The plan for the weekend was that we would climb Sneffels on Saturday, drive to Navajo Lake Trailhead, hike in, sleep, I would attempt the Wilson-El Diente Traverse Sunday, hike out, and then either drive home or climb again Monday and drive home that night.
We made pretty decent time but the traffic was somewhat slow. On the way I realized I had forgotten just how gorgeous everything gets right past Monarch Pass. We finally arrived in Ourray around 7:00 and made our way up the shelf road to our camping spot of last year.
As
usual Jen and I had brought
along our inflatable air mattress, it is a must for car
camping.
After setting up camp we boiled a bit of water for our Mountain High
dehydrated meals, ate dinner, and went off to sleep.
Day 2
Mt Sneffels, Southwest Ridge Variation up/ Lavender Couloir Down, class 4, ~ 7 miles, ~ 3000 ft
We woke at 3:30 the next morning, July 2nd, 2005. I wanted to leave plenty of time for the disparate paces in our group to summit out in time for us to get to Navajo Lake early enough that afternoon. We got the car packed up and headed to the 4WD parking in Yankee Boy Basin and set out on our way. One trick I used this year was to take one of those caffeine filled pills to stem the coffee addiction without having to waste time brewing or carrying coffee. This turned out to work pretty well.
I had forgotten just how beautiful this area was. It is vegetated, has many waterfalls, flowers, and peaks all around it. The views of Coffeepot, Gilpin, and Teakettle were more than enough to ensure a return next year. The really nice thing about this trail is it follows a pleasant road up to the trail over Blue Lakes Pass which is a moderate class 1.
We had left the snowshoes in the car which turned out to be a good idea. There was a goodly bit of snow but it was firm. Our original plan was to take the South Slopes Route up but I noticed a series of little couloirs going right up to the ridge. I think these are what Dawson refers to as the Birthday Chutes. I was interested in spicing up the ascent some by ascending one to the ridge and coming down the Lavender Couloir. I asked Jen and Brian what they thought and said I would leave the decision to them since I would be getting my fill of adventure the following day. Brian seemed happy with it and while Jen wasn't thrilled she said she would be comfortable doing it. I double checked that Brian knew how to glissade/self arrest and he said he was fine. Jen I knew was fine with those skills although she doesn't much like glissading steep snow.
We donned our crampons and pulled out our axes. Jen and I recently both switched to Raichle Boots with heels that take hinged crampons. We were using Petzl Vasak Spirlocks which worked beautifully. The colouir we chose is the last of the series to the right of the towers on the ridge in the picture below. The broad field leading to a saddle all the way to the right is the standard route.
Day 2
Mt Sneffels, Southwest Ridge Variation up/ Lavender Couloir Down, class 4, ~ 7 miles, ~ 3000 ft
We woke at 3:30 the next morning, July 2nd, 2005. I wanted to leave plenty of time for the disparate paces in our group to summit out in time for us to get to Navajo Lake early enough that afternoon. We got the car packed up and headed to the 4WD parking in Yankee Boy Basin and set out on our way. One trick I used this year was to take one of those caffeine filled pills to stem the coffee addiction without having to waste time brewing or carrying coffee. This turned out to work pretty well.
I had forgotten just how beautiful this area was. It is vegetated, has many waterfalls, flowers, and peaks all around it. The views of Coffeepot, Gilpin, and Teakettle were more than enough to ensure a return next year. The really nice thing about this trail is it follows a pleasant road up to the trail over Blue Lakes Pass which is a moderate class 1.
We had left the snowshoes in the car which turned out to be a good idea. There was a goodly bit of snow but it was firm. Our original plan was to take the South Slopes Route up but I noticed a series of little couloirs going right up to the ridge. I think these are what Dawson refers to as the Birthday Chutes. I was interested in spicing up the ascent some by ascending one to the ridge and coming down the Lavender Couloir. I asked Jen and Brian what they thought and said I would leave the decision to them since I would be getting my fill of adventure the following day. Brian seemed happy with it and while Jen wasn't thrilled she said she would be comfortable doing it. I double checked that Brian knew how to glissade/self arrest and he said he was fine. Jen I knew was fine with those skills although she doesn't much like glissading steep snow.
