I always get a bit of a nervous feeling as trip planning comes to an end and all that is left is the trip itself. At that point you just have to hope you did your homework and roll with it because you know that an adventure is almost sure to ensue.
Well now that I am just a few weeks out from a 4-week trip to Washington where my climbing partners and I have planned a rather hefty schedule of routes to bag on glaciated, hopefully still icy peaks, I am excited to see what we can tackle and if our training has paid off. But after all training is what this article is about so I thought I would share how we have trained for our plans of 5 peaks in just under 3 weeks in a light and fast style.
For sometime now I have been against carrying the whole kitchen and going expedition style on any climb especially when it can be done in alpine style or with a light & fast mindset. I also find myself not attracted to the standard mountaineering routes on popular mountains where the struggle becomes more with fighting the crowds than the actual climb itself, especially since many of these routes involve more of a hike than climb. So when setting off for mountains like Rainier, and Baker my crew looked at what routes we could do to use or technical skills and how we could get away from the crowds. We saw that some of these routes would be a little more demanding and that we would have to move quickly to deal with conditions. So we started training early. This included building up leg muscle to carry all the necessary gear, getting acclimated to highly aerobic exercise at elevation, becoming comfortable with your climbing partners in multiple situations and figuring out a system that allowed us to carry just what we need without unnecessary bulk and then fine tuning this with lightweight gear.
We started out by hiking up hill with water bottles in our packs about 3 months before the trip. Our weights varied but it was about getting stronger not seeing how miserable you could make yourself from the start, training should be fun and even if it is physically demanding you should be excited to improve. These hikes were our short burst workouts that lasted anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours done twice a week and our packs started around 20lbs and moved up towards 45 lbs. When we reached the top of our hills we would “water the plants around us” so that we did not have to carry the full weight back down and could save abusing our knees for the trip. Then once a week we would have a longer trip that would be our endurance workout. Often times these consisted of much less weight and would be much more exciting activates that you looked forward to such as climbing a coulior, rock climbing with a hike in, or overnight camping. We are fortunate to live in Colorado so we could continually workout at altitude similar to that of the N.W. or above it. Along with this we knew that our skills needed to be honed in, that if we were carrying just our essential gear we needed to know how to use it quickly and any possibilities of limitations. For this we would go over our rope systems once a week or so. Now not only are these systems fresh in our minds and we have complete confidence in our climbing partners but we have also been able to tweak things so we can help to eliminate any surprises. The last thing that we sorted out was teaching our bodies how to deal with early mornings and long pushes, the key to Alpine Style climbing. Although this is something that you just have to go out and do I have seen that the more you do it the more adjusted to the strain your body becomes and those long miserable grinds turn into fun full day missions that don’t leave you completely dead the next day, which is essential for multi-day climbs. Part of the success for this is learning that you need to pre-hydrate and that it is a process to start days before not the morning of. Also eating good nurturance packed food leading up to big early morning, all day pushes helps your body have calories to burn. The other parts become a mental game; you have to learn to operate early in the morning before the sun is up warming you, you have to learn to work tired or somewhat dehydrated, you need to learn that you can push yourself a little bit farther to get out before dark if you need to. All of these situations are not the perfect conditions to be in but with practice you will learn how to work through them, how your body operates and what you personally need to do for yourself to have a fun time and most importantly stay safe.
Now that this training is almost over and the trip is weeks away I am feeling much stronger and the long days have become easier. But for me the training was not miserable we figured out a schedule that would be fun, contained exciting adventures that not only helped us work on necessary skills but also helped us build up strength and endurance. Also I found it very important for everyone in the group to come up with ideas for these adventures. Sometimes it was something that they had wanted to do for a long time, or a route that they created for a long hike, but by involving everyone it not only allowed individual input it also gave us a great opportunity for team building.
Well I guess I will let you know how it goes. The itinerary looks like this: Rainier-Kautz route, Culchuck Mt-North Buttress coulior, Dragons Tail-Triple Coulior, Shuksan- North Face, Baker – North Face. Hopefully we can skirt around some rainstorms and meet our goals. Look for trip reports when we return in July.
Cheers!
Filed under climbing training rainier training light and fast climbing in the Pacific North West
It’s so Fun it Yurts!
Hidden Treasure Yurt
School was out and the snow had been falling; nothing quite gets you more excited for a backcountry snowboard trip than this.
