Dumbell and Greenwood Mountains

Dumbbell Mountain - 8421' - SW Face Class 3
Greenwood Mountain - 8415' - West Ridge Class 3
July 2013

My Greenwood Mountain page on SP

Dumbell Mountain from Upper Phelps Basin

Greenwood Mountain from Cloudy Pass

Fletcher and I met up at Coles Corner at 8am Tuesday morning July 23rd and we made the treacherous drive back to Phelps Creek. We were moving at 9:45. No creek crossings en route gave us much trouble. Passed a scout troop coming out and a USFS crew clearing down logs, arriving at Spider Meadow at 11:30. Neither of us had ever been there, awesome place. After a quick break, we cruised through the meadow and to the junction with the trail to Lyman Lakes. Upon entering Phelps Basin we reviewed our route description and checked out the map. Phelps Basin is quite scenic and the route above to Dumbell is awesome. The route follows a tumbling creek that cuts its way through an otherwise fairly cliffy face. Lots of small waterfalls to entertain you along the way. Eventually, grass and heather gives way to talus as you enter the basin south of Dumbell's summit. We decided to go tag Greenwood first because it is further out. We ascended loose scree and talus up to Dumbell's south ridge, then scrambled to the notch below the summit. The ledge to Greenwood is really cool. As other trip reports have mentioned, its just wide enough not to be scary, but airy enough to remind you of your mortality. Off the ledge and a quick hike up to the summit of Greenwood. Views were awe inspiring from such a centrally located viewpoint. Holden is visible from here as well but not from Dumbell.

After a lengthy summit stay it was time to finish off the trip. The descent was quick and the ledge was just as fun the second time around. Back at the notch, we broke out the axes and decided to traverse some steep snow towards the notch we needed to get to on Dumbell. We had crampons but didn't use them. After crossing the exposed band of rock we crossed a bit more snow to where we could start scrambling up to the ridge to the summit. The way we ended up gaining the ridge was pretty exposed but the rock was solid. We reached the summit of Dumbell around 5pm. Views were awesome once again. The summit register is full and overflowing. Didn't linger on Dumbell for too long as it was getting late. We scrambled back down the ridge and found the hidden gully mentioned in some route descriptions, granting easier access down the steeper rock section. Back on snow, we worked our way down the safest route to where the runout was good enough for me to glissade and Fletcher to plunge step. Back to safer terrain, we descended back down to Phelps Basin, making use of the snow where it was present. We marched out from Phelps Basin in 2 hours, arriving back at the car at 8:30, satisfied by another great scramble in the hills.
-18 miles
-5800 ft of gain
-10 hrs 45 min