Mt Antero

Mount Antero

14,269'

July 2nd, 2012

54/54/19

Sometimes you just have to pinch your nose and swallow your medicine.  In my quest to climb all 54 ranked 14ers in Colorado, Mount Antero seemed like it was going to be one of these times.  A ten mile round trip with over eight miles of it being on a well used 4WD road, did not sound like my idea of an ideal wilderness outing.  But remember, "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."  A last minute call to J.C. and I had a partner for this trip.  It would be his first 14er of the year. 

So once more this year I was headed back down into the Arkansas Valley.  Karen and I should have attempted this peak when we were down here two weeks ago, as the trailhead was only 10 miles or so past Mount Princeton Hot Springs.  We left Fort Collins at 4 p.m. with the hope of being able to get up the first 3 miles of the 4WD road, up to Antero, and over the creek crossing to set up camp before dusk.  We started up the road at 8 p.m. and made it into our camp just before dark.    This is the toughest 4WD road that I have driven on.  While it was wider than the road up to the radio towers at Mt. Princeton, is was much more rutted and rock studded.  I had a firm grip on the steering wheel of the X-terra as we slowly climbed up to 10,840'.  It was a relief to finally reach camp and turn in for the night.
 
With the weatherman calling for a 40% chance of thunderstorms after noon, we hit the trail at 5:45 a.m.  Trail is a misnomer, as four of the five miles up this route are on a well used 4WD road.  The road climbed a little steeper than I had imagined, but we managed to keep up a steady, but slow pace.  I was feeling sluggish this morning for some reason.  I did not seem to get my usual hiking legs, after warming up.

After climbing southwards for a mile and a half or so, the road begins a series of switchbacks leading up to Antero's south ridge.  Just past the first switchback I spied an obvious rocky wash, leading upwards to a steep grassy slope, which topped out a couple of hundred yards below the south ridge on the 4WD road.  It looked like this route would go and avoid most of the switchbacks.  I would like to say I by-passed this option because I wanted to get the entire Antero experience, but truth be told, while this route looked do-able, it also looked steep, and frankly more work than I wanted to put in this early in the day.  Jon and I continued to hike up the road and eventually gained Antero's south ridge at 13,089'.    A half mile below the ridge we were passed by an older Ford Bronco on its way down.  The driver was amazed by the fact that we had hiked up from the stream.  I was amazed  that he drove up.  While the road  was better than the first three miles we drove up, I do not think my nerves would have held up for me to drive all the way up here.  On the ridge is a sign talking about the history and gems of the area.  I noticed a patch of what looked like mountain goat hair imbedded in the wood of the sign, with a larger clump on the ground below.  It looked like a goat had used the sign as an itching post to help shed its winter coat.

We continued moving eastward on FR 278A.  To the south we had a great view of Mount White.  There was an SUV parked on the ridge below White's summit, which looked really cool in silhouette.  After a half mile or so the road once again began to switchback towards the road's end.  I ended up cutting the last switchback and headed cross country to reach the end of the road, where I was greeted by a mamma mountain goat and her kid.  I sat on a rock and waited for Jon within 20 yards of them. The kid was a little jumpy but mom seemed relaxed.  Just before Jon joined me, five minutes later, the pair had ambled out of sight.  What a treat for me!

Where the road ends, the fun begins.  The remainder of the route to the summit can be broken down in two sections: the ridge, and the rocky summit push.  The ridge consists of a class II scramble.  Nothing difficult, but enough variety to make this section fun and interesting.  Great views could be seen below each side of the ridge to the east and west.  The final summit push was through a boulder field.  There were two options for this push, a direct ascent to the summit or a traverse eastwards then a final switchback to the summit.  Once again I went with the more gentler option.  I reached the summit a few minutes before Jon, an enjoyed the solitude.  The weather was perfect; blue sky, no significant clouds, and no wind.  We relaxed and fueled up for 30 minutes, with no other company, before heading down.

Half way back across the ridge we noticed that the sky was beginning to darken.  The clouds seemed to appear out of nowhere.  We made it off the ridge and 100 yards down the road before the thunder began.  Shortly after the thunder, lightening streaked horizontally across the sky just to the west of us.  I did not need any more encouragement to pick up the pace.  I have only been caught above tree line in a lightning storm once before, but once was enough for me to know it was not a place I wanted to be.  As the road curved back onto the south ridge, Jon and I both put on our rain jackets.  Within 5 minutes the rain had turned to a hail/sleet mix.  We were passed by several vehicles that decided it was time to head down as well.  When we turned north off the south ridge we walked into the full force of the storm.  With the sky still dark and thunder rolling on I decided I needed to get down as quick as possible.

After a quick consultation with Jon, I headed down the steep grassy slope that I had first noticed on the way up.  While it was steep, the ground was solid and I made quick work on the descent.  I kept looking back to make sure that Jon was doing good as well.  The lower we got the better the storm got.

