Epic or not to Epic …

The hike in to Third Lake was beautiful, but uneventful. We arrived at dark, due to starting at 3:00 pm. We camped on the east shore of Third Lake. On Sunday, we got up at around 6:30 am and headed for the crag at about 7:30. Two hours later we stood at the base of Temple Crag looking up at the Moon Goddess Arete. The ice at the base was hard, but cut steps prevailed. The first 4-5 pitches were dispatched as third class. We roped up for pitch 6 or so. The climbing remained easy, but exposed. A loose 5 lb. rock pulled off in my hand and bruised my thigh on the way down. We decided simul climbing was the way to go. After several easy pitches, I set up a belay at a rap station, where we had lunch. Steep climbing loomed above us, but it was after all only 5.7. I climbed up and started to see more and more bail-out pieces, slings and stoppers. The climbing got more difficult as the bail-out pieces became more common. I sewed up the route with pro, thinking it seemed a lot more 5.9ish than 5.7. I kept thinking the next couple moves might be hard, but it would be easy after that. After about 100 or so feet of 5.8-5.9 climbing I reached a belay spot. I belayed Judy up, she agreed the climbing was difficult. The route continued past a number of gendarmes for several more pitches off relaxed climbing. Once on the summit plateau, we unroped and scrambled to the exposed summit. It was about 5:30 pm when we left the summit. We reached camp at about 9:00 pm after searching around in the dark for it for around 30 minutes. Was it an epic?

We hiked up to Sam Mack Meadow the following day, taking it easy. We decided it was close enough to do the U-notch the following day. Tuesday, we left camp at around 7:00 am. The trail proved longer than anticipated and I regretted not following Alois advice and going to the base of Gailey to camp. We arrived at the based of the U-notch at 12:15. The bergschrund looked impressive, but passable. After a few sketchy, but well protected moves, the climbing eased off to steep snow climbing (25-30°). We simul climbed up to the top, clipping in at each rappel anchor, with occasional pieces in between. The very top of the notch proved to be steeper ice requiring multiple strikes to get a good axe placement. We decided to scramble up the scree for the final few feet. We later heard that the ice higher up became much better (we should have continued). It was now 2:15 a scant 45 minutes prior to turnaround time. We decided to push back the turnaround time to 3:30 to make the summit. We arrived on the summit at 4:00, well after turnaround time. We hurried to get down before dark. We simul rapped the entire route. We got to the base by about 6:30 or so. The last light was fading as we approached the talus at the far end of the glacier. We decided to stop for lunch, it was now 8:00 pm. Four long hours later, after much stumbling and cursing through talus and indistinct trails, we arrived back at Sam Mack Meadow, tired, but ready for dinner. We agreed to go higher for the next climb. Was it an epic?

We hiked up to the base of Mount Gailey for the V-notch, which after seeing its intimidating appearance, became Piper at the Gates of Dawn (III, 5.7) on Starlight Buttress. On Thursday, we left camp at about 7:00. We approached the bergschrund at about 9:30 or so. We set an anchor on the edge of the bergschrund. The anchor was marginal, requiring pickets, which we had neglected to bring, but we felt it should hold in the direction of a falling climber. Judy prepared to belay me up the steep and partly overhung 'schrund. Just before I set off, the lip of the ledge I was on gave way. I was quickly on my way back down the steep slope, axes flailing along on my wrist loops, but I was falling in the wrong direction. Judy attempted to break me by with her belay device, but the anchor failed, being set for an upward pull, not down. She came down the slope after me. After a few seconds, I wrestled an axe into my hands and was able to arrest after about a 50-60 foot slide. Judy stopped just below me as the rope became taut. I looked up at the bergschrund and thought "Just give us a minute". Judy then called out, "I don't think I can walk on my ankle – it might be broken."

The next 3 ½ days consisted of ferrying loads down, while Judy crawled over talus and trails to get back down on what fortunately turned out to be (only) a bad sprain. On the glacier, many thanks go to Jim (USMC retired, LA) and Alex (Mexico City by way of SF) who assisted us getting back to camp. Each day on the way down was a bit of a struggle, but we were thankful a rescue was not at hand. The slow pace allowed us to take time to smell the roses. Was this then, an epic? No, just another day on the rock.

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