Electric Peak in the distance
I ran/climbed 10,969-foot Electric Peak in the northwestern corner of Yellowstone on Friday, (7/28/2023), it was a long though spectacular day. Terry and I left Bozeman at 6:40 am. She dropped me at the trailhead for a 9:15 start, with a commitment that I would be back at 4:15, giving me 7 hours to complete the out-and-back.
The late start meant that I would be running well into the heat of the day. In the first, and last, 7 miles the trail undulates up and down gently through meadows and forests with a net of only 900 feet of elevation gain. I finally reached the base of the mountain in mile 8 and it quickly got steep. The climbers’ trail was black sand, no switchbacks, just straight up the face toward what I thought might be the peak, but learned was a false summit from 3 climbers who were descending. I climbed 2,400 feet in miles 8 and 9, after which I got my first view of the summit ridge and the actual summit. It looked daunting. The ridge was rocky, with big blocks of stone that I wasn’t sure I could surmount, and a final imposing summit tower.
First view of the summit tower
I followed the climbers trail and started up the ridge. The trail led me to a narrow stretch of ridge that was solid stone. It was flat, the holds were bulletproof, but there was no bottom. It was easy class 5, but it was still class 5. The ridge ended after about 50 feet and I was faced with what appeared to me to be an impassable block of stone 20 or more feet tall. I was thinking this is it, I can’t safely go any farther. But then I remembered what a climber I had met in the forest earlier in the day told me; always choose to look and go left when on the summit ridge. I looked left and I saw a cairn at the base of the block about 50 feet away. To get there I had to drop off the ridge, traverse through scree along the bottom of the block and climb a class 4 corner. This got me around the block and the cairn’s continued until the climbers’ trail again became evident and led me to the base of the summit tower where I found a chimney. It was also class 4, with lots of loose rock, but with careful hand and foot placements it had great holds. I quickly surmounted it then hiked along the ridge as it rose gently until I finally stood on the summit.
Once there I tried to relax for a few minutes and I took lots of pictures. There was no one else up there; I was the last of 5 climbers for the day. I knew though that I wouldn’t really relax until I was off the summit ridge and well back along the trail.
Summit ridge
I started back, downclimbing the two class 4 sections and the class 5 ridge. Once those were behind me, I started jogging. I stopped at the end of the summit ridge to adjust my gear and eat my first bite of food since I’d left the car that morning. I had spent an hour negotiating the climb and descent of the summit ridge. This slow pace was going to make a 4:15 arrival time unlikely. The descent of the face reminded me of the College “M” trail to the Bridger Ridge, but it was a few degrees steeper and slow going. I didn’t start making good time until I got to near the base of the mountain.
It was mid-afternoon. It was warm. I was dressed in long sleeves and long pants for sun protection. I still had 7 miles to go. I cranked out a steady stream of 14–16-minute miles. My mouth was dry. I started with 84 ounces of water and electrolyte drink, but I sensed I was running out, and I was becoming dehydrated. I started limiting drinks to one good swallow every mile in the hope that would leave me enough to get to the finish. I ran past a few small streams and thought, if I was back in the 1980s before water filters and before I had gotten cases of both giardia and campy bacteria, I would have had a “dipper” cup with me and I would have just dipped it into that cool delicious water that I am hopping over.
Flowers on the lower mountain slope
The last few miles were through meadows with little shade. I made it to the car at 4:43, 28 minutes behind schedule. I had completed 18.7 miles with 4600 feet of climbing.
It was a great plan for a last big training effort before the Ridge Run. It was so much more than just another training run. I got to climb a mountain in Yellowstone that I had long coveted. I found that I was up to the challenge of both the climb and the heat. I was tired at the end, but I never fell apart, and after a good dinner and night of sleep at Roosevelt Lodge, I felt great. The statistics on my Garmin showed that I recovered well overnight. I did a short, active recovery, run at the top of the Beartooth Plateau the next morning, and I did my first tapering run on Sunday morning, 10 miles at an easy pace in my neighborhood. Friday’s hard effort had no lasting effects.
I feel more ready for the Ridge Run than I have felt in the 3 previous times I completed this race. I don’t have a good sense of how fast I will be able to run it, but I feel ready for the effort it will require. I expect to be able to take the challenges it presents in stride and just keep going.
Views from the top:
The southern Gallatins
The Sphinx and Lone Mountain
Index and Pilot Peaks
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