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Trip Report    

Alpine Scramble- Gunn Peak

Once in a while you just luck out with a beautiful mid-October day in the Wild Sky Wilderness.

  • Sat, Oct 13, 2018
  • Gunn Peak
  • Scrambling
  • Successful
  • Road suitable for all vehicles
  • A faint boot path will get you a good part of the way there but can be easy to lose. There was no snow on our trip. This late in the year water was limited but available in a few places.

Gunn Peak is a challenging scramble among rugged neighbors, Merchant, Baring & Spire. While not a terribly long trip, it is all off trail, so we left park cars at day break. This scramble can have its navigation challenges.  It had been some years since the one time I had been up the peak, and the faint boot path was in better shape than I remember, so apparently getting some traffic. What were past memories of wallowing in slide alder, avoided entirely this time around.  It is helpful to stay on route. At the bottom of the summit block, entering the hidden gully off the boulder fan by staying slightly to right and ascending the rock was cleaner than keeping to the gully. Once you top out of the gully, you traverse upward to a notch which puts you on the North side of the mountain. What could have been lingering recent snow from the week before was gone and the exposed ledge was snow free. With a good group we were able to make the summit around noon.  On the way down we searched out what was described in one post as an “ infinity tarn “,which is pretty cool but, alas, not deep enough for an afternoon dip. I was hoping for  pool, not puddle.  Trip down uneventful and got back to the cars around 5:00.