The bottom of the grassy slope gave way to the rocky gully.  Both Jon and I kept our eyes peeled for crystals as we worked down the gully.  No luck though.  The gully deposited us back on the road, at tree line.  It was great to be back below the trees again.  With a big sigh we started down the road towards the car again.  We made it back to the car by 1:30.  As happy as I was to avoid getting zapped in the storm, we still had the drive out to contend with.  I was worried that the rain would have made the road slippery, making for an interesting ride out.  turned out that it was a needless worry.  The road was in as "good" of shape as when we came up.  When we made it to the main road, there was no sign that the rain had made it that far.

Antero is not my first choice for a 14er to do again.  It would be a good first 14er to take someone on, if you drove all the way up to tree line, to avoid much of the road walk.  They would not get the '"required" 3000' elevation gain to "officially" count, but it would be a nice intro to 14ers. 

3000' elevation gain, is as Roach says, the "Purists" goal on each 14er.  Is this something I need to stick to? Does is matter if I do not gain 3000' on each attempt?  After all this is my own project, can't I set my own rules?  If I do start setting my own rules, where do they end?  Couldn't I just drive up Pikes Peak and call it good?  It may be my project, but it is their game, so I have decided that I need to play by their rules as best as I can.  I do not feel that I have to gain 3000' on every 14er separately, but rather on each outing ( for example the Lincoln, Democrat, Bross group).  Hopefully this is enough to gain the respect if the 14er community, once (if) I complete  all 54.  Respect is not why I am climbing these mountains (that is a whole separate entry someday, once I figure it out myself), but I would like to think that others would say I played the game honestly.

Check out the complete trip photos HERE

Mount Princeton

Mount Princeton

14,197'

June 20th, 2012

54/54/18

After a day off to recover from our meeting with the queen of Colorado 14ers, we decided to go see if we could meet up with the Prince.  While lounging and resting at Mount Princeton Hot Spring's pools the day before, we were able to stare up at our objective of the day, Mount Princeton, 14,197'.  The springs had done their job and relaxed Karen's knees and legs, from the Mt Massive hike, so she agreed to give it a shot.

With the X-terra doing a great job getting us to the upper Mt Massive trailhead, I decided to give it another go and drove up to the radio towers on Mt Princeton.  This also would take six miles off of our roundtrip distance.  The drive up to the radio towers was an adventure in itself.  The road is not wide at all!  I think it was about 5-6 feet wider than our car; less if you ask Karen.  She was white knuckled the entire drive up to the towers.  I think there are still fingernail marks in the dashboard.  While the road was narrow it was in good shape and relatively smooth.  Luckily we did not encounter any other vehicles coming down the road as we were going up.  I am not sure how we would have managed to pass each other, as there was only one or two good spots to pull over to let each other pass.

We headed upwards right around 7 a.m.  From the radio towers the trail climbs the road up through several sets of long switchbacks to 11,800'.  The road made for a nice warm-up, which let us work out the last our aches.  We had a black FJ pass us on the road as we worked our way up.  They said they had spent the night in the Chalet  near the top of Point 13,971, and left for the summit at 4:30 a.m.  I did not know that there was any type of shelter up there, might be worth looking into if we ever return.

The turn off the road to the trail was not as well  marked as  I thought it would be.  It looked like the cairn had fallen over and the stone steps broken down.  Must have been a rough winter up here, or we headed up the wrong trail.  And of course with the low snow year the second choice was the correct one.  We left the road about 30 yards to early, but did not fully realize this until we came down later in the day.  The correct turn off is every well marked, with a great cairn and steps.  So if the trail does not looked well maintained keep going up the road a little until you see the correct turn off.

Keep going. This is not the correct turn off!

Once off the road the trail climbs to a small ridge, before turning west and entering the rocks. The trail traverses westward below Point 13,300 through a continuous talus field.  The trail was much easier to follow than on Massive.  About a third of the way through the traverse, Karen decided she had enough.  She just got to a point where she did not feel comfortable.  Looking back now, I wish I would have stayed with her a little longer because I think I would have been able to help her get passed the section that was scaring her (it was not scary, just a loose section of dirt/scree mix).  As Karen turned back towards the ridge I continued on.

The trail through this section never felt steep.  The rocky terrain kept it interesting as I had to watch my footing.  I think I got off trail a few times, as I found myself moving up, down and over large boulders, that I did not notice on the way back later in the day.  The trail finally began to climb once it hit the "new" rerouted section up to the ridge between Point 13,300 and Princeton.  The wind, which had been minimal up to this point, was blowing good over the saddle .  Strong enough that I had to stow my hat to keep from losing it.

