"True commitment begins when we reach the point of not knowing how we can possibly go on, and decide to do it anyway."
This weekend I climbed a peak that has tried me like no other. It's been on my mind to climb Beartooth Mountain for the last three years, but things never lined up quite right to make a valid try. So three days ago I was playing frisbee golf with my friend Jade and I kept ranting and raving about how I really wanted to climb this mountain. I was pretty bummed since I hadn't had any opportunites to climb any peaks this summer. I almost had a climbing partner to go with Saturday, but he told me last minute that he couldn't, so I decided I needed to do this one alone. I feel best trusting my life to my own abilities. Some time between Friday afternoon and evening I decided to go for this so I began to pack my bag. On Saturday I left the trailhead at 12:30pm and began the most challenging and spiritual trip ever. Little did I know that this would be the most difficult summit yet. Getting to my basecamp wasn't too bad and I made awesome time getting there, despite the fact I injured my left ankle the day before.
My basecamp had incredible scenery and the meteor showers were breathe taking. On sunday (my summit day) I left my base camp at 4am to hike by the illumination of my headlamp. Most of the hiking was boulder hopping on glacier moraine, which can be extremely dangerous. It seemed like I was never going to get in sight of my mountain. Then I finely saw the beast and it seemed so far away. Once I got closer I decided I needed to ditch some gear like my ice axe and crampons, sense Grasshopper Glacier is a myth and there was little to no snow in sight. Had there been snow it would have been much easier. Once I got close to the mountain I could decide to go up a steep slope with loose scree that caused rock slides every 20 minutes or I could rock climb the right face up a steep headwall. Since I knew what it was like to get hit by a runaway boulder I decided to rock climb. The climbing seemed like it would never end. Finally I reached the top plateau and made my way to the summit.
Woohoo!! It was 9:30am, clear, warm, and no wind when I reached the summit. So I stayed up there for a while and let all my layers dry out before putting them back on. The views were incredible and you could see many miles and see most of the 12ers. Going back down I decided to chance the scree slope. I had to be careful and alert whenever a rock slide would start. Getting back to my basecamp took much longer then anticipated. There's no easy or quick way to boulder hop. I immediately packed up my camp and took off. I was also on a deadline to get to my car by 6pm or people would start to worry about me. A lot of the trail from my basecamp was boulder hopping then there is the near non-existent trail down to Lost Lake. I actually somehow got off this trail and couldn't find it again. Panic, confusion, despair ... all start to set in. It was a long way down this mountain and it was all through very thick trees. I started to panic more and more about if I was evening going to get off this foresty mountainside. The trees were so thick that my bag would barely fit between them. My arms continued to get scraped up and started to bleed some. At this point all I could do was keep praying and push on. I finally make it down the mountainside, but can't find the trail. So I had to wade through three different rivers to finally find the trail. The trail seemed like it would never end getting back to my car. The last two miles I felt like collapsing. I finally did make it back to my car at 5:15pm on Sunday. My feet were covered in blisters and my ankles and knees are still throbbing. My hiking boots which were only purchased a couple weeks prior had completely split nearly all of its seems from the ruggedness of the hike. If you ask me if it was worth it or if I would do it again... I'd answer, in a heart beat. Those that mountaineer or rock climb know what I'm talking about. You go up it, you go down it, but you never get over it. I can't think of any great way to end this blog. I simply felt compelled to share my story. If you want to know more about Beartooth Mountain you can read it at this sitehttp://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/153429/beartooth-mountain.html ... it's the mountain not the Bear's Tooth, which would have been easier. Little did I know that Beartooth Mountain is supposed to be one of the most difficult 12ers in Montana. I did find that out when I signed the log book on the summit and no one else had climbed it sense 2003.
Take Care and Safe Travels,Jason