We donned our crampons and pulled out our axes. Jen and I recently both switched to Raichle Boots with heels that take hinged crampons. We were using Petzl Vasak Spirlocks which worked beautifully. The colouir we chose is the last of the series to the right of the towers on the ridge in the picture below. The broad field leading to a saddle all the way to the right is the standard route.
The
snow went from around 30 to a
maximum angle of maybe 45 degrees and I guess went on for 500
feet. If someone has precise values feel free to email
me.
I was pretty proud of Jen because she had never done much in the way of
steeper snow climbing before other than a jaunt up Castle's North
Couloir and several self arrest practice sessions under controlled
environments. She just trucked on up this couloir and wasn't in the
least bit nervous. This was much better than my first timeon
steep snow where I decided it existed only to scare the hell out
of me. Pretty soon I had topped out in a little notch and I
started to remove my crampons and axe. I noticed an old set
of
footprints in the snow coming not from the couloir but from climbers
right going to the left. This I assumed meant we were going
to
get on the ridge just fine. Pretty soon Jen had joined me up
top
and we waited for Brian to make his way up. The picture below
shows Jen nearing the top with Brian in the background.
Once
Jen and Brian were up I moved
everyone into a little area away from the top of the snow and headed up
a wet chimney to scout the route. The climbing in the
beginning
consisted of a little 4th class on wet rock but progressed to3rd class
pretty quickly. When I found a cairn I realized we had entered just
below the ridge route and were in a good position. I yelled
back
for Jen and Brian to come up and spent the time waiting by taking
pictures.
Once
Brian and Jen joined up with me
we all set off to finish the ridge. From above our entry
point
the ridge was pretty decently cairned and easy enough to
follow.
Since we started it above the towers following the ridge consisted of
staying to the right or staying right on top. The views off
to
the left were stunning and there was a good bit off exposure.
The
final summit approach could be done many ways and for anyone tackling
it I'd recommend taking the line that seems most reasonable to
you.
On the summit I was surprised to hear someone point to a distant rock and say "There is your obligatory marmot shot'.
On the summit I was surprised to hear someone point to a distant rock and say "There is your obligatory marmot shot'.
Well,
I recognized the voice right
away as belonging to Diana Craig. Apparently, she, Kevin and
a
couple of their friends climbed the Snake Couloir. We chatted
a
bit and generally enjoyed the gorgeous day we were having. I
think it was somewhere around 9:00 or so when we summited so the time
was
going great.
After a while it was time to go and we set off towards the Lavender Couloir. The best way to approach it seemed to be to stay higher up on the ridge (climbers left). Descending to far to the right takes one to some trickier cliff filled areas. Pretty quickly we came across a little snow field that sloped downwards and had to be traversed. I went across it using my poles and gained the rock on the other side. Once on the rock I down climbed until I came to a notch that was very easy to downclimb and let right out on the top of the Lavender Couloir. I called for Brian and Jen to take out there axes and to self belay across the snow before joining me. They were a little nervous but both did really well.
After a while it was time to go and we set off towards the Lavender Couloir. The best way to approach it seemed to be to stay higher up on the ridge (climbers left). Descending to far to the right takes one to some trickier cliff filled areas. Pretty quickly we came across a little snow field that sloped downwards and had to be traversed. I went across it using my poles and gained the rock on the other side. Once on the rock I down climbed until I came to a notch that was very easy to downclimb and let right out on the top of the Lavender Couloir. I called for Brian and Jen to take out there axes and to self belay across the snow before joining me. They were a little nervous but both did really well.
At
the top of the couloir I wanted to
glissade, the snow seemed fine for it so I demonstrated how, as a
safety
precaution, and waited about 50 feet below to make sure Jen and Brian
were ok with it. Jen informed me she would be plunge stepping
and
didn't like the looks of the slope for glissading. I would
have
preferred to glissade but didn't want to push it so I said
fine.
