Sun, Jun 3 2012 - 'Rocky Top' Peak (View Original Event Details) Coordinator(s): Dell Meuchel, Larry Hiller Participants: Dell Meuchel, Larry Hiller, Ken McDermott, Brian Kennedy, Carly Hohf, Jason Wilkes, Frank Wesolovski, Rick Thomas, Jesse Manning, Jer Lundgren, Linda Soper, Denise Davies, Diane Lundgren

Each participant was required to bring an ice axe, and it came in handy on a few steep pitches. The coordinator somehow managed to forget his own but made due with trekking poles and crampons. The mandated snowshoes were not needed which resulted in some minor whining from a few members about the extra weight added (for no good reason) to the packs. But a little extra weight never hurt anyone, especially in the spring for conditioning purposes.

The weather remained agreeable in the immediate area even though the peaks in the park were obscured by clouds. After lunching on the summit and taking the requisite group photo, we headed back down the ridge. Reaching a point that provided easy access to the expansive, snow-filled bowl rising above Marion Lake, we couldn’t resist the glissading urge, not to mention the opportunity to quickly lose several hundred feet of vertical in a matter of seconds, thereby quickening our return to the lake. The Rocky Top ridge glissade is one of the finest and safest in the Glacier area.

In sustaining his absentmindedness for the day, the coordinator left his snowshoes on the ridge. They had been left at the base of a tree on the ascent to be picked up on the return. However, the glissade option changed the return plan and the group cut-off above the snowshoe stash location. The coordinator had to endure a few jokes about declining mental faculties, but quickly developed a Plan B. The ridge will be a beautiful climb later in the summer, and the snowshoes can be retrieved at that time. Back at the trailhead, we enjoyed Dell’s famous salsa and other treats. All-in-all, it was a fun day in the mountains with a good group of folks. That’s what keeps bringing us back for more.