I had plenty of ideas of what I wanted to do on my long weekend but the forecast didnt want to cooperate. It looked like we might get one nice day to climb so Lucas, Bailey, Manfred and I hiked up to South Gorge lake; the basecamp for Mt.Tweedy. Tweedy is the tallest in the Pioneer mountains and I have hiked to its summit before. This time, like last time, our goal was to climb the North ridge 5.7. We awoke to decent weather and hiked up to the base of the climb. Lucas is known more for being able to do a lot with a little, i.e. usually not the most prepared person in the world, but this time he was the only one with a winter puffy jacket. Bailey and I hiked up with all of our clothes on and had nothing to add once we reached the windy, brisk ridge. Im going to go ahead and say I bailed because I was cold. The weather would have been fine for climbing but I would have been miserably cold the whole time. I deem that climb not worth suffering for. I may be putting my foot in my mouth by saying this but I doubt anyone that has climbed the North ridge of Tweedy has gone back to do it again. It looks like its worth doing once but you probably wouldnt come back for a repeat. I think my two attempts are about all Im giving that ridge. There is plenty of other semi-immediate climbing in the area that, to me, seems more desirable/worthy. We hung out at the lake long enough for Lucas to catch 1 Westslope Cutty and 2 Cutbows for a tinfoil-in-the-fire lunch. Mmm. We hiked out and proceeded to Elkhorn hotsprings for the evening. I was feeling a little better than my compatriots Sunday morning so I left with Manfred and went rockhounding at Crystal Park. I found a ton of little guys but couldnt find any of the big ones on this trip. I bumped in to Lucas and Bailey ~4ft under a tree's rootball digging for crystals with a mountaineer's axe and watched them struggle for a while. When the rain started, I admitted defeat and went home.
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| Bailey, Lucas and Manfred. Did I mention it rained on the hike up? |
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| Backcountry mixer! Vodka + Water + flavor concentrate (I like lemonade) = good time! Plus you're drinking a whole cup of water with every drink so no hangovers. |
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| I threw in some glow-sticks for shits and giggles. The hike is short enough to bring pretty much everything. |
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| How to stay warm when its cold: see above fire (size). You know its hot when you cant sit within the first couple feet of it! |
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| South Gorge Lake |
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| Lucas fishing for fish. |
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| The section of the North ridge that is climbing. |
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| Crystal Park could be straight out of the movie 'Holes' |
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| For being a rockhound, Manfred failed to find one crystal. |
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