Run Don’t Walk Redemption - Mt. Owen

Teton Range, WY

Date: June 21, 2022

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/7359055122

Trip Report:

After an attempt on Run Don’t Walk the previous season with Chris that was thwarted by spindrift and lack of ice, I came back to give it another shot with Aidan. My previous attempt was in April which provided full on winter conditions. The downside of “early” season conditions is that you are forced to start from Taggart Lake Trailhead which adds a few miles to both the approach and the depproach. Also, we found vertical snow instead of ice on the second WI4 pitch. The big upside to early season attempts is that it makes crossing Cascade Creek a walk in the park. Later in the season in June, the creek can run pretty violently and has been known to sweep climbers off their feet attempting to cross it.

We received a report that a party had attempted the route the previous week but had turned around due to objective hazard from falling ice and rock. Armed with this information, we knew an early start was in order. I also diligently watched the weather to find a day with no chance of precipitation, very low freezing levels the night before, and daytime highs close to freezing. I learned last year, RDW is the last place you want to be with any amount of snow falling. It earns its name as everything funnels into the narrow couloir. We started from Jenny Lake Boat Ramp at midnight after a not so restful night of sleep. Thankfully, all the signs at the boat ramp say “No Hiker Parking” so we were in the clear. After a few navigational hiccups near the bridges leading to the boat ramp, we were on Cascade Canyon Trail and heading up the creek. We ended up having to whip out ice tools long before we expected after bumping into a large Grizzly Bear very close to the trail. Thankfully, it decided we didn’t look too tasty. We made quick work of the trail miles and were finally in line with the base of McCain’s Pillar Couloir. We started trying to find a spot to cross the creek which was running quite big due to all the snow melt. We wasted about an hour finding a spot to cross but eventually worked our way up stream to find some fallen logs to cross on.

We thought that crossing the creek was going to be the crux of the day, so we were very relieved to get to the other side of the creek. From here, we should have walked along the bank of the creek to get to the base of MPC. I checked weekly satellite imagery and saw that the snow levels in the couloir were still close to the creek. Instead, we got vert antsy and started heading up and right knowing we would intersect MPC. It progressively got thicker and steeper until we were having to use our ice tools to hook trees to pull ourselves up. It had rained the day before, so pretty soon we were drenched head to toe from combatting the heavy vegetation. I could feel sitting water in my boats which was not a good start to the day. This was easily 5.12 level bushwacking. I later told Aidan that if he had suggested to turn around while we were bushwacking, I would have been more than game. Thnakfully, he didn’t and we proceeded on. The icing in the cake, was bumping into another bear that we heard but didn’t see until we were just a few feet away due to the thick bush. Thankfully this one was a black bear and quickly scurried off after we shined our headlamps on it.

After an extremely physically and mentally taxing start to the day, we were finally on snow in MPC and it was a glorious feeling. We went from fighting for every bit of vert to dispatching over a thousand feet in no time. After a quick break to unsuccessfully attempt to dry out my boots, we were at the base of the slabs a little after 5:30 am. This slab band marks the divide between MPC and RDW. On the previous attempt, there was no ice over the rock. This time, there was a thin sheet of ice over the slabs but not enough ice to help, so we took a mixed variation on the right side. Two pitches of moderate mixed climbing in the 5.5 range allowed us passage through the rocky section and we were back on steep snow booting up to the base of the first true ice pitch. We arrived at the base of the first WI4 ice pitch a little after 8 am and I took the lead. It was in pretty snicey shape which made for easy climbing, but poor protection. The objective hazard from falling snow and ice was present but manageable. The climbers right wall of RDW gets blasted by the sun first thing in the morning which causes all the ice suspended on the wall to fall down. Thankfully, most of it was just small icicles. The first ice pitch is a 60m rope stretcher and I built a belay in the curtain of ice at the base of the next pitch. Luckily, I still had 2 screws left. On the previous attempt, we were greeted to vertical snow on the second ice pitch which ultimately shut us down, but this time the ice was in good shape and was straightforward WI4-. After the second ice pitch, RDW significantly opens up which decreases the objective hazard and turns into a steep snow slog.

After topping out RDW, I took another break to dry out my boots which involved stuffing my R1 into my boots to try to suck up all the standing water. It seemed like the insulation inside the boots held an infinite amount of water and all my efforts to dry them out were fruitless. Note to self: don’t bring La Sportiva Trango Ice Cubes next time; Aidan was rocking Scarpa Phantom Techs and had nearly dry feet. We traversed left across the upper section of the North East Snowfields until we hit the East Ridge and then kept traversing until we were at the base of the Koven. This section was pretty straight forward but felt longer than expected. It was both Aidan and I’s first time on the Koven so we struggled with the route finding. The climbing quickly turned much harder than 5.4, especially with crampons and tools. I got duped into thinking I was on route by heading towards an existing anchor which I later learned is the rap route, not the ascent route. I dispatched some awkward, off width climbing right below the existing anchor and eventually headed hard left which I should have done far earlier. I’ll include a picture below that shows the correct way to go. We found the elevator shaft section that leads to the summit and finally were standing on the top of Mt. Owen at 3:30 pm; a little bit later than we expected.

We made 2 raps to get back to our packs at the base of the Koven and headed down to Koven Col. We headed down the Koven Couloir (I know, too many Kovens, it’s confusing) and we were greeted to continuous snow all the way down to Teton Glacier. No raps were needed thankfully. Most of the descent beta mentions hopping over the ridge to get back to Amphitheater lake, but we were pretty worked at this point and we’re dreading the thought of climbing more, even if it was only a few hundred feet, so we decide to roll the dice and descend down Delta Lake. Our gamble paid off, and it was pretty easy going to get to delta lake with only minimal boulder hopping and from there we were on an established trail. I still don’t know why you’d hop over to Amphitheater Lake from Teton Glacier.

We were finally back on the Garnet Canyon Trail, and bumped a family of black bears hanging out in a tree next to the trail (Bear Number 5 on the day). We made it to the trailhead a little before dark, wrapping up a 21 hour day. It also happened to be the summer solstice, and I can confidently say, we made the most of every minute of daylight on the longest day of the year. The climbing was never too difficult, but it was still a proud day out as the entirety of the vert is done off trail and we got to climb some pretty stellar water ice in the Alpine.