Hiking on loose small granite scree

[Charles W]

Just finished a 29 miler which included a couple of miles of non-trail steep downhill on deep, loose granite scree (think 2 feet of Grus blanketing the mountainside.) I found both my technique and equipment not up to the task and left the mountain well-scraped and chastened.  Since then I’ve been looking to get smarter and better prepared for the next encounter.  Open to technique and equipment recommendations.  Many thanks for your helpful replies!

[Ryan Jordan]

Granite scree can be brutal. And it’s not very friendly to trail running shoes.

Good screed technique is not unlike good technique on steep snow descents. There’s some plunge-stepping (heel first strike) and stout poles really help.

If I know I’m going to be on a root with significant amounts of scree, I may consider a more durable shoe and more durable trekking poles with snow baskets.

I like leather approach shoes like the Scarpa Crux and stuff, strong poles like the Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork for these conditions.

[Charles W]

Seems spot on.  Well, I was, indeed, using my fave Merrill Moab trail runners, which did not have enough bite to hang on.  I wasn’t heel plunging, either, which likely caused a slip.

We were following a Gaia listed work around “trail” which was more like a well worn slide path.  Questioning whether any of that was a good idea.  Maybe should just break fresh scree?

I’ve also read some conflicting advice – some advocating plunging straight down and getting it over with (which seems like a really bad, high momentum, high friction fall if you slip) and others advocating doing your own switch backing to avoid creating too much momentum or a slide.

[DWR D]

“think 2 feet of Grus blanketing the mountainside”

No idea what that means… dictionary says Grus “1 : the type genus of Gruidae consisting of the typical cranes. 2 astronomy : a southern constellation that is visible between the constellations of Piscis Austrinus and Tucana and that is represented by the figure of a crane ”

Anyway… whatever you mean… you need REAL Boots to do scree well… technique will vary depending… scree can vary a lot…. patience and experimentation to find best technique helps… though I have done it it trail runners, if I know there is extensive scree, I will wear boots instead. As for Gaia… I would not fully trust any of the info on mapping apps… who knows where that came from… some equivalent to gossip or wishful thinking. When going off trail, best to be prepared mentally for anything and the right gear.

my 2 cents…

[Charles W]

Thanks for the reply and suggestion for using boots.  Grus is a geology term for decomposing granite – evocative of the size and character (lots of small sharp edged gravelly pieces of rotted granite.)  At the depth on this mountainside it was almost like a thick layer of snow.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grus_(geology)?wprov=sfti1

I think one error I made (in addition to having shoes too light for the job) was to treat it as a trail and not as an off-trail challenge – because I was “following” the trail on Gaia (and also, in fairness, it was recommended by the NPS Ranger.) So next time, I think I’ll treat this more as an off-trail situation and consider the heel-first recommendation earlier made.  The mapping function wasn’t terribly necessary, as I could, from start to finish, see where I wanted to end up.

[DWR D]

managed expectations, attitude, and patience are 90% of the solution to scree… and talus

sturdy footwear and poles are very helpful…

[Author]

Posts