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[TR] The Tooth - 8/24/2007


spotly

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Trip: The Tooth -

 

Date: 8/24/2007

 

Trip Report:

The approach to The Tooth is much easier when there's snow - doh! I was in Kent all week and planned on climbing to the summit Friday night on the way back to Spokane then Kirsten and Brian would hike up Saturday morning to climb it too. Brian had been denied two other tries due to weather and this was Kirsten's first alpine rock climb.

 

I left the TH Friday just after 4 and made good time to Source Lake overlook, passing a dozen or so hikers heading out. Crossing the talus above the lake sucked but went pretty fast and no falls - the nifty approach shoes that I hate so much on the trail sure are nice on the rock. Once into Great Scott Basin, I found a good path to the far left of the talus, which got me about halfway up to Pineapple Pass. The climb from trails-end to the pass was more suck on loose boulders and scree.

 

I made the back side of the pass by 6:30 and decided to take the time to check out Baby Tooth (real name?). I stashed the poles and scrambled up a narrow gully to the top in about 10 minutes. The climbing was steep and I was glad for the rap station near the top. It looked like there was another set of slings that would have gotten me down to the base of the Tooth's south ridge but since I'd left my poles at the bottom, I rapped back down the way I came up.

 

By the time I reached the start of the south ridge route and got all my gear organized, the sun was dropping pretty fast and I knew I'd be climbing in the dark. The climbing went fast and was very enjoyable. The moon and the quiet (other than the distant hum of I-90) made the whole thing feel very surreal and quite enjoyable. There was virtually no wind on the face but fog was rolling into Great Scott Basin from the west and being swept upward like thin tornados - very cool to watch.

 

The rock remained warm and dry the entire climb. It would have been difficult to find a stance without a bomber hold available. The glow from the moon cast shadows on the rock and I found myself reaching for holds that weren't really there but a little bit of feeling around always resulted in something positive to pull on.

 

At the top, I found a nice bench to call home and spread out the bivy gear for a comfortable night. I watched the stars till about midnight then the fog crept higher and socked me in. I fell asleep hoping it would'nt rain and woke up with just a small window through the fog to enjoy the sunrise.

 

The radio blared to life around 8 - Brian and Kirsten were near the TH and on their way up. I lazed around for a few hours more then packed things up for the rap down. I had brought just a 30 meter rope and an additional 30 meter 5mm cord for rapping. All went well till the last pitch where my pull-biner got snagged up. I was getting ready to climb back up to free it when Brian and Kirsten arrived. They geared up and Brian headed out for the first pitch. We climbed on a single 60 M with Kirsten tied into the middle so had to break the first pitch up. This method worked perfect for the rest of the climb though.

 

[ADDED] Straight up on the second pitch (rather than the ramp left and up to the dead tree) requires less than half the rope. I believe around the dead tree would require slightly more.

 

Kirsten did really well and it was obvious that she was enjoying her first alpine rock climb. We ate lunch on the summit then began the rap down when the rain started coming in. We did an additional two raps down the rappel chimney, which left us about 40 feet shy of the bottom with nothing to anchor to. It would have been an easy 4th class downclimb from there but the rock was wet and very slippery. Once we were all down, we drug out my 30M and tied it in, getting us to the bottom.

 

After a long day, the hike back out on wet talus was more suck and we all took turns falling to break up the tedium. Another fun trip to The Tooth but I won't be doing that again without some snow in the basins.

 

Nice sunset

TheTooth3_004.jpg

 

Nice ambiance

TheTooth3_006.jpg

 

Nice bivy spot

TheTooth3_007.jpg

 

Nice friends

TheTooth3_012.jpg

 

 

Edited by spotly
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