Crazy Peak, Montana – On the Verge of EPIC with Mountaineer Jobe Wymore (7-22-17)

Day 15 of Lupe’s 2017 Dingo Vacation to the Wind River Range, Wyoming & Select Peaks in Montana

Dawn.  Lupe sat bright-eyed on SPHP’s lap listening to Morning Dew by the Grateful Dead.  She gazed intently out the window of Jobe’s silver Jeep Rubicon.  Jobe was expounding on Jerry Garcia’s musical talents as he drove.  Lupe listened politely as Jobe & SPHP chatted.  In truth, she was more interested in the possibility of seeing cows, deer, or squirrels along the 4WD road.

The sun was above the horizon by the time Jobe parked his Rubicon at a 6,900 foot elevation saddle on Crazy Peak’s SE ridge.  An old pickup truck was already parked nearby, but no one was around.  Good.  This was it!  Lupe’s big chance to climb Crazy Peak (11,209 ft.) with Jobe had arrived!  Crazy Peak wasn’t just any mountain.  With Crazy Peak done, Jobe would be on the verge of EPIC!

This opportunity to climb Crazy Peak with Jobe had been set in motion a couple of months ago.  While looking at the results of Jobe’s week long mid-May 2017 trip to the East Coast on Peakbagger.com, SPHP discovered Jobe was now very close to completing a huge peakbagging feat – one he had been working on for more than 20 years.  Jobe was only 2 peaks away from completing the EPIC List for all 50 US states!

Millions of people have enjoyed a hike to the top of the highest mountain in one or more US states.  In fact, it’s not that hard to reach the highest point in quite a few states.  However, only the truly dedicated ever seriously dream of climbing the highest mountain in all 50 states – in addition to the travel time and expense involved, that list contains some difficult peaks requiring equipment and technical climbing skills.  Yet those 50 highest peaks are only part of what we’re talking about here.  Jobe had already been to the top of the highest mountain in every state.  The EPIC List goes way beyond that.

Elevation is only one statistical measure of a mountain’s claim to grandeur.  There are others.  The EPIC list also considers Prominence and Isolation.  Prominence is a measure of the minimum elevation one would have to lose from a mountain’s summit to travel to a higher peak by any route, no matter how long, difficult or impractical.  Isolation measures how far away it is in a direct line to the closest higher mountain.

In 19 US states, the highest mountain is also the most prominent and has the most isolation.  The same mountain ranks 1st in all three categories.  However, in the other 31 states, 2 or 3 different peaks can claim to be either the highest, most prominent, most isolated, or some combination thereof.  Consequently, the EPIC List for the 50 US states includes not just 50, but 96 different peaks.

Only Bob Packard among all Peakbagger.com account holders has climbed all 96 peaks on the EPIC List.  Now Jobe was only 2 peaks away!  What caught SPHP’s eye was where those remaining unclimbed peaks were.  Both were in Montana, a state that borders South Dakota where Lupe lives.  Mount Cleveland (10,466 ft.) with 98.18 miles of isolation is the most isolated peak in Montana.  Located in the far NW part of the state in Glacier National Park, anti-Dingo regulations prevent Lupe from ever doing anything there.

The other summit Jobe was lacking was Crazy Peak (11,209 ft.).  With 5,709 ft. of prominence, Crazy Peak is the most prominent mountain in Montana.  Located in S central Montana in the Gallatin National Forest, it wasn’t nearly as far away as Mount Cleveland.

Crazy Peak has a spot on a lot of peakbagging lists, not just the EPIC list.  Early in 2017 SPHP had considered including Crazy Peak among the mountains Lupe might want to climb this summer.  A little research on Peakbagger.com had squelched that idea.  Every trip report was on the same ascent route, and most mentioned Class 4 terrain on the way to the summit.  SPHP didn’t know much about the rating system, but knew enough to realize that Lupe needed to stay far away from anything approaching Class 4.