I broke the climb up to the summit from this point  into 3 sections: cliff band, bump, summit.  I have always found that smaller goals, make the overall progress go much quicker on 14ers.  I managed to lose the main trail on the way up to the cliffs and ended up climbing farther to the east than the actual trail.  Before I knew it I was standing just above the cliffs, looking upwards to the "bump".  I ended up combining sections two and three into one push. 




About half way up, off route again, I came to a plaque memorializing a women who had been killed by lightening on that very spot in 1995.  It was a humbling reminder of the risk we take when we enter the high country to play our games.  I carried her memory up to the summit with me and hoped she was watching out for me on this day.


I reached the summit at 10:14; my usual 1000 feet per hour pace still in tack.  Once again I found myself alone on a peak.  It has been so nice to be able to experience the summits this year with no crowds, and almost no other people around.  Shortly after arriving the winds picked up.   At one point I was able to lean into them and stay standing up right.  The wind actually knocked over my camcorder and tripod.  I ate a quick bite and headed down, because I did not want Karen to have to wait too long for me.

Heading to the western edge of the summit for one last picture, I noticed a large group coming up from a different route than I had ascended (probably from the grouse Creek trailhead).  I tried to get off quicker now, so that they could have the same solitary summit experience that I had.  I passed a lady and her dog (Aussie) on my way down before hitting the ridge again.  She had started from the lower trailhead, just as we drove through this morning.  She was making good time!  I also passed a group of three "older" gentlemen just before dropping off the ridge again.  They asked, with a smile, if they were "on the right path to Mount Yale?"

The hike back to the ridge above the road went without a hitch.  I actually managed to stay on the correct trail the entire way.  I was surprised to arrive back at the lower ridge and see Karen still there.  I had told her to head back to the car and I would meet her there.  Apparently she decided to hike further up the ridge and investigate the Chalet and surrounding area.  It was nice to be able to walk the remainder of the way back to the car with her.  We made it back by 2:30; just over six hours for the round trip. 

Once back to the car, we still had the three miles down the 4WD road to contend with.  White- knuckled and slowly we made our way back down (more of Karen's nail marks in the dashboard) to the main road.  We made a quick stop back at the hot springs to wash off the dust, and try out the water slide that we missed the day before, before we headed home.

I felt really good the entire day.  I should have eaten better, as I only had one pack of cliff blocks the entire day.  I got away with one there.  This was probably the easiest 14er I have done so far, but very enjoyable. 

Check out complete trip photos HERE

Mt Massive

Mt. Massive

14,421'

June 28th, 2012

54/54/17

Doubt -to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe.

"If doubt is challenging you and you do not act, doubts will grow. Challenge the doubts with action and you will grow. Doubt and action are incompatible."

~ John Kanary ~

"If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through."

~ Rosalyn Carter ~

Rising from the Arkansas Valley, Mt Massive is only exceeded in height by its neighbor to the south, Mt Elbert.  If Elbert is the king of the Rockies, then Massive must surely be its queen.  With my parents in town for a week, Karen and I were able to escape together for a few days to ourselves.  We set our sights on hiking two 14ers with rest day at Mount Princeton Hot Springs in between.  When planning for this trip I put a question out on 14ers.com on which route to take up Mt Massive:  the longer (13.5 miles) standard route, or the shorter (8 miles) but steeper S.W. Slopes.  While I got plenty of responses, I think it was the fact that I was being lazy, and did not want to hike farther than I had to, that lead us up the S.W. Slopes.  As a bonus I would get to try the X-terra on a good 4WD rode.

The road up to the North Half Moon trailhead did not turn out to be all that bad.  It was only the last half mile that I actually needed the 4WD for.   I really wanted to try the creek crossing just past the trailhead, but luckily Karen is smarter and wiser than me, and vetoed that idea.   We set up camp in the field just to the east of the trailhead, and had the place to ourselves.  We turned in early in anticipation of a 5 a.m. wake-up.

 I slept restlessly, tossing and turning throughout the night.   I think the climb was weighing on my mind.  I was not sure that I was up to the steepness of the climb.  This approach to the summit gains 3950' in four miles.  Doubt was beginning to set in. 

With the first mile being relatively flat it meant we were in store for a lot of elevation gain in a short amount of time.  The first mile and a quarter roughly parallels Half Moon Creek, which was flowing  strong for as low of a snow pack that we had this past winter. We took our time through this section, using it as a warm up.  We were passed by another couple who had left five minutes behind us.  40 minutes later I began to question if we had missed the trail turn off, when we passed two  backpackers coming down from Half Moon Lakes, who told us we were almost there.  The turn off was well signed and had a large cairn, so I doubt there was any way we could of missed it.