A large group of us packed up on 12/16 and headed out for treeline on New York Mountain to spend 3 nights at the Hidden Treasure Yurts. These yurts are at 11,200’ just about .5 miles above the Polar Star cabin a 10th mountain hut that looks very luxurious for backcountry travelers.
We left the Yeoman Park trailhead around 11:00am and started the trek in. Although it is only 6.2 miles it felt like quite a slog. This could have been because I didn’t quite have my touring legs under me yet or the 3,200-foot elevation gain with a pack loaded for a very comfortable 3 nights out was weighing me down, but whatever it was I was feeling each foot of elevation. The tour in is very peaceful though and relatively straightforward. The first 4 miles or so you follow the road up to the town of Fullford where you then turn up into the woods on a single-track path. As I said it is relatively straightforward, but don’t be fooled by a right hand turn shortly after going up into the woods or you will disappointingly find yourself back in Fullford. After setting an easy going pace and taking a break for lunch we didn’t arrived at the yurts until around 4:30pm. But I was welcomed into my first yurting experience with a beautiful sunset.
As I said before this was the first yurt that I had been in but overall I have to say they are a pretty cool structure. Once you get the wood stove going they stay very toasty warm, and the propane lights keep it just bright enough in the evenings to give you the feeling that you are still roughing it, somewhat at least. Cooking was relatively easy as well with the propane burners especially once you had a good system setup for melting water on the wood stove. My only complaint would be that with a yurt full of people there is not exactly counter space so bringing meals that need a lot of prep was tricky. Also I was surprised how toasty they stayed into the night, if you kept the fire stoked it was really warm, but we were all pretty lazy once we hit the bed so there were a few times that I was grateful that I brought my 0* bag.
The first morning we went on a bit of an exploratory tour as we headed out of the yurts down the valley towards the Polar Star hut. We ended up in some miserably tight trees before coming out in the bottom of a wash and making our way back onto a road. From here we skinned up Adams peak and found some good west facing open powder runs, although very short in elevation the terrain was a lot of fun, with mellow rollovers and small pillows to be found in knee-deep powder. We also got a great view of New York Mountain and the surrounding areas where we spotted our lines for the next day, which coincidently just happened to be the west facing lines right above the yurts that we thought would be wind blown and hard pack, oops.
The following day true to plan we headed up from the yurts finding amazing lines! As we came out into the open on New York mountain we followed the rock band around getting shot after shot of open untracked powder lines that dropped you down into perfectly spaced trees filled with little pillows. We lapped this all day working our way across each glade until as one of my yurt mates said “we had thoroughly molested the pristine snow” and our legs didn’t work anymore. On a note of caution this is all an old mining area and there are unmarked mine shafts underneath the snow and lots of fallen trees so be careful! We heard a very scary story around the whiskey bottle that evening of someone falling into a mineshaft and having to brace against the side as they took their skis off and climbed out. Also to save time trying to find the goods to be lapped reference this map: http://bit.ly/fATCVT , it makes the goods no secret.
The last morning we cleaned and packed up early wanting to beet the Sunday ski traffic on I-70, and our legs were a little too rubbery and sore to be convinced to get us up anymore laps. The skin out wasn’t too bad though we cut off a bit of distance by taking a left about 1 mile down from the yurt, this is the turn you shouldn’t take on the way up. This leads you to the turn of to Fullford were we had to convert for the last time and skin up the road about a mile before we could switch back to snowboards and cruise the rest of the way out.
Overall the Yurts were a lot of fun, they offer a great alternative to a backcountry cabin and the terrain on New York Mountain is hard to beet. Also we had great snow stability, which allowed us to move up into the more exposed areas without too much concern for avalanches with all of the snow we’ve been getting in Colorado.
Cheers!