Now a new idea crept into SPHP’s noggin.  Even if Lupe couldn’t climb Crazy Peak, wouldn’t it be fun to go there when Jobe with his superior skills climbed it?  Lupe and SPHP could still go partway up the mountain, and congratulate Jobe on his success when he returned from the summit on his way back down.  Lupe could still bask in her friend Jobe’s glory!

Well, maybe.  Lupe and SPHP didn’t really know Jobe very well.  In response to an email from Jobe, Lupe had scouted out conditions on Odakota Mountain (7,200 ft.) in the Black Hills back in late March of 2016 prior to a trip he was planning to western Nebraska and possibly South Dakota.  When Jobe subsequently arrived in the Black Hills on April 2nd, 2016, Lupe went with him to Odakota Mountain.

Lupe and SPHP had even followed Jobe all the way to the Wildcat Hills of Nebraska for an adventure down there that same day.  Jobe had treated Lupe very kindly the whole time.  When Lupe’s paws got sore, Jobe carried her to safety past the painful cactus that grew in profusion all over those desolate Nebraska hills.  Since then Jobe had occasionally stayed in touch via email.

Jobe was a great guy, but perhaps he had other plans for Crazy Peak with more experienced and capable climbers, or maybe he’d rather go solo than bother with a Carolina Dog?  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Didn’t hurt to ask.  On 5-23-17, SPHP sent Jobe an email.  When was Jobe planning on taking on Crazy and Cleveland?  Which would he tackle first?

A response came within a couple hours.  Jobe would likely take on Crazy Peak first.  The unique permitting process for climbing Mount Cleveland in Glacier National Park might cause an attempt on that peak to be delayed longer than Jobe would like.

On 5-25-17, SPHP sent another email.  This one popped the big question.  Lupe would be gone all of August, 2017, but if Jobe was planning on climbing Crazy Peak before then, would he mind if Loop and SPHP tagged along partway up?  Loop and SPHP had no delusions of reaching the top, and promised not to hold Jobe back from getting there himself.

Again came a quick response – an unexpected one.  All Jobe said was “Here’s some forwarded pics of Victor Zhou’s solo ascent of Crazy’s East Ridge from last summer.”  Eleven photos were attached.  SPHP got excited.  Those photos showed a big long ridge that got progressively rockier approaching Crazy’s summit.  The first part of the ridge was cake!  Lupe could get way higher on Crazy Peak than SPHP had thought.  Maybe she could even reach the summit!  It was hard to tell from the last few photos just what dangers might lurk among all that rock?

What was this, though, about an East Ridge route?  All the trip reports on Peakbagger.com mentioned coming up the W ridge.  Some mentioned going down the N ridge.  None of the reports or GPS tracks showed an attempt from the E.  Victor Zhou had climbed Crazy Peak on 7-20-16, but like most climbers, had not submitted a trip report or GPS track.  There were two E ridges, too.  One to the NE and one to the SE.  Which one did Victor climb?  After a look at the topo map, SPHP concluded Victor must have gone up the SE ridge.

SPHP fired off another email to Jobe expressing these thoughts.  Again Jobe responded quickly:

The route Victor climbed is unconventional and I have no idea why others haven’t climbed it with more regularity in the past.  It’s almost like everyone reads a particular trip report that mentions a specific route and that automatically becomes the only option?  The “normal” route is Class 4 where Victor’s is no more than Class 3 tops.  Might get a little sharp but not scary.  It’s definitely not the NE Ridge he ascended but I can ask him the definitive route (start location) and get back to ya.  He calls it the “East Ridge”.  If you want to meet and take a crack at it somewhere around July 22nd, I’m all in.

That’s all it took.  Crazy Peak was a go!

Now Lupe was really here!  Her chance to climb Crazy Peak with Jobe via Victor Zhou’s route had arrived!  Jobe led the way.  SPHP trailed behind, with Lupe bouncing back and forth between.  The first part of the trek was through forest.  Jobe headed WNW staying toward the S edge of the ridge.  Below was the deep canyon of the South Fork of Big Timber Creek.

