Mt Triumph 7-19-09

The son becomes the father....And the father becomes the son.....
Sonny and Ziff were long gone.....Steve B. and Mr. Watt were still many days
away......
A whole week in the middle of the trip just for Aaron and I. If our history
held, we would challenge and stretch ourselves a bit. But where? And what is
just the right amount of "stretch" for the lad?

We had been skunked the year before on the west route of Triumph, the steepness
stymieing us, rallying to a late afternoon Thornton Peak. In fact I was 2 for 4
on the peak. Not an easy peak to attain. The northeast ridge was harder, but the
boy was better, the 12 months providing more seasoning and strength. I had done
the route with Ziff several years before. I thought it unlikely to ever return.
The route, 9 pitches, topping out at 5.7, was noted for its many pitches with
little or no protection. Pitches of heather and hollow rock. But the crux is
well protected! With Ziff, I had gone off the long and tricky backside. Rap the
route? A knife edge? We had heard that was the standard.

We planned to do it in 2 days, hiking in 5 miles of trail, then several miles of
talus, heather, gaining 4,000 feet of altitude, but we were 12 days in on the
trip, we were tired, it was hot and yada, yada yada. So the idea was born to do
it as a day trip, after a day off. To bed at 9 PM, sweating in the bags,
mosquito nets on our heads. I slept an hour, between 10 and 11 PM. Aaron got 4.5
hours of sleep. Headlamp hiking by 3:19 AM. In the wee hours we pass some
sleeping folks at Thornton Lakes. We would essentially see no one the rest of
the day. It was terribly lonely out there. It lent to the seriousness. The
double edged, knife edge intimidated me, as we approached the steepening cruxes.
The boy sensed it and rose up with extra energy and enthusiasm. He felt me
wavering and with force of personality, countered the mood. We probed pitch by
pitch. After the crux, 2 long heather pitches remained and the roles were
reversed. I prodded now. The summit at 3 PM!! The Picket Range, Baker and
Shucksan, our mountain neighbors, stood by and invited us to future adventures.

The descent, rapping the knife edge lay ahead. Down climbing to the rap stations
was serious business, on heather and steep rock. Twelve raps altogether. We
moved purposefully and carefully. Resetting the rope often, to shorten the
length of pulls. On one rap the ropes swung in the breeze, 1,000 feet of air
below. I hemmed and hawed and cried and DEMANDED a bottom belay. Soon we were on
the glacier again, 3 hours taken to rap the route. My foot fell in a crevasse,
on the glacier crossing. Not the place to be. Now we swallowed distance and
somehow, we were 1,400 vertical feet below outlier peak called Trapper's at 8:10
PM. We dropped packs and ran it, for a fine sunset. Out by headlamp. We hit the
car at 11:04 PM. 20 hours and 45 minutes, for the trips longest day. We drove to
New Halem and made dinner on the picnic table by the tennis court. To bed by 1
AM. Many mountains and routes are much harder, but for us....we allowed
ourselves some understated pride and satisfaction. That same afternoon we would
hike in on a 3 day trip, just the two of us again. If anything, we would be
tested even more on that adventure....

http://picasaweb.google.com/aramv14/Triumph#