[TR] Mt Logan - Fremont Glacier 08/04/2019

[bellows]

Trip: Mt Logan - Fremont Glacier

Trip Date: 08/04/2019

Trip Report:

"Did you go far..." a gray haired lady happily chirped at us, 100 feet from the parking lot. 

 

"Yeah..." John and I muttered back at her in unison, giving her the shortest answer possible, not breaking stride as we trudged past.  

 

We weren't trying to be rude, but our minds were focused on the truck, cold drinks, clean clothes, and comfortable shoes.  The longer answer is that we climbed Mt Logan over three days via the Thunder Creek valley and the Fremont glacier.  And yeah, it was far, clocking in around ~46 miles total.

 

Thankfully much of that is on trail, ~18 miles to Thunder Basin Camp on Saturday.  Temps were cool enough and with enough shade that the hike in was relatively pleasant.  John and I had each been up the trail on independent solo attempts in the past couple years.

Sunday we were moving my 8AM, up towards Park Creek Pass then the long traverse across alp slopes towards the Fremont Glacier.  We lost the climbers trail several times, but it was never critical.  Just keep traversing.

A tough aspect of Logan is you never really see the summit until you’re on top of it.   

The snow feature to access the scramble is melted back quite a bit, but not overly concerning.  We lugged a rope which was nice to have for peace of mind, but not a critical piece of gear.  The backside was more exposed than I expected, but is well cairned and stays mostly 3rd class unless you get off route.

Views were worth it!  Seems like you can see EVERYTHING from up there.

Monday was a long hike out on sore feet.  Sorry to the nice lady trying to say hi...
 

Gear Notes:
nothing unusual

Approach Notes:
long

[JasonG]

It was a very long time ago (1999), but I remember the views up there as some of the best in the range.  Well done grinding that one out boys!

The trail sure is long, but at least the bugs are bad.

[Juan Sharp]

Dana is a kind and patient man.  He assured me repeatedly that my sluggish pace and frequent stops were no issue.  But let's be clear, this trip kicked my ass.  Everything still hurts. 

A few observations:

When we climbed the North Face of Sinister in August 2016, we seemed more evenly matched.  Now, at age 56, a lengthy three-day trip with zero conditioning has become a true suffer-fest. 

Since 2016, I've gained almost 20 pounds.  See the photo of me on the glacier - that round thing in my mid-section may as well be near-full-term baby.  At age 42, Dana still sits at his long-distance college runner weight.  He still has visible abs!  I try not to hate him for this.

My pack was relatively huge; Dana's looked like a school girl's book bag.  How does he survive for THREE WHOLE DAYS without the 110 essentials? 

Dana wore Solomon trail runners; I wore La Sportiva Trangos.  This was a mistake on my part, as usual.  Toe nails will be lost. 

I sweat like a Russian oligarch in a Moscow steam bath; Dana never even glistened, despite the heat.  He says he's "air cooled."  It's weird. 

Unlike *CutebutChossy69*/bluebagprincess and her partner, Dana and I remained fully clothed while tackling the summit pyramid.  This was a good thing for all concerned.

In sum, we had a fine time and I hope that by mid-September I'll be able to take a single flight of stairs without eating four Advil.

 

[Bronco]

Nice work on this tough peak.  Many of us appreciate you not posting summit nudes.

[JasonG]

7 hours ago, Bronco said:

Many of us appreciate you not posting summit nudes.

Not me!

[Alisse]

Thanks a bunch for the TR, and nice work! Hoping to convince someone to do it with me in a couple weeks, may have to try it solo otherwise... Nice mileage, sounds like my cup of tea!!

[RichardKorry]

Nice job! John - I can totally related being old and getting my ass kicked out in the mountains.
Glad to see that you are still at it. Logan is a really long trip no matter what your approach.
When I finally got on the summit after 4 attempts it was in a 100% white out so I'm glad to look at your photos of the views I missed.

[Juan Sharp]

Hey Richard, I have a hunch you're in better shape at age 61 (?) than a lot of guys half your age. 

[Jim]

Very nice.  Did this 25 years ago -- I think a few joints would hurt on me as well if I went out on it this year.  Cheers and keep on plodding along.  You're way ahead of most of your age group.

Edited August 13, 2019 by Jim

[Kameron]

Fun hike. Would be a good solo @Alisse