mountaineers route - 5.9 popular

I wanted to do Fine Line but Kevin and Deb wanted Mountaineers route. We summit at dusk then made the mistake of going left down the slabs towards to river instead of swinging around to the gully and walking then raping past the tusk to camp. Our only head lamp died shortly after only an hour. A fire that weekend rained white ash which blocking the moon and stars, ash had been falling like snow all day to the ground. We walked hours low to the ground tripping and falling over downed trees and brush in pitch-blackness. It is amazing that one of us did not loss an eye that night. We were forced to repel twice. The first I could barely make out the out line of the tops of trees. I tied a runner around a tree and we rapped. We proceeded to stumbled threw thick bushwhack towards the sound of the river wanting water and some source of direction. We then ran across cliff bands that dropped off out of sight. I setup and anchor we rapped on two 200-foot ropes not knowing how far down it went. I hit ground and pulled the remaining few feet threw my belay device, the others followed. Pulling the ropes one rope got stuck. We yanked and yanked until we decided to leave it and headed once again to the sound of the river. It was really cold down by the river, we drank water, found a hole in the ground then struggled all night to be on the bottom of the pile of bodies to stay warm. The next day we returned to base camp and slept. Later that day we combed the area and could not find the rope or any familiar land marks of our epic adventure. Headlamps don’t leave home without them and just because one way down looks faster, follow the decent outlined in the topes.