It was now my lead and it looked that this last long pitch was going to be the last one to gain the notch between the false summits. I climbed up into a rocky dike that consisted of very granular red rock with almost no possibilities of protection. After about thirty feet I started to worry, but found an old Piton and clipped it and backed it up with a yellow TCU. Then I continued up over the old pin and to the right of where the shallow rotten chimney ended at the sandy slope between the false-summit humps. Realizing I had gotten off route and run out of holds and cracks I knew I was putting myself into a bad predicament. I was able to find two shallow pockets below my knees and quickly placed two marginal cams. I contemplated the move I was about to attempt and thought about the Manky pin and TCU about ten feet below me.

I clutched the two shallowly placed cams, one in each hand, and swung over to the sandy ledge about five feet to my left. My right hand placement popped out just after I weighted it and just before my foot landed on a small Hold just below the ledge.

The Dark South

We were just below the summit and the sun was still steadily marching towards the horizon capped by Mt. Baker, Jack Mountain, and in the foreground Mt. Whistler. With only the summit block of less than 50 feet the only obstacle we chose to descend after sharing the apple Gene had hauled up in his day pack. We stopped just long enough to take a few pictures and a panoramic video from the east to west, panning past the Liberty Bell Massif to the south-southeast.

Alpenglowing

By this time the sun had started to cast alpenglow on the peaks to the south, which made for a scenic Hike back down to the highway. Between the eighth and ninth rappel from the summit block Gene and I had watched the Preston College Van flick on it’s lights and drive away from the pullout where we too had stopped for the day. By the time we reached the trees near the bottom of the valley, we both had on our headlamps and were hoping that the trail indeed continued to the other side of State Creek. After a few minutes of trudging through mud and over the stream, we poked out of the forest and climbed the rocky embankment lining the highway. It had been a long day and we were pooped, but in retrospect it was the best day of climbing that I have ever had.