Once on the summit trail, the climbing began and kept up all the way to the summit.  Where the trail crossed through boulders, we had to keep a sharp eye open so we did not lose the trail, as all the rocks blended together.  Karen did a great job of keeping us on track.  While the trail did climb the entire time, it never felt too steep.  At no time did we feel like we were going to topple over from exhaustion.  However, as we climbed up doubt continued to seep into my mind.

Doubt, of if I could make it up.  Doubt, of why I was doing this.  Was my goal of completing  all 54 "official 14ers" worthwhile?  Was I enjoying this, or was I just checking another one off?  There is only one way to get rid of doubt.  And that is to keep pushing through, which is what I did.  One step at a time! 

My favorite part of the climb was the traverse to the summit after we crossed over the saddle between South Massive and Massive itself.  The east slopes of massive was laid out before our eyes.  All four of Massive's peaks above 14,000' on were laid out in front of our eyes..  As we made our way across to the summit, the couple that passed us in the morning were working their way back across it.  We ran into another couple, who quickly left, at the summit.  Once they were gone we had the summit to ourselves for 30 minutes, until we decided to head back down.

Summit

The only disappointment was that someone had left a Frisbee on the summit. While their intention was good (it was a gift for whomever found it), I looked at it as trash, which someone would have to remove (which I did). I am sure the group of "youngsters" that came up after us would have really enjoyed the find, but I could not help but thinking it as defacing the peak somehow. "Take only photographs, leave only footprints".

While prepping for this climb I had read comments about the white marmots on Massive. I began to think these were in the realm of snipe hunts. So you can imagine my surprise when Karen actually spotted one, sunning on a rock right next to another brown marmot. They do exists!! I have the picture and video to prove it.

 
The hike down was a little more challenging than we had imagined. Stepping down through the boulders, beat our knees up pretty bad, even with the use of trekking poles. We were both happy to get back down to the flats.

 Once back down to the trailhead I dropped my pack and headed to the creek to soak my feet.  The water was bone chillingly cold, but it did help sooth my tired feet.  I could not bring myself to soak any of the dust off the rest of my body.

I felt stronger on today's climb, than I did on La Plata two weeks ago.  Hopefully I will continue to gain strength of each 14er.  I love to be able to do one of these one day and say "that was easy".  Until then, I'll just keep taking it - One step at a time,

Check out the complete trip photos HERE

La Plata

La Plata Peak

14,336'

June 4th, 2012

54/54/16

The opening day of my 14er season had to be put off a week, due to bad weather being called for the La Plata area last week.  Pushing back our attempt on La Plata a week, found one of our trio on vacation, so it was just Doug H and I that headed up late Sunday night.  We did have a new member of our 14er crew, my new X Terra.  Only a week "old" and she is on her first road trip.

 An early wake-up had us on the trail just before 6 a.m.  A short quarter mile hike down the road and we turned onto the trail, and headed to the South Lake Creek crossing.  The creek was raging as we walked over the bridge.  Ten yards upstream of the bridge the creek feel over a 20 foot drop .  The spray from the falls bounced up to the top of the gorge walls.  Awed by the power of the falls we continued left on the trail, once over the bridge.  Now if I would have been paying more attention, I would have realized that the trail description said to go right once over the bridge. The left trail followed the creek eastward.  Coming to the second creek (La Plata Gulch Creek) crossing we did not see the bridge described in the trail description  and had to walk upstream a little ways to find a place to cross safely.  About 50 yards after crossing the creek  we started to question if we were on the right trail.  Doug pulled out the map and saw that we should be heading upstream into La Plata Gulch, rather than continuing eastward.  We backtracked to the creek crossing and found branches  placed across the trail were we would have crossed the creek at lower water levels.  I guess we were not the first group to make this same mistake.  We bush wacked upstream along the eastern side of the creek for a hundred yards or so and found the bridge we should of crossed over the creek on.

At this point the trail started to climb steeply.  "Someone" had done a great job of creating a series of steps out of logs.  It must have taken some serious work to do this quality of job, but we greatly appreciated their hard work.    Above the steps the trail continued to climb on a great trail, eventually leveling out into a high valley.  The trail stayed on the east side of the creek as it worked its way up the valley.  We passed four backpackers who were on their way down after an overnight.  Chatting with them we learned that they had not attempted to summit the peak.  About half way up the valley the trail turns eastward  and enters into the steep switchback section.

For almost a half mile the trail climbs steeply through a series of quick switchbacks.  Throughout this section I kept my head down and kept putting one foot in front on the other.  One step at a time; the only way to make it up.  It was not until later in the day on the way down,  that once again I actually realized how steep this section actually was.  Once topping  out on this section the trail traversed southward, working its way up to La Plata's northwest ridge.  We took a quick beak at the 6 foot square boulder, before heading up the final section up to the N.W. ridge.  At this point we crossed over a couple of remaining snowfields.  A one point I post holed crotch deep.  All but one of these could have been avoided.  But where would the adventure be in going around them?

