Rams Horn Mountain, 9,553'--2007/01/13
Lily Mountain, 9786
Adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park
Lily Mountain Trailhead, at 8,780'
3.5 Miles RT
1,650 Cumulative Elevation Gain
From trailhead bushwhack directly up east slopes of Lily Mountain and then scramble along rocky summit ridge to its top; descend to saddle between Lily and Rams Horn Mountain before bushwhacking up southern slopes of Rams Horn to its rocky summit . Take in one of Teddys Teeth on descent to saddle; loop down along eastern flank of Lily Mountain to trailhead.
Steve Martin, Carolyn Randall
My climbs this past year have included several repeats or original summits of features having a "sheep" theme–Sheep Mountain (RMNP), Sheep Rock (RMNP), Bighorn Mountain (RMNP), and Sheep (aka Round) Mountain off Big Thompson Canyon, a ranked peak of Larimer County. So it seemed natural as I was selecting a peak or two for the weekend to choose Rams Horn Mountain that pops up between Gianttrack and Lily Mountains just south of Estes Park–getting to its top in winter would complete the "sheeps" of the near area for me.
Carolyn and I anticipated an easy day–heck, only 3 ½ miles and hardly over 1,500 feet of gain. Simple, correct? Well, this turned out to be fairly grueling. But it started off in a really nice way as a bobcat loped across the highway directly in front of us and then stopped for 20 or 30 seconds only 20 feet from us, broadside, before leisurely turning and presenting its spotted backside to us! It then ambled off in a cocky, slow fashion. That was the easy part of our day, but what a very, very nice beginning!
The trailhead is barely plowed out and offers room for only a single vehicle–even then, any parked car is quite close to the Highway 7 road border. We noted that there was limited past activity on the Lily Mountain Trail from previous snowshoers. We didn’t use the trail, and have no idea how far up the gradual trail has been broken. We left the car at 9:30 AM and started directly up the east side of the mountain–it’s 1,000 feet of gain from TH to summit, and the initial 500 feet are steep. With the fairly deep snow that was underlain by a layer of sugar snow, the slope grade was sometimes almost at the limit for snowshoeing. Often, in especially steep places, we’d break through into the sugar snow and slip downward, over and over. So we got a good workout over that first 500 feet! Above about 9,300 feet the slope angle moderated, and the going became easier, yet we still encountered short bands of steepness on snow that wanted to bring us down. We were a bit tired when we arrived at the summit ridge, where we needed to remove and pack the ‘shoes and do a good stretch of fun Class 3 scrambling on mixed granite/snow.
Views from the top of Lily are impressive–with Twin Sisters dominating the southeastern quadrant. Toward the south Meadow Mountain and St. Vrain were nicely highlighted in the partially clear skies we enjoyed (no wind!!), but looking fairly puny compared to their big brothers (Meeker and Longs) just to their right. We could look down the entire span of the Continental Divide peaks, from McHenry’s to Sprague, and Stone’s stood out in its majestic isolation from the others (quite beckoning!). The entire sweep of the Mummy Range was beautifully laid out before us–and to the north and east we could see some of the other "sheeps"–Bighorn Mountain, Sheep Mountain, and Sheep (Round) Mountain. Rams Horn seemed so near and appealing to us as we enjoyed the vistas to the north, and beyond it Gianttrack rose up. We ate a sandwich while admiring all these mountains–objects of previous trips that pleasantly came back to mind as seen from this vantage. Two ranked but unnamed peaks of the Park (X 10,567 and X 10,134, sometimes called "Thunder Peak) rose up to the westsouthwest, just north of Estes Cone. This was the best view I’ve had of them; I realized that I need to move them onto my climbing objectives for 2007.
Even the descent from Lily to its saddle with Rams Horn took longer than I had anticipated–the granular snow plus lots of small deadfalls hidden by deep snow combined to reinforce need for constantly controlling downward momentum. From the saddle we bushwhacked up the southern aspect of Rams Horn. It’s steep, but would be easy without snow. We gained the summit block from the west side, up an easy gully, after removing our snowshoes again. Weather remained pleasant, so we spent more "high" time appreciating the magnificent surroundings before starting down. A series of separate granitic structures that have fairly sheer western aspects are conspicuous features on the west side of Rams Horn. These are Teddys Teeth, named after someone’s likening them to the white pearlys sported by Teddy Roosevelt. These are easily accessed, and we stood atop one before we started down to the saddle. From the saddle we bushwhacked along the 9,000-foot contour expecting to locate the Lily Mountain Trail to follow down to the trailhead. No such luck. We contoured our way back to the TH breaking snow all the way.
Well, our 4-hour (anticipated) outing turned into one of 6 3/4-hour duration. Tough going, but a good day!
Update Nov. 29th
Hello all!
This is the first installment in the Aconcagua Adventure. As you will know from the itinerary, the team traveled from Colorado to Argentina starting with a departure yesterday morning. They had no problems with the flights other than some minor delays which were inconsequential. So they, and all their baggage, arrived safely. They obtained their Acon climbing permits and have traveled to Penitentes to spend the night. They have already repacked and transferred the items to be taken by mules to Plaza de Mulas so will be able to have a more leisurely morning than they had anticipated, giving them good opportunity to rest and recover from the flights. They start up the mountain about noon tomorrow. (FYI there is 4 hours time difference between Argentina and Colorado). Steve said they all felt strong and are looking forward to the start of this latest adventure. (See below for Donna's message.) Please start sending up those positive vibes to the team to help them along their way. Take care... Best... Kathy
From Donna (Vern's wife):
Just heard from Vern and he said that everything has gone very smoothly and they are in the Hotel Ayelen in Penitentes. The satellite connection was very poor.
Vern said that when they went to pay for their climbing permits they got upset as they were told it was going to cost $350 for the permit. They relaxed when they realized it was 350 pesos. If they had started on the mountain 1 day later (December 1st) the permit costs would have more than doubled, so they fortunately slipped under the date deadline and qualified for the "early" season permit rate.
Update Nov. 30th
Hello all!
I just spoke with Steve after they enjoyed a nice dinner at the camp at Confluencia at 10,890 feet. They are all feeling good and had an enjoyable day. As I reported yesterday, they had a late breakfast and were picked up for transport to the trailhead. Enroute their driver made a stop for them to visit the Climbers' Cemetery. At the Horcones Ranger Station they had the check made of their permits, which went very quickly and smoothly, and were on their way up to Confluencia a little after noon. They arrived at Confluencia about 2:20p. They had about a 1500-foot elevation gain on the hike. They hiked in shorts today and I reported to Steve that we had temperatures of minus11 this morning here in Northern Colorado. Steve reported that they had "shockingly beautiful views of the mountain" from the first bridge crossing. He said it looked so close, but the scale is so grand that the summit still towers more than 2 1/2 miles above them!
Unfortunately, it's very windy there now and tomorrow they have a much longer day planned with about 3500 foot elevation gain and about 12 miles distance involved. They have breakfast scheduled for 8a and will get going as soon as they have eaten. Hopefully, I should be reporting that they are at Plaza de Mulas tomorrow. Thank you for all the good wishes and prayers that are being extended to the team. We all appreciate the positive energy that is coming their way! Keep the good thoughts going... Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 1st--Aconcagua Adventure Continues
Hello all!
I just heard from Steve as the team was enjoying a snack of juice and fruit after reaching camp at Plaza de Mulas at 14,110 feet. It continues to be very windy and they battled very strong headwinds during the trek from Confluencia to Plaza de Mulas. They completed the 13 miles or so and gained more than 3000 feet of elevation in 7 1/2 hours. In spite of the winds they had a "great, great hike up" and the whole team is feeling very good and they are acclimatizing well. The sun is out now and views of the nearby glaciers with the sun shinning on them are "just spectacular". The summit is in clouds, however, and the climbers they encountered coming down as they were enroute to Plaza de Mulas had not summited for one reason or another. The plan is to spend 4 nights here.
They will take a short hike tomorrow, plan on a carry up to Nido (17,800 feet) the next day, and then have a final rest/acclimatization day before moving up to Camp Canada. All were in good spirits and having fun with Sudoku puzzles. Thank you for all the good wishes and prayers that are being extended to the team. We all appreciate all the positive energy that is coming their way! Keep the good thoughts going... Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 2nd--Rest and Acclimatization
Hello All!
Hope you are all enjoying the weekend. I just heard from Steve with the day's events. The team rested all morning and had lunch about 2p after which most of the team hiked to the hotel and had a cup of tea there. They had "gorgeous viewing conditions" from the windows of the common area, so had marvelous views of Aconcagua. There were hardly any winds today and it was nice and sunny. They spent part of the day repacking their expedition packs for the carry to Nido tomorrow so they are ready and should have nice weather for the carry. Tomorrow will be their second most strenuous day; Steve feels only summit day will be more difficult. Everyone is feeling well; they had a good day and are feeling rested. Dinner was being served as we were ending our call and from what Steve was describing it sounded delicious.
Thank you for all the good wishes and prayers that are being extended to the team. We all appreciate all the positive energy that is coming their way! Keep the good thoughts going... Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 3rd--A Cache Established
Hello All!
Hope you all enjoyed a relaxing weekend. Steve just checked in with this report. The team climbed to about 17,800 feet today with a bunch of equipment they will need in a few days for high camp and for their summit attempt (ice axes, crampons, heavy down clothing, snow shovel, gaiters, some food and fuel, etc.) and established a cache at Nido de Condores camp. The weather was superb with only light winds and bright, cloudless skies. They accomplished the round trip of about 3,700 - 3,800 feet elevation gain with heavy packs in about 8 hours 50 minutes. The team left Plaza de Mulas at about 9:20a and made it to Nido at about 4:10p; they cached their gear and left Nido at about 4:25p. Most of the team made it back at about 6:10p -- Ben made the return trip in only an hour--Oh to be young!! All are feeling very good with no headaches! They are planning on a rest day tomorrow with maybe some light hiking before moving up to Camp Canada at about 16,200 feet on Tuesday if weather permits. It's still a fairly steep climb with heavy packs, but only a little more than half the elevation they gained today.
Steve feels that today's effort was the second most difficult day expected, with summit day being the only day more strenuous with the plan they have in place. As far as the team is aware, there have not been any climbers summiting. There were a couple of tents at both Canada and Nido and there are probably climbers at the higher camps who may have summited today since the weather was so favorable. Dinner was being served as we were talking and from what Steve was describing it sounded like another delicious meal, so the team is eating very well. Thank you for all the good wishes and prayers that are being extended to the team. We all appreciate all the positive energy that is coming their way! Keep the good thoughts going... Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 4th--Another Rest and Acclimatization Day
Hello All!
Just had today's update from Steve and he reported some problems with getting the sat phone to charge. They have a spare battery in the cache up at at Nido, but might not have enough power to call in with an update tomorrow from Canada. They had another beautiful day today and Fernando Grajales called to the camp manager Santiago with a weather report that indicates fine weather for at least the next 4 days. Santiago will keep one of the team's radios and at a pre-arranged time each day the team will call him from higher up to learn the current weather forecast status. They are discussing options in case weather begins to deteriorate at the weekend. Their first summit opportunity as it is now planned is on Sat. Dec. 9. They finally have talked with a couple of climbers (one client and his guide, I believe) who summited today and came all the way down to Plaza de Mulas. All of our team are well rested and feeling strong. They are measuring pulse and blood oxygen saturation with a Pulse Oximeter and all have good pulses and high oxygen saturation levels, indicative of very good acclimitization progress. The team plans to move up to Canada tomorrow and to Nido the next day if all goes well. Thank you for all the good wishes and prayers that are being extended to the team. We all appreciate all the positive energy that is coming their way! Keep the good thoughts going... Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 5th--Move Up To Camp Canada
Hello All!
