Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Adventure Report: Saddle Peak But No Summit
Again I will be blogging from the AEA Annual Meetings, this year in beautiful balmy Chicago. But my first adventure report of the year comes from the Bridger Mountains, just north of Bozeman MT, where today I attempted a climb of Saddle Peak (9162 ft/2793 m). I was accompanied by two enthusiastic friends, Chaos and Luna (see photos). There was more snow than I expected, and foolishly I had left my snowshoes behind. We moved up the trail (where we could find it) for three hours, and ended up at the little shelf before the last climb up to the Bostwicks. (Anyone who has run the Jim Bridger/Old Gabe 50K knows exactly where I mean, but for most readers...assuming I have readers...this is all gibberish.)
For the last hour I was breaking trail in snow up to my hips. The dogs even gave up trying to lead and simply walked in my footsteps. Eventually we began to wear down, and as the snow was increasing in depth, "we" decided to beat a slow retreat, stopping frequently to enjoy the scenery and pester a squirrel or two. I did use my crampons on the way down because of the icy trails lower in the canyon. I was a little out of shape anyway, owing to a nasty viral infection and fever over Christmas. This was a good start to the year, though.
There's now some talk that several of us will return next week, this time with snowshoes. If further adventure indeed ensues, it will be documented here.
Happy New Year!
Bridger Ridge
Chaos and Luna
Yerz troolie, Charles N. Steele
Dogs in my tracks
Squirrel!
Dog print in the snow
C-D Couloir
For the last hour I was breaking trail in snow up to my hips. The dogs even gave up trying to lead and simply walked in my footsteps. Eventually we began to wear down, and as the snow was increasing in depth, "we" decided to beat a slow retreat, stopping frequently to enjoy the scenery and pester a squirrel or two. I did use my crampons on the way down because of the icy trails lower in the canyon. I was a little out of shape anyway, owing to a nasty viral infection and fever over Christmas. This was a good start to the year, though.
There's now some talk that several of us will return next week, this time with snowshoes. If further adventure indeed ensues, it will be documented here.
Happy New Year!
Bridger Ridge
Chaos and Luna
Yerz troolie, Charles N. Steele
Dogs in my tracks
Squirrel!
Dog print in the snow
C-D Couloir
