The Fortress and Gusty Peak
September 9, 2002
Mountain heights: both 3000 m
Total elevation gain: 1625 m
Scrambling with
Mark, Keri, and Ashraf.
This would be
my second ascent of The Fortress and the first for the rest of our merry group.
Stuey Brideaux had guided me up the mountain a year earlier and I could not
have enjoyed the ascent more. I was very excited to repeat the trip with Mark,
Keri, and Ashraf.
Unfortunately, the
weather had other plans. Though the forecast predicted decent weather throughout
the day, we got anything but. Good thing we all brought a rain jacket – the term
“drowned rats” comes to mind had we not worn them!
We persevered
through the inclement weather and made to it the summit of The Fortress from
the Headwall Lakes side. From there the plan was to descend to the Chester Lake
valley, making a nice loop, as suggested in Alan Kane’s Scrambles book.
En route to the
valley, I decided to run up Gusty Peak first. The rest of group would wait for
me in the parking lot. Though far from aesthetic, the ascent went with ease. I
only stayed at the top for a few minutes and then bolted down, making it back
to the parking lot less than 10 minutes after the rest of group.
Not quite the
day we wanted but at least we got home in time to catch the end of the first
Monday Night Football game of the NFL season: Patriots 30 – Steelers 14.
The beautiful stream that connects the upper lake to the lower
Looking down on the lower Lake
Cool view of Gusty, Galatea, and The Tower from the summit of The Fortress
Ashraf, me, and Keri at the summit (photo by Mark)
Mount Galatea, from the summit of Gusty Peak
The End
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