Filed under Hidden Treasure Yurt New York Mountain backcountry snowboarding Backcountry hut colorado backcountry
Nothing like waking up at 4:00am to make you appreciate those late mornings of the weekly grind! Add to that a heavy pack and some mountaineering boots for a hike and you realize the reason why alpine-ice routes aren’t a crowded zoo. Last Saturday a few friends got word that the ice was finally forming in Rocky Mountain National Park so we headed out with the plan of climbing The Middle Finger of Dr. Wazz. We left Glacier Gorge parking lot around 6:00 am hopping to find good ice as we made our way up the Gorge. We got to Mills lake about 30 minutes after the sun was up to find what looked like thin ice on All Mixed up and the top pitch of Dr. Wazz having a small curtain of ice but nothing that looked climbable. As we made our way around Mill Lake we thought that we would give AMU a good shot as the ice through binoculars looked like it would go and it would be a real fun climb. But as we came around the lake we has some serious concern that the sun would melt out the top pitch before we could get there and more threatening that the snow bowl on the top would just be soft unconsolidated fluff that either would be impossible to get an axe in to pull over the bulge or that it could even slide on us. So in lieu we decided to head back to Black Lake and see if any of that ice looked better. As we hiked to the back of the Gorge we were seeing some really good bonding in the ice alongside the trail and the Slabs looking like they might go. But as we got to Black Lake the West Gully was looking like our best option and the top pitch was looking really fat. Also the approach was looking much better than a knee-deep slough to the Slabs. After taking a short break to fuel up on some food and throw on our crampons we made our way up to the ice and my buddy led the first pitch to just below the curtain of the second pitch. Although it was ice the whole way up and he did place a few screws it was clear that it was nothing like the thick gully of ice that it should be and like pictures show. To add to our realization that it just might not go we were hearing and seeing ice fall down all around us on similar aspects. Since we were climbing in a group of 3 after an anchor was set my buddy and I set out just slightly staggered from each other. As I pulled over the bulge to the mellow slope I saw ice spewing out of a pick hole like a little fountain. I had a little chuckle as I thought to myself that I continually head out to do water fall climbing and need to start doing water ice climbing, maybe this winter I can get around to that. After getting up to the anchor we decided that down was the safest way to go; aside from all of the water flowing underneath the ice my buddy that was belaying had some of the ice from above come crashing down on him. So trusting in my friends’ expertise a V-thread was setup and we started to rappel back down, watching the anchor carefully. Just shortly after the first person was about 10 feet off the anchor a huge air whooshing noise came down the Gully from above shortly followed by the sound of ice crashing, yep we were making the right decision but trusting the Abalakov was completely nerve racking! But we all made it back down to the ground safe. The hike out was very uneventful aside from the fact that the ice covered trail was still very slippery and maybe the best ice we found on the entire trip. Overall like most trips up Glacier Gorge it was beautiful and winter could slowly be seen coming in with snow on the higher points in the park and ice in the shade. I do think though that the ice will have bonded much stronger over the week and the melt freeze cycle will have been really good. Get ready for some thick ice in the future, and some great winter adventures from High Altitude Adventures as we move into the amazing winter season with epic excursion brewing in our minds. Cheers!
Filed under Ice Climbing Rocky Mountain National Park West Gully
As I started to look ahead towards planning upcoming climbs, Rainer & Hood this spring, I thought that it would be important to brush up and read more into glacier travel and crevasse rescue. Route finding and rescue skills are something that everyone who travels in the backcountry especially in roped climbing situations whether it is rock, ice, or snow should be familiar with, I know they’ve saved my butt and those of friends before. But living in Colorado I do not have a lot of access, or any to glaciated crevasse terrain so one of the best ways to stay in touch with the thoughts and practices of travel and safety is to read, read and read some more; of course this does not replace actually practice in the field or even simulated field practice.
In my search for literature I came across Glacier Mountaineering: An Illustrated Guide to Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue by Andy Tyson and Mike Clelland. At first I thought this book was a joke or a kids book due to the cartoon on the front and the goofy font of the title. But as I thumbed through the pages I realized that these guys had taken some kind of dull technical information and found a way to make it a fun read as well as creating illustrations that really allowed you to better visualize what they were talking about. Along with this both of the authors are experienced mountaineers. Mike is a NOLS instructor as well as has a variety of published outdoor instructional books under his belt, and Andy has a long list of guiding experience including NOLS, Alpine Ascents, and Exum Mountain Guides. I became very interested to see what techniques these two could instill in me.
The book covers lots of useful information. It describes in good detail the anatomy of a glaciers, how the move, and transition and transform from season to season and what makes up their crevasses. It also includes in it some real life encounters of bridge collapses and falls that help you to understand in better context how these aren’t just things that happen to the inexperienced or unaware. It also goes into detail on how to travel on glaciated terrain (roped and un-roped) how to understand where crevasses will occur and how to route find through this scary glaciated terrain. The authors also discuss rescue techniques, from how to hold a fall to placing protection and properly ascending a rope. Along with this they discuss glacier camping techniques, how to create a low impact trip, and how to safely and efficiently set up a glaciated camp.
Okay so I know it sounds like any old glacier travel book. But it covers everything in great detail and is very entertaining and visual, these guys are funny! They take a serious technical matter and break it down into more understandable ideas and along with that they entertain you. So if you need learn about glaciers or to touch up on your glacier travel skills and equipment I suggest checking this one out and having fun while you learn!
