GARFIELD PEAK (13,780’)

September 16, 2011

By Tim Briese

6.2 miles roundtrip, 2400’ elevation gain, 4:40 roundtrip time

I readily agreed to climb Garfield Peak with Brian, not minding in the least that I had previously climbed it several years before in combination with Grizzly Peak. An early snowstorm curtailed more ambitious climbing plans that we had and Garfield seemed like a good option in spite of the less than favorable conditions. We fourwheeled up the McNasser Gulch road to a locked gate at 11,360 feet. A hunting party’s camp was set up nearby. The morning was cloudy, chilly, and damp. At 8:55 we headed up the old mine road beyond the gate.  

mt. garfield is behind the high point at the upper left

We followed the road up to its end at an old mine at 12,000 feet. From there we bushwhacked west up the valley, staying on grassy slopes above the right side of the drainage in order to avoid masses of willows down lower. At about 12,400 feet we turned and headed southwest up steeper grassy slopes to an upper basin at 12,800 feet. There was a light coating of snow on the grass at this elevation. Garfield’s summit was hidden in the clouds above. From the basin we headed up to the 13,500 foot saddle east of Garfield. We found the footing to be generally solid on the talus on the left side of the steep slope up to the saddle.

the slope up to the saddle.   mt. garfield is to the right in the clouds

It was a stiff climb going up to the saddle and snow on the talus made for slow going. At the saddle we took a short break.

at the saddle

From the saddle we headed west up the ridge about 300 yards to the summit, encountering an interesting section of class 2+ climbing along the way.

the class 2+ section  (photo taken on the descent)

We arrived on top a little after 10:30.

brian on the summit, with pt. 13,740 beyond

view of the valley below that we came up

It was cold and clouds mostly obscured the views so we kept our visit limited to about 15 minutes. We headed down and made a fast descent down a scree slope below the saddle. When we returned to the road below the clouds broke and a nice view of the mountains appeared.

looking back up the valley

We returned to the truck at 12:30 and headed out.