The Crestones and Humboldt from the East

I’ve been wanting to visit the Sangre de Cristo’s, especially the Crestones, for some time. I hadn’t yet climbed any of those 14ers though I had been through the area a few times and marveled at their beauty. I also read recently that they are thinking about closing or adding a fee to the South Colony Lakes road this year. The South Colony Lakes Trailhead is a point of departure for heading up to climb Crestone, Crestone Needle, Mount Humboldt, and even possibly Kit Carson and or Challenger Point. The Ranger station reported that there was “still a lot of snow up there’ and that snow would block the way after “just a mile or so”. I had also read a trip report from someone who climbed Humboldt the weekend before who said they had been able to drive to ’1 mile short of the rainbow trail’. So, had more snow accumulated over the last week. I kinda doubted it.

My friend Jay was down for the trip, so we drove down on Tuesday and went as far as we could go toward South Colony Lake. Right were the snow blocked the road we saw signage for the Rainbow trail and some parking so we set the jeep there. After loading up some siege packs with a few days worth of gear for just about any kind of route we headed out on what we thought was the rainbow trail right as it started dumping snow. We heard some of the oddest sounds coming from the surrounding Aspen trees, the wind on old trees was making sounds like voices, and or music. It was truly surreal.

Suddenly snow

After about 45 minutes Jay looked at his GPS and announced we were in fact going the wrong way. Somehow we missed the sign in the snow and dark that pointed out that this was the Middle Colony Lakes Trail. We could not tell if we would even be able to hook it up Humboldt from there so we decided to head back and get on the right trail. On the way back Jay got nailed by a tree limb in the snow and dark that knocked him down and left a mark on his forehead that looked like he got hit with an ice-pick. Not only that but when he went down he landed on his ribs by his lower back. He shrugged all this off and we kept going. We took a break back in the jeep and laughed at our inauspicious start. So after our 2.5 mile warm-up we got on the right trail and headed up toward the South Colony Lakes.

The snow let up a little which made the going a little easier. We made camp a mile or so short of the lower lake in the woods on the snow, made some hot food and called it for the night. As often the case we got up about 5am without an alarm. Which peak to bag and what route? We decided for a longer but lighter (no ropes & pro, crampons, or ice axe) route up Humboldt via its west ridge with the idea that if we wanted to add a Crestone climb after we still had that option.

Respects for Talus Monkey

Moi in front of the Needle with some weather moving in

It was a Mountain Goat who was also making its way, from the other direction, over the saddle. After it passed we saw some of its tracks coming up from the other steeper side.

Looking back East over Humboldt summit

Summit shot with Crestones behind to the West

We knew it was a much more direct route back to camp down the south facing snow slopes, but we knew the Eastern side of those terminated in some cliff bands. Respecting that danger we angled back West as we decended the South slopes until we got on some 30 – 40 degree snow fields that reached all the way down to the South Colony Lakes. We glissaded carefully and avoided launching ourselves off or into some of the smaller rock bands we still encountered on our way down. Had to creep across under a smallish cornice, there were signs of older avvys but the snow was super solid and stable at that time.

Looking back up the glissade route down, amazing we covered a couple miles of slope in about 15 minutes. In no time we were back at camp. We decided to hang at camp leaving open an option to go up the Crestone if we wanted super early the next morning knowing we had to be back to Boulder the next afternoon. As it worked out we didn’t feel we had enough time to bag Crestone and hike all the way out in time, but we were still rewarded with more awesome views as we made our way home the next morning. Overall an awesome visit, I can’t wait to go back.

Joe on Conundrum summit with Castle Peak behind

Route up snowfield in orange,arrow points to Conundrum summit

To gain access to that slope to the saddle we had to work our way upslope to get around the bergschrund at the bottom. While working our way around it was obvious that there was a good deal of rockfall with fresh tracks in the recent snow from this-would-kill-you sized boulders. Good idea to have a lid on the head here and keep an ear tuned. We saw a pretty nasty rockfall on the other side of the cirque that crossed the other sw ridge route, fortunately there was no one there at the time.