Cheers!
Filed under Mountainerring books Glacier travel books Glacier Mountaineering Andy Tyson Mike Clelland
Hunting Mountain Lions at 12,000 feet
The original plan was to hike 12,000 feet of elevation and cover the equivalent mileage of a marathon while doing three 14ers, La Plata, Mt. Elbert & Mt. Massive, in two days. But as always when one lives an adventure filled life things change, sometimes very quickly and in a very frightening way!
Two friends and I left for Leadville late Friday afternoon to camp out at the trailhead of La Plata for the start of our adventure. It just so happened that while planning this push we discovered that it would be a full moon Friday night. This did not influence our decision to start early but it certainly gave us a bit more of a sane excuse to hike an entire 14er in the dark. We all knew though that the real reason we were doing it was so we would have enough time to also go up Mt. Elbert before noon Saturday.
We through our sleeping bags out around 9:00pm just off the parking lot on the side of Independence Pass and after finally being able to drown out the rush hour traffic going over the pass I fell asleep for about an hour; until the notorious heavy weekend traffic of La Plata proved true. Around 10pm my two friends and I gave up the idea of sleep when my friends dog started barking at every car filled with hikers that pulled into the parking lot to get sleep before their morning start. Instead we laid in our bags for about an hour convincing ourselves that a little relaxation was better than starting an hour early. But sleep or no sleep we were off on the trail at 11:30pm planning to be at the top in a few hours.
The hiking is really pleasant starting out down a county road until you access the proper trailhead noted by the sign in box. From here route finding in the dark was not too bad but careful attention was needed. We wound our way through the flat valley floor covered by aspen leaves. It was beautiful with the full moon over head, but the leaf-covered forest did make route finding a little more difficult. Eventually you cross over a well-made bridge spanning a small deep gorge and then over a small creek with a few logs in it.
After we crossed the bridge we started to smell the musky scent of an animal. We were completely unaware of what it was but all agreed that it was an animal, as we continued on the smell would come and go but never very strong. Shortly after crossing the creek the trail starts to shoot straight up out of the valley. The trail at this point becomes very clear and although there is a big elevation gain it is on a very well maintained trail, which makes it much easier.
Finally around 11,000’ the trail came to a more open meadow area and became flat for a brief time before shooting straight up a gully that leads to tree line and the ridge of La Plata. As we turned to head up the gully there was a breeze coming over the top and with it came a very strong musky smell of what was certainly an animal. We stopped and discussed what we though it was and if we should keep going. Knowing that it was elk seasoned we suggested that maybe it was just some elk and that since the gully was moving up out of tree line we would be more in the open so a cat could not hide as well and the likely hood of a bear being up that high wasn’t big. The trail up the gully was very steep and we gained elevation very quickly. As we continued to go up there was one point where the smell became very intense and one of my friends even suggested that it smelled like a dead animal. Hum weird how looking back all these red flags come up, but we continued on and the smell even completely disappeared.
We reached the top of the gully and followed the trail left and across an easy scree field that angles up towards the summit ridge at about 12:45. As we made our way along the trail we spotted very large animal prints side hilling up off the trail. We stopped an examined them for a long time. We were very confused by what they were because they were so large but spaced very close together, also it was hard to tell because in the soft gritty dirt the animal clearly was getting bad traction an slipping which completely deformed the print. The only thing that we could certainly gather was that it was not a goat or any other hoofed animal. Also the tracks disappeared as they went up the hill so we could not tell were it went. As we moved along I was in the front keeping my eyes open ahead of me for anything while also trying to find the trail. This made me completely miss seeing the next set of prints, but when my buddy stopped us to look at them I looked down and so they dog for the first time starting to act strange or seem like there was anything else out there. I yelled at my friend to grab the dog and don’t let it bark! As I said this I heard rock fall from a gully ahead of us and we all saw two animals jump up onto a big rock maybe 100 yards in front of us. We all froze and my buddy and I through our trekking poles up in the air and started making as much noise as we could with our other friend and the dog in the middle. Then the two animals lunged at us, the adrenaline at this point was pumping so fast I was not sure if they took 2 steps or 10 I just knew that they were coming towards us; I yelled at everyone don’t move, don’t run, get louder! Then very quickly the animals turned and ran up the gully completely disappearing in the dark. We did not stop making noise but somehow in the chaos started to discuss what we were going to do. Should we continue on because maybe they were tying to come across the ridge and get behind us or should we turn back and hope they don’t follow us into tree cover. The person in the back said lets get off the ridge they are here so lets not be. And with that we all started to walk the few hundred yards back towards the gully in a mix of forward and backward facing walking shinning our lights everywhere and making enough noise to be heard over the pass in Aspen.
