JasonG Posted December 3, 2002 Posted December 3, 2002 We wanted to take advantage of the great forecast and get out for a late season trip up the big R. Rumors were that Gib Ledges might be snow covered and in fine shape, so we headed up to Muir on Sat. under clear skies and warm temps. No new snow in a while made for great walking and we arrived at Muir with the afternoon masses. We slept in a bit and got going about 3:30 after a night of relative quiet in the shelter (there were only two others spending the night). Conditions were great for cramponing with firm icy snow the whole way up to Gib Rock. The low snow cover made the going a little trickier than it probably would be in the winter (had to detour around rock bands and cracks), but it still wasn't too bad. We started across the Ledges after a couple of hours and then ran out of snow at the point where you drop down a bit before continuing over to the chute. So lacking the desire to traverse steep choss, we turned around and found a good spot to watch the sunrise. It was so calm that you could have lit a candle up at 12,000'!! So even though we turned around quite a bit short we had a great time and had the mountain to ourselves. That's right NO other people were climbing from the Muir area this weekend-I was amazed. The route would go if you were made of tougher stuff than us, things looked fine once you got to the saddle next to Gib rock. I'd be curious if anyone else climbs the whole route in the next week or so what the conditions were like. Quote
thelawgoddess Posted December 3, 2002 Posted December 3, 2002 sounds like you guys had a great time anyway. must have been gorgeous! Quote
Old_Man Posted December 5, 2002 Posted December 5, 2002 Heinrich...nice TR, and the route update is appreciated. Maybe some of the recent precip has covered the ledges? Quote
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