Just heard from Steve at the 16,200-foot camp as they were able to get the sat phone charged this morning, I think. The team had lunch at Plaza de Mulas, then began their move up at about 1:40p, and arrived at the special Grajales camp area at about 5p. The Grajales camp is about 1/3 mile from the other camping area and since the team is the first to stay there this season, it is very nice and clean. They took a slow and easy pace to accomplish the 2200 feet of elevation gain with heavy packs. Steve reported that the team is feeling good and everyone was strong on the move up. It was a beautiful, sunny day for about half the climb; then some clouds rolled in from the south and it got cloudy. It snowed about a quarter of an inch, but the sun quickly came back out and now the skies are very clear. The forecast for the next 3 days is quite favorable but then the conditions might begin deteriorating. The team left one of their radios with Santiago (Grajales' Plaza de Mulas camp manager) who will have the radio on for a pre-arranged evening call for the team so they receive the latest weather information.
The plan is for the team to move up to Nido tomorrow leaving between 11a and noon to accomplish the 1600 foot elevation gain. It is a little less elevation gain than today's, but the elevation that they will be climbing at is higher so the air will continue to "thin".
Because of the potential weather change on Saturday the team may try to advance summit day to Friday with the following schedule: move up to Nido tomorrow (Wed) and then make a full move up to high camp Thurs and prepare for a summit attempt on Fri to try to take advantage of the favorable weather. This schedule reduces their planned acclimitization period by 1 or 2 days, but because they are adjusting to the high elevation so well this acceleration of schedule shouldn't be of major concern. As I reported yesterday, they talked with a climber who summited yesterday when he returned to Plaza de Mulas. Today they met up with 6 other climbers who had also summited yesterday and were moving back down to Plaza de Mulas. So with this fairly brief window of good weather some climbers are finally making it to the top of South America! Thank you for all the good wishes and prayers that are being extended to the team. We all appreciate all the positive energy that is coming their way! Keep the good thoughts going as the team gets closer to their goal!... Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 6th--Move Up To Nido
Hello All!
Steve just checked in from Nido at about 17,715 feet. They left Camp Canada at about 12:25p and got up to Nido at about 4p. The weather was very clear with "not a cloud in the sky" and mostly light breezes. Everyone is feeling strong and all have good pulse and saturated oxygen readings. They used a little slower pace today--"a slow mountaineering pace"--which had the whole team arriving at Nido feeling very strong. They spoke with Santiago, as arranged before they left Plaza de Mulas, and he confirmed that the next two days are still predicted to be very nice weather. Thereafter, things look somewhat problematical for summiting.
The team had a meeting and the following decisions were made: Carolyn and Ben will spend the day resting at Nido tomorrow and will make their summit bid from Nido on Friday. Steve and Vern will move up to one of the high camps--either Berlin or Colera which is 200 or so feet higher (at about 19,000 and 19,200 feet respectively) and spend the night there. The distance to high camp is shorter than what they accomplished today with nice switchbacks to facilitate the climb. They will also make their summit bid on Friday. Carolyn and Ben will return to Nido to sleep and Steve and Vern will probably spend the night at high camp before heading down the mountain and meeting up with Carolyn and Ben on Saturday. Everyone is comfortable with these plans. Each pair will have a radio and have arranged call in times both to Santiago and to each other. The sat phone will go up to high camp so there should be an update tomorrow. Making the summit from one of the high camps usually averages about 9 to 12 hours. The team spoke at length with a climber who summited from Nido today and learned what equipment wouldn't be needed for the summit bid. Gear is sorted and Steve and Vern have what will be carried to high camp all figured out.
It's getting down to the wire, folks, so let's step up the positive vibes and energy being sent to the team; they can really use the extra boost over the next few days! Thank you for all the good wishes and prayers that have already been extended to the team. All of us appreciate the positive energy that is coming their way from family and friends! Keep the good thoughts going as the team sets their sights on their objective!!!!... Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 7th--Move Up To Berlin Camp
Hello All!
Steve and Vern have established their high camp at Berlin at about 19,000 feet and have reported having "a really nice tent spot with some protection from the winds". They left Nido at about 12:40p and arrived at Berlin at about 3:20p. That was a little earlier than they had planned to accomplish the 1200 feet of elevation gain since they only took two rest stops instead of their planned three. The strong wind had shifted coming more from the west and there was a cloud cover so they didn't have benefit of sunny skies to help them stay warm. Since it was very cold they needed to keep moving to be warm. Steve said they both felt strong in spite of carrying their heaviest load--remember they had carried a load to Nido earlier, so didn't have to carry as much on the moves up to Canada and Nido. The sun did come out later for quite a while and the tent warmed up nicely. They touched base with Carolyn and Ben via radio and through them with Santiago; however the weather information they received came from a guide at Plaza de Mulas so the information was most likely old. Working in total harmony, Steve and Vern have finished dinner and melted water and will be going to bed soon to prepare for tomorrow.
Steve and Vern will be getting up at about 4a to have breakfast and reheat water for the climb with a leave-at time of between 5:30 and 6a. They have pared down their gear to lighten their load to the necessities--safety gear, extra clothing, food and water, etc. They will be using a "slow measured pace" for the 3800 feet of elevation gain needed to reach the summit (Carolyn and Ben will have 5000 feet from Nido and plan to leave at about 4a). Steve and Vern have told Carolyn and Ben where their tent is and they will be stopping by on their way from Nido to see if Steve and Vern have left yet. If they are still at the tent the two teams will join up for the summit bid. If not, they have prearranged check in times of 12p and then the usual 5p with Santiago.
THIS IS IT, everybody, assuming the weather is cooperative, so let's really give it all we've got in terms of positive energy, vibes, prayers--whatever you've got--to assist our teams on their way!!! Please keep our climbers in your thoughts and I will be getting notification out as soon as I hear anything! If weather doesn't cooperate, I'll let you know that as soon as I do. Think high thoughts and safe returns... Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec.8th--THE SUMMIT!!!!
Hello All!
THEY DID IT!!! ALL FOUR OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS STOOD ON THE SUMMIT OF ACONCAGUA TODAY!!! Steve just called in with some details. He and Vern had just returned to camp and both were extremely fatigued. Steve said it was about the most exhausting day of his life; Donna confirmed later that Vern said the same thing.
Here are the details that I was able to jot down in between dropped signals. They had "rip-roaring winds" last night and into this morning. When they looked out of the tent at their planned get-up time and then an hour later it was snowy or cloudy. They stayed in bed longer and delayed their start time due to weather conditions. When Steve finally went out of the tent the sky was clearing rapidly so they decided to make their bid for the summit. They had discussed options if the weather didn't cooperate today. Just before 7:30a Ben arrived at the tent in Berlin camp with Carolyn not far behind. When Steve and Vern left at 7:30 the winds were starting to abate. Steve and Vern caught up with Carolyn and Ben at Yellow Rocks and the teams climbed together until around the Rock Tower (on the long traverse between Windy Crest and the base of the Canaleta) when they slowly separated. The perfectly clear skies held until about 2/3 of the way up the Canaleta when clouds rolled in and it snowed about an inch. Steve and Vern arrived on the summit at 4:45p making the trip from Berlin to the summit in 8 hrs 15 min!! Amazing!!! They left the summit at about 5:05p and met up with Carolyn and Ben again who were ascending about 15 minutes from the summit at about 5:15p. Carolyn and Ben probably summited at about 5:30p. They will have more details on their timing when the teams meet up again tomorrow.
Steve is figuring that Carolyn and Ben took a different, steeper, but more direct route from the Grand Traverse area back to their camp at Nido, so will not be stopping at Berlin on the way back down. Both teams had to go back down the Canaleta with new snow on the ground, which made the descent more treacherous. The only positive regarding the fresh snow is that it highlighted "paths", so assisted in finding the best routes. Steve reported that today was an "extremely, extremely fatiguing climb". A guide they spoke with last year said that the effort is 50% up and 50% down--which I took to mean that, unlike many situations where the hard part is going up, it's just as difficult coming down when climbers are extremely fatigued, terrain is steep, and any slip could be a problem. It seems that they were taking about 7-9 breaths to each step near the top of the Canaleta on the way up and still had to take about 1 breath per step on the way down.
Steve and Vern said they had a great day!!! There were about 12 people on higher portions of the mountain today and other than our team members all were quite young. The teams expect to be back at Plaza de Mulas tomorrow evening so I should be able to get more details then. It was a very, very cold summit day, and the wind made it even colder. Steve and Vern both wore balaclavas, warm wind-blocker caps, expedition down mitts and liner gloves, and down parkas with hoods up the entire day--with three layers of leg protection and five layers of upper body clothing under their down parkas. Double insulated arctic-style mountaineering boots and two layers of socks kept their feet reasonably warm. Even with all these layers, it was too cold to stop for any length of time.
Please excuse any mistakes; we did have several dropped signals so I missed some of what Steve was reporting and he and Vern were very, very tired. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all the good wishes, positive energy, vibes, prayers, etc. that have been extended to the team!!! We all are very grateful for all your support and encouragement! Thank you also to ING for the sponsorship that enabled the team to have the sat phone which has kept us all informed as the team progressed on this grand adventure. I'm sure there will be more tales to tell when they all return. Keep the good thoughts going until they're all home safely!!! Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 9th--Return to Plaza de Mulas or Rest Day
Hello All!
I just spoke with Steve--a very frustrating call with lots of dropped signals and garbled phrases so I hope I have most of the information correct. Steve and Vern left Berlin camp at about 12:10p and made it back to Plaza de Mulas at about 3:15p descending 5000 feet in about 3 hours including a 30-minute stop at Nido. They are feeling really fresh and the weather during their descent was sunny and fairly calm so they had a pleasant descent. Once they were at Plaza de Mulas it clouded over and snowed several inches and became very cold and windy--brief blizzard conditions. They had a nice cooked dinner at the Grajales camp and are ready for bed. They plan to start out about 9a tomorrow.
When they came through Nido they stopped to talk with Carolyn and Ben who have decided to take a rest day at Nido and return to Plaza de Mulas tomorrow. They will be a day behind Vern and Steve who plan to come out to Penitentes and go on to Mendoza tomorrow. Santiago has arranged transportation for them to Mendoza where they will explore the feasibility of starting to return home early which may or may not be possible. Carolyn and Ben will probably come out a day later, but may be delayed by the snow. Thank you for all the good wishes being sent to the teams and I will continue to provide any information I receive until they are all home safely. Keep the good thoughts going for safe descents and travel home. Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 10th
Hello All!
