[TR] Harrison Peak - 10/11/2008

[spotly]

Trip: - Harrison Peak. South Face

 

Date: 10/11/2008

 

Trip Report:

I’ve wanted to climb Harrison Peak for a while, so as Brian and I headed up the highway Saturday morning, I was pretty excited. The excitement lessened when we reached the trailhead and stepped out into the cold….brrrr. When it comes to cold rock, I’m a wuss. My fingers give up the ghost and refuse to function. We headed up the trail with clear skies and high hopes that the temperature would go up a little. The forecast called for 48 degrees in Sandpoint so I knew it would be colder in the mountains and maybe even too cold for the fingers. With that in mind, our backup plan was to bypass Harrison Peak and head south to do the Low Traverse over to Little Harrison Lake to take in the fall colors and maybe retrieve an abandoned hex off of The Fin (ashamed look).

 

Heading up the Harrison Lake Trail

 

From the lake, the climb up the ridge was an easy –follow-the-cairns affair. We eventually reached the base of a talus slope that extended upwards and to the right. We chose a line between cliff bands and with just a little route-finding effort we were soon at the base of the South Face route. We found a spot that was somewhat sheltered from the freezing wind and had a bite to eat before heading up the first pitch.

 

Harrison Peak from the west ridge. The route is the light rock in the center of the south face.

 

The start of the left hand variation was obvious, as was the start of the right hand variation. I guess I threw out all common sense because the crack I went up would be called the middle variation or even better, the stupid variation. After about 50 feet, I’d had enough of that and decided to traverse right into what looked to be a better crack. The traverse involved a shallow finger crack with no feet. It protected well though and was pretty fun. Beyond that, another crusty crack led up to a thin belay stance with good pro for an anchor. From a distance, I admired the nice rock that I should have been on. Brian really enjoyed this pitch. He fell twice and thinks he broke two toes, but all in all he was mostly smiling as he wiped the blood from his hands.

 

Brian on the shallow finger crack on the first pitch.

 

Brian took the next pitch and ran it a full rope length. The pitch was fun - even the run out section near the top.

 

The route description says 3 pitches but having hosed up the first pitch, we lucked out and got an extra out of it. I led up the third pitch and found the rock quality greatly improved over the lower stuff. It was clean and there were several excellent problems to solve. I stopped and built an anchor on a boulder directly below the crux corner of the last pitch and brought up Brian. I mentioned that the crack above looked like fun so Brian let me take it. It protected very well, which I’m thankful for since the starting moves seemed strenuous. After the initial crack, the pitch leveled off and traversed across a skinny shelf to the base of a second step, which required some more wining and grunting. From there, the summit was a short scramble.

 

Me on top of the crux corner. Last pitch.

 

Narrow ledge on last pitch.

 

Brian nearing the summit.

 

I think this was one of the best summits I’ve enjoyed so far. It was overhanging a sheer wall and gave great views to the rest of the crest looking south. We hung out for a while and had a bite to eat. The wind had picked up again and we got pretty cold so we decided to head down. The East Ridge descent route was pure suck due to ice on the low angle slabs. Rather than take any chances, we decided to chuck the rope down and rap past the nasty sections to the talus. Looking back up at the ice hanging from everything, I’m glad we didn’t try walking down it. It was growing late so we set a quicker pace to the packs and back down the trailhead but still didn’t get there quick enough to avoid walking part of the rocky trail in the dark. The days are sure getting shorter – we should have picked up the pace earlier on. Doesn’t matter really though – what better way to spend a day.

 

The summit team.

 

My hero shot

 

Looking down the north face.

 

Brian looking down the north face.

 

Roman Nose Peak (top center) and The Beehive (right center)

 

The east ridge walk-off was a bit slickery so we did a rap to get past the icy sections.

[Matt Kidd]

Good TR, great hair. Way to get it done.

[AlpineK]

Nice

 

The descent does look a little sucky.

[pindude]

Brian really enjoyed this pitch. He fell twice and thinks he broke two toes, but all in all he was mostly smiling as he wiped the blood from his hands.

Yikes! At least Brian enjoyed it...

 

Excellent TR Tim. I like the hair too! Good luck, Brian, with your toes.

 

--Steve

[spotly]

I suspect Brian was having one of those in-the-moment I'm-a-cupcake things since he did fine on the stroll back to the trailhead.

[marc_leclerc]

that corner pitch looks pretty sweet! Nice Work!

[sobo]

Nice TR. I heart the south side of Harrison. Been up there many times in years past, but haven't been there in about 10 years now. Used to make a Labor Day w/e out of it every year back in the mid to late 90's. SF Standard route w/Keystone finish, Twin Flakes, Running Flakes, etc. It's all good!

 

Nice hair...

[spotly]

Sobo, did you ever do anything on the north face? Looks like nice rock.

[sobo]

Nope, never got that far. It was quite the drive (5 hours) just to get up to the lake trailhead for the climbs on the south side. Got the Randall guide with me right here, and it doesn't reference any climbs on the north side. The two west side climbs (West Face Flake Route, 5.7+ and Sunset Dihedral, 5.9-) were something I always wanted to check out, though. You thinking next year...??

 

[kurthicks]

I'll sell my copy of that book if anyone wants it.