Rock Peak (North Ridge) - Cabinet Mountains, MT
July 8, 2006 |
| This was my fourth try at Rock Peak. 2 previous attempts were weathered out and one (South Ridge) had so much talus that I had ran out of time and had to turn back just an hour from the summit or risk climbing down steep talus in the dark. I decided to research the north ridge because it appeared like it would be a fun route. I couldn't find any beta so figured if we didn't see any evidence of previous activity+ on the route we'd be getting a first ascent - after judging the rock quality we mulled over the idea of referencing it as a last ascent instead. Brian Hoots and I tried to time this early enough in the season that there'd be enough snow to provide some relief from the talus. Kinda hard to do since the trailhead is around 6700 feet and the road stays socked in till late. Early July seemed like it would be prefect...and it was. We got a late start from Spokane so didn't get camp setup at the trailhead till almost dark. At the very precise moment that a sliver of light appeared on the eastern horizon the next morning, an obnoxiously loud bird shattered the total silence in camp and woke us from our peaceful sleep. It was ok though since it had the neatest vocabulary, each song ending in what sounded like a reverberating echo. I'm sure it's a common bird (didn't see it) but I found it absolutely amazing to listen too. Anyhoo, up and at it. Coffee and oatmeal cookies for breakfast then down the trail. 10 minutes up the ridge and we arrived at the large shelf below Chicago Peak. I was a little disappointed that the glacier lilies were starting to wilt and the numerous cascades I'd seen on previous trips were mostly dried up. We pressed on through this marshy area, being careful not to disturb the fragile plants. Within a mile, we arrived at Cliff Lake and went around it to the south where the trail ended. After another mile of traversing cliff bands and scree, we descended to the low spot in the west ridge of Rock Peak. A little searching later, we found a good spot to rap from. It looked climbable in case we had to retreat from the route but hard to tell if the rope would reach the bottom. There was a bench about 60 feet down so we could build an anchor and do a second rap if needed (which we did). We decided that we'd retrieve both anchors on the return via the west ridge. Would require that one of us (me - dang it!) climb back up but hey, someone has to do it. We reached a superb paradise of a basin and made a b-line towards the steep scree slope near St. Paul Pass (the beginning of the north ridge route). Along the way, we were impressed with the structure of the granite and the stunning views in the basin. This would be a neat area to explore (but we had a ridge to climb). The scree slope to the north ridge is long and steep - we arrived at the top at 9:45 to eye our route up the ridge. The ridge seemed to provide a distinct boundary, with crappy stacked granite blocks to the west and nice solid rock to the east. We took a fairly direct line and got the best and worst of both. Much of the route was simulclimbed and we made good time on those stretches. The ridge contains 3 or 4 short gerdarmes that run from class 4 (if you bypass them to the west) to 5.8ish. One of them in particular was a heap that I felt would tumble off the ridge with each move I made. There were vertical sheets on the west side that looked like they'd flip over as easily as a book page. I made sure to apply only downward pressure on these and found that if I looked hard enough, I could find some good gear placements in the solid rock (more solidder?). For the most part though, the climbing was ok and it seemed like there was always at least one somewhat solid line to be had. Nearer to the top, the granite took a turn for the better and solid rock was predominant with the climbing tending to traverse the east side of the ridge or directly on top. The slope to the east of the ridge (NE Face) looked like it would provide some excellent climbing on solid slab granite and steep snow. Mostly scramblicious but probably a few sections where a short rope might be needed. We reached the summit just as we were starting to enjoy the good upper pitches (too few, too short). We both made an annotation in the register then headed down the steep west ridge. There was easy 3rd class along this ridge (as seen our 5th class alternative line) but hard to find those every time. Someone had advised a rope for the decent of the west ridge but the exposure was minimal if you stay south or directly on top and we didn't use it. 20 million miles later (5 actually) we were back at our rappell anchors. I rapped of to retieve the low anchor (and because I wanted to climb some more). The climb back up was stiffer than I thought it would be and I did not "style" on the lower (and smaller) roof. I did on the large one though so I felt vindicated. I gave the route a 5.8 and named it "My Bruised and Bloody Arm Was Here." |
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