Our early start paid dividends being we were clearly the first ones up the snow slope and also to the saddle that morning.
The alpeneglow was amazing, the views incomparable as we left from the saddle south up the ridge to the top of Castle. Nice blocky scramble up a ridge with really good exposure back down to the lake. On top we noticed a few groups below making their way up both the SW and snow slope routes. After a short break on the summit we head back down to the saddle and picked up the trail up towards Conundrum. The scrambling and route finding was a little more demanding on this section with some very brief class 3. The rock is real rotten and to prevent creating rockfall we stayed on the snow and ice as much as possible taking the highest line. A false summit really looks like the top but the reason there is no registry there is because you have to continue along the ridge, down-climb a little piece and then back up to gain the true summit.

Looking down on our way back it appeared that some of the chutes could make nice couloir climbs if the conditions were right but would be deadly dangerous if conditions were not ideal. We made it back down to the saddle having bagged both peaks before running into another soul. It was KEY to be on the snow early while it was harder from the night-freeze, two folks we met on the way down were post-holing their way up the same snow slope we crampon’d up. Going down we glissaded our way and made short work of the descent, careful not to go flying out of control into the bergschrund crevasse.
We were back in Boulder before dark already looking forward to the next time…

An awesome trip!

Geneva lake trailhead at Lead King Basin

High Camp at Lake Siberia

On top of Mt. Snowmass

We both decided the best way back down was across the extreme western ridge staying on the big blocks. It involved more actual climbing but was way more solid.
Fantastic views and exposure on the other side and surely a more direct route to Lake Siberia. We both wished we had come up this route which is not one mentioned in the Roach guide. Back in camp we made another pot of coffee, took a short rest and then hoofed it all the way back to where the Touareg was parked. We thought all the danger was behind us but little did we know we were about to experience the Curse of the Lead King Basin. After packing everything up in the Touareg we got in, started her up and then both uttered “WTF?”.

The car was in drive but the transmission was like in 4th gear. That meant it would not go up the 4wd rough dirt road back. The car was reporting that we needed to “Bring it to the workshop” which was not a good suggestion being we were many miles for paved roads. We did everything we could to figure out what was wrong, checking fuses, turning everything off, different combinations of control settings, nothing worked except reverse gear and highway gear. We both had to be at work the next day but it was looking like we were going to have to hike out, maybe camping again on the way, then maybe getting in cellphone range the next day to call off any rescue…. not good. We decided that the best option was to attempt to drive out in reverse.
The road is gnarly and dangerous with a good 4wd going forward, in reverse it was completely insane. But we made it to Marble without rolling down the exposures to our deaths and from Marble we were able to go forward keeping in in 4th gear and get all the way down to Glenwood springs. We did more taking-apart, got a meal down, but all our tinkering and diagnosis was to no avail. We were at least able to call home and tell our wives what was up and not to freak out on the lateness and we were essentially all right. Incredibly we were able to make it back on I70 all the way home though we really didn’t know if we would make it over Vail Pass. In the end the root cause was revealed at the dealership days later…. some small creature, Pica’s most likely, had crawled under the Touareg and Eaten through the transmission harness completely disabling the transmission controls leaving only 4th gear and reverse working.

The Curse of the Lead King Basin - Rubber munching varmits

You can see in the picture the munching that took place over the 36 hours the vehicle was left parked around 10000′. So there you have it, that is the curse of the Lead King Basin… if you leave your vehicle there you better have some way of protecting the underside of your vehicle or be prepared to do some electrical work.

Since there is a 4wd road up Baldwin gulch we took the short drive up to it to get a sense of what kind of condition it was in and take a guess at how long it would take us to get to where we wanted to hike from. With Anna being nine years old and my wife not having done any 14ers yet it seemed wise to try to drive up close and leave just the last mile and a half to climb up. So we guessed at 2 hours for the drive and 3 hours for the hike. The weather looked great for us to give it a shot and we decided to head out at a reasonable early time of 7am.

Getting there:
We drove west toward St. Elmo on Chaffee County Road 162 and another 10 miles on the dirt road to reach the signed Baldwin Gulch Jeep Road (also listed as the 277 Road).

