Gunn Peak Approach Notes

[Bronco]

Someone has taken the time to cut a pretty nice trail through the opening bushwack to Gunn Peak so I thought I'd give it some mention.

 

Leave the Barclay Creek Road at the spur heading N approximatly 1 mile from the trailhead parking-lot. Just before reaching the creek, follow pink flagging to the East then North across the creek on logs. Trail travels North to an old road bed for maybe a 1/4 mile. Turn back to the West on the road for approximatly 100 yards where an even older more overgrown road takes off to the North. Follow that road to a landing where the road ends and you start gaining elevation following the flagging on what appears to be a game trail with random flagging. The trail here is not very obvious but, worth trying to sniff out as there is some BW 3-4 to deal with if you lose it. Follow the trail literally to the "toe of the buttress" where you do some gully scalin' starting at about 4,000'. Follow the 3rd and 4th class gully to a bigger drainage and follow that drainage to the ridge at 5,400' where you reach the basin. If you don't lose the trail (like we did), 3 hours to the basin is a realistic timeframe.

 

We hauled our ski's all the way up there and were rewarded with some great skiing in Gunn Basin and back down to about 4,600' in the drainage. Great day to be out in the Mountains.

[klenke]

Ha ha, funny how information travels so fast on this website.

 

Sergio and I attempted Gunn Peak today. We saw your ski tracks including the ones in your attached picture. It appears you ascended Pk 5842 and Pt. 5760 to 5842's north (saw ski and boot tracks). We failed on Gunn's main summit but managed to climb to the East Peak (6,160+ ft). The ledge on the north side that leads to the summit was literally an 80-degree snowslope . Our consolation prize was Pk 5842.

 

What you say about the approach is pretty accurate. Here's what I would add (not that it is entirely necessary):

The trail to the logjam is flagged to the east of the wide area on the spur road (where the fire pit is located). In 100 yards the trail gets to the logjam crossing. It was easy for us though slick. A second crossing of the creek is necessary shortly thereafter. This one was a little harder due to unsecure 8-inch rotting logs.

 

The trail that cuts off at the overgrown logging road landing (wide area at a corner of the road with large alders growing in the clearing) was not flagged. I could see how it could be missed. The trail is basically about even with a pile of woody debris in the center of the clearing. The trail winds up through second growth for a few hundred feet then goes into older growth, whereupon it is easily followable as long as you pay attention. The slew of debris on the trail makes it hard to keep an eye on at times.

 

At about 4,000 ft the trail begins skirting the rock walls at the south foot of Pk 5842. Alder and class 3 scrambling is to be found (including the odd class 4 rock sections). Later a steep dirt/duffy downclimb to a picturesque waterfall is encountered. Cautious moves get you down into the waterfall creek. The other side of the creek is more steep gully with ample green belays. Beyond there it gets easier (though still steep at times) to the major basin draining south from between Pk 5842 & Pk 5760 (not the aforementioned Pt. 5760, which is a different rock promontory).

 

Gunn Peak Climb Notes

From the saddle to below Gunn's southwest side was pretty straighforward for us despite the thermal truncheon beating down on us from above. The gully leading back up and right to the snowfield below Gunn's upper south side was steep and a little hard in the early afternoon. Plus, there was an annoying moat forming at about center. However, we managed to get up it without belay. (On the return we opted to rappel it with our two 30m ropes.) Much human-caused snow sloughing occurred on the upper snowfield. It was interesting watching the flows move as slowly as molasses.

 

After failing on getting Gunn, we managed to boot up the east side of Pk 5842 in about 20 minutes from the long saddle on its east. More specifically, we finished the climb on the SE ridge/side. After that we managed to get back to the car from that saddle in about 1 hour 45 minutes. 5.5 hours from car to Gunn's East Peak. The East Peak only required class 3 scrambling from the central notch.

 

[Bronco]

Sorry about the "unsecure rotten log". There wasn't any log when we got there so I grabbed the closest one that looked like it would clear the waterline and lobbed it in. It worked just fine for us.

 

I'll bet you and Sergio were thinking "who'd be dumb enough to haul skis all the way up here?"

[sverdina]

Well, I was thinking that, until we descended back to the car following trail the entire way. I found the trail relatively pleasant, definitely quicker, compared to the off-trail portion we followed early on our ascent. It probably isn't too bad, save for the unavoidable snagging of skis in the alder...axe & pickets gave us enough grief as it is. Once up in the basin, however, I quickly developed an appreciation for the area's touring potential...most notably, the S. Face of Gunsight (?) and the N. Face of Pt. 5842.

Edited April 27, 2004 by sverdina

[klenke]

Okay, I just made this map for how to get across the Barclay Creek Valley and find the trail approach to Gunn Peak. Follow the red dashed line:

See also here.

[Bronco]

Looks good Paul