I spoke with Steve much earlier today and have been waiting for more information from him since we again had quite bad satellite phone reception. What I gathered from the attempts we made at communication was that Steve and Vern were at Confluencia at about 3:50p and were having tea at the Grajales facility. I believe that they planned to come all the way out today because Steve mentioned that they still had 6 miles to go. I'm unsure if they will stay in Penitentes or come back to Mendoza--I thought yesterday that Steve said Mendoza, but I'm not sure. Steve thinks that Carolyn and Ben should be at Plaza de Mulas. There was denser cloud cover on the mountain and only 3 summited yesterday fairly early in the day. It appears to be storming on the mountain today and for their last 45 minutes coming in to Confluencia it was snowing and blowing on them very hard. Sounds like they took advantage of a narrow window to make their summit bid. If I hear more today, I'll send another message out otherwise expect to hear tomorrow. Please keep those positive thoughts going until the whole team as returned home safely. Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 11th
Hello All!
I just heard from Steve. He and Vern arrived safely in Mendoza last night. They radioed Grajales from Confluencia to have someone pick them up in Penitentes at 6p and arrived at the exit area at 10 sec before 6. It took them 8 hours and 15 minutes to hike out the 20+ miles from Plaza de Mulas to Penitentes. As they were checking out with the ranger the Grajales representative arrived. Perfect timing! Their bags were loaded while they settled up with Andres and they were on their way back to Mendoza. Unfortunately they learned when they arrived back at the hotel that one of Steve's bags had not been loaded into the vehicle by the driver and had been left behind. It's been located and should arrive sometime this afternoon. Steve and Vern showered, changed, and went out for a delicious dinner that included a bottle of wine and thick salmon steaks! They are going to the LAN Chile Airlines office soon to check if there is a way for them to change their flights to come home earlier. Steve said they were both feeling strong on the hike out and that both slept extremely well last night.
The plan was for Carolyn and Ben to hike down to Plaza de Mulas yesterday and to arrive in Penitentes today getting back to Mendoza later tonight. If Steve and Vern are able to get out tonight it is doubtful they will be able to overlap.
I'll keep you posted with additional information as I receive it. Please keep those positive thoughts going until the whole team as returned home safely. Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 12th
Hello All!
Steve and Vern arrived at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport early this morning. They were on different flights returning to Denver and Steve managed to get on an earlier flight in order to make a memorial service for two very dear long-time friends scheduled for this morning. Thank you for all your support of his climb and please keep the positive thoughts going until all of the team are home safely. Take care... Best... Kathy
Update Dec. 13th--The Team Is Back!!!
Hello All!
Carolyn and Ben returned to Fort Collins today, so the whole team is back and triumphant!!! Carolyn said weather had deteriorated significantly on the mountain and temperatures were very cold. Our team took great advantage of the favorable weather window they had and all were successful summiteers! Thank you all for your interest, good wishes, positive vibes and energy, prayers, congratulations, etc. Take care... Best... Kathy
Mount Tileston, 11,254'----2007/01/26
Rocky Mountain National Park
Lawn Lake Trailhead, at 8,540'
11 Miles RT
2,900' Cumulative Elevation Gain
Took Lawn Lake Trail to approximately 9,950' level; then off-trail east up steep southwestern slopes of Tileston to about 10,800' where we veered north and upward to summit. Descended by retracing ascent route.
Steve Martin, Carolyn Randall
Weather conditions could not have been more perfect for a long snowshoe climb than they were when we got out of the car at the trailhead–bright, sunny, blue sky, temperature in the 20s, no wind. And these parameters were with us for the entire day. So how can one turn such nice conditions into an uncomfortable day? As I got my pack out of the vehicle I realized that I had done so–where were my gaiters for the deep snow we’d contend with? Drying out at home in the sunroom, after a wet outing the day before, that’s where. So suck it up and go for it for 11 miles, knowing that snow would be packing inside my boots and melting the entire day! Oh well....cold, cold feet.
We got underway at 8:40 AM. How many times over the years had we tromped up the Lawn Lake Trail in summer and winter? I don’t know, but we put it on auto-pilot, following a modestly well-packed trail until about 9,750 feet. There, previous ‘shoers/skiers had missed the key switchback and had continued north skirting above the Lawn Lake flood devastation. That’s where our trailbreaking began, as we headed straight up the steep slope toward the east, planning to eventually gain the saddle between Tileston and the small point at about 11,060 feet south of our ultimate objective. Snow was deep. The steepness didn’t moderate. Bushwhacking was an ancillary theme. Was this fun? All told, we had about 1,600 feet elevation gain during the off-trail duty to reach the summit. Tough going (but for anyone interested in getting up on Tileston soon, we’ve broken a good trail for you!). Once we were at about 10,800 feet we veered sharply to the north across fairly flat terrain to the saddle area, and then began easy climbing to the thinly-treed summit plateau.
Eventually, at 1:30 PM, we reached the first of two rocky promontories (only about 100 yards apart). Both seemed to be of equal elevation, so top out on both of them to be certain. The northern projection contains a glass jar with a register notebook, so perhaps this is the "correct" summit–at least someone has thought so. The last person to sign the log did so in September–not much activity! When I had been up Tileston in conjunction with Bighorn a couple of years ago I had found the same in terms of a dearth of register activity–not very popular peaks, despite all they have going for them and the fact that both are Named Peaks of RMNP. You are fairly assured of solitude on these climbs. Nice!
Views from Tileston are breathtaking, and on this day of deep blue skies and sun they were remarkable. I doubt if it’s possible to have a more rewarding look at Ypsilon than from this vantage–showing all the marvelous technical climbs on the peak, with the Four Aces on Blitzen Ridge standing out in nice profile, and both arms of the Y Couloir so wonderfully accented. The view caused me to want to be over on Blitzen for another climb of this incredible ridge, right away! And all the other Mummy Range mountains were presented so nicely to us, bringing back floods of memories including the time Carolyn and I shared a long day of "Mummy Mania" several years back. Dunraven, Dundicking, and the long ridge on over to Dickinson shows beautifully from the summit of Tileston, and to the west Hayden Spire projects nicely to the north of Sprague Mountain. And heck, what a great panorama to the south, starting with Twin Sisters and Estes Cone on over to Meeker and Longs and Storm and....and....and.
Well, we spent 40 minutes on top appreciating and studying the Park’s peaks, and we didn’t want to start down. But my boots hadn’t been protected by gaiters, and my very cold toes were giving strong notice that we’d best be underway down. I was fatigued going down. Carolyn showed lots of patience. We arrived at the trailhead at 5:05 PM, 8 hours and 25 minutes after our morning departure. But the 40 minutes we had on the summit made the entire effort really special!
2007/01/13--Beaver
Mountain (10,491')
Beaver Mountain, 10,491'
Rocky Mountain National Park
Beaver Meadows Winter Closure Gate on Highway 36, at 8,300'
7.6 Miles RT
2,250' Cumulative Elevation Gain
Off-trail from highway parking west across Beaver Meadows
to southeastern flank of Beaver Mountain; ascend SE flank and SE
ridge to saddle between Point 9952 and Beaver Mountain; thence
directly upwards to east summit ridge and on to true summit. Take
ascent route back to saddle and then descend steep northeastern
slopes through dense forest to Beaver Brook; follow brook to Upper
Beaver Meadows Trailhead and make diagonal traverse to connect back
with the original route and take it to vehicle parking.
Lori Abe, Lisa Barkley, Steve Dean, Bob Dietz, Eric Erslev, Joe Grim, Paul Hardebeck, Laura Hinds, Steve Martin, Steven Morgenstern, Carolyn Randall, Pam Sollazzo, Tom Stuve, Ron Tuttle
Who would have believed it? Fourteen people turning out
for an all-day snowshoe climb of an obscure peak when the weather
forecast called for frigid temperatures, snow, winds, and downright
unpleasant conditions! But fourteen did turn out in spite of the
weather pundits and we all had a ball–and soon after we turned the
fun meter on as we left the parking area the light snow stopped and
the foggy, misty air started brightening, and blue skies swept in
from the west and the surrounding peaks that had been shrouded in
clouds suddenly popped into sun-highlighted view and we were off on a
wonderful outing! In sun! And temperatures warmed and winds were
light or calm and nothing about the day that had been forecasted
weather-wise turned out to be true. Snow was deep, with a fresh layer
topping the base layers making for perfect ‘shoeing
conditions.
After the long pull across Beaver Meadows we took a short break at the base of Beaver Mountain’s southeastern flanks. Now the work would begin, since from this point we still had more than 2,100 feet to gain, all in deep snow. We started off again and got into the standard winter routine of step after step after step, each breaking through to mid-calf or deeper level. Step after step after step. Yep. The standard way. But fourteen people! Fourteen to share the trail-cutting work! It went quickly, and it was neat to end one’s front position and drift to the rear and walk on the firmly-packed trail tromped down by thirteen companions. Wish all winter work in the mountains went so easily. Too often it’s just me, or me with only another person or two sharing the work. But this was special. Fourteen! It was so special that despite the efforts involved people chatted continuously and enthusiastically. Everyone was having a great time. That’s what these group outings are supposed to be, right?, and it was happening again today. Pretty neat.
When we gained the saddle west of Point 9952 we stopped to
munch and talk and get ready for the final 550' push up to the
summit. Three-quarters of the elevation gain was behind us. Things
felt good. The sun warmed us and did a bit of sunburn damage on those
who had been weather pessimists and hadn’t applied adequate
protection earlier. Some lips were beginning to dry and flake a
little. Some folks became more serious about the sun and smeared sun
block on. And off we started again on the final uphill push, enjoying
the white, bright snow. Near the final summit ridge trees became
sparse and we weaved back and forth finding optimal ways around the
rocky outcroppings that dot the final ridge. And then we were there,
believing that it probably had been a long time since anyone else had
been to this special place. It was 12:30 PM, just 4 hours and 10
minutes after leaving the parking area. No breeze. Sunny radiant
warmth. Views, views of deep snow on the peaks of the Mummy Range, on
Battle and Storm and Lady Washington and Meeker and Longs–even on the
Keyboard. And to the northwest we could see Peak 11,338, about 800
feet above us across the short 0.8 mile from our position. Why, we
wondered, does this higher mountain that is so conspicuous from the
highway and from various points along our route, not have a name,
while Beaver Mountain has an official title? We stood on one of the
125 Named Peaks of RMNP looking at that neighboring mountain that
really deserved a name. Why? Well, we had work ahead if we were to
make a loop route out of our day, so we didn’t take time to discuss
prospective names for this neighbor, and who we’d appoint to fly back
to Washington, D.C. to convince the USGS to accept and adopt our
chosen name. It’s good to be practical about outcomes, so instead we
started down.
We stopped for a full lunch at the saddle, and then began
a steep descent through heavy timber to the northeast of the saddle.
Deano, Carolyn, and I had been up and down this slope on previous
winter trips on Beaver Mountain and we now compared it to the more
moderate ascent route we had used today. We liked the southeast
flank/ridge better for a winter climb than this east/northeast route.
The SE route is more moderate, which is nice when snow is deep, and
it’s caught by much more sun, so it’s warmer. About 2/3 of the way
down the NE slope terrain became gentler so the going was easier on
legs that were starting to complain. Once we reached Beaver Brook it
was simply a matter of resolving to the long trek out on relatively
flat country to the summer trailhead and from there out to the
highway and our cars. We reached them at 3:30 PM, a little more than
7 hours after our start. What a pleasant outing with fun
people.
For those of you interested in getting up Beaver Mountain in the winter, you couldn’t be presented with a better situation than the present: weather is to be nice (does that mean it will turn ugly on you up there?) for the coming few days. And you can follow a superhighway packed down by fourteen very happy people! Go for it!
