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WHY FRIENDS OF GRANITE PEAK?
Dr. Warren Bowman and Corbin Howard started FOGP in 2006. We've been hiking and
climbing in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness since we were young, more than 40 years
ago. We love this country. Both of us have taken our children into the Beartooths. It has been
utterly joyful to find the lakes and streams and mountains still as beautiful as when we first
saw them on our first adventures. We hope to take our grandchildren here to see this place
again through their eyes, unchanged from when we were boys.
Granite Peak is particularly vulnerable because of its popularity. Though we just started
collecting data last summer – and that only on weekends during the most popular climbing
period – it is obvious that hundreds are attempting the peak each summer. The Froze to
Death Plateau (one of the two favorite jumping off points) is huge, but climbers tend to camp
in a few heavily used bivy/rock shelters. With your help we'd like to protect this place by all of
us paying close attention to Leave No Trace camping principles. In short, what we want is for
you to have a powerful, safe experience here and for the Mountain never to have any
memory of your passing.
If this cannot be done voluntarily, the next step may be further regulation, reserved camping
spots, public toilets and so forth. A recent trip to Yellowstone Park will illustrate the difference.
The Black Canyon of the Yellowstone is a wonderful 18 mile hike. A group of us did this in a
day (about 8 hours of hiking). This section of the Yellowstone River is beautiful and to a
person we'd recommend it highly to you. But every campsite is marked with a metal fencepost
and a sign, the trail is broad and well maintained. It's just a lot more civilized than the Froze to
Death Plateau. We don't want that difference to be lost. We want all the wildness and the
freedom still available on Granite Peak.
Dr. Warren Bowman and Corbin Howard started FOGP in 2006. We've been hiking and
climbing in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness since we were young, more than 40 years
ago. We love this country. Both of us have taken our children into the Beartooths. It has been
utterly joyful to find the lakes and streams and mountains still as beautiful as when we first
saw them on our first adventures. We hope to take our grandchildren here to see this place
again through their eyes, unchanged from when we were boys.
Granite Peak is particularly vulnerable because of its popularity. Though we just started
collecting data last summer – and that only on weekends during the most popular climbing
period – it is obvious that hundreds are attempting the peak each summer. The Froze to
Death Plateau (one of the two favorite jumping off points) is huge, but climbers tend to camp
in a few heavily used bivy/rock shelters. With your help we'd like to protect this place by all of
us paying close attention to Leave No Trace camping principles. In short, what we want is for
you to have a powerful, safe experience here and for the Mountain never to have any
memory of your passing.
If this cannot be done voluntarily, the next step may be further regulation, reserved camping
spots, public toilets and so forth. A recent trip to Yellowstone Park will illustrate the difference.
The Black Canyon of the Yellowstone is a wonderful 18 mile hike. A group of us did this in a
day (about 8 hours of hiking). This section of the Yellowstone River is beautiful and to a
person we'd recommend it highly to you. But every campsite is marked with a metal fencepost
and a sign, the trail is broad and well maintained. It's just a lot more civilized than the Froze to
Death Plateau. We don't want that difference to be lost. We want all the wildness and the
freedom still available on Granite Peak.
Warren on Mount Foraker with Denali in
background
background
Corbin on Granite Peak 2006