On Day 4 I woke up, had breakfast and began heading up the trail once more. I had one serious creek crossing that made me glad that I had gotten up early and not waited till the snow melt made it much worse.

I finally got above the treeline, and continued up the wide glacial valley.

Just before ascending beyond the treeline.

It wasn't too much longer that I turned the corner and was able to see the peaks at the end of the glacially carved valley and the Gooseneck glacier. I hiked all of the way to the end of the trail and set up camp in one of the rock rings.

Next I took just a daypack and went forward through the boulderfields until I came to one of the small tarns, in order to get a better view of what I would need to climb the next day.

I would need to make my way to the base of the Gooseneck, cross the bergschrund and then follow the ridge to the right all the way to the top.

Looking up towards Gooseneck Glacier and Gannet Peak.

At this point I took a nap, then had a conversation with two other climbers about the route and weather. Later on that day the couple that I had passed the day before arrived and setup camp in one of the nearby rock rings.

Looking back down the canyon

I took several time lapses, organized my gear, ate well and discovered a bronze plague below the camp where a pioneer's ashes had been scattered. Then I crawled into by sleeping bag and tried to get some sleep for the summit attempt.

Continued

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