Glacier Mountaineering Society

Wed, Jul 22 2020 - Great Northern Mountain (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Dell Meuchel, Gail Meuchel, John Reynolds
Participants:		Dell Meuchel, Gail Meuchel, John Reynolds, Michael Contrada, Paul Okerberg, Dennis Eaves, Jill Reynolds, Anne D.

Write Up:
Covid 19 forced us off the Goat Trail and on to Great Northern for our Wednesday GMS week climb. Our stellar group of eight included Gail and Dell Meuchel, Micheal Contrada, Paul Okerberg, Dennis Eaves, Anne Delwo, and the Reynolds siblings John and Jill. The initial “trail” was the usual grunt. Fun for all. The ridge walk approach turned more and more spectacular with the summit ridge far off in the distance. John and Paul took on a much appreciated leadership role through the cliff bands. Paul's wise advice “always go to the next highest trail”. It never failed us. It was a busy day on the mountain as we encountered no less than fourteen other climbers. Glacier was overflowing and the Great Bear was a great alternative. About two thirds of the way to the summit block our group heard “voices” from below. A young couple, Matt and Liz, we had encountered earlier, were off course and in need of assistance. Our GMS group became ten as they felt much more secure with our crew and we were only happy to help. The summit crux was left for some class three boulders or right and a class two slippery slope. All chose the boulders and it was a an interesting mix bag of climbing. Lunch at the summit was very special. Paul had lost a dear friend and dedicated the climb in his memory. Jill was summiting many mountains and had been declared cancer free only weeks before the climb. We all reflected on how fortunate we were to be here. At the end of the day Gail's famous Cowboy caviar hit the spot.

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.