You can park here, there are plenty of pull-offs along the road. This is the lower trailhead and its a long way from here. Short, high-clearance 4WD vehicles can drive up the 277 road, our stock 04 Jeep Liberty did fine. Above the river crossing (10,850′), there are dispersed camping spots along the side of the road as it leads to multiple switchbacks up to the saddle. We parked at the saddle and made our way up the ridge line to the top.

I took a chisel-peen hammer to prospect for Aquamarines and I think we actually did find some Garnets. It was a great trek for Chris and Anna to get on top of their first 14er with the added bonus of Gem-Hunting near the summit. If you want to see some of the nicest aquamarines found on Antero, stop at the “Rock Doc” back on US285. We picked up a few carats of Aquamarine there and they have nice examples of the things folks prospect for on Antero.

La Plata Summit June 28, 2009

At the trailhead we heard some corrupted boom-box Ted Nugent off in the distance and occasional gunfire from at least 3 different weapons so it seemed like a good idea and hike in before camping. The hike from the trailhead follows a creek up through to tree line and after just a mile of hiking up steeply the noise nuisance was no longer in mind. We threw down gear just before tree line ended and agreed we would hit it early as long as the weather was good.

A 3:30am start and followed the trail easily taking a snow free route up the back bowl. We saw some pre dawn wildlife, a pair of eyes staring us down from across the creek that never budged and just watched us hike by and a deer that ran down from the high saddle as we approached the top. The usual selection of Picas and Marmots also starting popping out as the sky got brighter. The sun was still not up yet as we headed for the 600ft+ push up the first false summit. Went off trail to the right and walked up some frozen snow fields – crampons would of made easy work of this predawn refrozen snow but there is not so much snow left. The super hard core could still ski or board down into the north side bowl.

The weather was absolutely perfect on this hike. The early early start meant that when some thunderclouds rolled in we were already pack up and rolling out in the jeep. The wind was even gentle over the duration. We did put on gloves and additional layer once we hit about 13000ft.

We had the summit at 7am all to ourselves and not a soul in sight, which kind of surprised me for a Saturday morning in June. Just another benefit of the super-eeeeeearly start.

On the way down we followed the trail more dilligently which made the false summit scramble section better.
We took our time back to camp and enjoyed the rest of the short hike back out to trailhead before 11am.

It took us about 3.5 hours to summit, and only 1.5 down. LaPlata was a great time, there are so many incredible areas to explore in the area, and tons of camping opportunities. Can’t wait to get back.

The radar and weather looked like it would co-operate and I could make the time, so everything came together to take a trip to Mt. Holy Cross and try out the North Ridge Route( Class 2+, 12 miles, 5600 ft. gain). Being solo and on my first trip to Holy Cross I thought I would stick with the typical route.
This ended up being yet another plan to leave Boulder at 5pm, drive to the trailhead, and hike in to camp in the dark, to be able to wake up early in a good spot to start out from. I packed all my gear (or so I had thought…) the night before and was excited all day to have the adventure planned.

Getting there:

I took I-70 west from Golden to exit 171 (the exit is just a few miles west of Vail) and headed south on U.S. 24 a couple of miles to the town of Minturn, light was fading fast so I continued on 3 miles till I saw on the right side of the road Tigiwon Road (FS 707). Tigiwon Road is rough but my jeep ate it up. Six miles up the road you’ll pass the Tigiwon Campground, with a handful of sites. 8.5 miles up the road will bring you to the Halfmoon Campground and the trailheads, where I parked.

