gun runners

Dan Hilden and Blake Herrington completed the first traverse of the Gunsight Range in the Cascades of Washington State. Their route, Gunrunner (IV 5.10 A1) traverses the sawtooth ridge from north to south. Herrington shared this trip report with Rock and Ice:

"Dan Hilden, and myself, both from Washington State, journeyed to one of the most remote spots in the lower-48 to climb on what Fred Beckey calls some of the best rock in the Cascades. The approach included a 50-mile boat ride, 10-mile shuttle bus ride, 10 miles on trail, and 5,000' of vertical off-trail gain through bushwacking and glacier travel. We were able to do a complete traverse of all 4 summits of the Gunsight Range, climbing the north faces and rappeling the south sides. The climb was 18 pitches 5.10 A1, on mostly splitter granite. The lack of a working headlamp meant that the final pitch as well as rappels, including a free-hanging rappel over the moat onto a glacier at the end of the day were done in almost total darkness. Dan Hilden and myself have a combined age of just 41."

Online-Only Images:
On the first pitch

The west face still awaits a free ascent

The fourth pitch