2006/11/11--Dark Mountain (10,859')--RMNP
Dark Mountain, 10,859'
Rocky Mountain National Park
Twin Owls Trailhead, at 7,800'
9 Miles RT
3,200' Cumulative Elevation Gain
From the Twin Owls TH we followed the Black Canyon Trail NW for about 3.5 miles to the major trail intersection at the combined saddle of Lumpy Ridge, Dark Mountain, and MacGregor Mountain; from the saddle we bushwhacked north toward Dark’s eastern slopes and from there followed the line of least resistance upward to the rocky summit area. Descent was by a reverse of the ascent route.
Joan Avens, Lisa Barkley, Vern Bass, Jackie Clayton, Bob Dietz, Eric Erslev, Joe Grim, Laura Hinds, Steve Martin, Paul Metz, Carolyn Randall, Paul Weber
Dark Mountain is a Named Peak of RMNP; its rocky summit peeks above surrounding forests and commands a magnificent view of the mountains in the Park’s northeastern corner. It also provides a special perspective of the Divide peaks to the southwest and on over to the Longs Peak/Mt. Meeker complex. Further, this is a great place to overlook the principal Larimer County peaks outside the Park toward the East: Crosier Mountain, Storm Peak, Palisade Mountain, and Round (Sheep) Mountain, in particular. Because of accessibility via the Twin Owls or the Cow Creek Trailheads throughout the snowy months, Dark makes a nice winter-period outing that provides a significant elevation gain and decent round-trip mileage. It’s a nice alternative on days when winds are howling over the Park’s Continental Divide peaks, or when avy danger is of concern on the higher mountains.
Carolyn and I had snowshoed/climbed up Dark Mountain in December 2005, but I did not get a trip report written on that fun outing. We decided to go for the summit again so we could involve several CMC and 14erWorlder friends. Hence, the genesis of the great day reported here.
The 11 of us from the Fort Collins’ area met in south Fort Collins at 6:30 AM, car pooling to meet up with Vern (coming from Denver) at the Estes Park McDonalds. From there we drove the short distance to the Twin Owls TH in time to begin our hike to the base of the mountain by 8 AM. We had the trail to ourselves, and quickly gained the initial 1,300 feet of elevation along the easy trail. Near the trail junction, Paul Metz and Vern veered to the left, so they could ascend the northern slopes of MacGregor Mountain (Paul had already been up Dark and planned to top out on MacGregor before heavy snows arrived). The other 10 in our group went directly north from the trail junction, moving above the lower cliffs of Dark Mountain using fairly steep but easy terrain. We all carried snowshoes on our packs, “just in case”, but never needed them today.
At about 10,000' we reached flatter ground. At this point we took a western-bearing-upward traverse until we attained the steep, rocky area just south of the summit. With simple route finding, we were able to finish from here to the top while keeping the difficulty to Class 2. We broke out of the trees just beneath the rocky crest and thereafter were pummeled by vicious winds. After a quick, easy scramble along the summit ridge (see photo), we discovered a register at the highest point and then found modest wind protection just under the crest on the east side. Carolyn and I had not found the summit register last winter, when it was undoubtedly buried in snow that had been wind-plastered to the summit rocks. The last person to sign the log did so in August, 2006-- 3 months before our venture to the top of Dark Mountain. Some of our group signed in, while we all hunched down and enjoyed the superb views and ate a bit. Spindrift off the Divide peaks to the southwest and off Storm Mountain, Longs Peak, and Mt. Meeker fogged those areas with blowing snow and reminded us why we had chosen this lower mountain!
We had reached Dark’s summit at 11:15 AM, just 3 1/4 hours after leaving the parking area. After 30 minutes on top we started down, stopping to finish lunches and then joining up with Paul and Vern at the point we had earlier parted. They waited only about 5 minutes, so our timing for the two peaks was about equal. As we descended the Black Canyon Trail, Joe suggested that we drop down to McGregor Falls. We made the easy off-trail descent and enjoyed this special waterfall for 15 or 20 minutes before starting down along the McGregor Falls Trail to eventually connect with our original path near the sign for The Pear on Lumpy Ridge. We were back to the trailhead at 2:45 PM, and from there went to a coffee shop in Estes Park to enjoy conversations about the fun day we had just experienced together.
2006/10/28--Lookout Mountain (10,715'), Horsetooth Peak (10,344')
Lookout Mountain, 10,715'
Horsetooth Peak, 10,344'
Rocky Mountain National Park
Lookout Mountain Trailhead snow closure at 8,600'
Loop that uses Lookout Mountain Trail from the snow closure to the saddle between the prominent Meeker Ridge and Lookout Mountain; up over broken terrain to the summit vicinity of Lookout; followed our ascent trail down to about 10,300 feet where we traversed East below Lookout/Horsetooth saddle; thence over snow-covered talus to a position directly north of Horsetooth’s summit; up over snow-free Class 3/4 rock to summit ridge and on West to summit. Descent directly downslope to rejoin our ascent trail.
7 Miles RT
2,450' Cumulative Elevation Gain
Steve Martin, Paul Metz, Ben Randall, Carolyn Randall
WE’VE BROKEN TRAIL FOR YOU, SO TAKE ADVANTAGE!! If you are interested in climbing these peaks during winter-type snow conditions we’ve made your work quite easy–so go for them quickly before new snow makes this a “virgin” and tough snow loop again. Detailed trip reports I’ve previously written on winter ascents of both peaks are found in the Trip Reports Archives, dated 2006/01/28 (Lookout Mountain) and 2006/02/11 (Horsetooth Peak). I’ll make a quick summary of today’s loop trip, to supplement the information in the earlier TRs.
We left the snow closure trailhead at 9 AM and traded snow-breaking leads every 10 minutes. Despite the fairly deep snow (we broke through to upper calf on our snowshoes for the early portions of the loop and to knee-level in higher sections) we made good time to the saddle NW of Lookout Mountain and arrived at the summit area 3 hours after leaving our car. The temperatures were favorable but winds at higher elevations of the route were horrendous. We were able to climb to the top section of the summit tower where it was possible to touch the summit top–but doing the final mantle onto the small flat summit would have exposed us to the full force of the wind, which would have thrown us to a long, fatal fall. Views were outstanding–despite the extreme winds, Meadow Mountain, St. Vrain, Copeland, Ouzel, Isolation, and even the top of Eagles Beak were clearly featured. And to the northwest Meeker Ridge and Mt. Meeker’s higher slopes dominated. Twin Sisters were marvelously captured to the northeast. The West Ridge of Horsetooth Peak, our next objective, shows nicely from this position! Unfortunately, the strong winds precluded an actual climb of the ridge proper, so we needed to use a safer route to gain the top.
After eating a bit in a more sheltered area we left Lookout's summit area about 12:20 PM and retraced our track down toward the saddle and then began a long, arduous traverse eastward through forest and large snow-covered talus blocks to a point north and slightly east of Horsetooth’s high point. We stopped along the way out of the stronger wind for our full lunch. Once on to the fairly steep rock of the summit ridge we were again exposed to the full force of wind and proceeded carefully up Class 3/4 rock to the actual ridge. There, we carefully went West, making certain that every move was protected by solid hand and foot holds from the wind’s force, to the highest point, arriving about 1:30 PM. We stayed a very short period before retracing our windy route back to the talus blocks where we had left out snowshoes and poles. From there we went almost directly downslope to the north, but once past the talus we traversed East to easier ground that we followed down to regain our original track. We were back at out vehicle at 3 PM, making the entire loop in 6 hours.
This was a nice revisit of a couple of marvelous peaks that guard the northeastern portion of Wild Basin. Take advantage of the trail we broke through the deep snow, and go for these Named Peaks quickly!
2006/10/08 - Eagles Beak (12,200+')
Eagles Beak, 12,200+’
Rocky Mountain National Park
Wild Basin Trailhead at 8,500'
17.6 Miles RT
4,660' Cumulative Elevation Gain
Wild Basin Trailhead following Thunder Lake Trail to Thunder Lake; off trail to Box and Eagle Lakes; ascend headwalls/slabs to Frigid Lake/Moomaw Glacier area and take Southwest Face Route (Grade II, Class 3+) to summit. Return via ascent route.
Vern Bass, Mary Gilbert, Steve Martin, Carolyn Randall
Well, the four of us sat on the summit of remote Eagles Beak after a long hike/climb–and we never actually saw the peak either coming up or coming down! We still don’t know what it looks like. And we never found the large alpine tarn named Frigid Lake, nor the impressive Moomaw Glacier that apparently calves ice chunks into the lake and is situated a short distance southwest of the precipitous summit of Eagles Beak. In fact, over the entire day we saw nothing but close-in fog above timberline. We were enveloped in this tight fog and light mist during the climb, and we ascended and descended under conditions of extremely limited visibility and slippery rocks. But we made the summit and got down safely. That’s what really counts, doesn’t it?
Carolyn, Paul Metz, and I had planned the outing for Saturday, and late in the planning Mary and Vern joined the team. But on Friday afternoon a revised weather report for the Park’s higher alpine areas forecasted wind gusts on Saturday to 85 mph. Twice earlier in the past week-and-one-half we’d been turned back by wind-driven snow and wind blasts at about 11,000 feet on climbs into the western portions of Wild Basin, and we didn’t want a third consecutive turn-around! So we postponed by a day; as a consequence, Paul could not be with us for the Eagles Beak climb. On our Sunday climb date we were blessed with windless conditions and moderate temperatures–but dense fog throughout the daylight hours took much of the pleasure away from our successful summit. This portion of Wild Basin is noted for its ruggedness and precipitous terrain, and here we were, headed into a magnificent area in conditions where we could barely see 50 feet in any direction. We proceeded upward expecting the clouds to lift. They never did. Photos? We took none. Senseless, in view of the flat lighting and closed-in visibility!
We met up at the Wild Basin Trailhead, three of us coming from the Fort Collins’ area, and Vern from Denver. We were underway shortly after 6 AM, making our way up the trail we knew so well from past trips, under the illumination of our headlamps. The trek from the 8,500-foot TH to Thunder Lake (about 10,600 feet) went uneventfully. That stretch eats up the distance–almost 7 miles from TH to the lake.
We took a short rest/eating break at the Thunder Lake Ranger Cabin and then began the off-trail work, making our way to the southeast around the eastern ridge and headwalls of Tanima Peak before turning back toward the southwest to Box Lake. This section requires careful attention to the cliffy areas at the eastern edge of Tanima’s terrain, to make certain one doesn’t move too high and then be forced to turn back and descend to get around head walls that abound in this area. We got too high and were forced back down. Even by finding the optimal route, a discouraging loss of considerable elevation occurs before making the turn toward Box Lake, and then an unrelenting re-climb up to the lake is required. Box Lake is about 0.8 mile from Thunder, but it’s only about 100 feet higher than Thunder Lake. But we were still fresh and ambitious, and it seemed to go fast. Once we got to the correct traversing elevation we found a reasonably distinct trail. When we followed it back late in the day, we discovered that it “disappears” before reaching the meadow below Thunder Lake. So take time to locate this trail where it becomes visible in the timber, once you leave the wet meadows below Thunder Lake. Finding it there will make your trip over to Box Lake much easier!
