eca631a6d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1313342185/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1093/1302949423_34dd5abf60.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris247/1302949423/)
Once we hit the saddle a few of the guys decided that they didn't have the legs to continue with the entire traverse, and decided to head down the traditional Broads Fork route (massive scree and boulder field). But, I decided to push on with two other guys to hit at least Sunrise Peak.
The route along the saddle takes you around the south side of the Unnamed Peak, and it was starting to get a little sketchy. A fair airy moves, lots of loose rock, and narrow foot ledges. I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed, but figured I would continue on with the remainder of the party. As I came out on a relatively flat area on the south side of the peak I looked down on a long, steep slope to the bottom of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
I could see one member of my party a couple of hundred yards ahead of me, but lost track of the second guy. As I looked at the mountain ahead of me and tried to decide on a good route I heard the sound of a rock falling above me, quickly followed by my partner yelling "ROCK! ROCK! ROCK! ROCK!" I sprinted a few yards across the slope until I was stopped by a rock outcropping, I looked up just in time to see a big rock coming over a ledge, straight at me. I turned my head away as I felt the rock hit me on my left the shoulder, and glance off my head. Another rock hit me in the side, and a third smashed into my right ankle. I tried my best to keep my balance as I yelled "Ow! Ow! F*ck! Ow!" with each impact.
The rocks finally stopped coming, and sank down the ground, my shoulder and head trobbing, my hands cut up from hitting something. One of my partners came running, and yelled out to see if I was okay. "I'm fine, just a headache" I shouted back. He came around the outcropping, and was visibly relieved to see me sitting there. The partner who was above heard me shouting, and came down. We sat on the ground for a few minutes, and I told them I wanted to get off the mountain, but that my shoulder was really hurting. So, we started back towards the saddle, doing a lot of bushwacking and easy upclimbs to avoid using my left arm. I was really grateful to be with them, without them I probably couldn't have gotten down on my own. They were really patient with my slow pace, and kept encouraging me to move ahead, even though I was visibly shaken, and quite literally shaking.
We hit the saddle, and started down the boulder field. My partners were moving much faster than me, so I had lots of time to think about what happened, and to realize how lucky I was to be moving down the mountain under my own power. I also had time to think back on the year and all of the crappy stuff that's happened (torn ACL, car accident, putting a knife through my hand, ACL repair surgery, a fall while hiking, another car accident) if it weren't for the impending birth of my first daughter this year would be a total loss.
We finally made it back to the trailhead about 3 hours after the accident, and about 45 minutes before my wife would really start to worry about me. A few hours later and I was in the St. Mark's ER getting my shoulder and ankle x-rayed. Fortunately I escaped with just some bruising and scrapes, but nothing serious.
Now, I think I'll go do some research on helmets!