[TR] Dumbell Mountain - 8/9/2008

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Trip: Dumbell Mountain -

 

Date: 8/9/2008

 

Trip Report:

This should be titled "Two dumbells on Dumbell" actually. If we had paid closer attention to route description, we might have gotten away with climbing Dumbell's true summit instead of two of the wrong ones.

 

The TH parking was stuffed and cars were lined up a quarter mile down the road. Somehow we managed to scrunch the little Yaris into the brush right by the kiosk though We signed the register and shouldered our ubber-light packs, heading up the very nice and very wide Phelps Creek Trail at around 2ish or so.

 

 

The flies were thick and provided encouragement to keep moving. We passed several slide areas and one huge avi-torn section before finally arriving at Spider Meadow. The clouds had begun building dark and thick and a slight drizzle dampened the dusty trail but not our spirits. There were quite a few groups camped in the south section of the meadow. Wild flowers were abundant. I'm gonna have to bring the kids into this area for camping real soon. Beyond the meadow we reached the intersection for Spider Gap and Upper Phelps Creek Basin. We headed right and soon emerged from the trees, intent on camping with a view of the mountain. With the winds picking up and thunder to the west, we decide to retreat and selected the first available spot in the trees, which was right at the intersecting trails. Carl found a nice spot for his bivy and I set up the Tarp Tent. We got things set up right as the deluge hit - rain and hail and lightning. From the cover of the sil tarp, I watched as a river ran through it - my tent that is. The surrounding soil turned to mud, which splashed up through the screens and into the tent. I did not choose wisely.

 

 

We momentarily entertained the idea of heading up to Spider Gap but a friendly hiker dude and his son, whom had just ran off the mountain, convinced us that to do so would surely result in death by voltage. During a lull, Carl built a bonfire, which upped our spirits and helped to dry out soaking feets.

 

 

We awoke to a cloudy sky and drizzle on Saturday but decided to head up to the upper Phelps Basin anyway. Our pace was slow as we stayed one step below the rising fog, guessing at line of approach and enjoying the adventure. We gained the upper basin by following a gully to the far right, climbing left of a waterfall and snow patches. Once into the upper basin, we hung out for a while, waiting for a glimpse of Dumbell and an indication as to which of the several visible gullies to ascend. Within half an hour Dumbell appeared through a small hole in the clouds. We set off up a gully to the far right side of the upper basin. From the top of the gully we picked up a small path that ttok us back west and up steep heather and to the base of a snowfield. The fog had mostly lifted by then and directly ahead we could see Dumbell's summits. Here's where we threw out common sense. Instead of headng right (counter-clockwise) around the massif as the beta clearly suggests, we continued up the snowfield then circled clockwise (left), looking for something that even remotely resembled the route photo from SummitPost. We slogged on through talus and snow until we encountered an impasse - the main ridge at the top of Phelps Basin. Off the other side and directly below was a glacier. Overhead and east were dirty class four ledge and gully systems leading to a summit. Even though the route that lay in front of us had no resemblence to what we expected, we decided to play on it anyway. No summit register was found and another summit very close and just NE looked a few feet higher. What we already suspected, was now confirmed - we were on the wrong rock, even though the elevation showed as 8,400 something. Dejected and ashamed, we downclimbed and began circling counter clockwise, arriving back at the top of the snowfield. We decided to climb one more of Dumbells's summits just for the hell of it. This one topped out at 7k something with views that provided no clue as to the location of the true summit. Having heard some big rockfall earlier and being in full denial of our lack of route finding skills and ability to read simple instructions, we surmised that the true summit had actually collapsed. It wasn't until we got back to the upper basin that we took a real long look at the route photos and realized we should have started circling right and at a much lower elevation than we had.

 

 

We arrived back at camp just as the rain began to fall. It rained all night and Sunday dawned cloudy and soggy but not rainy The hike out went quickly. Rain splashed the windshield as soon as I shut the car door - how's that for timing

 

 

Yeah, we made a huge route-finding blunder. But still had fun and enjoyed the weekend in a beautiful setting. I see it as just a good excuse to head back again - that's my way of coping with defeat anyway I was thinking about heading up The Tooth again before the season turns chilly. Perhaps I should hire a guide for that one.

 

Gear Notes:

Ice ax

 

Approach Notes:

Something other than the way we went

[pc313]

The little guy look's friendly!!

[spotly]

Yeah, we got so far off route I guess the critters had never seen a human before