Progress through the forest was good.  A steady, but unremarkable climb.  After a little while, the forest began to give out.  Lupe and Jobe reached a minor high point where it was possible to get a good look at the first stretch of open terrain ahead.  Nothing fancy, or anything to be the least bit concerned about was in view, just a continuation of the steady climb minus trees.

Two “minor” sub-ridges, both part of Crazy Peak’s massive SE ridge converge near HP 8448.  (See the Peakbagger.com topo map.)  Lupe, Jobe and SPHP had been following the S one.  This caused no issues on the way up, but would be important to remember on the way down.

Some distance beyond HP 8448, Jobe led Lupe and SPHP around to the N side of the ridge.  For a while, the terrain was a little easier here.  The slope down into the canyon to the N wasn’t as steep.  On the way to HP 9761, the summit of Crazy Peak came into view, still more than 2 miles to the WNW.

Even before the ridge became really rocky, SPHP was having a hard time keeping up with Jobe.  Lupe could easily enough, but the effects of the climbs of the past 2 days, and Lupe’s long adventures earlier in the Wind River Range were taking a toll on SPHP.  Though Jobe repeatedly stopped and waited, or went slowly for him, SPHP was falling farther and farther behind.

This came as no surprise.  Jobe is in far superior condition.  A mountaineer with tremendous experience and dedication to staying fit, he didn’t even look like he was trying.  Effortlessly, Jobe glided over terrain that SPHP trudged or stumbled through.  Jobe made it look so easy!  Meanwhile SPHP was having to stop repeatedly to catch breath.

The faithful American Dingo stuck mostly with SPHP as Jobe forged ahead.  SPHP’s slower pace gave her plenty of time to sniff around and relax.  She could even take short Dingo naps.

Despite falling behind, even SPHP was making reasonable progress.  Things were still looking good for reaching the summit of Crazy Peak!  The situation gradually changed, though, as the big ridge steadily narrowed and became rockier.

By the time Looper made it to HP 9761, the ridge had narrowed down a lot.  Vegetation was nearly gone.  The ridgeline was rocky and uneven.  Both sides of the ridge were steep, and comprised of a lot of loose rock.  Here, the S side of the ridge wasn’t as bad as the N.

Jobe’s superior strength and stamina were now augmented by superior balance, too.  No contest at all now.  Jobe managed to simply walk the ridgeline in lots of places where SPHP felt compelled to down climb to get around rough spots.  That burned a lot of extra time.

The agreement all along had been that Jobe should not wait for SPHP.  While conditions were favorable, he really needed to get to the top of Crazy Peak.  Time to check this one off the EPIC List!  It would be great if Lupe and SPHP could get to the top, too, but there wasn’t the same degree of urgency.  Lupe could still try to summit a little later than Jobe.

As the ridge became more difficult for SPHP, Jobe surged ahead.  Lupe watched him go.  Of course, her best bet for getting to the top of Crazy Peak would have been to just go with Jobe.  Maybe she would have liked to, but she wouldn’t abandon SPHP.

Looper and SPHP continued on, following Jobe who was getting farther and farther away.  Eventually Jobe paused at a high point and looked back, checking on Lupe’s progress.  For a moment he stood there, looking small, far away, and already much higher.

Jobe knew what he had to do.  A moment later, he was gone.  Lupe and SPHP were alone.  There was nothing else to do, but keep chugging along.

Lupe was still making progress up Crazy Peak’s big SE ridge, but SPHP was frustrated with the pace.

Oh, Looper, I’m sorry, but maybe you should have gone with Jobe!

What!  Why?

I’m just too slow on this steep, loose stuff.  Our pace isn’t exactly scintillating, as you may have noticed.

Yes, but we’re getting there.  We’ll just keep going like we always do.