Halfmoon Pass:

Getting my gear together at the Jeep I noticed I forgot to pack a key piece of gear. My North Face outer shell! Whoops! I was certain the night before I had in my winter bag but, well, what to do? I looked over my gear and took a lightweight rain shell and my down. As long as it didn’t pour down the rain or the weather didn’t bring ice/rain mix I figured Id be ok.
One of the best aspects of this trip was the evening hike was illuminated by a low bright Half Moon, very appropriate! It was a good 1,000’ elevation gain to the pass, which also provided great moonlit views of the ultimate goal. Descending down 2.5 miles to East Cross Creek, I found great camping. Tooling around later I found even more alpine camping spots above Patricia Lake toward the Bowl of Tears. I need to figure out night photography with my Olympus stylus 1030sw, everything came out too dark. I didn’t see anyone else down by the Cross Creek, and after hiking up and over Halfmoon pass you really feel like you are in the wilderness, no traffic, machines, or people noise other than the occasional airliner overhead. My 1.5 person shelter was perfect and I woke up as usual before the alarm went off at 5am. It was cloudy but not raining, good enough to start out for sure. Going very light I didn’t even take a pack, the heaviest thing being the1.5 liters of water. Down on the outside I hoped for no rain so I could keep the down on and not have to trade it out for the rain jacket. About where tree line ended the clouds broke up some but I faced an uncertain future when it came to the weather. As so often is the case in Colorado in approaching 14ers from the East, the approaching weather, which comes from the West 99% of the time, is hidden from view. You don’t get a long-range view and have to keep making new assessments. It started snowing about half way up, but not heavy enough to make me reconsider, plus it was still early. I really enjoy following a track where there are no footprints in front of you. The trail becomes a bouldering-scramble made very slippery with the fresh snow-on-lichen combination. This route crosses the top of where Angelica couloir exits and it looked great, maybe I would descend that way. After a brief stop at the top it was time to head back down. Snow was coming on and more wind, enough change to make me wary of going down the couloir without an axe. The way up was covered with new snow and I got off route once I hit tree line. My native route finding abilities failed me and I had to break out my Garmin GPS to find where I had made camp. While marching around the Cross Creek Wilderness looking for my camp I found a half-eaten porcupine. Something got a hold of this large porcupine, turned it over, and ate it from the side that doesn’t have the nasty quills. Whatever that was, I was glad I didn’t run into it, I cant read tracks very well but I figured it was either a Bear or a Cougar. Definitely a hard place to leave, a special wilderness it is. Ran into a few folks on the trail as I was going out and I was jealous of the experience they had in front of them. All in all a great trip to an incredible place!

I had all my gear packed and ready to go and left work in Boulder a couple hours early to get to Kite Lake Campground by dusk. Drove up I70 to the Breckenridge exit, then route 9 past Breck to Alma. Traffic co-operated and I happened to stop to ask for “where’s the turn off to Kite Lake?” at a coffee shop that was right at the turn off, and soon enough I was there. There are paid campsites at Kite Lake right at the end of the road and I took a quick survey to see if I would use one. There are all close in to the parking, which is good or bad depending on your point of view. I was on my own and did not want company or the chance of noisy neighbors So I paid for my day-use parking, left the slip in the box and packed up my gear to head up with the idea I could plant my shelter up near where the alpine terrain ended and get a mile or two off the route.
Being August the high valley was in full glory, carpeted with all manner of lush flora and flowers in bloom. The weather was just right – clear but with mixed clouds, not clearly showing what was coming which is how an adventure should go. After making my way up a mile or so as if I was going up Mt. Democrat, I turned off the trail and followed a small stream till the alpine terrain ended at the scree fields below Mt Democrat. In the shelter of some large boulders I pitched my Sierra Designs Assailant shelter and settled in for a restful night. A series of thunderstorms rolled through but I felt secure down in my boulder field and the lightening sounded not-too-close.
When my alarm went off around 4am it was raining lightly, so I decided to stay warm and cozy for another hour to see if it would lift. I saw some headlamps making there way up from the lot but I didn’t want to deal with the wet since it looked like the clouds were lifting away. Sure enough, in another hour it was barely sprinkling so I looked over my gear and decided the strategy for the day. Super light was going to work. My understanding was that in 6 hours or continuous hiking could complete the circuit so after drinking a liter of water I filtered one more liter and brought that with no water filter thinking there would be no opportunity to filter more. I did not even bring a small pack. Being the liter of water fit in my breast pocket. Some power bars, small camera, GPS, trekking poles, headlamp, and my North Face layers, and paper map with the route info completed my gear. I had never attempted a multiple 14er route so light. I could see a few sets of headlamps on the route I was going to take which was to go up Democrat first, then double back to the saddle between Democrat and Lincoln/Cameron, up Cameron, then Lincoln, then across the backside to Bross dropping down at the first opportunity to my high camp leaving my pack and the rest of my gear in my shelter.