As we made our way down we were signing and yelling as loud as we could, and me being in the back I kept turning around walking a ways backwards and then returning forwards hopping that there was not something lurking behind me. Although the hike down seemed very long because of the constant concern of some lions following us and trying to eat us we were moving very quickly and were back at the trailhead around 2:20am were we left a note about when and were we had spotted the lions and warned for caution to be taken.
When we got back to the car we pilled relived to all be there in good health and headed over to the Mt. Elbert trailhead were we pitched up a tent without even asking if anyone wanted to sleep out in the open and passed out for a few hours before heading off to Mt. Elbert.
After Thoughts
After coming home and doing some more research on Mountain Lions that is certainly what we came across. The reasons that the prints looked so close together is because they walk lightly and step with their back paws in their front prints. The intense smell was likely not them but instead a food cache that they had, meaning an animal that they had killed earlier and were coming back to eat on. The timing was also perfect they hunt and travel largely in early morning and with the full moon it makes prime conditions. Also when they travel in groups like we saw it is because the young does not leave their mother until a few years old, and often can be more aggressive than the adults because they are just running off of instinct and not experience.
It was a very interesting experience one that I am glad we all returned safely from and did not become anymore intense than it was.
Also sorry for the lack of pictures documenting was not high on my list at the time.
Cheers!
Filed under Mountain Lions in Colorado 14ers and wildlife 14ers Mountain Lion La Plata
Mount of the Holly Cross: Standard route
Last weekend a group of friends and I decided to go hike Mount of the Holly Cross the 14er between Leadville and Minturn. It is listed as a moderate summer hike, although long and lots of elevation gain there is no technical skills needed it was class 2 & 3 the whole way.
We all meet up at the 1-70 cut-off outside of Morrison on Friday evening and piled into my buddies big S.U.V. for the trek out to Minturn. There ended up being 6 of us and a dog. It was a cozy ride especially when the hound decided it no longer wanted to ride in the back, but that the seat looked more comfortable.
Sardined in we arrived at the trailhead around 9:45. There was no camping sited available so we just pitched a few tents next to our car in the busy parking lot. As we fell asleep a group of 3 hikers was setting out to catch a sunrise summit. In the early hours of the morning I heard a few groups of hikers heading out before we left at 6:00am.
The trail starts out really nice winding up through the woods to the top of Half Moon pass, which is a really mellow hike. Then it drops down the ridge to the creek, where there are at least 3 or 4 campsites. As you make your way down the backside of Half Moon pass Mount of the Holly Cross comes into view and you can see the massive scree field that you will have to journey up to reach the top. Also you can see the Angelica Couloir. which at this time had no snow in it.
As you reach the bottom of the pass you have to cross over Half Moon creek this is about 1/3 of the way to the top, but also the easiest part of the day. From here the trail starts to make its way back up the adjacent ridge and eventually above timberline. Almost instantly as you step out of the trees you are presented with a giant chose pile which is your route to the top.
Going through scree and boulder hopping is never something I find enjoyable to do for hours but this Mount of the holly Cross makes it extra difficult because there are hardly any cairns along the way so you are more or less just following the best route that you think you can find. You do this following the ridge up what is the false summit, although you know this most of the time because you can see the top off to your left. When you reach the top of the ridge, this is also the top of Angelica, you are almost at the top it is just another 15 minutes or so following the summit ridge. This is the steepest part of the hike along with the largest boulders and some easy 3rd class moves are needed.
As we reached the top I thought that we were coming up onto a false summit but was pleasantly surprised to find out we had made the top. From the top you have an amazing view. You can see the Maroon Bells, Capital and Pyramid to the west, and as you look south you can see the ski resort, Ski Cooper and Mount Elbert.
The hike back down was slow going as you make your way through the scree. Be careful on the decent as I saw a few groups wandering around below the scree looking for the trail. Keep your eyes peeled for the 2 giants cairns that you passed on the way up, they lead you back to the trail into the tress and were made this big for a reason.
As you come back down to Half Moon creek you have to hike back up about 700’ to the top of the pass, but it is not a bad hike especially after coming off all of the scree it is a nice change. From the top of the pass it is just a short distance back to the car.