True.  So far so, good.  Nothing’s stopped us yet, but I’m afraid we’ll run out of time.  We can’t be coming back in the dark like we often do.  Jobe has a 14 hour drive back home after this.  He needs to hit the road so he can get back to work.  Besides, this doesn’t seem to be getting any easier and who knows how bad the terrain is up ahead?  Those last photos that Victor Zhou took looked questionable.  We might not even be able to get there.

So Jobe might not get to the top of Crazy Peak?  That would be terrible!

No, no.  Don’t worry about that.  Victor Zhou made it.  Jobe will make it, too.  But I’m not Victor or Jobe, not by a long shot.  I’m not saying we won’t get there, but it seems like we’ve already been at this quite a while, and there’s no sign we’re anywhere near the top yet.

Well, hurry it up then!

I’m coming, sweet puppy.  Lead on!

The summit of Crazy Peak had been out of view now for a while.  It was hard to tell how encouraged or discouraged one should be.  Lupe led the way up a couple of steep sections that went pretty well.  The rocks were larger and more stable here.  SPHP managed to make the climbs fairly rapidly.  Maybe there still was enough time for Lupe to reach the top of Crazy Peak?  Hope rekindled.  It sure looked like Lupe was getting high!

When the summit of Crazy Peak came into view again, it was a sobering sight.  Despite SPHP’s spurt, Lupe remained a long way from the top of the mountain.

Ugh!  The summit’s still way over there, Looper.

Don’t give up!  We’re getting closer.

Yah, keep going, but seems like Jobe’s been gone quite a while now.  Sooner or later he’s going to reappear.  Probably sooner I would think, and we aren’t going to be close enough to justify continuing on then.

Jobe didn’t appear, though.  Lupe and SPHP carried on.  Unfortunately, the ridge was messier again.  SPHP kept down climbing to get around troublesome spots.  Slow, slow, slow!  Not good at all.

Onward, bit by bit.  Time ticked by.  Though SPHP didn’t realize it then, the next big high point Lupe could see up ahead was 10,900+ feet.  The ridge was ragged, but Lupe could get there!  The summit would only be another 300 feet higher.

Pretty soon, though, a red dot appeared.  A red dot headed this way.  Jobe was returning!  Had he made it to the summit?  He’d been gone quite a long while – surely he’d made it?  What news would he bring?

There’s Jobe, SPHP!

Yes, I see him, too.

Aren’t we going to go meet him?

No, let’s wait here Looper.  Jobe’s moving fast.  He’ll be here soon enough.  Let’s see what he has to say first.

As Jobe drew steadily nearer, SPHP took a few pictures of the views from this point Lupe had reached.  It wasn’t completely clear yet if she would be going any farther.

Jobe arrived all smiles.  Success!  Yes, he’d made it to the top.  Crazy Peak was finally done.  Only Mount Cleveland was left to do on his 50 states EPIC List!  He graciously accepted congratulations from Lupe and SPHP.

Surprisingly, Jobe had met 3 young women at the summit who came up from yet another route.  They’d camped overnight down at Crazy Lake, and had made a long trek on a steep, loose scree slope directly up the mountain.  They were concerned about the prospect of the impending rather scary trip back down to camp.  Jobe had spent some time talking to them, which was part of why he had been gone as long as he had.

So what was the rest of the route like?  Jobe said there were a few spots that were kind of sketchy with some exposure.  He’d gotten through just fine, though.  He wasn’t sure what SPHP might think, or how Lupe would fare.  A bit scary perhaps?  Jobe nodded his head indicating Lupe and SPHP were free to go on and take a crack at it.  Evidently he must have thought it was at least possible for Lupe to succeed.  It was very kind of him to be willing to wait.

First – two more key questions.  Jobe’s smart phone would have the answers.  What time was it, and what elevation had Lupe reached here?

Early afternoon.  Lupe is at 10,400 feet.