Box lake is at tree line, and from this point on we dealt continuously with the limited visibility. We certainly made routing mistakes that added to overall distance, simply because no landmark terrain forms were visible from this point on. At Box Lake we followed the south shoreline, quickly finding a large gully that took up upward and slightly southeast to a small unnamed lake. Here we made a mistake and followed west along a ridge above the pond’s north shoreline. Cutting south from the west end of this water body, we bushwhacked over to Eagle Lake, arriving at the lake about half-way along its north shoreline. Lisa Foster’s book indicates that this lake should be traversed along its south shore. Fog precluded our making a field judgment, so we followed her advice and did some awful bushwhacking to go back eastward to reach the eastern end of Eagle Lake; there, we crossed a marshy area to gain the south shoreline and follow it back west. This took lots of time, and all of us wonder if a north shoreline route is feasible. Based on map contours, that should be possible, and might have saved lots of time and distance.
Near the western end of Eagle Lake (the lake is about 1/3-mile long) we breached the cliffy terrain by following a cascading stream that tumbled down to the lake. From this point on, all the way to the summit of Eagles Beak, the grade was unrelentingly steep and involved lots of large talus fields and finding ways through broken rock faces. Of course we had no distant or even mid-range views, so were unable to choose an overall route. Compass work kept us generally oriented in the direction we needed to ascend. A key terrain feature for this route is Frigid Lake and Moomaw Glacier that rises steeply above it to the Continental Divide. The lake is a significant one in terms of size. In the fog, we were never able to locate the lake , where we were to make a sharp turn to gain the saddle directly west of Eagles Beak’s summit cap. We eventually found ourselves at an altimeter reading above the lake. Map and compass checks showed that we had achieved the saddle (we hoped!) just 400 feet (horizontal distance) from the top.
Here, where the route goes up a steep gully (Class 3+), the climbing gets interesting when rocks are wet and slippery, as they were for us. We started up a gully that we quickly realized was the incorrect one based on Lisa Foster’s description–the easternmost gully that has a huge chockrock in it (sort of like the “car-sized chock” on the standard route on Dallas Peak). We turned back and in the limited visibility found a gully to the left that paralleled the first one we had tried. Climbing this gully was actually quite easy, with only three moves requiring focus on the wet rocks. But with slick footing these moves did arrest our attention! Under dry conditions the gully should be quite straightforward.
We reached the summit of Eagles Beak at 2:15 PM, more than 8 hours after leaving the trailhead. Views? Absolutely none. It didn’t even make sense to get a camera out to take a group photo in the foggy conditions! A register had been placed under the summit cairn a year ago, by Jennifer Roach. The last person to sign in did so 2 months ago. Not much activity on this remote peak!
We stayed on top for about 15 minutes before starting down, expecting to reach the trail at Thunder Lake before dark. The trip down was difficult in the fog, and we relied heavily on a compass and on hopes that we would always be able to find our way through all the steep cliff areas. Until we were fairly close to Eagle Lake, we recognized little or none of the route we used for the descent–it was generally quite different from the way we had come up. And luckily, we always found a path through the steep slabby head walls.
Fog was so thick at Eagle Lake that I almost walked off the steep shoreline rocks directly into the water! We again followed the south shore to the east end of Eagle Lake. There, we found a semblance of a trail that brought us much more directly down to the unnamed lake, where we bashed our way through thick krummholtz along its east side to gain the gully we descended to Box Lake. At Box we searched for the indistinct trail we had earlier followed up to the lake, but could not relocate it. So we had another round of bushwhacking. Take special care when you come up the “trail” from Thunder to Box that you locate and remember some unique landmark to redirect you to the trail (and try to do it in clear conditions, so you have a reasonable chance to relocate the landmark!!). That will make this portion of the descent much easier than the way we did it! We arrived at the Thunder Lake Ranger Station at 5:45 PM, about 50 minutes before dark. After a brief stop for some food and water and to get headlamps out, we started down the final 7 miles a little after 6 PM, arriving at the cars just before 9 PM–15 hours, car-to-car.
We all were really tired from the distance, elevation, really rough terrain, bushwhacking, and perhaps most from the mental drain of all those hours in the alpine above timberline where we had no visual cues of where we were and where we were heading! I took the next day “off” from my normal gym routine, opting for a leisurely steam bath followed by a massage. I strongly recommend that recovery regime!
Mount Patterson, 11,424'
Nisa Mountain, 10,788'
Green Mountain, 10,313'
Rocky Mountain National Park
Green Mountain Trailhead at 8,800'
8.8 Miles RT
4,700+' Cumulative Elevation Gain
Followed the Green Mountain Trail to about 9,200'; thence north through forest to summit of UN 10,192; descended SE to Big Meadows and took trail south to the Big Meadows Campground, using the bridge to cross Tonahutu Creek; ascended to saddle north of Patterson and along ridge to Patterson's highpoint; continued along the ridge to the saddle between Patterson and Nisa and thence to the summit of Nisa; dropped west to the creek and trail and finally up the eastern slopes of Green. Descended Green's north slope Mountain Trail and out.
Paul Metz, Steve Martin
Peak 10,192 is an unnamed but Ranked mountain in RMNP. The other three are Named Peaks of the Park. Only Patterson rises above the forest cover and from its summit unusual, robust views present themselves of the Never Summer Mountains and of the Park's high Divide Peaks to the east. These four mountains are rarely climbed and when they are, they tend to be on the radar screen of only those interested in reaching all the summits of the 125 Named and the various unnamed-but-ranked peaks within the Park's boundary.
So off we went to get them. The drive from south Fort Collins to the Green Mountain Trailhead took 2 hours 15 minutes, and we were on the trail at 7:50 AM. After starting north from the trail at a little over 9,200 feet we quickly encountered much wind-fallen trees, but it was easy to pick our way through and across the logs. The dead-falls were so old that most trunks were on or close to the ground and branches had long ago broken off, so delays caused by waist-high encounters or whorls of dead branches were rare. The dead-falls ended about half-way up the mountain. The slope angle all the way to the summit of UN 10,192 was moderate, and the actual summit location was quite evident, even with fairly thick forest cover all around. We did head a bit too far east on the ascent, and started heading up the slopes of UN 9894 for a very short time before realizing our mistake. We were surprised to find a summit register on top-a nice spiral-bound notebook in a glass jar. The last entry was in February 2003 when Mike Garratt and his wife signed the log. Since returning from the Denali climb I've been transitioning medications; these changes impacted me a lot on this day, and by the time we reached the top of this first peak I was experiencing several unusual health problems. I decided that after we descended to Big Meadows I would go down the 2 miles to the trailhead and rest while Paul continued solo to finish the other three peaks. It's tough to keep me from a summit, but my condition was not good!
A week later I returned and hiked up the three remaining mountains alone. The day was a very difficult one for me and I was still affected by the imbalance in my body hormonal chemistry. We made fairly quick work of the descent to Big Meadows, where I got on the trail and continued down. Paul hiked to the Big Meadows Campground, crossed the creek on a nice bridge, and went up a forested slope on steeper terrain than he had anticipated (still easy Class 2) to the saddle just north of Mount Patterson. Several times when Paul consulted his altimeter he found his elevation gain was about 2,000 feet per hour. A week later, my ascent rate was MUCH slower! It was a simple hike up the ridge to the top, following a very strong game trail most of the way, where he enjoyed beautiful vistas, but found no summit register. There once had been a glass jar register here, as I found broken glass beneath the cairn. Views from the position of Patterson's summit are spectacular and were unexpected--it's a low mountain compared to the Divide Peaks to the east that we've climbed from a completely different direction, yet this lower elevation gave a special grandeur to the scenery that Paul and I viewed on our separate summit days, including marvelous vistas to the northwest of the Never Summer peaks.
The hike down to the Patterson/Nisa Saddle was straightforward, and the modest elevation gain from the saddle to Nisa's summit went rapidly. A summit register (glass jar) was easily located at the cairn on top of this lesser peak. It was last signed in '05, and included signatures of Walter Borneman of 14er guidebook fame, as well as of Jennifer Roach, who has signed the registers of nearly all of these lower peaks in recent years. The summit of Nisa is completely forested, and decent views were difficult in all directions, although the high point of Patterson was visible.
From the top of Nisa Paul dropped down to the north several hundred vertical feet towards a drainage clearly shown on the Grand Lake quad map. He then paralled the course of that stream to the NW and then west, staying somewhat above it and to the south to avoid the thicker vegetation nearby. The stream drained into Tonahutu Creek about 1.5 miles south of his earlier crossing at the Big Meadows campsite. Paul knew that there were two campsites nearby, and hoped that they would be on the east side of the Tonahutu so that bridges connecting them to the Tonahutu trail on the west side would provide another simple crossing. No such luck. Both campsites were apparently on the west, and so after a brief exploration along the east bank of Tonahutu Creek, Paul took off boots and socks and found a wide and therefore shallow spot to ford the creek. I followed the same route a week later, but as I reached the stream a powerful thunderstorm hit the area and I needed to wait it out before starting up Green Mountain.
We separately then hiked up through forested terrain to the top of Green Mountain. Both the descent off Nisa and the following climb went over easy ground and only occasionally involved bushwhacking and navigating around/over tangles of fallen trees. Again, the summit of Green was easily found, as was a glass jar containing various pieces of paper as a register. The first page indicated that the register had been placed there in 1987; the other pages held at most 20-30 signatures--not many visitors in the past 19 years! The route we had planned off Green to the trailhead was directly down the northwest slope of the mountain. Paul took this bearing and it was a bad decision! Tree falls and brush resulted in slow, tedious work. It would have been far better to have stayed on the northeastern flank of the mountain, or to have retraced the ascent route, down. Paul arrived back at the trailhead about 3 PM. A week later I followed the northeastern flank route on my descent, and found it to be easy and straightforward.
Even though I was initially unable to complete the peaks due to the health issues that arose on the unnamed summit, it was a good outing-Paul got in all four summits (and I did, later), and both of us learned some things we'll need to deal with as we take in the lower-elevation Named Peaks dotting the southwestern portions of RMNP, many of which top out well below timberline--so different from the higher mountains we've climbed on and east of the Continental Divide. It's pretty clear that we'll have most (all?) of these western mountains to ourselves as we work away at them. As Lisa Foster indicates for Green Mountain, "...only a handful of people have climbed Green Mountain this century." That conclusion appears to apply equally to the other peaks involved in this day's activities.
Snowdrift Peak - 09/19/2006
Snowdrift Peak, 12,274', Flattop
Mountain, 12,324'
Rocky Mountain National Park
Bear Lake Trailhead , at 9,470'
16.6 Miles RT
4,750' Cumulative Elevation Gain
Flattop Mountain Trail to summit of Flattop; Tonahutu Creek Trail over west ridge of Ptarmigan Point and down to 9,800-foot level of Bighorn Flats; off- trail west to saddle between Point 12,277 and Snowdrift and from there up East Ridge of Snowdrift to summit. Descent by reversing the ascent route.
Steve Martin and Paul Metz
Apt to its name, we made the long hike in to Snowdrift Peak just after the first real snow of the autumn climbing season. We had a ball, and didn’t need to share the back country with anyone until we met two hikers late in the afternoon as they were descending the Tonahutu Trail toward the Green Mountain Trailhead on the West Side. Weather was great, with good sunshine (how did I burn my face this late in the season?!) and only light breezes-- except for the strong winds that prevailed (they almost always do here) as we made the lengthy traverse over Flattop Mountain.
