On Saturday March 20th, 2010 the first day of Spring, five of us (Fernando(Fern), Fritz(HE219), Patrick(lilbitmo), Steve(Bluerail), Tina(Tinabilina) all decided to go explore the same route that Sam P., Jeff S, and Miguel F did on February 17th. Having done the Vivian Creek trail on numerous occasions up and down, I've always longed to go explore that other ridge to the south, the Yucaipa Ridge, majestic and lonely as not that many hikers/climbers get up there as the little sister to the bigger peaks to the north. In January I had completed a hike up to Dobbs Peak and couldn't help but wonder how nice it would be to go explore the Yucaipa Ridge with all the fresh snow that had fallen and knowing from weather reports that more was to come I got even more excited, so on the way down I proceeded to take picture after picture of as many routes/couliers as I could see from that side of the canyon. Once home I looked at all those pictures and decided that most of those routes looked very inviting, one to the south east that I could see was fairly extreme and I was hesitant to do that one without prior knowledge of its' difficulties, so when Sam and company eventually did that route and "aptly named it The Galena Gauntlet" I was all for going out and doing it. So having read Sam's great trip report outlining the "Galena Gauntlet" my mind was made up and I decided to follow in their footsteps - after weeks of trying to coordinate between everyone's other hiking plans and commitments I was able to get four other people to join me in this adventure and all of us are glad we did, as this is one exciting route.
After meeting at Mill Creek Ranger station then moving forward to the Vivian Creek Trail Head we were soon headed up Mill Creek by 6:30 AM. The snow at this point was crunchy on top and we only punched through a few times. Halfway up the Mill Creek Canyon one of our party realized that they had left their cell phone sitting on top of their car so they raced back to get it and we mingled around then proceeded again when they returned. By 7:45 AM we were sitting at the entrance to the coulier that has the now famous Forjan tree at the top (it's easy to spot and you can see the Gauntlet opening halfway up the approach so you know you at the right spot when you look up). Cutting through the thin veil of trees that separated us from the wider canyon we post holed slightly before reaching the steeper slope that becomes the namesake of this climb, the "Gauntlet". We preceded another 200 feet up going in and out of firm snow, sometimes staying on top, sometimes sinking to our knees, it was a true mixed bag of snow. At this point we all agreed that it was time to put on our crampons and helmets. With the ten minute break over we started heading straight up to the "Gauntlet", with Steve and Fernando setting the pace and barely breaking through the surface, whereas myself and Fritz (two guys with a little more stature (OK we weigh more:-))) just kept busting through the crusty layer of snow that was on top, dropping down to our knees, this was slow going with more of the mixed bag of snow mentioned earlier.
Just as all of us reached the entrance to the "Gauntlet", Steve and Fernando found a huge ball of snow that had rolled down from the upper reaches. This ball had turned itself into a large thirty pound "snow donut". Fernando decided it would make a great "head piece" and stuck it on top of his helmet where upon he gladly glissaded down the slope for 100 feet or so showing off his newly acquired head dress - it make for great pictures and none of us could stop laughing for next 5 minutes - thanks for the laughs Fern. We were now at the entrance to the "Gauntlet" and the snow was almost "Ice" at this point (the moisture from the upper snow has to funnel through this spot so it tends to collect and harden inside the 20 foot opening that is the "Gauntlet"). I was having a hard time getting a firm "purchase" as I was wearing my "aluminum" crampons and everyone else had on "steel" crampons. I made my way slowly over to the rocks on the left that funneled down to form the "Gauntlet" and was able to get a better grip there. It's the first time I've felt uncomfortable on any slope/chute/coulier while wearing crampons, I was even having a hard time getting the ice axe to penetrate the surface so the combination of the two gave me great pause and I was not looking forward to a "unwanted glissade" so I was moving with "tiny steps" until I reached better snow on the left. From there I felt secure the rest of the way to the ridge.
Once we passed the icier snow Steve and Fern were making great "tracks" (I asked them to try to kick in steps just a little that the rest of us could use and I would come up and kick them in even further), those two have boundless energy and it's always nice having them as part of a climbing team, thanks guys.
As a team we were able to make the ridge in another 40 minutes past the opening of the "Gauntlet". Only at the spot where a big boulder sticks out directly below the "Forjan" tree did we encounter/do any more post holing and the snow here was like loose powdery sand and the slope was somewhere between 70 and 75 degrees so it was a little frustrating and slow going but we managed to top out ten minutes later, looking at my watch it had taken us two and a half hours to cover the distance from Mill Creek to the top of Yucaipa Ridge.
