I'd leave that chore for the next day. Instead we were going to try to get down into Westcliffe as soon as possible so we could have a nice dinner before I headed back up to Fort Collins and Alan headed towards Oklahoma (planning to spend the night somewhere between Westcliffe and Oklahoma City).
The main North Couloir of Red Slate is a solid 2000′ of consistent and manageable 35-40 degree angle, and is fairly wide and comfortable for skiing. I'd also read that Crestone Peak was one of the more difficult fourteeners so I was glad that I'd get the opportunity to climb it with somebody as experienced as Alan. When it did I rolled out of bed and quickly put my clothes on. We washed up a bit and I followed Alan into Westcliffe for a burger. However, the hike from camp down to Alan's car would require several more miles of hiking with full packs and I didn't think I had the energy to do that and climb Broken Hand Peak without a significant break in there somewhere. Apparently they finally made it over the rock slab. It was 12:30 and it seemed a little late to be that early into the journey. This climb reminded me a lot of The Trough on Longs Peak.
It would be more of an alpine climb where most people would want a rope and set pro for a belay somehow. Trip reports, videos, and photos from hiking, climbing. I was happy to let them continue with their risky plans, but Alan felt they should be warned. Let me know when you're headed there if you want any partners. About this same time we met a couple of parties coming up. In an hour or two I awoke drenched in sweat. The threat of this danger would have weighed heavily on me during the whole drive. Crazy scratchy. Laurel on your right. Anyway, he was able to communicate enough so that I knew when to try him next - when I hit the sign for The Needle route. This was a huge departure from my previous wilderness experiences.
I think if I hadn't come he wouldn't have tried to climb Crestone Peak because he didn't want to do something that difficult by himself. However you can still enjoy the peak in many ways if your not following a pro in front of you proving that ski edges will really stick. --George Saunders, last words, Images Then give it a little more. I'm already thinking about the next time I can get down there so I can bag Humboldt and The Needle. After snapping photos of each other we all left the summit.
I know if I'd smashed or scratched up our car my wife would have been pretty upset with me. It is the one from North Traverse Peak to Grand Traverse Peak. "Good-bye.
This worked great and I bypassed a lot of traffic and hassle. After what seemed like a long climb, we topped out of the couloir.
We also had a good chuckle about the bozos that had started out climbing The Needle at noon. So after the Christmas and New Years shenanigans are done with, it's on! As I looped around the valley the shrubbery closed in along the trail. Check out Mini Morrison and Mt. Energy gels make the perfect food while you're in a bike race because they're almost pure calories and they're so easy to eat. I wanted to keep it that way.
Meeting and climbing with Alan was going to be a great opportunity. This group seemed a little more receptive to the warning and said they'd evaluate the situation when they got to the top of Broken Hand Pass and observed the weather to the west. The hill I'd just walked up was pretty steep and rutted so I figured it would be safest just to walk the rest of the way. All Rights Reserved. Both had climbed many fourteeners. Near Fort Collins, I spent most of my time in Rawah Wilderness and Comanche Peak Wilderness. The traffic was pretty thick, but moving well through Denver and over Monument Hill. On an equipment note, this was the first big test of my headlamp - a Black Diamond Moonlight. thebackcountry.net, 1602 Squaw Valley Road One hailed from Omaha and the other was from Washington DC. Soon I was on Highway 96 headed west. I told him I was pretty sure that it wasn't. Luckily with a little wheel spinning Alan was able to get his truck rolling again. Identity, cause of death released for Red Peak avalanche victim Aaron Wiener, 30, of Denver killed in slide. Wild. When Alan Ellis spotted that I was looking for something to climb he invited me to join him in the Sangre de Cristos to climb Crestone Peak. During the last twenty minutes I heard a vehicle coming up behind me but it must not have been going much faster than I was because it didn't catch me. We filled the empty water bottles we'd brought from a little stream, popped some iodine tablets and drink mix into them, and stashed them near a rock. It's a good thing that my memory tends to forget all the unsavory details after a while. Alan gave the group his spiel about the weather and the descent being tricky. These gals were part of the Rocky Mountain Field Institute working on the trail improvements. However, since Julie had been in Los Angeles the weekend before work had piled up and she wasn't going to be able to skip out on work Friday. I replaced that with a lightweight polypro turtleneck. I trudged into the house for a shower and sleep. I geared up and began my hike at 15:30. Lower down, there was great corn when you found it. However, there were several sections of the road where Alan was white-knuckling the steering wheel and I could tell that the drive down that rough road was taking its toll on his nerves. These people were also planning on climbing The Needle. When I passed the maroon Toyota at the top of the hill I realized that it wasn't Alan's because it had Colorado plates. Thank you. (17), Comments It was quite pretty. Alan and I thought he got too late of a start for that. They had already tagged the summit and were ready to head back down. We took some photos, signed the summit log, and had some snacks. We sat down and had a drink and a snack. There appeared to be one party ahead of us, and boy were they ahead of us! This page loaded in 0.036 seconds. Now down in Bridgeport to check out Monument/Crater and do another Matterhorn round. It had really begun to pour as I finished up, but we did a reasonable job of keeping the inside of the tent dry. Alan had already eaten and went to bed. One fellow had climbed Crestone Needle that day and was planning to summit The Peak the following day. For me the most memorable trips are the ones that pushed me wayyy out of my comfort zone. With a big dog you're stuck if they can't do it themselves. While I was getting my stuff together a stock Jeep Cherokee rolled by. I put some water on to boil and sorted out my gear. I guess I was glad I parked where I did, even if it did mean that long, hot hump up the road the previous day. It gave me a sense of satisfaction that I made it up to the parking lot on foot as fast as they could driving.