We had left the Bear Lake Trailhead at 6:30 AM and had reached Flattop’s "summit" fairly fast in the cool fall temperatures. We paused there to admire the symmetrical summit of Snowdrift, a mountain we had viewed many times before from Flattop, but had never really paid the attention it deserves. It’s truly a beauty, but who pays real attention to "lesser" peaks until they finally get onto your radar screen? Snowdrift had risen to such prominence for both of us, and this morning we were enthusiastic about viewing and getting to the top of a mountain we’d not thought seriously about in all the years we’d climbed in RMNP.
The REAL surprise came later, when we were actually on its summit–the views of the higher Continental Divide peaks to the east are indeed unusual from Snowdrift. It’s hard to appreciate how strange and unimposing they appear from this aspect unless you are actually seeing them from this summit’s vantage. The photos will demonstrate this. And the Never Summer Mountains to the northwest are remarkably displayed, particularly with the light snow cover they showed today! Again, see and appreciate the photos. For the two of us, who have recently stood atop 8 of the 15 Never Summer summits, this was a thrilling view. Plus, the 17 lakes and tiny tarns to the north and south of Snowdrift are so advantageously viewed from this point. All of this made the long hike and scramble over talus well worth the effort!
We left the Tonahutu Creek Trail at the cairn marked by the only wooden post along the route down Bighorn Flats. From there, we continued a descending traverse along the north side of Point 12,277 to the 11,540-foot saddle east of Snowdrift. That’s a discouraging almost-800- foot drop from our high point on Flattop Mountain. And we remarked that it needed to be reclimbed on our way out. From the saddle, it was an easy scramble over talus all the way to the top, where we were blessed with sun and light winds while we enjoyed the spectacle around us, accented by the light snow. Enough snow had drifted in on the north side of the summit to remind us why the peak is named as it is. Summit register? Placed last October by Jennifer Roach. Since she and her party signed the log, only nine others had, testimony to how infrequently this marvelous peak is topped out on.
We had arrived on the peak at 12:10 PM and reluctantly left at 12:50, recognizing that we had almost 8 ½ miles and almost 800 feet of elevation regain between Snowdrift and the trailhead. We were back at the vehicle at 5:45, and at Paul’s home in south Fort Collins at 7:25 PM. A super day in the Park. Go for it! - Steve Martin
Thatchtop 12,668'
Rocky Mountain National Park
Glacier Gorge Trailhead at 9,240'
Standard Route up "S" Couloir
~9.2 Miles Roundtrip (our actual route)
~2,500' Elevation Gain Before Early Descent
Glacier Gorge Trail to Loch Vale Trail; "S" Couloir to gain Northeast Ridge of Thatchtop; follow ridge to summit; descend via Thatchtop’s south slope talus fields to Solitude and Shelf Lakes, thence down mountaineers’ trail along Shelf Creek to Glacier Creek to rejoin the Glacier Gorge Trail.
Bob Bach, Lisa Barkley, Sean Connor, Bob Dietz, Cathy Fraser, Teri Gerard, Laura Hinds, Steve Martin, Brad Nielsen, Tom Stuve, Linda Warner
Thatchtop commands a marvelous position that guards the northwest flank of Glacier Gorge and the southern edge of Loch Vale in RMNP. From its summit all of the stunning peaks that tower over Glacier Gorge are laid out as a feast to climbers’ eyes. It provides the types of vistas that obligate you to keep climbing for life–they become indelible to the memory. And when weather cooperates, as it did on this date, and hiking companions are totally compatible and fun to be with, as they were on this date, the entire experience can be very special, as it was on this date.
We met up in Fort Collins at 4:30 AM, joining others in the group in west Loveland, Estes Park, and at the Glacier Gorge TH, reaching the TH in time for a 6:15 AM start on our hike. We took the cutoff trail that passes between the East and West Glacier Knobs, connecting back with the main trail near the junction of the trail that continues on up Glacier Gorge, and the one that goes to the Loch and on to Sky Pond below Taylor Glacier. The cutoff is in excellent shape, and saves distance and time (and typically has very low traffic volume, mostly comprised of climbers and serious back-country hikers/backpackers).
The easiest way to locate the "S" Couloir is to hike up the trail toward Loch Vale and take a sharp left off the trail at the first switchback on the trail. Finding this couloir is critical, since it represents the only breach of the headwalls that form the northern aspect of Thatchtop, that allows non-technical climbing. The access to the base of the couloir ascends a fairly steep but narrow gully that is immediately left of the ice climbing area commonly climbed during winter. It’s easy to locate, once Icy Brook has been forded. Again, the first switchback on the trail is the best signal that you are at the correct location to find the gully and then to get up to the couloir.
Once in the couloir the way is obvious (but steep). Rock is loose, so with a large party special care is needed to minimize rock fall onto your friends. Once at the top of the couloir, follow occasional small cairns up through the krumholtz to timberline. From that point on it’s simply a long haul up talus and stretches of alpine sod to the summit. We arrived about 11:10 AM, and spent more than 45 minutes at the top, signing the register, eating lunch, and soaking in the awesome views of the peaks ringing the entire cirque–Half Mountain, Storm Peak, Longs, the Keyboard, Pagoda, Chiefs Head, Spearhead, McHenry’s, Arrowhead, and Powell. The connecting ridge between Thatchtop and Powell looks really appealing from the Thatchtop summit. And to the north we enjoyed views of Taylor and Otis and Hallett and peaks at a greater distance. Wow!!
We headed down moderate-angle talus on the southern flank of Thatchtop, gazing from time-to-time at the north face of Arrowhead directly ahead, and at the sheer eastern face of Powell, and admiring the beauty of Solitude Lake, growing closer and closer below us. Once at the lake we paused for another 45 minutes to relax, sun, and enjoy this remote basin on this sunny afternoon. We worked our way down to Shelf Lake, where we encountered a guy who agreed to take our group’s photo. Then it was a rapid descent down the steep mountaineers’ trail to Glacier Gorge, where we discovered convenient logs to bridge over Glacier Creek. Following the trail down the gorge and the cutoff between the Knobs got us back to the trailhead at 3:15 PM--9 hours after we had left. What a beautiful day and great outing!
Mt. Alice 13,310
Wild Basin, RMNP
Thunder Lake Trailhead
17-18 miles RT
6,010' cumulative elevation gain
Loop ascending Hourglass Ridge Route, descending Southeast Face Route
Steve Martin and Bill O'Halloran
I had attempted this route a year ago but was forced to turn back near the Lion Lakes when a snowstorm hit Wild Basin. So Bill and I were excited to take the long hike in again, under winter conditions. We left the trailhead at 6:45 AM and were immediately on snow. Above the junction of Thunder Lake Trail and Lion Lakes Trail (5 miles in) we encountered no visible tracks of other climbers, and as the snow deepened our progress was slowed. Winds became strong in the vicinity of Lion Lake 1, but we enjoyed sunny skies early.
Gaining the saddle between Chief's Head and Alice was straightforward. Even with considerable snow on the ridge, the Class 3 section was easy. Above it, the slope steepens considerably; for the final 800 feet of vertical, trailbreaking involved serious postholing with each step breaking through to between knee and crotch deep. Too steep for snowshoes, and the winds were significant. This section took far longer than I'd planned due to the snow conditions.
We reached the summit at 3:30 PM with severe winds blasting us. The register contained no pencil or pen, and had only some loose papers--so a new register needs to get to the tube. Left the summit at 3:40 and descended on very hard wind-packed snow into the SE Face gully. There, we made a tricky traverse across steep icy-hard snow. Wished we'd taken crampons, and I needed to chop steps across the section. In view of the extremely hard snow in this narrow, steep portion of the descent (or ascent by this route) it's best to pack crampons through the balance of this climbing season on Mt. Alice.
The boulder field at the base of the East Face is a huge one--with drifted snow and postholong it took a major effort to move across it to the east. We reached our upbound tracks at Lion Lake 2 just at dark, and followed the tracks by headlamp the 7+ miles to the trailhead, arriving about 10 PM.
A great day in the alpine with a wonderful buddy. - Steve Martin
Mummy Mountain, 13,425 feet Rocky Mountain National Park Lawn Lake Trailhead 16.5 miles RT 5,030' cumulative elevation gain Southeast Slopes Route Steve Martin and Pam Cruse-Sollazzo Pam and I had planned to go up the Angel Snowfield on Shavano on 10/31, but the forecast for a potentially significant mountain storm caused us to shift to another objective close to home. We left the Lawn Lake Trailhead at 5:20 AM, achieving the summit at 10:50 and departing the summit at 11:00 AM. Almost the entire route was free of snow during the ascent. A hard snowstorm hit us near the summit, and we were in whiteout conditions for a period of the descent, feeling good about having packed the GPS with advance waypoints of the route on the instrument. The route's an easy but long one, and attacks the mountain from a different direction than the one used in an earlier climb of this peak. Despite the snow and the fairly strong winds, this early winter ascent of Mummy was a fun day, with a special climbing companion. We are training together for a trip to Aconcagua in January, so every chance we have to get into the alpine is important. And the long haul up and down Mummy in winter-type conditions was great! Steve Martin
Storm Peak 13,326
Rocky Mountain National Park
Longs Peak Trailhead
13 miles RT
3,950 ' elevation gain
Southeast Slopes Route from Longs Peak Boulder Field
Steve Martin
This was a "celebration" summit--I had biopsy samples taken 6 days earlier, and when results came back negative, I decided to celebrate with a mid-week summit of a peak I've wanted to go up in winter snow conditions. And yes, the snow conditions were indeed winter ones!
Left Longs Peak Trailhead at 7 AM in beautiful early morning light and encountering only light breezes. The wind stayed very low the entire day, and for most of the hike I enjoyed nice, sunny weather.
I took the cutoff to the Boulder Field at Jim's Grove, following tracks of other hikers to a point just above the grove. From there to the Boulder Field and the Storm Peak summit, I never found other tracks, so needed to break trail in difficult snow for the final 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Snowshoes were really helpful from Jim's Grove up to the steeper portions of the route above the Boulder Field. Even with snowshoes, I was breaking through a lot. When the grade became too steep for the 'shoes, I removed them and postholed deeply (to thigh/crotch) on almost every step up the last 300 feet of vertical. It was an exhausting effort, but the weather cooperated so well, giving me the needed time.
The summit was reached at 1:15 PM, later than I'd expected; but this was not surprising in view of the deep, loose snow and the need to fight every step of the way up the steeper sections of the SE Slopes. The weather was great at the top and I simply relaxed there and enjoyed the views of so many other peaks that I've climbed in RMNP--couldn't see the Indian Peaks Wilderness mountains because of Longs and Meeker being in the near view. But all those marvelous mountains above Glacier Gorge and then north to the nice peaks of the Mummy Range were all gorgeous in the low afternoon sun. The summit register was buried in deep snow, so I could not determine who was last at the top of this nice mountain.
Started my descent at 1:45 PM and reached the trailhead at 4:35 PM. Going down to the Boulder Field was slow because of serious postholing and unexpected dropthroughs as superficial snow bridges collapsed.
If you plan to get to the Boulder Field for Longs or Storm or the western side of Mt. Lady Washington from this point in the developing winter on to spring, be certain to take snowshoes!
