Ascent of North Gardner Mountain on 2015-05-21| Others in Party: | Fletcher Jordan
Heather Anderson
| | Date: | Thursday, May 21, 2015 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | North Gardner Mountain | | Location: | USA-Washington | | Elevation: | 8956 ft / 2729 m |
Ascent Trip ReportHeaded up the miserable 10.2 mile trail with Fletcher Jordan on the 20th getting to camp at the beautiful Gardner meadows early and were joined by Heather Anderson later that evening after she had just done Abernathy. A nice little fire Fletcher made kept us together while the evening faded. We awoke before sunrise with the intention of climbing both peaks before noon to avoid thunderstorms that would be building. The day started out clear and we made good progress over Gardner's SW slopes and cramponed up hard snow to where the sun had melted it out into loose scree on Point 8487. We ditched some gear on the point and the summit looked like it may have been more than I asked for but as we walked on it turned out to be a piece of cake. From here it was a class 2 ridge walk with maybe some class 3 if you got off route, none of it exposed and mostly just walking. We summited at 9 am and the view is terrific. There was a cell signal and some calls were made in celebration.
We retraced our steps to Point 8487 and dropped a couple hundred feet towards the traverse to Gardner. After getting a good look at it earlier with its loose scree and sloppy snow we agreed to drop to about 7400' and traverse around to Gardner's SW slopes for a better chance of success. The snow had softened significantly but was still good for kicking steps and easier on my knees so I followed a snow gully while Fletcher and Heather followed a class 2 rocky rib that paralleled it. I arrived about 15 minutes after them with dark clouds building above. The view here was tremendous but we couldn't stay long. I put on some Gardening gloves for kicks took some photos and enjoyed my glissade back down to 7200' while they scree skied their route. We got back to camp within 30 minutes of the summit. Heather left before us and rocketed down the trail while we walked painfully but as quickly as we could manage. The approach really screws with you on the hike out with all the ups and downs. Price of admission.
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| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 6956 ft / 2119 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 1369 ft / 416 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 14 mi / 22.5 km | | Grade/Class: | class 2 | | Quality: | 6 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Unmaintained Trail, Open Country, Snow on Ground, Scramble, Snow Climb | | Gear Used: | Ice Axe, Crampons, Ski Poles, Tent Camp | | Weather: | Cool, Calm, Clear | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 6756 ft / 2059 m | | Gain Breakdown: | Net: 6056 ft / 1846 m; Extra: 700 ft / 213m | | Loss on way in: | 700 ft / 213 m | | Distance: | 13 mi / 20.9 km | | Route: | Wolf Creek | | Start Trailhead: | Wolf Creek TH 2900 ft / 883 m | | Time: | 1 Days 9 Hours | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 669 ft / 203 m | | Loss Breakdown: | Net: 469 ft / 143 m; Extra: 200 ft / 60m | | Gain on way out: | 200 ft / 60 m | | Distance: | 1 mi / 1.6 km | | End Trailhead: | Pt 8487 8487 ft / 2586 m | | Time: | 1 Hours 30 Minutes | Ascent Part of Trip: Gardners (1 nights total away from roads)
Complete Trip Sequence:
Total Trip Gain: 8367 ft / 2550 m Total Trip Loss: 8367 ft / 2550 m |
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