Glacier Mountaineering Society

Sat, Sep 6 2014 - Gunsight Mountain (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Paula Ferguson
Participants:		Paula Ferguson, John Oliver Ellis, Brad Moehlmann, Jeanette H

Write Up:
We had perfect weather for this two-day event. We left Lake McDonald at 2 PM on Saturday and headed uphill with our overnight packs. A steady pace put us at Sperry Chalet at 5:30, where we filled water bottles and tried to ignore the smell of dinner preparations. We continued to Sperry campground and set up camp, then ventured over to the scenic cooking area to enjoy some fine freeze-dried cuisine and a beautiful sunset over Lake McDonald.

On Sunday, we stashed our overnight gear at the chalet and were on our way up the trail towards Comeau Pass by a little after 8 AM. We arrived at the pass a bit before 10, scrambled over a rock rib, and donned our crampons at the base of the snowfield. A fairly recent two-inch layer of snow made the snow portion just perfect -- crunchy on the way up and soft enough to glissade the lower portion on the way down. The upper talus slope was less fun with the snow filling in gaps and obscuring hazards, but we made our way carefully up to the summit by 11:30, where we were treated to exquisite views in all directions.

The descent was uneventful. After picking up our gear at the chalet, we enjoyed a pitcher of cold lemonade and then headed back down to Lake McDonald, arriving at our cars shortly after 6 PM.

Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Tim Anderson at twamontana@gmail.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.