This was a good hike overall although scrambling through scree is not something I enjoy much, I would much rather just find a snow path or rock wall and climb up. It took us about 10 hours exactly to get up and down but we were also taking our time, I imagine that it could comfortably be done in under 8.5 hours.
Also congrats to Jared and Sadie for their 1st 14ers ever, this was a challenging one to start out with.
Cheers!
Filed under high altitude adventures Mount of the Holly Cross colorado 14ers Minturn summer hikes
The Sharkstooth: Northeast Ridge
After the weather for the past few weekends had been very uncooperative, acting like it would rain but not, or being forecast for clear sky’s then raining I decided that I would have to take the chance of a 20% showers and do some alpine climbing. And after talking it over with one of my climbing partners we decided that a Saturday attempt at the Sharkstooth via the Northeast ridge was necessary.
As I peeled myself out of bed at 1:30 in the morning and choked down some chocolate cake, a favorite breakfast item of mine on alpine starts, I dragged myself to the car for the drive to Glacier Gorge to meet my buddy coming down from Fort Collins. As I made my way out of Boulder I felt a little loony in my grogginess, as cars came towards me I felt like a bug being sucked into one of those bug zappers not having a choice but to continue driving towards the light. But somewhere around Lyons I think I finally woke up and realized that there was not a cloud in the sky.
As I pulled into RMNP and made my way up to the parking lot I was extremely excited because there was a full moon lighting my way up the road, but naturally right as I pulled in and saw a shooting star go whizzing by out my window a group of clouds came over Flattop and Halletts and completely engulfed the moon, it got really dark really fast.
After sorting gear and ropes we were on the trail by 3:30. Winding our way down into the canyon towards the short cut we could see the lights of a group heading to The Spearhead and the Petit in front of us. But soon it just became the woods and us and the next 2.5 miles to the Loch was just one quite step after another of awesome morning mountain air.
By the time we reached the turn off to Andrews Glacier we were both awake and charging at a pretty good pace. But once we reached tree line up near the start of the gash we realized that we were completely in a cloud. Instead of trying to find our way through the boulder field in the fog we decided that it would be best to take a break in the trees and see what the weather would do.
At around 5:15 or so just as we could see Zowie peak through the clouds a group of climbers passed by us not even noticing us in our warm tree camp. We decided that we did not want to give our spot in line up for this climb and we had hope that with the warming sun the clouds would be broken up and possibly give us a chance for a climb, or at the least we would be able to see Sharkstooth and a great sunrise.
We made our way up through the gash still in fog and clouds not actually being able to see any of the Spires until we were nearly on them. But then just like clock work the clouds lifted and we knew we were in for a great day of climbing.
After our slow approach we finally got on the 1st pitch around 8:30. Route finding was relatively easy and the climbing was good 5.6 moves. The second pitch went up a crack and over a small little roof; this was definitely my favorite move of the climb although each pitch had a fun spot or two. From the second belay ledge we had to take a moment to orient ourselves and debated going right around the corner and then up or continuing straight up the slab. We decided to continue straight up which was a good choice it allowed for easy moves and good gear placement. Pitch 3-4 were very similar slab climbing that took you to a large belay ledge at the base of an off-width. Climbing the off-width was actually very easy and you other than the first few moves to get off the belay ledge you hardly had to climb in the crack, as there was great face holds. Above the crack you come to a really airy traverse that lets you get a sense of the exposure. The last belay ledge was just above this and from here it was just a run out scramble to the true summit where the views were amazing of the entire Glacier Gorge area and Longs Peak as well as the Mummy’s and the Estes valley.
The rappel is off the South East of the top and is made of old pitons and new slings. Two ropes were necessary to make it completely from one anchor to the next and it is 3 raps to reach the gully between The Saber and Sharkstooth and from here just a small scramble back down to the start of the climb.
After gathering our stashed gear we made our way back down through the gash, which felt like it would never end. From here the trail back out to the Loch and then to the parking lot was a happy sight.
We got back to the parking lot at 6:15 making it a great 15-hour day of classic climbing.
Overall this was a great alpine route with really fun mellow climbing and it allowed for spectacular views throughout all of it. Also I would say that we could have easily knocked off an hour or two if we did not have to wait to see what the weather would do and I did not lead one of the pitches as slow as I did.
Cheers!