The trail was easy to follow and I found myself gaining on the first party ahead of me. They were carrying large packs and I was not so encumbered so I passed them before the first saddle. The dawn light lit up Democrat with its red hues and the sky continued to clear. The first party up Democrat that morning passed me coming down from the summit and spoke of the fine sunrise they had witnessed on its summit. Closing in on the summit it was incredible to see the former high mine/ shelter just a few hundred feet off the summit of Democrat. Completely obliterated by multiple lightening strikes one can only imagine what it was like for those intrepid miners up around 14,000 feet. At the summit I asked another visitor to take a snap as the sun started its rise. I didn’t stay long and started bounding my way back down to the saddle.

On my way down I saw more headlamp parties making there way, clearly there were many others who had been wanting to try this as well and were taking advantage of the good weather. I passed another group on my way up Cameron, which raised enough up from the saddle that I felt it was worthy of being a mountain in its own right by the standard it actually is not. From Cameron’s’ summit you can see Lincoln and Bross with Lincoln being the more distinctive of the two. My Bross is smooth and rounded while Lincoln has some jaggedness to it. Just before the summit of Lincoln I passed the last group that had been in from of me. They also were burdened by larger packs and I was down to a half liter of water as the only real weight I was carrying. I also realized that as long as the weather held my super light approach was indeed wise for I had not seen any opportunity to filter more water so it would have been a waste to carry a filter.
From Lincoln the trail to Mt Bross crosses the backside of the ridge between, and it’s a gradual nice hike. The truly bizarre thing was that I came across a pickup truck that some idiot had driven from one of the Mt. Bross access roads as if the thought they could drive it across this scree-trail to? The top of My Lincoln? Who knows, it was stuck in the scree, off the main trail, just about ready to roll. Idiots. I though about how many hikers who pass the abandoned vehicle would consider giving it a shove to see it roll down to complete and utter ruin, but that would only take more of a toll on this incredible place. I only hope the fool was fined appropriately and make the laughing stock. Mt Bross is the most indistinct 14er I have been on and the mining toll on its form has been heavy. It was a challenge to find the summit marker and I didn’t stay longer than a minute or two on top.
I continued North East from the summit of Mt. Bross with the hopes that I could descend one of the scree fields and manage a short cut back to my camp for a post Decalibron Brunch. I got to survey a few chutes and decided on a route down that looked promising from up top. I boot-skied some late summer snowfields and then scree-skied down down down and made really good time down to the valley below without turning an ankle or taking a fall. I found myself back at my camp before noon very pleased with the route and plan. After a nice long relaxing lunch I packed my gear, hiked back to my Jeep, and drove back toward Boulder dreaming of the next trip to the high country I love.