Brian tried to glissade and here was where the day turned a bit
sour. He started out and as soon as he tried to self arrest
it
became apparent he had no idea how to. Fortunately I didn't
take
chances and had my axe planted to the pick where I was
standing.
I was able to grab his backpack as he came tumbling down the couloir
and stop his fall. I then spent the next hour or more
coaching
him down the couloir until he was on rocks and able to get down
safely. Jen in the meantime had made her way to the saddle
and
had been leisurely conversing with a woman for the whole
time.
I'm generally of the mindset that if people want to do foolish things then it is their business but I was pretty pissed this time because I don't like unsafe people around me. I would never have brought someone up on snow who couldn't self arrest had I known that. When we got home I spent a good couple hours impressing the gravity of how stupid saying you can self arrest when you can't is to Brian. I think I impressed on him how easy it would have been for him to get severely injured or die on any of the 3 areas we had to deal with snow. He said he thought he knew what he was doing but turned out to be wrong. I am pretty happy the day didn't turn worse because I'd hate to have anyone with me severely hurt. In light of this I convinced Brian not to touch snow without further instruction/practice which I offered to help him with or suggest people who could. I consider the whole thing a learning experience, I usually go out and do some mild stuff with people who I climb with for a first time before doing anything remotely committing but took a friend's words for granted without testing them, this was a mistake and one I won't repeat.
Once Brian was on rock Jen and I headed down the saddle, climbed down some scree, and glissaded the remaining snow. The glissade was a bit miserable for me as the snow was bumpy and rutted but was easier for Jen once the path was made and was pure cake for a group above us who followed.
We got back to the trailhead around 12:30 (it would have been more like 11:00 if not for the snow episode), changed, packed up, and drove back up the road to pick Brian up. I think the ordeal took the wind out of his sails because he was just entering the road when we got to him. I quickly told him not to worry about it and hop in the truck. It was about 2:30 when we finally got underway on our trip to the Navajo Lake Trailhead.
We pulled into the trailhead at 4 and were packed and moving by 4:30. This was one of the prettier trails I have been on in Colorado. The trail is very mellow gaining 2000 feet in about 5 miles with only one section at the very end presenting any sort of sustained uphill. The trail progresses through forests and meadows with flowers and streams all around. After about 4 miles the trail comes to a set of switchbacks which lead to a little pass about 3/4 of a mile from the lake.
I'm generally of the mindset that if people want to do foolish things then it is their business but I was pretty pissed this time because I don't like unsafe people around me. I would never have brought someone up on snow who couldn't self arrest had I known that. When we got home I spent a good couple hours impressing the gravity of how stupid saying you can self arrest when you can't is to Brian. I think I impressed on him how easy it would have been for him to get severely injured or die on any of the 3 areas we had to deal with snow. He said he thought he knew what he was doing but turned out to be wrong. I am pretty happy the day didn't turn worse because I'd hate to have anyone with me severely hurt. In light of this I convinced Brian not to touch snow without further instruction/practice which I offered to help him with or suggest people who could. I consider the whole thing a learning experience, I usually go out and do some mild stuff with people who I climb with for a first time before doing anything remotely committing but took a friend's words for granted without testing them, this was a mistake and one I won't repeat.
Once Brian was on rock Jen and I headed down the saddle, climbed down some scree, and glissaded the remaining snow. The glissade was a bit miserable for me as the snow was bumpy and rutted but was easier for Jen once the path was made and was pure cake for a group above us who followed.
We got back to the trailhead around 12:30 (it would have been more like 11:00 if not for the snow episode), changed, packed up, and drove back up the road to pick Brian up. I think the ordeal took the wind out of his sails because he was just entering the road when we got to him. I quickly told him not to worry about it and hop in the truck. It was about 2:30 when we finally got underway on our trip to the Navajo Lake Trailhead.
We pulled into the trailhead at 4 and were packed and moving by 4:30. This was one of the prettier trails I have been on in Colorado. The trail is very mellow gaining 2000 feet in about 5 miles with only one section at the very end presenting any sort of sustained uphill. The trail progresses through forests and meadows with flowers and streams all around. After about 4 miles the trail comes to a set of switchbacks which lead to a little pass about 3/4 of a mile from the lake.