Looking down the
switchbacks

The trail up the N.W. ridge was good until we reached the boulders.  Once there we managed to lose the trail, in some snow patches,  and ended up doing some class II boulder hopping as we slowly continued upwards.  We were passed by a trail runner, clad only in shirt and shoes, who quickly left us in his wake.  I think is was ultra-runner Anton Krupicka  (Bad Ass!!!).  He was on his way back down while we were still over 1/4 mile from the summit. 

We made the summit at 10:45, almost 5 hours after leaving the trailhead.  The weather had been perfect on the way up.  Only cool enough that you noticed the temp. when you stopped for more than a minute to rest.  We had the summit to ourselves, and lounged about for 30 minutes or so.  We could easily identify  Mt Belford and Oxford, Missouri Mountain and Huron Peak to the south; Mt Elbert and Mt Massive to the North.  I am sure there are many other peaks that were visible but we did not recognize them for sure.  To the north-west there is a red mountain that we noticed from the summit of Huron last year as well.  Anyone know what it is?  Both the summit register and the USGS marker were missing.  However, some dumbass did write "Darrell O was here 6/3/23" in sharpie on one of the rocks on the summit wind block.  Some people have no sense of respect of nature or others experience of it.  Besides this, the entire trail was incredibly clean; very little trash.  Thanks to all of you doing your part to keep the area clean.

Upper section of N.W. Ridge, just below the bolders

The way off the summit and down the N.W. ridge was once again slow going.  We managed to lose the trail AGAIN, an  ended up doing some boulder hopping.  Wherever we found the trail it was in great shape.  By the time I was off the boulder section both legs were shaking , and I was looking forward to flushing them out on some flatter ground and getting rid of the shakes.  

Below the N.W. ridge we ran into a couple who were still on their way up around 1:30 p.m. when we passed them.  As we chatted with them  dark clouds we begin to roll over La Plata's summit from the south.  I think they decided to just make it up to the start of the ridge and turn around.

The remainder of the way down was uneventful and we arrived back at the trailhead at 3:05 p.m. Nine hours round trip.  Not as fast as I would like, but not too bad for opening day.  Overall I felt  good.  I did not notice any effects of the altitude except moving slow.  I still need to work on my food.  The cashews I had at the summit did not set well in my stomach on the way down.  However, the shots blocks seemed to keep my energy level up, so they are coming along on future trips.  Until next time... See Ya!!

Check out the complete trip photos HERE

Into the Steep

1/16/2012

2008 Picutre of our Route - More snow this year

The 2011-12 winter has been slow to come into full force.  While this is bad for the ski resorts, it is  good for summiting 14ers;  not the I have ticked off any winter ascents.  But the trip report section of  14ers.com is  full of people getting  up numerous summits.  Little Bear, one of the toughest 14ers in Colorado has seen numerous ascents over the past several weeks.  With the relatively stable snowpack, Doug and I headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park to try a snow route that we had spotted a couple of winters ago.

Bear Lake parking lot was relatively empty when we arrived around 9:30. Only a few souls out on this MLK holiday Monday.  Our plan was to snowshoe past Nymph and Dream Lake up to Emerald Lake.  Though we used snowshoes on the way up, it was more an exercise in winter travel than of  actual need, as the trail was well packed down. 

As we approached Emerald Lake, Hallet Peak could been seen above the frozen lake's surface, trying to emerge from behind clouds.  The big snow route up in this area is the Dragon's Tail Couloir, however, this was not our destination for today, but hopefully sometime in the future.  Our route lead out of the SW corner of Emerald Lake, following a couloir that topped out on Hallet's SE ridge. 

Learning from Mount Sherman last year, I actually rented crampons for this attempt and brought along the new ice axe.  After some instructions from Doug on using the crampons and a little self rescue practice with the  axe, we headed up into the steep.  The route started out gentle, with minimum amount of snow.  As we headed higher the snow became deeper which made for better footing with the crampons.  Soon we were having to plunge the handle of the axes into the snow to make upwards progress. Plunge, step, step.... Plunge, step, step.... Plunge, step, step....

The crux of the route was a 30 yard section, with only a light covering of snow, over lose talus.  We could not plunge our axes in to get a good support while we stepped up.  Every step had the talus moving beneath our feet.  We ended up using the axe's head to dry tool behind the larger rocks.  Even with this we were afraid to put too much weight onto the axe, in case the rocks they were wedged behind, broke out of their icy hold, leaving  us tumbling backwards down the couloir.  Once past this section, we traversed right into deeper snow and made good progress upward.  I tried to avoid looking down below us, as the pitch had steepened to 45 degrees or so.  Looking down only lead  to second guessing my decision to tackle this climb.

