Glacier Mountaineering Society

Sat, Sep 20 2014 - South Heavenly Twin (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Tim Sharp
Participants:		Tim Sharp, Bill Schulz, Dell Meuchel, Laurel R. Vielle

Write Up:
The Heavenly Twins traverse was a dream of mine that proved to be a bit too big to make real. I was forced to abandon the North to South route because I never wanted to go back up the North slope of the North Ridge of North Heavenly ever again! I was utterly discouraged after my pre-climb! So I opted to put just the South Heavenly Peak on the agenda. After Dell Meuchel, Luarel Vielle and I climbed that route on Sept. 14th, I wrote to the prospective climbers who had signed up a cautionary tale of very thick bushwacking followed by climbing up a cascade of waterfalls in a steep and flowing creek bed for several thousand vertical feet, then pushing through a saddle to climb rather nondescript and not very fun boulders to the summit.South Heavenly was in truth also just at the limit of my endurance, even though I felt I was in perty darn good condition. Dell and Laurel who are prime specimens of durability and good cheer managed to find the energy to traverse from South Heavenly to North Heavenly! They are awesome! Slug that I am, I waited for them on the downward route. Perhaps someday I will find myself at the absolute pinnacle of condition, where no mountain is too high or steep, then perhaps I shall try again for the summit of North Heavenly, but I seriously confide it will likely again serve as a lesson in humility. North Heavenly is my White Whale! So all of the prospective climbers to their credit and wisdom opted to try other challenges, with the exception of Bill Schulz who wanted to climb something in the Bitterroots. So we talked Dell into joining us on a trek up Chaffin Creek, and we found an area that is truly astounding! Look for it on next years schedule, and I promise you a great (and doable) trip in an absolutely breath takingly beautiful Bitterroot setting.

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.