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| Looking up the drainage between Bomber Mountain and Cloud Peak |
I slept like crap once again which wasn’t a real surprise and was up and moving before 6 AM. It was a cold and windy morning so I had to throw on the down jacket before leaving the relative warmth of the tent. The good news was that it was that it was too cold for the mosquitoes at the moment so we might be able to actually eat breakfast without donating more blood to the little pricks.
Breakfast was eaten quickly this morning, as was the breaking of camp and we were off by 7:15. I figured we’d be hiking for about an hour before getting up to the bench we spied last night and was happy about that. No sense burning our energy before the big climb.
It only took 45 minutes to cross the pass, find a suitable place to take a dump and make it down to the valley bottom. It was a beautiful morning, matched only by scenery provided by our surroundings. Paint Rock Creek dissected the drainage, glistening in the morning sunlight with larger pools interspersed along the way.
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| Our camp at the base of Cloud Peak (13T 322544 4914513) |
We followed a small creek upstream about 150’ to our bench and were rewarded with an excellent area to camp. It was windy, but warming up nicely, and by 8:30 we each had our tents set up.
I took a short walk following another stream behind a small knob just to see what was back there if we wound up going that way the next morning. A lot of slick rock and downed timber blocked the way.
When I returned to our camp site Brad suggested we get our stuff together for an assault on Cloud Peak. He didn’t exactly say he was going up to the top so I got the feeling he wasn’t sure if he could make it. I didn’t think there was any way I would but threw the necessary gear into my daypack anyway.
We left camp at 9:30 taking the obvious path upward. I figured there had to be a climbers trail somewhere, but as usual, I could not find it. There was a rough route marked with cairns, but they were few and far between so we just kept picking our way through boulders, zig-zagging our way up the mountain.
In all honesty, the first half of the climb wasn’t that bad even for an out of shape 40-something. There was plenty of boulder hopping, but there were also enough areas where we could almost walk normally.
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| Looking up at the false summit of Cloud Peak |
At about 11:30 we ran across a couple of other gentlemen taking their lunch (Spam), but we wouldn’t see them at the summit or on the way back down.
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Views from the summit of Cloud Peak (4.2 MB) |
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Shortly after meeting the other two guys we decided to take a break and eat something ourselves. I think we were both optimistic of getting to the summit by this time and renewed our efforts after eating.
During our lunch break we were on the far southern flank of the mountain and had to work our way to the northern end. Here we were treated to specatular views of Middle Cloud Peak Lake and several others without names. We both agreed that if we were to get out here again THAT was going to be the drainage to explore.
We continued to climb and soon came to a narrow ridge that was maybe 15’ across at the widest point and more killer views in all directions including straight down. The rest of the way was spent climbing over boulders and a lot of hand use, and by 1:30 we were at the summit.
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| A look down at Middle Cloud Peak Lake |
My first order of business was to find the summit register just so I could prove a unfit hiker could make it up to the top. Of course, neither of us could find one which was mildly disappointing but not a big deal.
The summit was broad, flat and, predictably, rocky. Below on all sides was a lot of air and stunning views of the rest of the Bighorn Range and the prairie to the east. To celebrate we pulled out some more food and took a lot of pictures and Brad some video.
Once my pulse rate was back to near normal I discovered that I didn’t feel so hot. A small headache and slight nausea tempered my mood a bit and I began to wonder if I would be able to make it back down OK.
After spending about a half hour on top we began the long hike back down to camp. Immediately I regretted not taking my trekking poles along as my creaky knees let me know of their displeasure. Every step down was an adventure in discomfort to one degree or another. Adding to the fun was the extra strain on my quads as I had to slowly lower myself down to the next foothold so as not to jar my knee joints.
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| Dorf at the summit of Cloud Peak, Glacier Lake below |
Some relief was found below the 15’ ridge as we discovered the climber’s trail and a rock-free swath that carried us down nearly 300’ in a half mile. There was also a short glissade which didn’t do much for my knees but did result in a wet butt
By 4 PM, however, we were back at camp, both thoroughly wasted. Would we do it again? You bet!
Upon or return to camp we noticed that both our tents were down. Our first thoughts were that the wind knocked them over but later figured a good Samaritan had wandered through our camp and took both tents down before the wind damaged them. Thanks, whoever you are.
Not feeling like messing with real cooking or even boiling water, I settled on peanut butter and potato chips for dinner. Brad wasn’t feeling much more chipper than I was and we both agreed that this was one of the toughest days in the backcountry we’d had. Personally, the only day I could remember that was more strenuous was Yumi and my first trip to Glacier when we had a 12 mille, 3000’ elevation gain day with a 45 pound pack.
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| Looking south from the summit of Cloud Peak |
As we sat around camp trying to recover, the plan for the next few days was discussed. One of the main reasons I wanted to come back to the Bighorns was so that I could camp below a set of falls on Paint Rock Creek I had passed three years ago. It was probably less than two miles from our present camp but what the hell? We’d find something to do and this was a warm up hike.
I can't recall what time we retired for the night but I do know it was early. A great day in the Bighorns.
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