I
was to meet up with Rob Nevitt,
Julian Eldridge (both 14erworld guys), and Jim Davis (a BMS
instructor). We all had walkie talkies preset to a specific
channel and I had already heard from Julian that he was on the Trail
behind us on his way in. Once my group crested the
switchbacks I
got a call from Rob telling me that he was just ahead. Jen
and I
made it to camp first as Brian was a bit down from his earlier ordeal
. We met up with Rob's group and set up camp alongside the
trail. Julian showed up soon after followed by
Brian. The
plan was that we would all go to sleep and then Rob, Jim, Julian, and
myself would wake at 3 to head up El Diente and then hopefully
traverse over to Mt. Wilson. Jen, Brian, and Beth (Jim's wife
who
had previously done the traverse) would stay at the lake or stay at
camp and
relax.
I was tired enough I fell right to sleep waking occasionally and marveling at how many stars were visible.
Day 3 El Diente, North Slopes, Class 3, 14.8 miles, 5100 feet
We awoke at 3:30 in the morning and set off by 4:15. The hike up to the start of El Diente was pretty mild and we passed the lake and campgrounds in the dark. We arrived at the base of the couloir we were to climb and put on our crampons. I wasn't watching the time to closely but think we started up somewhere between 5:30 and 6. The couloir we climbed is the most obvious line seen in the picture below.
I was tired enough I fell right to sleep waking occasionally and marveling at how many stars were visible.
Day 3 El Diente, North Slopes, Class 3, 14.8 miles, 5100 feet
We awoke at 3:30 in the morning and set off by 4:15. The hike up to the start of El Diente was pretty mild and we passed the lake and campgrounds in the dark. We arrived at the base of the couloir we were to climb and put on our crampons. I wasn't watching the time to closely but think we started up somewhere between 5:30 and 6. The couloir we climbed is the most obvious line seen in the picture below.
I
was pretty psyched about the climb as it would be ~1900 feet on hard
snow ranging from ~20 degrees at the base to a consistent 40-50
degrees from the middle to top. The whole thing felt pretty
alpine and was great because I thoroughly enjoyed every second of
it. Julian and I stayed up front most of the time and we took
a break somewhere around halfway up.
Once
past the halfway point the angle eased for a period then got allot
steeper as the couloir makes a right hand turn towards the
ridge. From this point Julian and I took turns leading up and
placing ice axe holes for Rob and Jim. The final push to the
ridge was the steepest although I didn't really notice it on the way
up. We all managed to get up top somewhere around 8:00 or
8:30.
At
this point we were all feeling good and pretty psyched about the
traverse. It took some time to find the way over to El
Diente's summit as there were snow fields to cross and the route
finding
wasn't totally trivial. I should add the couloir let us off
to the right of the Organ Pipes which added to the summit
push. There is a steeper and more direct couloir to the right
of ours which might have saved some time. Getting to the
summit involved down climbing the left side of the ridge to skirt some
snow before gaining a rotten, loose, and muddy gully. From
the top of the gully the best route was to be found by staying directly
on the ridge top. I'd say it went at 3rd with occasional 4th
class moves doing it this way.
We
summited around 9:30 to relatively benign skies and beautiful
views. I am not sure if it was the snow climb or the
looseness of the rock but this route certainly felt equal to if not
harder than any of the Elks. In any event we had a gorgeous
time but were starting to become a little worried by the speed with
which the clouds were coming in.
After
a 30 minute hiatus we headed back. On the way back down the
gully we ran into a guy flying up it. We asked him to hold
off a minute so we wouldn't kick rocks on him but he just switched his
path up a rock wall out of harms way. After a brief
conversation we found out he started the route at 7:30, summited Mt.
Wilson, did the traverse in ~ 1 hour and met us at 10:30 (and still
beat us down to camp). He asked us where we were from and
then chuckled 'Front Rangers' before taking off. Julian said
he came along just to grab our bubble and burst it.