For those of you who followed our West Rib Expedition up McKinley on the website (www.denali04.com), I've posted a final dispatch on the site that provides a synopsis of expedition members' feelings, a discussion of "route vs. summit", and some suggestions for future climbers. So if you are interested, check out the final dispatch! - Steve Martin
Mt. Audubon 13,223
Indian Peaks Wilderness Area
Snow Closure Trailhead
10 miles RT for our effort
2,000' elevation gain
East Slopes Route with high camp at 12,000'
Steve Martin, Pam Sollazzo, Bill O'Halloran
When we learned that the weekend would bring decent snows to the Front Range and potentially icy roads, we decided to shift attention from Kirk Couloir on Challenger/Kit Carson to closer to home, relishing the chance for a high camp in forecasted good snows and high wind conditions. So we planned to camp high Saturday night on Mt. Audubon, go for the summit Sunday morning if weather allowed, and descend later that day.
We got a later start than planned at the winter road closure on the Brainard Lake Road (10,000 feet), leaving the vehicle after 1 PM. By dark we had traveled about 5 miles and had ascended to about 12,000 feet, a little lower than our anticipated camp area. The Beaver Creek/Mt. Audubon Trails had not been traveled by anyone since the previous snow, so trailbreaking became an ordeal through the afternoon. But with three of us trading off it was like a drafting team on road bikes, making things easier for each of us. Nonetheless, even with snowshoes the going was slower than we would have liked.
Set up camp (two tents) in an area below rocks that had drifted sufficient snow to allow decent leveling of our tent platforms. Despite forecasts for strong winds, breezes were light or calm, so wind chill was not a factor during snow platform building and tent setup. I had anticipated (based on the forecast) the need to build snow walls for wind protection, but this was unneccesary. After a large meal, we slept in windless conditions--every time we awakened we could hear the gentle pelting of snow on the tent fly. A nice sensation that is experienced by so few Americans!
We awakened to an added 2 feet of snow on and around us! The snow accumulation continued as we prepared and ate breakfast, really restricting visibility. After considerable discussion, we opted to pack up and come down, rather than go for the summit, which was not new for any of us. Our objective of enjoying a night in winter storm (less the expected wind) conditions at 12,000 feet had been met. So we packed up and began our trek down the mountain in poor visibilty, leaving camp about 10:45 AM. So much snow had fallen overnight that we saw none of our previous tracks all the way down the mountain. Near whiteout conditions existed for a portion of the above-timberline descent, and GPS waypoints were useful! And thank goodness for snowshoes!
We arrived at the vehicle about 2:45 PM, feeling good about the fine time we had shared in great winter conditions--and so close to home! The drive back to Fort Collins was slow on icy/snow-covered roads. But we arrived home safely, after having enjoyed another alpine overnight in neat conditions! - Steve Martin
Andrews Glacier/Pass 11,980, Otis Peak
12,486, Hallett Peak 12,713
Rocky Mountain National Park
Glacier Gorge Junction Trailhead
13 miles RT
4,650' cumulative elevation gain
Loop via the Loch, Andrews Pass, Otis, Hallett, Flattop Mountain,
Bear Lake
Steve Martin and Bill O'Halloran
My schedule and poor weather conditions have precluded my getting into the high country for several weeks, and I needed at least one more shot at higher elevation condioning before leaving for Aconcagua in early January. So Bill and I settled on the fun loop from the Glacier Gorge Junction parking area, up past Loch Vale, up Andrews Glacier, over to the Flattop Mountain Trail and eventually down to Bear Lake and beyond to our beginning point--hitting Otis and Hallett Peaks on the circuit and coming back over Flattop Mountain.
Arrived at the trailhead about 7:15 AM. For those of you who haven't been up the Bear Lake Road recently, all the construction's been finished, and the facilities at both the Glacier Gorge Junction and Bear Lake parking areas are beautiful--nice restrooms, good benches (covered at Bear Lake) to put foot gear on, etc., and parking configurations that are much, much improved at Glacier Gorge. The new location for the GGJ parking area adds an additional 0.4 mile each way to the standard trails to Mills/Black Lakes, to the Loch/Sky Pond, and of course to Andrews or Taylor Glaciers. So keep that in mind when you estimate timing for future trips.
We got away from the TH at 7:35 AM and had beautiful snow for the snowshoe hike up the winter cutoff toward the Loch. Wind blasting across the Loch was typical, and gave an indication of what we could expect as we neared Andrews Pass. As we left the Loch/Skypond Trail to start up toward the snowfields below the pass, we found no sign of other tracks, so the trailbreaking up the steeper sections toward the Gash and Andrews Glacier took some time. Above treeline the snow had been hard-scoured by the strong winds, so snow was very solid; we finally put crampons on for the final 900 feet of vertical to the Pass. The conditions for cramponing were ideal.
At the Pass we were blasted by persistent, serious winds, and despite the sunny conditions the wind chills must have been -25 to -40 F for the extended period we were exposed. The short hop up Otis was uneventful, and we summitted at 12:30 PM, finding relief behind a rock wind wall so we could eat and enjoy the spectacular scenery and trace with our eyes some of our past routes on surrounding mountains. Long's North Face route and the Trough Couloir route looked stunning from Otis, and brought thoughtful, good memories of past winter climbs of those routes--from our vantage, it appeared that the Trough now has good snow up the entire couloir, so it should be in great condition for winter climbing at times when the av risk is low.
We left the Otis summit about 1 PM and had an easy ascent up the west side of Hallett, with nice snow up the entire distance. Reached Hallett's summit at 2:05 PM, but didn't dally there in the strong winds. At Flattop Mountain we reached the snowshoe trail and had easy going for the final 5 miles down to Bear Lake and the parking area at Glacier Gorge Junction, arriving just after 5 PM.
Bill and I had taken this identical circuit in January 2002 (less topping out on Otis and Hallett), when we experienced incredibly strong winds in snow and white-out conditions where our visibility from Andrews Pass to Flattop Mountain was often limited to 2-3 feet. So this time, even though wind chill was a factor, the conditions were marvelous by comparison!
We did not see a person the entire day, having the entire circuit to ourselves! A special day in the alpine with a special friend. - Steve Martin
Joe Mills Mountain 11,078
Rocky Mountain National Park
Bear Lake Trailhead
7 miles RT
1,603' elevation gain
Southeast face route
Steve Martin, Bill O'Halloran
I had very little time available this weekend but wanted to get into the high country one last time before I leave for Argentina this week, so Bill and I decided to do something quick and close to home--Joe Mills Mountain, the mountain that forms the eastern border of the spectacular Odessa Gorge in RMNP.
We left the trailhead at Bear Lake at 8:35 AM and had easy going up the well-packed trail toward Flattop Mountain, and then on the Odessa Lake Trail up to Lake Helene. Snowshoes were not needed until we left the trail to start up the mountain, about 1/2 mile east of Lake Helene. From there, we had deep, soft snow and did some postholoing, even with the 'shoes on. The weather was gorgeous, and as we attained the ridge of Joe Mills we were treated to spectacular views of the gorge, Odessa Lake, Little Matterhorn, Notchtop, etc., all decked out in winter beauty. We summitted right at noon, and enjoyed lunch while soaking in the marvelous views. Started down about 12:30 PM and reached the trailhead at 2 PM.
Bill and I have snowshoed the complete Tour-de-Lakes circuit in January 2003 and January 2004. On both those occasions, we encountered no snowshoe or ski tracks in the upper portions of the Lake Odessa Trail. We were really surprised at how many folks have gotten into that portion of the park in the past week or two, as evidenced by the heavily packed trail. That activity made our hike to the base of Joe Mills and our return considerably easier than we had anticipated! - Steve Martin
Bighorn Mountain 11,463, Mount
Tileston 11,254
Rocky Mountain National Park
Lawn Lake Trailhead
9.5 miles RT
3,850' cumulative elevation gain
Loop via Lawn Lake Trail, off-trail up and over Bighorn and Tileston, thence down to Lawn Lake Trail for return
Steve Martin, solo
I've been anxious to get into the high country for some time, so took advantage of a lull in my activities and of good weather to do something close to home in RMNP. The weather was superb the entire day (never needed a jacket or gloves, and was able to wear a "baseball" cap and never feel uncomfortable--pleasant temps, virtually no wind, etc.).
I departed the trailhead (8,500 feet) at 7:30 AM and followed the Lawn Lake Trail to the approximate elevation of Horseshoe Falls, where I headed East to the flatter area North of Peak 9,963. Soon after leaving the trail I needed to put snowshoes on, and found the going relatively slow from this point on--progressing up toward Bighorn, I encountered areas essentially free of snow, followed by stretches of several hundred feet having deep snow that required the 'shoes, then a stretch having only limited or no snow, and so on and so on and so on. So I had to put on and take off snowshoes 9 or 10 times during the day, and this repetitive changing into and out of snowshoes slowed overall progress. Later in the day the snow that was exposed to sunlight softened markedly, and the resultant collapsing snow structure resulted in deep post-holing, even with the snowshoes on--slow-going!
The steeper area from the "flat" up to Bighorn was fairly easy going, and as I approached the summit two Bighorn Sheep (a young ram with an identification collar, and a mature ram, almost full curl) were feeding in an open windswept area no more than 50 feet from the top. What a sight, to see two bighorns essentially at the summit of Bighorn! The last person who signed the summit register was Jennifer Roach, on December 31, 2004. I reached the top of Bighorn at 11:20 AM and departed at 11:50, after enjoying a lunch in calm, warm conditions. The slog over to Tileston took until 2:00 PM, and involved a great deal of unpleasant postholing (up to midthigh), even with snowshoes on. Left Tileston at 2:15, cut almost directly down to the Lawn Lake trail, and got back to my vehicle at 4:45 PM.
This almost completes the full Mummy Range for me--I still have Rowe Mountain and Rowe Peak to do. They are scheduled for July 30th, when I lead a long hike (more than 20 miles) to get these peaks on a CMC trip. If any 14er World members wish to join me at that trip, I'll welcome you! Let me know at falconridge@cowisp.net - Steve Martin
Taylor Peak 13,153
Rocky Mountain National Park
Glacier Gorge Junction Trailhead
~12.5 miles RT
3,750' elevation gain
Andrews Glacier to Andrews Pass to Taylor, with return via same route
Vern Bass and Steve Martin
CMC-related commitments prevented our getting out on Saturday when the weather was great, so we took a chance to try Taylor and Powell Peaks on Sunday, as weather was deteriorating. Forecast conditions foreclosed consideration of ascending one of the northern snowfields on Powell and making a loop trip as we had earlier planned. Instead, we decided to take the snow trail up to The Loch and then ascend Andrews Glacier to the pass before turning south to Taylor (and on to Powell if conditions allowed). As things turned out, this was a correct decision.
We met up at McDonald's in Estes Park at 5:35 AM, going together from there to the trailhead. Left Glacier Gorge Trailhead at 6:15; views of the peaks were still good in this early-morning period, although clouds hovered low, just above the higher summits. The trail up beyond the Loch toward Sky Pond was in good shape, well-packed by snowshoers and skiers. We did not need snowshoes the entire day. Of my many winter trips up Andrews Glacier, this was the first where I was able to follow the tracks of other climbers/hikers from the junction of the Sky Pond Trail and the trail up to Andrews Tarn and above. In the past, I've always needed to break trail from the Loch Vale area on up to the Pass. So we had nice relief from the normal hard work of postholing up this terrain!
