4 Peak Mt Brewer trip

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henryfk
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4 Peak Mt Brewer trip

Post by henryfk »

Day 1: My pal, Clark and I took off Saturday afternoon for Roads End for a Sunday 7am permit pick up and romp up the Avalanche Pass trail to the Sphinx then cross country up the creek's drainage to the upper lakes and a run up BB's "staircase" on Farquhar. The trail up to the Sphinx was beautiful, a monument to backcountry engineering Then the bushwacking, that's what it was began. Those last miles to the upper Sphinx Lakes were tough. The altitude took its toll on Clark. It didn't slow his fish catching ability though. Our resting place was the always enchanting alpine bliss. We were in great position for our run up Farquhar's "staircase" tomorrow am.

Day 2: Our rise at first light saw us breaking camp slower than normal, whilst quick time was made to our pack drop just below the Farquhar scree. Scrambling to the base, Clark relented and released me to charge up the aptly name "stair case". What a blast, taking it all the way to the summit blocks. The view was as enjoyable too. Flipping around, I took the sandy shot down low, traversed over the spine to the lower slabs, and was back at our drop site in under 2 hours.
We packed it up and headed over a couple of false crests, topping Sphinx Col. Looking down at suitable crossings to get us around the low buttress that blocked the view up the canyon to attack North Guard and Brewer the next morning. Good camp sites mandate a breeze to arrest the continual mosquito onslaught. Our resting place allowed only obtuse views of tomorrow's route. Figuring as we climb higher the appropriate lines would unfold.

Day 3: Today's double, North Guard and Brewer dictated a 5am rise. We would return to camp after our conquest. We embarked quickly under minimal loads. At the base of North Guard, in under an hour, the "South Face" route became clear. Notes specified a traverse, which I bypassed as the climbing was relative and unobstructed, needing only to move 'left" just below the summit. Enjoying the broad summit, only briefly to make the tricky move atop the main block, and returning to my waiting partner below.
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Skiing the sandy chute to the bottom and making a quick set of moves left and down some easy slabs, I angled towards Brewer to meet Clark at the base of its NW Slope. The upper half of this narrowing approach was buried in hard snowfield. Having no gear to pass directly, we worked our way up the left side rock. Brewer's summit is like a ball field, as we ran back and forth, hunting the highest block and the register.
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We moved down to camp posthaste so we could up root over Cinder Col. Easily it went with ground to cover to the base of Longley Pass and South Guard. We encountered several outcropping and snowfields requiring a clear route. With little trouble, we settled into a spot just below South Guard Lake. The best site of the trip. A picturesque setting and a continual breeze.

Day 4: We romped up Longley Pass and the "South Slope" of South Guard. The real challenge might be the notorious "cornise" of Longley Pass. Well, just climb around the left side, then the real part is making your way down the arduous shelving to the most beautiful Lake Reflection. Success almost two hours later. A cool dip and lunch in Lake Reflection. Pack it up and head down trail. Oh, an interesting crossing of East Creek first. Shoes off.
We were happy for five miles of trail past East Lake to Bubbs Creek, anticipating the crossing read about. Arriving we removed our shoes, water to our crotches, we easily forged. Glad it wasn't 2 weeks earlier.
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12 miles to go, we made it to Sphinx Creek for the night. Clark resumed his fish catching before we headed to the car the next morning.
We had a fantastic time, with the place to ourselves, only a few bugs, fun climbing and great views!!!
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Wandering Daisy
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Re: 4 Peak Mt Brewer trip

Post by Wandering Daisy »

What an epoch successful trip! Thanks for the report. This same route is one of the routes I may do later in Sept, so very thankful for your information. However, I would do it at a much more leisurely pace. Which side of Sphinx Creek did you go up? Did you find the supposed "use-trail"?
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commonloon
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Re: 4 Peak Mt Brewer trip

Post by commonloon »

Nice TR! Damn. Now I'm even more bummed that I missed this one. The North Gaurd summit block looks very cool! ...and Brewer from that angle, it practically looks like the Doodad or the Milk Bottle (cool photo Clark!).
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henryfk
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Re: 4 Peak Mt Brewer trip

Post by henryfk »

Well Daisy, we wish we had found a use trail as we slashed through the ferns and aspens. Picked up some of it later only for a bit as it became less useful. Started up the east side well before the creek crossing. Looking from above it seemed the better way. Try the west side and let me know.
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Re: 4 Peak Mt Brewer trip

Post by Wandering Daisy »

I have been up and down the east side. We did better coming down, obviously having made our mistakes going up. Like you we started well before Sphinx Creek, but we got too close to the creek to soon. Coming back we made a point staying well away from the drainage and that worked better. Supposedly there is a use-trail or sorts on the west side.
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ExploreABitMore
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Re: 4 Peak Mt Brewer trip

Post by ExploreABitMore »

Thanks for the TR! Looks like a great trip
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sekihiker
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Re: 4 Peak Mt Brewer trip

Post by sekihiker »

I did the same trip in reverse without the three peaks except Brewer. It sounds like you were feeling pretty frisky. It helps that you have substantial mountaineering skills. I'd love to see some more photos to go with your lively and very enjoyable write-up.
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Re: 4 Peak Mt Brewer trip

Post by cgundersen »

I'll second the immediately preceding post and add kudos for getting up the Sphinx jumble with relative impunity. My wife and I are still licking our wounds from the ridiculous route we (OK, blame me) chose through that area last year and I tip my cap to those who have found less-daunting solutions. I know that it can be less bad, because my first time through that area (decades ago) elicited no red flags, but we managed to make every possible wrong choice. I'm hoping all our bad karma was concentrated in that one zone. Clearly, you guys had the karma going! Cameron
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