The final section of the climb moves into a narrow gully and kicks back a little more steeply.  By this time Doug had climbed about 25 yards above me, and was ready to enter into the final 30 yards.  Up to this point the weather had been on our side. Today was the first time, on a winter hike, that I have come over Dream Lake and not been pushed around by a strong wind.  The overcast skies kept us from overheating despite our constant movement.  Just before he entered  the final section to the top, as strong wind blew across the surface, covering us in snow and dropping visibility to 15 yards for a short period of time.  With my nerves beginning to fray, and the energy draining from legs I told Doug I was done.  Perhaps if I would have been up next to Doug I would have chosen to push on to the top, but I decided to listen to my body and mind and head down, with Doug following.

Going down seemed to be slower than going up.  The wind had blown over our steps higher up, so with each step down I had to once again kick new steps to stand in.  Much easier to kick steps going up than down.  The crux section was definitely slower going on the way down.  The talus seemed looser, and there were less obvious rocks to dry tool in.  Below the crux we took a more easterly route back to the lake.  I gracefully slide down on my butt over the lower angled talus.  Doug got a great glissade in on the final drop to the lake.  Being beat, and not all the sure on my glissading ability I trudged down all but the last 15 yards of this section.

The hike back to the car went fairly fast.  We left the crampons on, to make quicker progress over the lakes.  Even though I was beat I, I kept telling myself that I could make it, and to stop whining in my mind!  I can't wait to try some snow again.  Unfortunately the week since we did this climb has brought snow to the high country and high avi danger.  My future plans may have to wait until the more stable spring snow.

Until next time... "watch your top knot!"

Welcome 2012!!!

Happy New Year!  The start of the new year has me thinking about this summer's summit attempts.  It is shaping up to be a great summer. My plan for 2012 is to try to finish off the Sawatch Range.  Nine more summits are awaiting me there. 

From the research I have been doing so far it looks like there are some beautiful approaches to these summits.  I am looking at 2- 3 overnight trips to try to get in 2 sets of  two-for-one summit attempts (Harvard/Columbia & Shavano/Tabeguache).  The other overnighter I really want to try in the Halo Ridge route on Mt of the Holy Cross; spending the night in the shelter on the way to the summit.

2012 14ers Wish List

Mt Massive 14,421'
Mt Harvard 14,420'
Mt Columbia 14,073'
La Plata Peak 14,336'
Mt Antero 14,269'
Mt Princeton 14,197'
Mt Shavano 14,229'
Tabeguache Peak 14,155'
Mt of the Holy Cross 14,005'

I would also like to try to get in Chicago Basin this year, since the rain flooded out last year's attempt.  This will probably depend on the rest of this winter's snow and when we can safely get into this area.  So far it has been a low snow year, with most of the resorts (at least in "northern" Colorado) reporting only real snow in the high 20 inch range.  Hard to believe after last year's massive snow amounts. 

What is bad for the skiing and the rafting seasons, may make for a good 14er season for me, if the light snows allow me to get into the high country earlier this year.  So dear readers (you know who you 2 are), check out the list, and pick out the ones you just can't wait to attempt, and come join me.

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 Over this past fall I have picked up some new gear for this summer.  First off was a pair of Micospikes that I found on Craigslist.  I just used these for the first time this past week, and they are my new favorite piece of gear.  I feel so solid on the trail with these attached to my feet. I highly recommend these for anyone heading out on icy trails. 

I also pick up a 65 cm Black Diamond Raven ice axe with slider leash.  I figured now that I have extensive experience using one (see my post on Mount Sherman for more details) that I should purchase my own.  Picked it up at REI, when they had the 20% off membership coupon.

After the trip to the Belford Group last summer I decided I needed a new, warmer sleeping bag.  I bought a Marmot Sawtooth 15° down (650 fill) sleeping bag from Sierra trading Post.  It was another screaming deal; it was on sale then I had a 30% off coupon on top of the sale price.  I think I picked it up for just over $100 (msrp $260ish).  I am hoping the 15°, is not to warm for summer, but since I sleep cold I figured it was worth it.  If it is too hot I can always use it as a quilt.

My last purchase (so far) is a new camera.  After the battery door failed/broke on my Nikon CoolPix L22 (same place on 2 different cameras), and Nikon wanted $79 to fix it (10 dollars less than a new, updated model)  I decided it was time for something new and a little more rugged.  I swore I was not going to get another Nikon, because I was not happy with the outcome of the battery door, but after looking at my options I decided to go with the Nikon CoolPix AW100.   It is waterproof to 30 feet and drop/shockproof up to five feet.  It also records video in HD (1080 dpi).  I just got it today so I have not had time to play with it yet, I'll give you all a review of it once I get it out in the field.  My hope is that it will replace my video camera, and I will only have to take one camera on trips rather than 2.  Once again I got a screaming deal from B & H photo.  MSRP is $379, B & H had it on sale for $259, then I got another $20  off as a first time buyer with "Bill Me Later".  I would have liked to have bought it locally at Jax, but it was too good of a deal to pass up.