The weather changed dramatically as we made our way up to the Tarn. Fog swirled in, enveloping Sharkstooth and the higher peaks, and winds began developing some real zest. By the time we reached Andrews Pass, full winter cothing was needed, sans face masks. We stayed fully dressed and zippered up from this point on, until we reached the bottom of the glacier during the later descent. As we veered south from the Pass toward Taylor, we already knew that this was not to be a two-summit day!
The fitful snow started falling in earnest as we made our way up the northwest slopes of Taylor. Reached the top at 11:45 AM and discovered the new summit register notebook left by Ryan, Erin, and Kurt on April 16th (Thanks!). Two others had signed the register since then. Despite having wanted to continue on to Powell, the conditions simply didn't allow. We left the summit at noon and backtracked to the trailhead, arriving at 3 PM, feeling good about all aspects of the outing.
Even though it's been a month since the Spring Equinox, the climb today was in true winter conditions. We couldn't have asked for more. Vern and I had not been in the mountains together since our return last June from McKinley. We chattered a lot during the day making plans for some future expeditions!
A final note: we never saw another person the entire day, even on the well-used trail between the Loch and Glacier Gorge Trailhead. And this on a Sunday! The weather must have kept many snowshoers and skiers and mountain hikers home or doing alternative activities in the lower country. This is my third consecutive outing in the Park (Bighorn/Tileston, Estes Cone, Taylor) where I've encountered no others in the backcountry. "Ain't" winter great in the Colorado mountains?! - Steve Martin
Pagoda Mountain 13,497
Rocky Mountain National Park
Glacier Gorge Junction Trailhead
East Ridge Route
Steve Martin
Howard Scotland's trip report of January 29th, 2005 stimulated me to try a winter climb of Pagoda's East Ridge Route. My climbing partner Bill O'Halloran and I tried for the summit on February 20th and were turned back above Black Lake by serious winter winds that consistently exceeded 75 mph, and by wind chills that must have been in the -50 to -60 degree area. I was anxious to try the couloir to the Keyboard of the Winds-Pagoda saddle again while snow conditions were still appropriate this year; when I found that I had Tuesday free, I decided to hit the mountain for a second time on this particular route.
I left the new Glacier Gorge Junction Trailhead at 4:30 AM and quickly realized when I turned up the winter cutoff route to The Loch-Black Lake trail junction that it would be an interesting day. Even at that very early hour snow was soft, and flow in the stream had substantial volume. The going to Mills Lake was straightforward. The lake was already largely open and the remaining ice was thin, necessitating a lot of postholing in soft snow along the eastern shoreline. Same with Jewel Lake. Above Jewel toward Black Lake, the situation deteriorated rapidly. Through that section, terrain and steep snow periodically forces one into the relatively narrow gorge area, where in the winter the trail is typically an easy one up to Black Lake. By contrast, in the early morning on Tuesday the stream was flowing full, and in some stretches snow had collapsed into the water and normal crossings were difficult and dangerous. As I proceeded upward toward Black, snow bridges over the water gave way under my weight on three occasions, and I was lucky to cross without falling entirely into the swift, fairly deep water. As I approached Black Lake, I became more and more concerned about what the snow and stream situation would be like as I descended from Pagoda's summit in the afternoon, after the heat of the day significantly increased the flow and made the snow crossings less and less secure.
The safe course of action was to turn back, while I still had the manageable conditions of early morning coolness and alternative snow bridges still in place. I did this, and arrived after no serious events at the trailhead at 7:50 AM. My round trip distance was about 8.5 miles, with a tough elevation gain of about 1,300 feet.
TEMPORARY CAUTION!! FOR THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO, THE TRAIL BETWEEN MILLS AND BLACK LAKES MAY PRESENT UNREASONABLE RISK.
After arriving back at the trailhead, I decided to hike up Twin Sisters Peak. I've written a separate trip report for Twin Sisters. - Steve Martin
Twin Sisters Peaks 11,428
Rocky Mountain National Park
Lily Lake Trailhead
7.8 miles RT
2,340' elevation gain
Steve Martin
My plan for the day was to climb the couloir that tops out between Keyboard of the Winds and Pagoda Mountain, and then to ascend the East Ridge of Pagoda. Hazardous trail conditions between Jewel Lake and Black Lake caused by collapsing snow crossings over the stream in Glacier Gorge (separate trip report, Pagoda Mountain) forced my descent from the Pagoda climb and put me in the Glacier Gorge Junction Trailhead parking area before 8 AM. I decided to hike up Twin Sisters Peaks as an alternative to the day's primary objective. It was a good hike!
I left the Lily Lake Visitors' Center parking area at 9:05 AM. Note that the gate from the visitors' center to the actual trailhead is still gated and locked, so an additional round trip distance of 0.8 miles is needed for completion of Twin Sisters Peaks, relative to the distance normally assumed.
Most of the western aspect of the hike was free of snow on Tuesday. From timberline to the summit elevations snow was sometimes fairly deep, but generally had been hardpacked by previous hikers. The trail gradient all the way from the trailhead to the stone building between the two summits was moderate, and the hike to this point was uneventful. Because I had not intended to "go" for these peaks today, I had not reviewed the summit descriptions, and couldn't recall which of the two peaks was higher. I first ascended the western summit and was quite certain from that vantage that the eastern peak was a bit higher, which it is. When I gained the eastern summit the benchmark was apparent. I left the eastern summit at noon and was down to the Lily Lake Visitors' Center at 2 PM.
Winds on both peaks were serious! It was quite difficult to stand upright, and I was almost blown over on several occasions. This was not a day to relax on top, to eat lunch there, and to enjoy the marvelous views (although I did have brief contemplation of snowclad Meeker, Longs, Estes Cone, and the superb vista of the entire Mummy Range!). Lunch was finally had at timberline, during the descent.
Total distance for Twin Sisters was about
7.8 miles
Elevation gain for Twin Sisters was 2,340 feet
Distance for the day (including the start on Pagoda) was about 16.2
miles
Elevation gain for the day was about 3,650 feet - Steve
Martin
Little Matterhorn 11,586'
Rocky Mountain National Park
Bear Lake Trailhead
~11.7 miles RT (on 6/14 trip); ~11 miles RT (on 6/18 trip)
2,975' cumulative elevation gain ( on 6/14); 2,860' cumulative (on
6/18)
Odessa Lake Trail to Lake Helene; snowfields from there to base of Little Matterhorn Ridge; ascent on rock to summit ridge and summit; descent by glissading
Carl Benvenga, Mary Gilbert, Steve Martin, Andy Smith, Wally Wahlen (on 6/14)
Lori Abe, Bob Dietz, Steve Martin, Paul Metz, Carolyn Randall (on 6/18)
I was scheduled to lead a CMC group on Little Matterhorn on Saturday June 18th, but wanted to evaluate snow and route conditions a few days in advance. Others asked if they could accompany me on my "scouting" trip, so we had five of us along on Tuesday and five on Saturday. I'm reporting on both climbs here, because snow conditions and the extent of snow cover changed markedly over the three intervening days!
On both days the groups left the Bear Lake parking area about the same time, 6:35 to 6:40 AM. Travel on the snow-free trail portions of the route went fast, on both days. We encountered considerable snow over the trail beginning about 1 mile above the Flattop Mountain/Odessa Lake trail junction, and were essentially on a trail of packed snow from that point to where we left the trail near Lake Helene. Whereas the snow on the trail was fairly firm on Tuesday, it was soft and mushy on Saturday's outing.
On both days we put crampons on just below Lake Helene's outlet into the steep upper reaches of Odessa Gorge. We descended down fairly sharply on moderate-angle snow to a reasonable crossing line, and then up on snow to the base of the Little Matterhorn formation, just west of its southern cliff band. There was a significant reduction in the amount of snow between the two outings. On Tuesday, reasonably firm snow was present for the entire distance; by Saturday, the extent of snow was quite reduced, and the snow was very soft, even early in the day. On Saturday water was flowing extensively over the trail and under the snowfields, and conditions worsened during the day as temperatures reached into the 60s and 70s in the Odessa Gorge vicinity.
On both days, we worked our way diagonally to the North across snow and ultimately climbed a snow field just south of Little Matterhorn's bluffs. Just west of the cliff bands, where we could look up at the Little Matterhorn summit ridge and clearly see the entire structure that Dan Gayton calls "Pacman Pinnacle", we stopped to remove and stow crampons and ice axes. Pacman Pinnacle lies immediately west of the "saddle" along the Little Matterhorn ridge, where the Class 3 climbing begins. It's a fairly large structure, and is shaped just like the "Pacman" in the old computer game; it serves as an excellent landmark to keep oriented on during an ascending route to the saddle.
The 500 feet up to the saddle ascends large talus. It's easy Class 2 scrambling, and goes fairly fast. At the saddle, we ate lunch while previewing the ridgeline to the East. The actual summit cannot be seen from this point. A couple of guidebooks suggest keeping to the right (South) side of the summit ridge for the final distance to the summit. This "route" used to be cairned, but after several fatalities, the cairns were removed and most climbers keep to the north (left side) of the summit ridge, per Dan Gayton's suggestions. There is good, interesting exposure all the way from the saddle to the summit, but hand and footholds are abundant and there is little reason for an accident if weather is good, the rock is dry, and the climber uses good judgement and has route-finding skills.
On the left side of the ridge climbers soon encounter two corners that are easily passed on ledges around them on the left. Upon reaching a third corner, gain the actual ridge via easy blocks and make a short traverse along the right side of the ridgeline, on an easy crack system just below the ridge's top. A short distance later,descend a 6-7 foot dihedral on the North side and then immediately climb back up to the ridge. The summit cairn is visible from here, and exposed climbing brings you to the airy summit with spectacular views of the north side of Flattop, much of Notchtop, a portion of Knobtop, and all the interesting features of Gabletop. The North Face and West Face of Longs are nicely visible, and views North to the Mummy Range are some of the best in RMNP. My thanks to Dan Gayton for his solid suggestions on route-finding along the final summit ridge.
The Saturday group witnessed two avalanches that began on the upper snowfields of Notchtop before plunging over vertical cliffs and dropping onto lower snowfields to cascade down the steep snow. The Tuesday group watched lesser avs--soft slabs and "snowball" avalanches, some that turned into "snowman"-sized balls bounding down the steep snow couloirs of Notchtop and Knobtop before hitting the lower-angle snowfields below, where the velocities of the snow falls lessened.
On Tuesday, we had planned to leave Little Matterhorn by traversing the entire length of it's ridgeline to the fortress-like cliffs of Knobtop, and to ascend Knobtop via the first snow couloir west of the ridge's connection with the larger mountain. We made this entire Class 2-3 traverse, but upon nearing Knobtop we noted considerable recent (that day's) av activity and quickly decided against attempting an ascent of the couloir. Instead, we enjoyed two nice glissades down safe snowfields before ascending back up to Lake Helene where we stowed our axes and hiked the trail out.
On Saturday, we simply dscended the talus below Pacman Pinnacle to where we had left axes, crampons, and other items we had not needed for the final ascent of Little Matterhorn. We packed our crampons and had a nice glissade descent down the snowfield adjacent to the cliffs of Little Matterhorn.
It's doubtful if decent snow conditions will persist for more than a day or two