sleeping bear
New member
NOT tax day South Gully climb
After getting our $7 worth of breakfast, Guy, MEB, and I headed up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. We were unsure of exactly what we were going to do because everyone was a little tired, it was drizzling pretty good, and there was a lot of fog. We decided to go up, have a look, and then make a call.
Coming our of the trees into the ravine we were met by a nasty wind and were forced into warmer layers. MEB decided she wasn't going to climb as she was tired (her coffee never kicked in), but would see us off if we decided to go. The fog cleared a little and we were able to at least find South Gully, which was a little more promising. Okay, let's go a little closer and then see. Well, a little closer, and the fog lifted a little more. Alright, get your gear together we'll go up the first section and see how it is. MEB bid us goodbye and went back down to find her pack and continue back over to Tuckerman.
Guy lead and we headed up the first section. By now the fog was almost gone and the sun was peeking through the clouds. The snow was soft and the climb was fun. About 40 or 50 feet up Guy punched through the snow to find a gap and running water underneath the snow. He checked around a little more, and decided we were okay to proceed. As we climbed I could hear the water running underneath us, kinda freaky.
A little higher and we could see water pouring over rocks just at the next corner. Guy opted to go check it out, and if it looked bad we'd down-climb. He got up to and yelled down that it was okay, so we proceeded up. Just as he disappeared around the corner the weather began to change. The wind suddenly picked up and thick clouds pushed in. I turned to look into the ravine and watched clouds fill it almost instantly. It was really quite a site. They just rolled over the ravine and poured in. Within two minutes the ravine was full of fog and clouds. Then came the hail. It started as sleet and then became bb sized ice pellets that stung my face everytime I looked to to see where Guy was. After maybe twn minutes it turned to rain, which eventually tapered off.
The next time I looked down I saw two other climbers coming into view out of the fog. They weren't on a rope and were therfore really moving. Just as I came up even with Guy they passed us.
Above the running water we climbed a short steep section which then leveled off. From there we traversed to the other side of a wide snowfield where Guy collected the pickets from me for the last pitch. By now the fog had again lifted and we could see the top.
The last section was a piece of cake and we were soon sitting on the rocks above putting the rope away. Once on the Alpine Garden Trail we decided to descend Right Gully into Tuckerman Ravine instead of taking Lions Head down. Of course the fog rolled in again just as we started looking for the top of the gully. There we met a couple of skiers, told them we would stay to the right and then headed down. The consistency of the snow did not permit us to descend facing forward, so we were forced to down-climb the whole thing. It was actually kind of fun, although it took forever. I kept stopping to watch the skiers, and at one point thought I was going to be run over, which was a little scary.
Once at the bottom of the ravine we checked for anyone we knew and then headed down to Pinkam.
Thanks Guy, for another awesome climb, I had a blast. Too bad the snow's pretty much done.
pictures
Soooo, someone should write a trip report for the "Tuckerman Ravine Weekend" in general. There was lots of interesting stuff going on (ie. shopping, drinking, skiing, other hiking trips, lots of good food made by Mtn Mama, and dogs confused about their sexuality).
After getting our $7 worth of breakfast, Guy, MEB, and I headed up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. We were unsure of exactly what we were going to do because everyone was a little tired, it was drizzling pretty good, and there was a lot of fog. We decided to go up, have a look, and then make a call.
Coming our of the trees into the ravine we were met by a nasty wind and were forced into warmer layers. MEB decided she wasn't going to climb as she was tired (her coffee never kicked in), but would see us off if we decided to go. The fog cleared a little and we were able to at least find South Gully, which was a little more promising. Okay, let's go a little closer and then see. Well, a little closer, and the fog lifted a little more. Alright, get your gear together we'll go up the first section and see how it is. MEB bid us goodbye and went back down to find her pack and continue back over to Tuckerman.
Guy lead and we headed up the first section. By now the fog was almost gone and the sun was peeking through the clouds. The snow was soft and the climb was fun. About 40 or 50 feet up Guy punched through the snow to find a gap and running water underneath the snow. He checked around a little more, and decided we were okay to proceed. As we climbed I could hear the water running underneath us, kinda freaky.
A little higher and we could see water pouring over rocks just at the next corner. Guy opted to go check it out, and if it looked bad we'd down-climb. He got up to and yelled down that it was okay, so we proceeded up. Just as he disappeared around the corner the weather began to change. The wind suddenly picked up and thick clouds pushed in. I turned to look into the ravine and watched clouds fill it almost instantly. It was really quite a site. They just rolled over the ravine and poured in. Within two minutes the ravine was full of fog and clouds. Then came the hail. It started as sleet and then became bb sized ice pellets that stung my face everytime I looked to to see where Guy was. After maybe twn minutes it turned to rain, which eventually tapered off.
The next time I looked down I saw two other climbers coming into view out of the fog. They weren't on a rope and were therfore really moving. Just as I came up even with Guy they passed us.
Above the running water we climbed a short steep section which then leveled off. From there we traversed to the other side of a wide snowfield where Guy collected the pickets from me for the last pitch. By now the fog had again lifted and we could see the top.
The last section was a piece of cake and we were soon sitting on the rocks above putting the rope away. Once on the Alpine Garden Trail we decided to descend Right Gully into Tuckerman Ravine instead of taking Lions Head down. Of course the fog rolled in again just as we started looking for the top of the gully. There we met a couple of skiers, told them we would stay to the right and then headed down. The consistency of the snow did not permit us to descend facing forward, so we were forced to down-climb the whole thing. It was actually kind of fun, although it took forever. I kept stopping to watch the skiers, and at one point thought I was going to be run over, which was a little scary.
Once at the bottom of the ravine we checked for anyone we knew and then headed down to Pinkam.
Thanks Guy, for another awesome climb, I had a blast. Too bad the snow's pretty much done.
pictures
Soooo, someone should write a trip report for the "Tuckerman Ravine Weekend" in general. There was lots of interesting stuff going on (ie. shopping, drinking, skiing, other hiking trips, lots of good food made by Mtn Mama, and dogs confused about their sexuality).
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