The Grand Traverse is a classic ridge scramble between North Traverse Peak and Grand Traverse Peak in the Gore Range. The most common way to approach this climb is to hike up Bighorn Creek to reach North Traverse Peak, perform the traverse then descend into the Deluge Lake valley for the hike out. Doing this (or the reverse) leaves you at a different trailhead than you started at. Most groups will use a car shuttle to avoid hiking the 1.6 miles of road. Most groups will also do this route in one day.
I decided to be a little different. I’d use the standard route outlined above (some other options to return to your starting trailhead exist) but I really wanted to camp out and I didn’t have any one to car shuttle with. I slimmed down all my backpacking gear until everything fit in my large “day” pack and hiked up Bighorn Creek. I figured I was carrying roughly 4 extra pounds of gear that wouldn’t have been in my normal day pack. That included a tarp, lightweight bivy sack, sleeping pad, small pad, metal cup, stove and fuel.
While hiking up the valley I had a nice view of the traverse above.
The hike in was much more enjoyable than many I’ve had recently due to the light pack weight. The minor sacrifice in comfort in camp was worth the extra ease during the approach hike. I’d already eaten dinner before leaving the trailhead, so after setting up camp I enjoyed a cup of hot tea and a chuck of cheese.
The stars were out in force once the sun went down and before the half-moon came up. Other than a couple sprinkles, the weather remained clear. Before 5am my alarm went off and I packed up camp while savoring a cup of coffee. By the aid of my headlamp I worked my way up the valley and started a rising traverse toward the saddle north of North Traverse Peak. Unfortunately, I should have stayed low in the valley and taken a direct line to the saddle once I reached its base. The slopes I found myself walking across were loose rocks and dirt waiting for an excuse to slide. Eventually, I started taking a direct line up the slope and slowly worked my way from stable rock to stable rock.
My route would bypass the saddle altogether and I actually reached the ridge crest just a little north of the summit. But thankfully, the ridge crest was many times more solid than the surrounding slopes and at 6:30 I found myself on the top of North Traverse Peak.
I took a break on the summit and admired the sun rise and clear morning light striking the Grand Traverse ridge.
The beginning of the traverse was pretty easy, but with lots of exposure on the east side of the ridge. Pretty soon, the difficulties increased and I found myself occasionally consulting the copied guidebook description for recommendations on which way to pass or climb the various gendarmes on the ridge.
I was happy to find that the extra weight in my pack wasn’t interfering with my scrambling much. While moving along I thought of other routes where I could use this approach of camping out at the base and carrying lightweight backpacking gear on the climb.
About 8am I found myself arriving at the summit of Grand Traverse Peak. I could look back and admire the ridge I’d just traversed.
I found a summit register on this peak, and decided to sign it even through I rarely do so these days. While admiring the morning I looked ahead and decided to add Valhalla to my day. I’d continue along the ridge crest in the same direction to reach its summit. Hence the upgrade from “Grand Traverse” to the Grander Traverse.
From Grand Traverse Peak’s summit I dropped down the ridge and southeast face until I was level with the low point connecting it and Valhalla. Then I traversed over and found evidence of mountain goat paths working around the rocks and gendarmes on this ridge. The path mostly stayed to the south of the ridge, just below the crest. The gendarmes that I did climb directly all ended with simple downclimbs on the backside. However, the rock here was looser than on the Grand Traverse, probably due to fewer climbers coming this way. Surprisingly, this was also the route of the first recorded ascent in 1943 of Valhalla.
The last couple gendarmes were easy passed on the ridge, while staying on the grass or semi-solid talus. A bit before 9:30 I reached the summit and briefly contemplated a “Grandest Traverse” by continuing on to Snow Peak. Impure thoughts kept me from continuing on as I contemplated how good a shower, rest and fresh food would taste.
So I backtracked to the grassy slopes and inched my way down to Deluge Lake. The descent route was pretty awful – loose rocks and dirt followed by some stumbling through old rock moraines.
Reaching Deluge Lake was a nice end to the descent.
Now I just had to hike the Deluge Lake trail back to a parking lot where my car wasn’t. Oh yeah, there was still that 1.6 miles of shadeless road paralleling I-70 to hoof back to my car. With the light pack I managed to jog the whole stretch of Bighorn Road. It was actually the longest run I’ve done in years, and I’m sure I provided a sight to all the drivers as I jogged along with my climbing helmet bouncing around on my pack.
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The Journey Is Home 