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So now it is time to start working on the logistics for this summer.  A project to keep me from going stir crazy, until I can get boots onto the mountains.  Until next time, take it "one step at a time!"

Of Mice and Man II - Belford Group

Belford Group

Mt Belford 14,197'

Mt Oxford 14,153'

Missouri Mountain 14,067'

August 8th & 9th

54/54/13-15

Having successfully summited Huron Peak in the morning, Doug H and I headed to Missouri Gulch trailhead to meet Jon C to attempt the Belford Group over the next  two days.  We took advantage of the wait for Jon in Missouri's parking lot to rearrange and repack our gear.  It's hard to keep the backpack light when you are packing for not only a back packing trip but also for attempting to summit 14ers.  We each ended up bringing an additional small day pack along as well, for the 14ers.  By the time Jon arrived and we were all packed up and ready to head out, each of us was cringing under the weight of our packs.  Wish my pack would have been a little heavier, as I was to later learn, I forgot to put in my water bladder when I was rearranging my gear. 

Coming back to the cars 2 days later, I  realized how steep the approach trail actually was.  At the time we went up the approach trail, it did not seem as steep as it did coming down later.  All I remember of the first part of the approach trail was the heels of Jon's boots.  I guess that should have been my first clue of how steep the trail was.  It took us just over two hours to climb the 2 miles to the basin below the peaks. 

By the time we hit the basin I was beat.  I was willing to take the first descent camp spot that we came to.  Jon found us a great spot about 100 yards or so towards Missouri Mountain from where the trail splits to the 3 peaks.  Dropping my pack I pulled out the ridge rest, and took a rest for a half hour while Jon and Doug set up their tents.  Feeling a little rested I managed to set up my tent and cooked dinner before turning in early.  Our plan was to head out for Mt Belford and Mt Oxford by 6:30 a.m. on Monday.

I slept well until about 3 a.m. when I woke up freezing.  It felt as if the temperature had suddenly dropped 20 degrees.  I spent the next 3 hours tossing and turning in my sleeping bag trying to stay warm, while attempting to catch some more sleep.  A 6a.m. alarm had us headed up the to Mt Belford by 6:45 a.m.

The trail to Belford's summit climbs about 2,300 feet  from the basin to summit.  Most of the trail is one switch back after another.  Picture the laces on a pair of ladies knee-high boots and you have a good idea of the trail up Belford.  There was only one way to make the summit: one step after another.  It was that thought that kept me going to the top, which we reached at 9:11 a.m.  With another summit to reach, we only spent 15 minutes on top before we dropped off the summit and headed for the ridge leading to Mt Oxford.

To reach Mt Oxford one must first drop down a ridge and lose 400 - 500 feet of elevation.  The trail is steep and lose in places, making for slow going to reach the bottom of the saddle/ridge.  The trail then climbed gentler as it rose to Oxford's summit.  The total distance from the Belford Ridge to Oxford's summit was a mile and a half.  Once on the summit we were joined by a father/daughter pair with their black lab from Colorado Springs.  Pikas chirped at us from between the rocks on the summit, as they tried to avoid the lab.  The lab also flushed up a pair of ptarmigan, which I know we would not off seen as they blended in to the environment perfectly.

I broke the climb back up to Belford's ridge mentally into 3 sections. This seemed to help, as I was surprised at how quickly I reached the top of each section.  Once to the ridge we decided to head back down to camp via a different route, because we didn't want to head back down the switchbacks, which we were feared were going to be lose.

From the ridge below Belford we spotted a trail that lead down to Elkhead Pass and looked like it would easily take us back to camp, on a gently sloping trail.  While this route was a little longer, I think it was much easier on our bodies.  The only problem with this route is that we would have to retrace part of it in the morning as we headed up to Missouri Mountain's summit.  The wildflowers along this stretch of trail we explosive.  Everywhere you looked reds, blues, whites and yellows were popping out.

We arrived back to camp by 1:20 p.m. and spent the rest of the day resting and recovering for the next day's summit attempt..  I am not sure if I would have been able to make both summits if we had started from the trailhead, as I was pretty beat by the time we arrived back at camp.  I imagine that these 2 summits surprise a good number of people.  Neither summit is harder than class II, and only 11 miles roundtrip, but you gain almost 6,300 feet of elevation between both summits.  Roach says all one needs for these summits is "little more than a sturdy pair of legs".  I think that this underplays the strenuous nature of these two climb combined, and anyone planning to do these both from the trailhead needs to understand what is in-store for them, before heading out.

