Written by Isaac B.
Gannett peak trip
Day 1:
Friday July 28th the day had arrived. All four in our party have had Gannett peak on our short list for some time now and we were finally going to go and give it a shot. Through the previous several weeks we had been doing research and trying to get a handle on what we were actually going to be getting ourselves into. This proved to be a difficult task as people are very secretive of giving out information on the Winds. Our other concern was the condition of the infamous bergschrund. If it hasn’t opened up you can simply walk across it, if it has, it can require some rock and ice climbing to overcome. We were hopeful from the limited information that we had gathered that it would remain closed, but it sounded like the glacier was opening up fast, so our days were numbered. We all got off work early and loaded into the 4runner excited but nervous. Our findings varied anywhere from 40 to 60 miles round trip. Either mileage would be doable, just one more pleasant than the other. We arrived at the Pole Creek trailhead shortly after dark. Justin and Laura quickly set up their tent in a parking spot as Nicole and I set up the back of the 4runner for a few hours of sleep. We quickly drank a beer before heading to bed, happy that the mosquitoes didn’t seem to be too bad!
Day 2:
Saturday July 29th, we got up around 6am for our hike into Titcomb basin. Justin had been waiting to hike into the basin for years so the stoke was high. We started the day slow with Nicole needing to stop and adjust her 2 day old backpack a few times before she had the fit down. In short time in we came to Photographers Point and were treated with our first real views of the sea of granite that the Winds are composed of.
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| Our group at Photographers Point |
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| Views of the Winds |
We descended a bit and then, turn after turn we came across lake after lake, each one more scenic than the last. Hobbs, Seneca, Little Seneca, Island and then Titcomb lakes. It is a truly majestic location. We spent a bit of time looking for a tent spot, set up camp and got dinner going. Justin surprised me with a bottle of whiskey, great news since I had joked earlier about wanting a beer for camp. We enjoyed the evening only sipping on our whiskey as we knew we had a big day ahead in the morning. We all disappeared into our tents before the sun disappeared.
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| Justin and Isaac on the trail to Titcomb Basin |
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| Nicole and Isaac cruising past one of the many lakes along the route |
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| Llamas hanging out |
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| Justin and Isaac scoping out a nice beach for after the climb |
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Island Lake with a view of Bonney Pass in the distance
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| Laura and Nicole walking past lower Titcomb Lake |
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| Our camp in Titcomb Basin |
Day 3:
Sunday July 30th, Summit Day! The day had finally come for us to test ourselves on the roof of Wyoming. Gannett peak is the highest peak in the state, holding the added challenge of glacier travel. We rolled out of our tents at 1:30am and got moving quickly. The first challenge of the day was Bonney pass, or so we thought. We began the stroll over to the pass and quickly realized that we were working against rocky swampy terrain to get to the climb. Maybe we should have scouted a bit the night before!
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| Trying to find the route up Bonney Pass in the dark |
After some time we began our ascent. We had watched some other groups come down the night before and were hopeful that we would be able to stay on snow and have an easy cruise to the pass. Crampons
went on, snow climbing began. Then we hit rocks again. I was feeling like the weak link at this point.
My legs have been through a lot in my lifetime and I haven’t always been kind to them. The walking on dry boulders in the crampons was torquing my ankles and knees and they were not having it. I wanted
to call it, but in good fashion the rest of the climbing team ignored me, knowing that I would eventually
snap out of it. Back to snow after a few hundred feet of climbing I began to feel better. Then all of a sudden the terrain flattened out, and we came across several camps with climbers clamoring to get ready and begin their climbs. We had made it to Bonney pass! The first goal achieved.
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| First views of Gannett from Bonney Pass |
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| Nicole descending from Bonney Pass on the route to Gannett |
From the pass we descended onto the Dinwoody glacier. Once to the glacier the ropes came out as we knew the risk was low, but always present, for a crevasse fall. We made our way across and quickly came to rivers flowing down the center of the glacier. After such a good snow year the mountain had seen record heat the month before. It was sad to see the glacier in a dying state.
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| Rivers of water flowing down the Dinwoody Glacier in the early morning |
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| Justin and Laura crossing the Dinwoody glacier with Gannett above them |
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| Justin, Nicole and Isaac working across the last stretch of the Dinwoody glacier |
We made short work across and then began to climb, quickly coming to a rock band. Being slightly sleep deprived we at first thought we had come to the location of the infamous bergschrund, which was not to be seen! We did some class three scrambling thinking we were nearing the scrambles of the summit ridge but still feeling like we were too far away still.
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| Discussing route options |
Our gut feeling was correct, after a short scramble we came to another glacier, the Gooseneck glacier. It looked steep and had signs of a bergschrund being present at the base of the true summit ridge. We quickly made our way across and found a steep couloir that looked to be continuous to the ridge. Ascending we could see the open bergschrund to our right and new that we were likely moving over an opening in the ice at points. A sigh of relief, at least for me. We had made it onto the summit ridge. All that stood between us and the summit was a class three ridge scramble, our favorite type of travel.
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| Laura and Justin starting up the Gooseneck Glacier |
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| Justin, Nicole and Isaac climbing the couloir above the bergschrund |
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Nicole and Isaac working their way out of the couloir
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Rock scrambling on the way to the final ridge
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Laura on the final ridge to the summit
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| Isaac and Nicole on the final summit push |
Arriving at the summit we were greeted with views of the Grand Teton off in the distance, a mountain that Justin, Laura and I have climbed but Nicole still needs. After some food and pictures we headed down for an uneventful trip back to camp. Of course with the wonderful reascent of Bonney pass!
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Summit!
 | Justin, Laura and Nicole headed back toward Bonney Pass
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 | | Laura and Justin crossing back across the rivers running down the Dinwoody glacier |
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| Isaac and Nicole climbing back up Bonney Pass with Gannett in the background |
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