Sunrise Peak via Tanners Gulch with Craig and MattVH:
2:45 AM wakeup call in order to meet the guys at the LCC park n ride at 3:45 for a mountaineering climb to the top of Sunrise Peak. Sunrise Peak is one of the more difficult peaks to climb in the Wasatch and with spring conditions it made for a technical and challenging morning, but we had a total blast.
We were hiking up the Tanners trail by 4:00 AM and after about 5 minutes the trail dumps you into the gulch where we found a lot less snow than in previous years when I have been up there. The gulch is a drainage for a few of the higher peaks on the Cottonwood Ridge, so in the spring there is a river that cascades down with a few waterfalls that spill over off of the rocks high above. The river runs under the snow, but in the lower section there were only small patches of snow, so we had to cross the river a few times and then after about 10 minutes we were on the snow going up. The snow was hard and firm and after only 10 more minutes we stopped to put on our crampons and we would keep them on the rest of the way up and down.
Going up the gulch was tons of fun and I was really enjoying it. There were a few spots that we had to take care to get around waterfalls and snow that was about to collapse and it took us a little extra time, but we made it up without slipping into anything (or off of anything). We finally gained the upper portion of the gulch as it started to get light and we had to go back and forth from rock and snow in a few spots and it slowed us down, but the views down the gulch were spectacular and it was awesome being up there. When we finally got to the steepest section we stopped to grab a quick gel and get out the ice axes. I left my poles in a rock outcrop and we made our way up the steepest part of the climb.
There was one section that was rather sketchy going up with a gaping hole in the snow and it had melted out on the ends, so we had to make our way over this hole and onto a rock and then make it up and over before falling down the hole. It was a bit sketchy, but I finally made it over and then made my way up to the top of the where we got blasted by the wind that was coming through the notch. The views were stunning looking down into Broads Fork to the north and back down the gulch and over to the Pfeifferhorn and the Alpine Ridge to the south.
Going up the summit ridge we had to move onto some 4th class rock and I really slowed down as I made my way up the spine. There were brief sections of steep snow that had to be traversed as well and a fall here would not be good, so I took my time and the other guys really got ahead of me. I made my way up the ridge and finally came out onto a steep slope that looked scary and when I went out on it the snow was bullet proof. I could see that the other guys had gone down below, but I didn't want to go back and around, so I started kicking steps and moving across the slope. I would slam my ice axe into the slope for protection and then kick in steps with the front points of my crampons. Again don't slip. As I made my way across the slope the other guys got way ahead and went on up to the summit. I was about 20 minutes from the top, so I figured if I kept going I would end up being about 40 minutes behind them by time we got back to the notch because I was moving so much slower and they would have to wait, so I called it a day right there and turned around. I have been on the summit before, so there was no reason to push it up there and make the guys sit and wait because both of them were moving a lot faster than I was through the technical sections.
I made my way back down toward the saddle and both of them ended up catching me as we got back there. From the notch we made the long tedious descent out of the gulch. When we got back down we ended up going on a different route than on the way up and we ended up getting into a pretty sketchy down-climb. This section narrowed and there was a waterfall on one side and a steep rock that had to be down-climbed on the other. It was definitely 5th class climbing (vertical rock using both hands and feet) and there were not many hand or foot holds. We were all still in crampons which made it even worse and at the bottom of the 20 foot rock was a gaping chasm that went about 6 feet under the snow. If you fell in it wouldn't be good. The water from the falls was going under the chasm on the side of you and it was pretty unnerving. While I was on the down-climb my calf started cramping too and luckily I made it down without incident. I'm really not sure how. That was the scariest part of the day. Haha.
Just after that little climb we had to do a similar down-climb again next to the falls, but this one wasn't as bad and we ended up jumping down the last few feet onto the snow. Just after that my other calf started to cramp as well and I went down onto the snow in pain. I realized that I was dehydrated and needed to get some salt in me as well. I normally keep water accessible, but since I had my backpack on I just had a Nalgene bottle of water and it wasn't easy to get to and I only had about 12 ounces of water in 4 hours. Dumb! So now both of my calves were cramping and I had to limp out of there the rest of the way. Man, that was the toughest 4 miles of the year, but probably the most fun too.
The upper section of Tanners Gulch:
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