Triple Traverse and Cottonwood Ridge
The Triple Traverse refers to the four peaks above Broads Fork on the Cottonwood Ridge: The Twins, Sunrise, and Dromedary. Between the Twins and Sunrise is a small peak known as Jeppson's Folly. The story is of some earnest fellow named Jeppson carried a mailbox up Broad's Fork, intending to install it upon Sunrise Peak, to be used as a house for a summit register. However, as he climbed up from the saddle under the Twins, he entered a cloud and lost visibility. He believed he had reached the summit of Sunrise, but was on the lower, smaller unnamed peak.
Ryan Lauck and I hiked briskly up the Braod's Fork trail early Saturday morning. We are both capable of running 99% of the trail, but with WF100 coming in less than a week we went easy. We reached the sumit of the East Twin via the North Ridge in 3 hours (something I can do in less than 2 hours); then I made a 10 minute run over to the West Twin and back. The scramble down to the saddle has fun climbing, and we moved quickly but not at racing speed. Up and over the big peaks. I have been over those peaks every which way, in every season. Spring mountaineering is my favorite time to go up. Our intent was to traverse the Cottonwood Ridge to Superior, then descend Mill B past Blanche Lake and back to the trailhead. We had progressed to more than halfway across the ridge when we both heard the delicate sound of thunder. We happened to be at a place on the ridge to easily bail out down to the lakes. We had a good run to the lakes, then down the Blanche trail. We ran full speed on the lower trail. I enjoyed the feeling of flying over rocks and dodging hikers( strange that two hikers, when seeing me flying down the trail toward them actually stepped directly into my path for some reason. Idiots.) I took one fall but it was not bad, although my left-side gel flask exploded in my pocket.
I have traversed the Cottonwood Ridge in its entirety at least three times, not counting this fourth attempt, and each time it is a long, difficult, grinding traverse. But it is worth it.
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