Filed under high altitude adventures rocky mountain national park The Sharkstooth rock climbing Alpine climbing colorado
Chipmunk Challenge
The original plan was to do Mummy Mania in Rocky Mountain National Park. But after spending a day up on Lumpy Ridge we missed our chance at getting a Lawn Lake campsite and ended up with a site at upper Chipmunk. This is near the cirque of Mt. Chiquita and Mt. Ypsilon, just to the south of Ypsilon Lake. In turn we created the Chipmunk Challenge.
A group of us met in Estes Saturday morning and split up the gear before heading into the park. We left one car at the Lawn Lake trailhead and headed up the Old Fall River Rd. for a gruelingly slow drive to the Chapin Pass Trailhead at 10600’. This has to be one of the most tourist pack roads I have ever been on in the park. The fact that it is a dirt road makes the slow tourist drivers knock their speeds down to barely inching along. Make sure when heading up this road you leave early to beet the crowds because it is otherwise a nice drive.
From the trailhead you quickly gain elevation, within about an hour we were above timberline and on a rocky primitive trail. At the saddle of Mt. Chapin and Mt. Chiquita we tossed our packs down and headed up Chapin. This is a great way to start the trip because atop the 12,454’ summit you can see the rest of the mummy range as well as great views of the Estes Valley and the lakes and rivers that flow out of the park.
From the Saddle up to Chiquita is one of the hardest parts of this route. The elevation gain is a grinder. Going up 1000’ feet in .25 miles really gets your lungs working and your legs feeling like rubber bands especially with a heavy backpack on., the grind is well worth it though. Atop Mount Chiquita you look down on a few beautiful high alpine lakes. To the North you can see the Spectacle Lakes at the base of Ypsilon, in front of you to the east you see Ypsilon Lake and you can even barely make out Chipmunk Lake just slightly to the South East.
After our crew regrouped at the top of Chiquita and assessed the possibility of a rainstorm we made the decision to split up the group and go separate ways geared more towards each group’s goal. One group decided that they had enough of grinding up hill in the elevation so three people set off down the Eastern ridge of Chiquita, well equip with a map and compass, to find camp and move at a more leisurely pace not having to be as concerned about the weather (this is the split in the pinl). While myself and a buddy decided that we wanted to see more of the Mummy range especially what Ypsilon Mountain and Fairchild Mountain had to offer in terms of climbing so we took off North for the summit of Ypsilon(this is the continued red line).
The hike up Ypsilon is a much easier grade and more enjoyable than Chiquita although at this point any sign of trail has pretty much disappeared and I do not even recall seeing Cairns guiding the way. But route finding is very easy and even pleasant as many grassy options wind their way through the rock.
In just a short time my buddy and I were staring down into the Y couloirs, which certainly did not have enough snow in them to even consider a climb. Also there was still a large amount of the cornice hanging above the route looking ready to break off at any moment. We took a short break at the top of Ypsilon to grab a sip of water and determine the path that lay in front of us, to Fairchild. Looking across the ridge it looked like a giant chose pile not an actual mountain, with no clear route up it. I spent more of the time studying the cirque looking for a safe way down the valley as apposed to up Fairchild.
Leaving the top of Ypsilon you wind your way down a boulder field and across a ridge that requires a few 3rd class moves. Although easy moves you had to be extra careful because many of the larger blocks were ready to roll with the slightest bump. From here you make your way across the boulder filed ridge towards. After traversing for a while we decided to descend the ridge to the less rocky flat ground to be able and move faster. Once in the more open meadow we decided that we would forgo an assent of Fairchild partly due to the weather building and partly because we could not spot a safe route up the scree filled gullies. This was a disappointing decision because we both had been looking forward to seeing the climbing on Fairchilds North East buttress especially the Honcho Boncho climb which has taunted us with a lack of information. But overall it turned out to be the best route decision because descend from here was an almost direct route to Ypsilon Lake.
After taking a break above a lake that did not appear on our topo we followed the stream to south west to the first of 3 Fay Lakes then continued further south-west instead of following the stream and lakes in a more northerly direction, this dropped us out right above Ypsilon Lake. Aside from the killer flies was a beautiful route.
Once down to Ypsilon Lake we found camp with the other half of our groups gear and them fishing pulling in some 8-12” cutthroats.
The next day we hiked 4.5 miles out the trail to the Lawn Lake trailhead and jumped in our other car for the grueling drive back up Old Fall River Rd. where we were just in time for the after lunch tourist crowds. This is not a road to take if you are not whiling to spend a few hours over the 9.4 miles.
