76 bain trail from Monte Cristo

[vinemaple]

Anyone been or tried going up the 76 trail out of Monte Cristo? I would like to explore this way to get to the wilmans peaks. Is going through glacier basin a better Route.If so which is the best way to gain Wilmans gap.

[klenke]

I can't answer your question as to which way is better but I was in Glacier Basin yesterday and can tell you the couloir/gully leading up to the base of E. Wilmans Spire is still snow-filled. The constriction has some moating issues but apparently you traverse into the gully above the constriction. Gully is steep. Crampons and ice axe are probably mandatory.

[fenderfour]

ken4ord was there a couple weeks ago... you might want to PM him.

[ken4ord]

Crampons aren't necessarily required, though I would definitely recomend an ice axe. I was up there two weeks ago and had no problem climbing the gully with sneakers on. The snow was soft enough to kick steps without boots.

 

As for 76 versus Glacier, I have only done the Glacier Basin trail. Glacier Basin trail is pretty staright forward.

[ken4ord]

Well speak of the devil huh fenderfour.

[vinemaple]

Thanks for the input. I climbed foggy peak that same weekend. According to Fred's alpine guide you can get to wilmans gap from the basin but His discription is a bit vague. The gully you mention is the one to the E. willmans spire I believe. What is the traverse like on the otherside over to the wilman peaks?

[robertm]

I was just up there and climbed Wilmans peak. Depends what you want to climb. If you just want to climb Wilmans peak you should head up by E. Wilmans via the gully from Glacier basin. From there to Wilmans peak is 3rd class scrambling. It is difficult to access the 76 glacier from Wilmans peak or E. Wilmans Spire due to cliffs. We did engineer a rappel down to the 76 from a gully. If you want to Independence tower or Sawhorse or E. Wilmans Peak I would reccomend Wilmans gap from the Glacier Basin. You might want to hit Columbia peak if you go this way and then do the loop out through Silver Lake. I have heard the trail to 76 basin is not great and in any event it doesn't look easy to get from the basin up to the 76 glacier as there are steep slabs and cliffs -- which I am sure can be negotiated if you are into that sort of thing. One tour I reccomend is to climb N. Wilmans, S. Wilmans and E. Wilmans Spire. I set up some good rappels direcly from South Wilmans spire to the East Wilmans spire gap. These rappels make doing all the spires easy to do in a day and makes the trip more worthwhile. The route up the S spire might be cooler than East Wilmans actually as it involves a short section of knife edge ridge. In addition the S. Spire is the highest for the peak bagger in you.

[catbirdseat]

Someone built a cabin recently in 76 Gulch. They built a trail that makes it much easier to get in there. The climb out of the gulch is quite a chore, I am told, but you can visit the Comet mine on the way, which is supposed to be pretty cool.

[vinemaple]

Thanks for the reply. My objestive is E.Wilmans peak so it sounds like wilmans gap is the best way to go. What is the best way to get to the gap from the basin. It seems there should be a way past Ray's knoll, what do you think?

[ken4ord]

If you are climbing E Willmans, don't bother with nuts for pro and bring cams in the little less than half inch to 2.5 inch for the cracks, what little there are they are all pretty much parallel sided. Oh yeah have fun.

[MisterC]

My partner lost a crampon on the approach gully on EW spire so we opted to descend via 76 as per Becky. Ended up rapping on twig for the last bit and did some nasty bushwacking before locating a trail... good luck however you go.