Glacier Mountaineering Society

Sat, Sep 4 2010 - Dragon's Tail #1 (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Jim Foster
Participants:		Jim Foster, Meg Schnaderbeck, Mary Knotts, Alan Wiley, Tim Anderson

Write Up:
The forecast looked menacing but we forged forward and glad we did. When we arrived at Logan Pass around 0900 the weather was beautiful with lots of clouds and a stout wind blowing. The hike up the Hidden Lake Trail and then across the climber's trail to the saddle between Dragon's Tail and Reynolds took about 1.5 hours. The wind in the first col made it hard to walk and a few times we had to do a shuffle step to catch our balance. At the Dragon's Tail col we studied a route description that a friend of Tim Anderson had written up with photos and GPS coordinates. If you are going to climb this get some updated information because the route description in Gordon's book is outdated and there is a much better way to traverse the Tail. Basically there are two prominent green terraces about halfway up the cliffs of the Tail that lead across to the sheer couloir that Gordon refers to. Take the lower one as there is an obscure goat trail along this. There is a distinct high point on this trail where you will begin ascending to the summit ridge. There are steeply angled grassy terraces that point the way up. Follow these and zig-zag your way up - a straightforward ascent. Gordon's suggestion to build rock ducks is a good one for finding your way back. Don't forget to knock them down though on your way out so you don't take away from the route finding experience of the next climber. There was lots of new snow on the ridge from the week before but we only had to walk in a little of it. We made it to the summit in 3 hours and 25 minutes. The views were spectacular in 360 degrees. Meg and Mary had climbed it the year before but in the clouds so they got to see the views this time. I have climbed all the mountains around Logan Pass and in my opinion this summit has the best views. All of us summitted which included Alan Wiley, Meg Schnaderbeck, Mary Knotts, Tim Anderson and Jim Foster. We burned 4,469 calories on the climb, walked 19,930 steps which roughly translates to just under 10 miles and climbed 2,660 vertical feet.

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.