Alpine Scramble - Gunn Peak

This scramble has a number of challenges, though on our day with dry rock none too daunting.  The two early creek crossings are fairly straightforward with care where the rock is slick from being submerged.  Then there's a prolonged ascent on steep dirt (~2500'/mile).  There are occasional alternatives in the climber's way-trail, along with downed trees and stubby branches and blocky rock faces that provide ongoing impediments.  Views opened up above ~5200' giving us views that continued to expand as we ascended.  The most difficult bit of scrambling for us was the start of the "hidden ramp".  This is at the top of the talus fan approaching the south face immediately below the summit.  Once past a large chockstone and over to climber's right, it becomes easier threading through some small trees.  While directions weren't always clear, it didn't take very long to find the keyhole notch to the north side.  The fearsome narrow ledge turned out to be comparatively tame in the excellent conditions we had.  It's a short easy scramble to the summit from there.

On the way down there was some concern about the descent of some of the lower "hidden ramp", so I set up a hand line.  All made it down without incident.  However by the time we made it down the talus fan, it was nearly 2pm.  Given the physical and navigational difficulties of (nearly the entire) route, I wanted to be back to the road before darkness fell, so decided to skip the planned ascent of TailGunner.

My phone's GPS recorded a very believable track only 5.4miles long.  My InReach log was slightly over 7 miles (closer to the Club's standard length), but at 30sec/sample this track was very noisy.  Despite the short distance, this is a pretty tough scramble with a satisfyingly high payoff.  Everyone in the party felt a real sense of accomplishment.