Much to all of our chagrin the clouds pilled up in an amazingly short time. I'd read numerous reports about the horrors of lightning storms and cast my vote for a retreat. There was allot of disappointment echoed (mine as well because now I have to do it all over again to get the traverse) but we decided to not risk it. Jim and Rob figured they would just do it the next day.
The way back down was good for me because it was only the third time I had descended steep snow (I don't count the Lavender Couloir) and I felt great. I walked behind Jim for awhile until I realized I was perfectly fine plunge stepping my own path. We waited until the bottom 4th or less to glissade just to be on the safe side. Jim gave me a couple helpful pointers on self arresting / glissading which was a goodly step up from my previous technique and I took off.
Much to all of our chagrin the clouds pilled up in an amazingly short time. I'd read numerous reports about the horrors of lightning storms and cast my vote for a retreat. There was allot of disappointment echoed (mine as well because now I have to do it all over again to get the traverse) but we decided to not risk it. Jim and Rob figured they would just do it the next day.
The way back down was good for me because it was only the third time I had descended steep snow (I don't count the Lavender Couloir) and I felt great. I walked behind Jim for awhile until I realized I was perfectly fine plunge stepping my own path. We waited until the bottom 4th or less to glissade just to be on the safe side. Jim gave me a couple helpful pointers on self arresting / glissading which was a goodly step up from my previous technique and I took off.
I've
got to give it to Julian on this trip. Apparently he knows
self arresting (and successfully used it at one point) but had never
climbed any snow like this. This seems to be a real whopper
of an intro to snow climbing in my book. I took off ahead of
people because my stint with glissading left me with snow under every
piece of my clothing. I hauled down to a big rock, stripped
naked, and changed. I waited for awhile as Rob and Julian
finished descending and made their way over to where I was.
Unfortunately Julian had lost a crampon glissading the final
portion. He was pretty irked by this because it looked like
his eight day vacation was over on day one. I suggested I
would
get my
friend Brian (who should be off snow for a bit) to lend him
his.
He wasn't sure about borrowing gear but Brian offered when we got back
to camp so Julian's vacation got to go on.
The trek back to the camp was gorgeous. I radioed to Jen that we were OK and coming back.
The trek back to the camp was gorgeous. I radioed to Jen that we were OK and coming back.
Beth
met Jim and Rob near the saddle above the lake and they hung back for
awhile, Julian and I continued on and met Jen near camp.
Thankfully Jen and Brian had dismantled camp and even taken some of my
gear for the walk back. We waited until everyone got back
said our congratulations and goodbyes and headed out. Julian
also gave Brian his car keys so Brian could leave him his
crampons. I had a fantastic time with these guys, I'm
climbing with Julian in a couple weeks and hope to climb with Rob and
Jim again. It felt good to be a part of such a decent group
and I'm not sure I would have been so cavalier coming down the couloir
if it weren't for Jim's advice and presence.
Jen,
Brian, and I made the walk out and noted again how gorgeous
the area was. Sure, I'm a little disappointed at
not finishing the traverse but I don't plan on ever leaving this
fantastic state so will be back again one day. I've been
doing allot of climbing non 14er peaks and had gotten a little
dissapointed with them but going back to the San Juans reaffirmed my
desire to finish them as well as my respect for them.
On the way back we met up with Ferenc who was heading in, I hope he found a partner for the climbs. I figured (and Jen and Brian heartily agreed) that it would be better to drive back the 3rd, avoid traffic, and have the 4th to relax. We headed out and returned to Boulder sometime around 2 that morning. I did of course make Jen agree to go back and hike Sunshine and Redcloud the following week if we left a day early.
On the way back we met up with Ferenc who was heading in, I hope he found a partner for the climbs. I figured (and Jen and Brian heartily agreed) that it would be better to drive back the 3rd, avoid traffic, and have the 4th to relax. We headed out and returned to Boulder sometime around 2 that morning. I did of course make Jen agree to go back and hike Sunshine and Redcloud the following week if we left a day early.