The summit of Crazy Peak looked a long way off.  (It was actually only a little over 0.5 mile away.)  Another 800 feet of elevation gain left, including some rough, sketchy territory with exposure ahead.  Most importantly, it was now afternoon.  Seven hours gone by already?  At the pace SPHP was going it would take Lupe another two hours to reach the top of the mountain.  By then it would be mid-afternoon.  That meant part of the return trip would be in darkness.

There had been plenty of time to think about things while Jobe was gone.  The terrain hadn’t stopped Lupe yet, but as much as SPHP would have liked for Lupe to succeed at climbing Crazy Peak, SPHP hesitated only a moment.

No, Jobe, we’ve timed out.  Let’s head down.

Right decision.  Lupe was happy.  Jobe was happy.  It was a relief to be going back down.  The day was a big success!  Jobe had made it to the top of Crazy Peak.  Lupe and SPHP had shared in the joy, and kept their promise not to delay him – at least not by too much.  Only Mount Cleveland to go!  Jobe indicated he might take on Mount Cleveland sometime in early August, only 2 or 3 weeks away.

Well before the sun went down, Lupe and SPHP were back in Jobe’s air-conditioned Jeep Rubicon, bouncing along comfortably.  Morning Dew and Terrapin Station by the Grateful Dead were playing.  Jobe resumed his enthusiastic dissertation on Jerry Garcia’s musical talents.  A good time, a really good time.

All too soon, Lupe was back at the G6, giving Jobe’s hand a final shake next to the Rubicon.

Brief good-byes and well wishes, then onward!  Jobe roared off in the Rubicon.  Minutes later, Lupe and SPHP were in the G6 going down the same dusty road.  Lupe resumed her usual watch for cows and horses to bark at.

SPHP soon stopped the G6 for a last look back.

Lupe’d had success climbing several nice peaks with Jobe on the previous two days.  Nevertheless, Crazy Peak (11,209 ft.) would always be the one that stood out from the others.  There it was, that long tantalizing SE ridge, forever leading skyward to the joyful moment when Lupe had stood with mountaineer and friend Jobe Wymore on the verge of EPIC!

Thanks to Victor Zhou for sharing the route on the SE ridge that Jobe used to summit Crazy Peak, and gave Lupe some hope of doing the same.

Epilogue

Although Lupe and SPHP were confident Jobe would be successful climbing Mount Cleveland in early August, 2017, Lupe wouldn’t know for certain how Jobe fared until she returned from her Summer of 2017 Dingo Vacation in September.

Lupe arrived home on 9-13-17, to find an email from Jobe waiting for her entitled “Mount Cleveland denial.  Weep, weep.”   Jobe had arrived at the National Park visitor center only to be turned away due to forest fires that had started only the evening before.  All backcountry permits via Goat Haunt had been cancelled.

So at the time of this post’s publication, Jobe remains on the verge of EPIC, only short Mount Cleveland from completing the 50 States of the USA EPIC List.  Of course, in due time Jobe will be back.  Lupe and SPHP wish him a speedy, successful and safe ascent! – 9-22-17

August, 2018 Update

Jobe eventually did complete the USA 50 States EPIC List more than a year after his adventure with Lupe on Crazy Mountain with a successful ascent of Mount Cleveland on 8-16-18.  Congratulations, Jobe!

Links:

                 Next Dingo Vacation                    Prior Adventure

            This Dingo Vacation                           Prior Dingo Vacation

Jobe Wymore on Peakbagger.com

EPIC List – States of the USA (showing all peaks and dates of Jobe’s ascents)

EPIC List – States of the USA  (showing front runners with the most ascents)

To the Wildcat Hills of Nebraska with Mountaineer Jobe Wymore (4-2-16)

Mount Powell, Montana with Mountaineer Jobe Wymore (7-20-17)

Naya Nuki Peak & Sacagawea Peak, Montana with Mountaineer Jobe Wymore (7-21-17)

Want more Lupe adventures?  Choose from Lupe’s 2017 Wind River Range, Wyoming & Select Peaks in Montana Adventure Index, Dingo Vacations Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index.  Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.