The views were breathtaking; the ridge is just this jagged edge with drops steeply on both sides and not any real flat areas to sit. At this point we made our way up to the highest set of rocks 100 yards to the east to find rocks that would accommodate everyone taking a break. I pushed on at this point to the very next set of rocks another 200 yards east to see what our route would be, I remembered that Sam P (Daddylonglegs) had mentioned that staying on the south side would give you a much easier traverse over to "Peak 9,164" and I realized right away that he was right. After a short break we started heading east on the south side of the ridge picking our way through all the rocks, shrubs, loose snow and half dead trees. It should be noted that I stopped long enough to drink a Red Bull at the second rock outcropping mentioned above and everyone that knows me, knows what happens when I suck one of those down
I get moving, so without hesitation I did. It was a slow process working over to Peak 9,164 as the slope on the south side of that ridge gets the full effects of the sunlight and the snow was considerably softer and we were post holing up to our butts on some occasions and not wanting to hit loose rocks underneath with my/our full weight we had to carefully pick way along here. Forty-five minutes later I was on top of that ridge/peak that is unnamed, just known as Peak 9,164 with the others coming up behind me in short order. Looking along the ridge here there's about 3 to 4 feet of a cornice but nothing to exciting but the views down canyon all directions was amazing. Moving further east we had to drop down about 150 feet into a saddle that separates Peak 9,164 from the approach to Galena Peak, this was our first chance to glissade so we took full advantage of it. Once in the saddle I/we could on occasion see faint tracks from the other group that had done this climb last month but windswept and fresh snow had filled them in 90 percent of the time. An hour later we were standing atop Galena taking in what can only be described as a beautiful day in the mountains. It's the first time I've been able to see the "Peak Divide", Dobbs East and West, Charlton, Jepson, San G, Dragons Head and Big Horn all from an up close vantage point (not the same view you get from San Jacinto as it so much further away) and all covered in snow, I/we were very happy campers to say the least.
After a good hour break we decided to start glissading straight down the fairly open canyon to our north, it was at the opening near the bottom that we realized there was a 1,800 foot headwall that separated us from the actual Mill Creek floor (none of us were equipped to down climb that face) so we needed (and decided) to get up and over one more ridge to our east (I did remember Sam warning me about staying slightly to the right coming off Galena Peak so it's not like he didn't warn me). We regained the proper ridge, saw the Mill Creek Jump Off in the distance to the north surrounded by a big grove of pine trees and staring following that ridgeline northeast. As we moved over all these smaller ridges that we came to we gladly glissaded like kids on their sleds with Tina screaming out in joy each time - we were having a blast.
At the top of the Mill Creed Jump Off the view west down the Mill Creek Canyon was beautiful and the snow leading down into the canyon floor was still enough to glissade but it's melting fast; we wasted no time at all heading down. At the bottom of the Jump Off is when we started the "slug fest", no matter how you cut it, it sucked endless strides of post hole after post hole. We ended up post holing all the way back down that canyon, comparing that to the climb the climb was not that tiring but the post holing took it's toll on us, 2 hours later we were completely exhausted and ready for some grub when we reached the cars at the trailhead. The one bright spot (other than the beauty of that canyon) was the snow cave that we stop to explore, the same one that Taco and Fritz dug out two weeks ago to bivy.
Summary:
On a scale of one to ten for me this was a 9+.
Steve and Fern thanks for leading the way up the slope and busting trail. And for all the laughs you guys are fun to climb with.
Tina, sorry I got going after the "Red Bull" I'll reign it in next time
. Always a pleasure hiking the hills with you no matter what direction or difficulty, you are always willing to give things a try.Fritz, it was great to finally meet you, glad you were able to join us, love your enthusiasm for the mountains, airplanes and your great attitude in general.
Sam, thanks for all the "beta information", insights and for leading the way with Jeff and Miguel.
All in all that was one fun day, cannot wait to do it again, or something like it.
The "Gauntlet" naming credit goes to Daddy Long Legs (Sam P.)
Steve laughing and taking pictures of Fernando with his new "hair piece"
Our final destination for the climb Galena Peak as seen from Peak 9,164
Rest of the pictures here - http://s908.photobucket.com/albums/ac28 ... =slideshow
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