Wyoming 13ers Quest

[seano]

Way to get after it in slush 'n' bugs season! Henderson looks sweet, and will have to go on my todo list.

[Eli Boardman]

Way to get after it in slush 'n' bugs season! Henderson looks sweet, and will have to go on my todo list.

Thanks! Henderson is a crazy peak. As Joe Kelsey says, "Three converging ridges separating three glaciated faces is classic alpine architecture." The only thing is, if you climb Henderson, you also have to climb American Legion so you can get a good view of it haha! You mentioned you wanted to get into WY this summer right--any particular destinations in mind?

[rijaca]

Thanks for the updates, Eli! Great photos! I hope that you will document your adventures in TRs so that that the info/pics are easily accessible in the future.

[prairiechicken]

On the backpack in from Elkhart Park, I enjoyed improved conditions (though there were still snow drifts on the trail as low as Barbara Lake), and I saw a distant bear once I turned left onto the Highline Trail.

Grizzly or just a black bear?

That picture of the sunrise with those jagged peaks is incredible. Those mountains look sweet, I would love to get up into the Winds at some point soon.

[Eli Boardman]

Thanks for the updates, Eli! Great photos! I hope that you will document your adventures in TRs so that that the info/pics are easily accessible in the future.

Thanks! I'm planning on writing a trip report when I finish (or when I give up), probably split into 2-3 parts. I'm also hoping to make a compilation photos/narrative coffee-table type book since I've gotten lucky to see such amazing sunrises, but shhh I'm probably not supposed to say that here.

Grizzly or just a black bear?

That picture of the sunrise with those jagged peaks is incredible. Those mountains look sweet, I would love to get up into the Winds at some point soon.

The bear was too far to tell for sure, but grizzlies are exceedingly rare on the west side of the range, so probably a black bear. It was very tawny, but color alone doesn't indicate which type of bear. And thanks! The Winds are definitely worth a visit.

[pbergmaier]

Great stuff and thanks for the updates! I'm planning to make an attempt at Gannett toward the end of the month with a few friends so any beta on the Winds is definitely super helpful!

[Eli Boardman]

Great stuff and thanks for the updates! I'm planning to make an attempt at Gannett toward the end of the month with a few friends so any beta on the Winds is definitely super helpful!

The Winds got a significant and really late-season snowstorm last week, so we're back on track for a normal snowmelt season (previously it was drier than average). Which means, the end of July should be prime conditions on Gannett. I know of parties who have already been successful via the Gooseneck, but I expect the best combination of alpine snow conditions / dry trails to occur the last week of July/first week of August, as is typical.

Enjoy your trip, and let us see some pictures when you get out!

[pbergmaier]

The Winds got a significant and really late-season snowstorm last week, so we're back on track for a normal snowmelt season (previously it was drier than average). Which means, the end of July should be prime conditions on Gannett. I know of parties who have already been successful via the Gooseneck, but I expect the best combination of alpine snow conditions / dry trails to occur the last week of July/first week of August, as is typical.

Enjoy your trip, and let us see some pictures when you get out!

Awesome! My camera will be busy on that trip, you better believe it!

[Eli Boardman]

Bump because no one wants pictures split over 2 pages.

[Eli Boardman]

Bump because no one wants pictures split over 2 pages.

[Eli Boardman]

So...this weekend promised a stellar weather window, and after taking a physics exam early and writing an essay the morning before backpacking, it was time to face some of the peaks I was most worried about. (Recall that my college requires sophomores to enroll in summer term, so my climbing has to fit around course schedules.)

This time, I had company for the approach for the first time during the quest--my mom joined me for the long backpack into upper Titcomb Basin on Saturday. The upper trail is still a couple weeks out from being truly "summer" conditions, but at least there was minimal postholing this time!

Sunday morning, I left my mom at camp and set out solo, climbing to the Helen Glacier by first light. My first objective was Spearhead Pinnacle, supposedly the hardest 13er in the Winds, and an extremely obscure one too. The Kelsey guide only says that the route is 5.3 and "a short climb from the col," and my only other beta was a few sentences and photos that two people were kind enough to share from their group's climb in 2010. They had climbed it in 3 full-on trad leads. Suffice it to say I was nervous being completely solo up there.

I donned rock climbing shoes at the col and found the ridge to be enjoyable low-5th-class climbing overall. One spot, however, seemed a bit sporty for 5.3, as I pulled a move I call the "boulder problem in a cave," with my ice axe (strapped to my pack) getting stuck under the roof as I crawled up thin holds. Above that, there was a stunningly beautiful, solid, fun knife edge (reminded me of some stuff in the Flatirons), and some final 5.0 to reach the extremely rewarding summit. No one else had signed the register since 2010.

After rappelling off (and getting my rope unstuck), I climbed the south couloir on Mount Warren, the beast of the Dinwoody/Helen Glacier divide. The subsidiary couloir involved a bit of low-5th-class soloing, but it was much easier than Spearhead. A rather long scramble up the summit ridge brought me to another amazing and hard-won summit. I chose to rappel the crux on this peak also, since there was such a nice webbing anchor set up, it seemed a shame not to use it.

Next, I crossed the Helen Glacier and climbed the entire aesthetic east ridge of Mount Helen. My legs were pretty tired at this point, but I powered through the "Wyoming 4th class" summit gendarmes to rest on yet another airy perch.

I descended a couloir to the south and contoured across the Sacagawea Glacier, climbing its upper arm nearly to the next summit. However, to touch the true high point, I performed a couple hundred feet of chockstone-acrobatics in a ripping wind over almost 3000 feet of exposure. Do overhanging pull-ups count as 4th class? Eh, not in Colorado, but this is WYOMING and we rate things our way, so 4th class it is.

Finally, I returned to Titcomb Basin and plodded back to camp, exuberant to have conquered four of the most-fearsome Wind River 13ers. The next morning, I joined my mom and 10-pound dog for an ascent of Fremont Peak's standard route from Indian Basin. Climbing an easy route with my mom was a welcome break from all the solo craziness, and my mom loved getting the 2nd-highest summit in the range, not to mention celebrating my halfway point on the quest. (Also, I got to climb Fremont with my dad in 2016 while my mom took care of the dogs in camp, so it's a family mountain all around.)

Lastly, I made a quick solo ascent of the standard west ramp route on Jackson, relishing the view across the Bull Lake Glaciers to the jaw-dropping peaks I had been so blessed to climb the day before.

The hike out was tiring as always, especially with a multi-person tent and my technical climbing gear, but man was it worth it for the feeling of eating canned fruit back at the car.

[Eli Boardman]

The final 100 feet of Spearhead Pinnacle (the relatively easy fun part)

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The elegant knife edge, like a mini Flatiron on the Continental Divide

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Mount Helen from the summit of Spearhead (ascent via east ridge on left skyline)

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