Mount Belford (14,197 ft), Mount Oxford (14,153 ft) & Missouri Peak (14,067 ft) are all 14ers accessible from the Missouri Gulch Trail head. I was hoping for bagging two out of the three which of these three usually means Belford and Missouri. This time I made a plan to hike in and camp just above tree line, rather than go super light at dawn at the trailhead. My friend Jay came along and we drove straight to the trail head without any trouble. The trail gains steeply all the way till tree line thins out. I think in total the trip elevation gain and length was (Trailhead to camp & Belford & alt route back); 4,200 feet, 9 miles.
It was a super-fine weekend so we did see some other campers/hikers. Lots of short switchbacks going up the gulch. Around dusk a mile and a little more in it flattened out a bit with some ok sites to camp right off the trail. Funny how one group looked at us and asked “if your looking for campsites further up, there really aren’t any… you’d be better off taking this other spot we almost took (but obviously rejected) back over there…” Why is it that people go out of their way to hoist their experience on you as if theirs is the one that counts?
I countered “We will be fine, I’m sure we will find something we will like…”. Sure enough, another half mile or so up we found an absolutely gorgeous site. We noticed what looked like a game trail around the junipers, and seeing how there were some flat areas we checked it out. We found a couple of sweet spots hidden from the trail and passing hikers by dense Juniper-like shrubs situated overlooking Missouri Gulch and its stream. For sure discovering your own sweet camp spot as its turning dark is so much better than following on someone else’s direction. Nice fire, sounds of the water, starlit sky, slept like a rock. The sierra designs assailant tent was perfect, anything bigger wouldn’t have fit on the duff bedding. In the AM we saw a few early birds hike past but we took out time to cook and chill. My hopes for a multi-peak bagging day were dashed by the revelation that Jay needed to be back in such time that prevented us from going after some extra peaks and hiking back out int he dark, still it was a gorgeous day high up in the mountains. The trail is flatter up in this stretch until you take the left turn to go up Belford which was our choice. It steeply rises up a shoulder all the way to the top, probably equal to walking the stairwell up the Empire State Building. Awesome views and inviting vistas open up including seeing the other main routes up Missouri and Oxford. Knowing we didnt really have enough time to check some of that out was especially painful from the summit of Belford, while gazing across a seemingly short 1.5 mile connecting saddle-ridge to Oxford. We took an alternate route back down off the top toward Missouri hooking back up with the Gulch trail where you could continue on to Missouri’s summit.
Great weather, good friends and the great outdoors will a 14er thrown in… nice!

The Keyhole Route
The Keyhole or Standard Route was our choice. This was Joe’s first fourteener and the classic route up Longs is a great choice. He can see Long’s from his house and often thought of climbing it, so lets go.
All other routes on Longs are technical rock climbs, including the former standard route whose steel cables have been removed. The Diamond offers routes of the highest standard, and it is where many members of the 1963 American Everest expedition, including Tom Hornbein, honed their skills.
Rather than hump camp gear to the boulder field we opted to go light and leave the trailhead at 1-2am. We met at the Millsite and made our way to the tail head leaving just like we wanted to a shade after 1:30.
The path climbed up through a quiet moonless forest, over water a few times for a few miles. We worked our way up toward Mt Lady Washington as we cleared tree line. At the fork in the trail where you can head to Chasm lake (and there is a vault toilet) we got our first awesome view of the Peak and the sheer Diamond. We didn’t pause long and made good time as we switch backed north up to the “boulder field”. Our plan to carry only a couple of liters of water each and a filter paid off just right. We took water high up the boulder field after passing those who camped the night and were working out their breakfasts. The trekking poles got put away as we then made out way for the distinctive Keyhole formation , a huge overhanging rock projection on the peak’s north ridge.
Scampering over the Keyhole to the stunning Glacier gorge view on the other side is one of the great moments on Longs standard route.
From there we scrambled from bulls-eye paint blaze to paint blaze traversing across a steep and rocky slope. The trough was clear of snow and we met a few folks already coming down before 7am! The top of the trough is another great moment where you get to see the other side of Longs with some good exposure past a couple airy corners before the steeply angled slabs named the “home stretch” that lead to the summit. It is a long and crowded 8 miles and 4850 vertical feet from the trailhead, but a popular and spectacular hike/climb nevertheless.
I took a side jaunt up the side of the trough which had long smooth steep slabs reaching to the summit. I followed a crack system up a bit til I needed to turn around. Our path up and back is in the GPS image in the photo gallery.

Getting There
North Mt. Elbert Trailhead (North Halfmoon Creek): (10,050 ft.) From Leadville, drive 3.5 miles south on U.S. 24 to Colorado (CO) 300. Turn right (west) on CO 300 and drive .7 miles. At .7 miles, turn left (south) on Lake County 11 which is a newly paved road. Drive south 1.8 miles on Lake County 11 and turn right (west) at the signed intersection for Halfmoon Creek. Continue southwest past the Halfmoon Creek Campground and the Elbert Creek Campground until reaching the signed North Mt. Elbert Trailhead at 6.9 miles. Note: This trailhead is also referred to as “South Colorado/Main Range Trailhead” in some guidebooks. It is an access point for the Colorado/Continental Divide trail, a short section of which runs from here to the Lakeview Campground to the south.