Wanting to make the retracing of the trail up towards Elkhead Pass a little easier we decided to take off before sun-up and were on the trail by 5:15 a.m..  Even in the dark I could see the ridgeline of  to the first basin looming above us.  I tried to keep my eyes off it, as I did not want to mentally beat myself up.  The trail climbed steadily out of the lower basin, pushing into 3 higher basins before the cut-off for Missouri Mountain.  Having studied the route up the front side of Missouri Mountain yesterday on the way up to Belford I was nervous.  The trail leading up to the northwest ridge looked nearly vertical.  In the back of my mind was the thought that a father and daughter lost their lives on this mountain earlier this year.  Climbing these peaks is fun and a challenge, but not a challenge worth my life.

Coming down from Elkhead Pass yesterday I started to feel a little better about the route.  From up close the east face did not look vertical, and the trail looked very straight forward. Now as we headed up the Missouri Mountain trail from where it splits off from the Elkhead Pass trail, my confidence began to grow.  The first 1/3 of a mile winds its way up a grassy slope before entering into a boulder field and working its way up the east face..  With each step I was feeling more at ease and my confidence quickly built.  The east face only had 2 or 3 small sections that gave me pause due to loose scree.  Working steadily upwards we topped out on the ridge in just under an hour.  I was hoping that once we obtained the ridge most of the work and danger would be over.  I was mistaken!

Looking up from where we encountered the ridge, I could see that we still had several hundred feet of elevation to gain.  Worse than the elevation, was that the trail looked loose, with steep sides falling off to the west.  My hiking poles came in handy; giving extra support in a few steep, loose scree sections.  We took this section deliberately and had no problems.  It was actually quite fun walking along the spine of the ridge, with steep drop offs of either side.

Middlebrook (of 14ers.com) claims that the crux of the ridge is a small section of class III climbing (8 vertical feet or so) 100 yards or so below the summit.  I will, respectfully, disagree with him.  My crux came 30 yards before this climb.  We once again topped out on the ridge, only to find a short (15 feet) down climb leading to a loose looking section of scree.  As soon as I saw this section I almost turned around right there.  If it would not have been for Doug's confidence, and the fact that he went first, I would have given up the summit.  Doug carefully worked his way down the rock and stopped below to spot Jon and I.  The down climb once again proved not to be too difficult, as the rock was solid.  Once down the we quickly overcame Middlebrook's crux and found one last section of lose, steeply climbing trail above us.  I took a quick breather as I did not want to have to stop on this last section.  With head down I charged up this final section, until I found myself on the top of the ridge and on solid ground again, only 15 yards below the summit. 

The geomarker on the summit was once of the easiest ones I have had yet to look for.  We were shortly joined by 2 younger ladies who had made quick work of the ridge.  They left the summit just before us, and it was amazing watch them move effortlessly over the terrain that had given me such a start.  I lead the way off of the ridge and pushed my pace as fast as could.  I felt more confident in the lead, and moved downwards with hardly a rest.  I finally was able to relax once I got back to the bottom of the saddle.  It was a true relief to be off the ridge and onto relatively stable ground.  Just above reaching the saddle again we ran into the dad/daughter/dog trio from yesterday.

Despite the fact (or maybe because of it) that this route really pushed my comfort leve,l this summit turned out to be my favorite summit of all the 14ers that I have done so far in this project.  The hike back to camp for the saddle was uneventful.  I was surprised, however, by the number of people coming up on a Tuesday.  We must have past 20 plus people.

Once back to camp we took about an hour to break down camp and prepare for the hike back to the trailhead.  We made the 2 miles back to the vehicles in just over an hour.  The entire time going down I was surprised at how steep the trail had been on the way up.  Only 2 days later and I had already forgotten the effort it took to make it up in the first place.  One thought kept running threw my head on the way down: cheeseburgers (no not corn dogs!).

We quickly dropped our gear into the vehicles and headed into Leadville for those cheeseburgers that I had been dreaming about.  They turned out to be much better than the corn dogs on the way in.

Four 14ers in 3 days.  Not too bad at all!  This was the hardest I have pushed myself on any of the 14ers so far.  This trip showed me that I can push myself for several days in a row. Which will be important for many of my future outings.  However, this trip also made me question if I am going to be able to complete Project 54/54.

Missouri's upper ridge was not all that hard compared to some of the peaks yet to come.  I will need to build my confidence and skills before I tackle some of the harder peaks.  Fifth class, roped climbing (not that I will have to do any of it on the remaining peaks) should not be a problem as I have climbed up to 5.11c in my younger years.  It is the class III and IV un-roped scrambles that have me worried.  One step at a time is the only way to make it happen.

~ Post Script ~  It only took me 4 days of being home before I started thinking about trying to get one or two more in before the end of the season.  This is a good sign I guess!

See Complete Photos Here