Glacier Mountaineering Society

Sat, Aug 19 2017 - Edwards Mountain (CHANGED TO FUSILLADE MTN.) (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Bruce Lieffring, Brenda Winkler
Participants:		Bruce Lieffring, Brenda Winkler

Write Up:
Fusillade Mtn. 17 miles, 5,300 ft elevation gain, Start time 7:45 am. 11 hours. Edwards climb was cancelled as the trail up to Como Pass was closed due to fires. Bruce and I selected Fusillade as an alternate climb. However, participants that signed up for Edwards decided to opt out of this climb. Bruce and I decided to proceed with the climb anyway and we were not disappointed with the majestic 360 degree views at summit. However, the trip through the alders was challenging and zapped our energy. Edwards was almost invisible because of the smoke from the sprague creek fire. Our trek began with a 6.2 mile hike to Gunsight Campground. We entered the alders, brush, and avalanche debris just behind the pit toilets and bushwhacked our way up the steep slope about 1500 ft before gaining high meadows. From this vantage point you can see the break in the cliff bands that are easily climbed. We worked our way up the high meadow, broken cliffs, and scree to the base of the summit block (about 50 feet from the top of the ridge) then worked our way west along the summit block. Just below the west side of the summit we ascended a little chimney and easily reached the summit with one little step over for excitement. We descended to the high meadow and worked our east about 0.5 miles before descending to the trail. The bushwhack went a little better for the first 1000 feet, in and out of game trails, meadows, and bouldering in drainages but the last 500 feet was very thick. Grabbing alders on the way down assisted in our descent. Once on the trail we hiked the 5.5 miles back to the car.

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.