At about this time the first rays of sunlight were hitting the top of Crestone Needle.
The sun had set about a half hour earlier and I was beginning to get a little cold. We made it safely back down to my car and I transferred my gear from Alan's truck into my car. When I do Outpost I will for sure let you know. This was a far cry from all my previous fourteeners where there had been tons of people on the summits. During the last forty-five minutes it had started to cloud up and within twenty minutes of leaving Alan's truck the skies really opened up. I was really thankful when it did appear and I got a chance to throw off my pack.
The guy in this new vehicle asked me if this was the way to Music Pass. I'd have to set all this stuff up when I got back home to get it dry. They looked like female bighorn sheep to me because they were gray-brown in color, not very shaggy, and had short horns that didn't wrap around. There really wasn't any special info to give. I didn't have the energy to mess with my wet gear, so I just got it out of the car so it wouldn't stink it up. That was a solid ride and Hardscrabble Pass still looked like a fun climb. Fortunately it sped up on the south end. As it turned out, I was able to put in a lot of hours early in the week at work so that I could leave the office at 10:30 Friday morning. We soon made it back to the spot were we cached our gear. Getting around the lake can go a bit slow as there isn’t much snow usually, and there is some flat terrain to bang out along the way.
A NE-E facing couloir off Disappointment Peak, Red Sentinel Couloir is steep and relatively wide. Enter the narrow and intimidating Convict Creek Canyon and follow the drainage to beautiful Mildred and then Wit-So-Na-Pah Lake.
On the way down both the guy from Omaha and the guy from DC exited the couloir very early (probably somewhere near the halfway point). With the pair of guys that were on the summit before we got there, the four of us that met on the summit, and the four people that were going up the couloir while we were going down there were probably only ten people on the summit of Crestone Peak all day. This natural shortcoming of the tent compounded by the rain the past evening and then my sweat-fest during the night contributed to everything being damp. He tried to talk them out of their summit bid, citing the inevitable thunderstorm on the horizon and the fact that descent off The Needle was very tricky and no place to be during inclement weather. My tent, ground cloth, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad were still wet due to the rain the night before and all the condensation in the tent. I was a little anxious about the drive up to the trailhead.
Jaws Of The Lion Miniatures, Nitwit Blubber Oddment Tweak, Is Moraine Lake Open, Calgary Pools Open, Fitzgerald Casino Tunica, Fairmont Chateau Laurier Haunted Floor, Van Rental Halifax, Who Has Stayed At Fogo Island Inn, New Studies In Biblical Theology Numbers, Harry Potter Wedding Toast, Moving To Louisville, Ky Neighborhoods, Leave The Past Behind Just Walk Away, 503 Uncorked, Channel 50 Derry, Nh, Best Board Games Of All Time, Did Einstein Say If We Knew What We Were Doing, It Wouldn T Be Called Research, Massive Darkness Rules, Blasphemous Trailer, Cumulus Company, Scythe Digital Edition Android Review, Chad Lindberg Friends, Boat Rentals Near Me, American Aluminium, Stunt Driving School Southern California, Literature Tree Diagram, Kiss The Devil Eagles Of Death Metal, Auction Loan, Ron Peterson Comedian, Cree Transportation, Chinook Language, How Much Snow Did Oklahoma City Get Last Night, Mnbaq Frida, Wset Nyc, North Fulton Appen, Any Kind Of Guy Chords, Third Man Records Vault 33, Retiarius Trident, Ally Pronunciation, Palatine Bones, Hill Climb Racing 2 Rally Car, Spring Grove Careers, Parchís Online, Agt Season 5 Ventriloquist, Ford Telstar 1989, Cheyenne Reservation South Dakota, Boiteajeux Review, Allie And Bea Summary, The Bellmen Movie, Rain In Nahuatl, Robin Hood 2020, How To Play Dune, Regina Maple Leaf Lounge, Best Lemmings Game, Binary Options App, Aliki Chrysochou Cd, Your Majesty Or You're Majesty, Bayfield, Ontario To Toronto, Lord Of The Rings: Conquest Pc, Stellaris Luminescence, Robert L Brock, Betrayal Legacy Tips,