The Route
We arrived in Leadville pretty late and drove Jays Toureg up past the Halfmoon Creek Trailhead till it forks at Halfmoon Creek. You can hike this trail from here North to Mt. Massive of South to Elbert. It was late so we camped there with the idea that we would scope out the route in the light.

When we wok up the day looked great, perfect sky. The river crossing right at Halfmoon Creek was washed over pretty good, and although Jay was confident his nice new Toureg would be able to drive through it with no problem I wasn’t completely sure. Since it was a beautiful day why not hike it? So we chose our gear and hoofed it. If you drive further up you can take another mile or two off the route and gain another 1,000’ or so. However we passed two broken bridges the second one looking like you would really need to winch it to get through. Maybe late in summer after all the melt has run off a typical high-clearance 4×4 would be alright there.

We kept hiking south with Elbert rising on our left, but being down in the valley makes it tough to orient. We were expecting to see a fork in the trail for when it takes a shoulder of Elbert up, but we never saw one… I can confirm after taking the same route back down that we never saw a clearly defined hikers/climbers trail. The further you go south on this trail the more you have to hook back to Elberts summit once you gain the ridge. You can see the detour we took on the way up in the GPS trail in the photo gallery for this trip.

Making our way up east and toward the summit ridge and clearing tree-line we found ourselves climbing talus fields all the way up to the ridge. From on top of the ridge we could see the true summit perhaps a half mile or so along this East ridge. We were blessed with perfect weather and incredible views !!

We decided that we should take the most direct route back North to the Toureg. We scree/snow-surfed down the scree and remaining snow and got down in a snap. Plastic shell mountaineering boots might seem a tad heavy/clunky when you selecting your gear at the trailhead, but when you get can jog/surf scree with no risk of twisting an ankle etc its sooo worth it. Yes, I believe in the plastic boots (least in my Koflach’s)

Mountain Conditions
There is no substitute for getting an early start, and getting as much of the mountain “behind you” as early in the day as possible. Keep a good eye on the sky as weather conditions can deteriorate rapidly. The greatest weather danger is from lightning strikes, and climbers are killed almost every summer in Colorado by lightning strikes. July seems to be the most deadly month for lightning.

Two climbers were killed by lightning in Colorado within a couple days of each other in the summer of 2003. I think the following important information from Gerry Roach’s book “Colorado’s Fourteeners From Hikes to Climbs” bears repeating. Added here with permission from Gerry Roach:

Colorado is famous for apocalyptic lightning storms that threaten not just your life, but your soul as well. This section will have special meaning if you have ever been trapped by a storm that endures for more than an hour and leaves no gap between one peal of thunder and the next. The term simultaneous flash-boom has a very personal meaning for many Colorado Climbers.

Dangers

1. Lightning is dangerous!
2. Lightning is the greatest external hazard to summer mountaineering in Colorado.
3. Lightning kills people every year in Colorado’s mountains.
4. Direct hits are usually fatal.

Precautions

1. Start early! Be off summits by noon and back in the valley by early afternoon.
2. Observe thunderhead buildup carefully, noting speed and direction; towering thunderheads with black bottoms are bad.
3. When lightning begins nearby, turn around. If you can see lightning you are already too close.
4. Get off summits and ridges and below tree line as quickly as possible

Protection

1. You cannot outrun a storm; physics wins.
2. When caught, seek a safe zone in the 45-degree cone around an object 5 to 10 times your height.
3. Be aware of ground currents; the current from a ground strike disperses along the ground or cliff, especially in wet cracks.
4. Wet ropes are good conductors.
5. Snow is not a good conductor.
6. Separate yourself from metal objects.
7. Disperse the group. Survivors can revive one who is hit.
8. Crouch on boot soles, ideally on dry, insulating material such as moss or grass. Dirt is better than rock. Avoid water.