Overall I thought that the Chipmunk Challenge was a really fun route and probably more doable for carrying an overnight pack than Mummy Mania would have been. Also it allows great views of the high peaks around RMNP and many of the great climbing routes on Ypsilon and Chiquita. Along with this we spotted a few good routes for snowboard mountaineering come next spring.
Cheers!
Filed under high altitude adventures Mummy Range Chipmunk Challenge Rocky Mount National Park Chapin pass Mummy Mania
Stephen Gorman:The Winter Camping Handbook
The Winter Camping Handbook is a great book to dive into winter camping, and backcountry use. In this book the author Stephen Gorman who is also a outdoor photographer goes through the process of winter backcountry travel how to prepare and how to stay safe.
He has written this book in a manner that takes you step by step through the process of winter travel. Discussing trip planning and understanding the diversity of a group and the importance of communication and leadership. The gear that is essential for travel from layering of clothing to tents, sleeping bags, and cook wear; as well as structures to be used to protect yourself from the elements. He also goes into a bit of detail on food and the nutritional importance that is necessary to keep warm and energized in the colder months. Also he ads a nice section on how to travel in terrain whether it be making a homemade sled to pull gear or understanding the ability differences between skis and snowshoes. Also I was impressed with the extensive imput he had on clean winter travel which is something that many books leave out. He talked on how fragile winter environments can be and the importance of leave no trace; from the simple rules most should know on pack it in pack it out to the more complex thoughts on how to have a clean fire.
Overall I though this would a great book to get your mind going on the thoughts of winter travel and what are good ways to do so. I know it is only summer but I think that it is always good to continue to read up on different peoples practice for mountain travel, mountaineering techniques or any other skill you might find necessary when in the backcountry. Also the off season can be a great time to do so, it will allow you time to more completely digest the information instead of just rushing out thinking you have the new fix for your trip.
Cheers!
Filed under high altitude adventures winter camping mountaineering skills winter camping info Stephen Gorman The WInter Camping Handbook
Silverthorne to Vail on Subway Sandwiches
Last week I got a call from some High School buddies, who were looking to do their first backpacking trip, they wanted to hike from Silverthorne to East Vail and weren’t going to let the mileage scare them away from their goal.
After looking over some maps to find the route I was super excited for the trip. It would start out in Silverthorne in the Wilderness neighborhood on the Mesa Cortina Trail, which would then connect to the Gore Range trail and take us up to a large cirque created by Buffalo Mountain and Red Mountain. From here we would join the Gore Creek Trail and follow it up over Red Mountain Pass and down into East Vail for a total of 14.9 miles.
We headed up to Silverthorne late Thursday night to crash at one of hikers cabin. And after doing some early morning grocery shopping and convincing everyone that we actually would need more food than just grabbing a few Subway sandwiches.
It was actually really cool we connected with the Mesa Cortina Trail by just simply stepping off my buddies back porch and walking through a meadow of flowers. It is one of the more relaxing and beautiful ways I have ever started a backpacking trip. Although these guys had not done any backpacking before they were in good shape so we were really putting on the miles. In no time were in the Eagle’s Nest Wilderness winding our way up through the dense woods filled with Aspens and Pines.
At 2.8 miles we connected with the Gore Range Trail following along the creek gaining elevation. At about mile 4.5 we came across a pretty cool waterfall, this is the turn around point for most day hikers and made a great lunch spot for us. After lunch we set out again planning to either camp just before the river leaves the trailside or else at an alpine lake where the Gore Range and Gore Creek trails split. After winding through avalanche paths and meadows of wildflowers we finally found ourselves in the cirque just below the pass, this was at about mile 8 or 9. We followed a stream down from one of the lakes and found an amazing flat spot to call home for the night. As we set up camp a rescue helicopter buzzed down over the pass, and I later learned that this was from a rescue that had taken place of a hiker on Mount of the Holy Cross.
In the morning we had to bust out the map and do some good map & compass work as the trail disappeared in the meadow and up over the pass until you got back down into the trees. In the shade of the trees we fought knee-deep snow, until around 9,800ft. or mile 10.5 where you cross over Gore Creek. There is also a historical grave of two brothers from Sweden who apparently were famous miners of the time. From here it is a very mellow 4 miles mostly downhill to the trailhead at East Vail.
I thought that this was a great through hike and the meadow on the East Side of Red Mountain pass was one of the more beautiful places I have been so far this summer. I would recommend checking this area out.
Cheers!
Filed under high altitude adventures backpacking vail backpacking silverthorne hiking silverthorne to vail
