For this last short distance we broke out the rope I had carried all this way--I free climbed up above the first class four move then we attached Sam to the rope in between us.
With some difficulty Sam
succeeded in making this first class four move.
Really this was the hardest move of the two. I was proud of him. Laila quickly
followed and we set up a new belay for the final assault on Mt Wilson...
I scrambled to the top and set up a belay for Laila... Sam's chance would come later. The final class four move is airy and scary. Laila did great. A team of three traversing from El Diente were just behind us....
Mt
Wilson and Gladstone Peak Sep 24, 2001
Laila and Steve Bremner
with Sam the Wolfdog
The first two negotiated the crux quickly, but the third guy had some problems. He hung out on the hard move for a good five minutes before he finally went for it. I offered him the rope, but I think his pride got the better of him... It is only a matter of 15 feet or so from the hard move to the actual summit...We would soon learn just how long that is when we dealt with Sam...
We spent close to two hours with the old boy in our attempt to get him on the top of Mt Wilson. I learned that class four move backwards and forwards by the time I was done with it...making the move half a dozen times. Sam almost made it once. He scrambled up the rock, but lost his footing and fell. I of course caught him on the rope, and he only "fell" a couple of feet, but it was all over since he got "spooked". Sam hunkered down and refused to make another attempt--so that was it for that peak... Sam gets credit though, because he was so close and had done the hardest move...
The hardest peak was reserved for the following day--high 13er Gladstone Peak...
I told Laila as we descended from Mt Wilson the previous day that Sam did not have to climb Gladstone. He had been through enough trauma trying to complete the final 15 feet of Mt Wilson--Gladstone was not even a 14er--he could skip it if he wanted.
Well next day Sam took me up on it--refusing to even continue past the initial scree flow not twenty minutes from our camp site he retreated to the tent as faithful guard against unassuming fellow climbers...
Our first objective was
to reach the ridge line.
This was no easy task as we made our way across a nasty scree field, ever
ascending left from the basin.
Once on the ridge we were faced with very loose rock on steep dangerous slopes. This was not a fun climb. Much more difficult than Mt Wilson, though Gladstone is rated class 3 compared to Wilson's rating of class 4. Wilson's rating is based on only the final airy stretch--really just a short ways. Gladstone was sustained hard.
After a long time of picking our way up and onward we neared the final summit pitch. For the final pitch we climbed steeply to regain the ridge.
Oh man it was glorious up top. Still early in the morning the weather could not have been better. The view extended to Mt Wilson, El Diente and in the opposite direction--Wilson Peak.
Does anyone know why the name "Wilson" was used (wasted) on two 14er's? Sure would be nice to name one of them something different.
