Rockinghorse Ridge

Rockinghorse Ridge is a smaller section of the main spine of the Gore Range connecting the 12,965′ Peak P and its taller 13,041′ neighbor, West Partner Peak. The difficulties of the ridge are probably no more than a half mile in length, but what it lacks in length it more than makes up for in quality scrambling in the heart of the Gore Range. It is one of the classic ridges of the Gores and gets its name from a large tower along its ridge crest dubbed The Rocking Horse. A few years ago in July of 2012, our little crew consisting of myself, J, Baba, & Chuck descended towards Upper Piney Lake from the ridge en route to West Partner Peak from Peak P’s summit before the real complexities of Rockinghorse Ridge. This descent was due to several reasons: 1) because it was later in the day and boomers were starting to build, 2) we had no tent, there was a fire ban, and we had bivied in the Upper Piney Basin the night before in the worst mosquitos documented since the Great Gore Mosquito Influx of 1808 (this event is not real – the mosquitos were just pretty horrendous), 3) because we did not have mosquito repellent, and 4) because we did not want to stay out another night with no tent nor mosquito repellent and a fire ban in absolutely terrifying mosquito country. We had climbed Peak H that day, traversed The Saw to Peak J, onto Peak P, and we were en route to West Partner Peak when the decision was made to descend. Needless to say, The Rocking Horse has been always in the back of my mind ever since.

Rockinghorse Ridge connecting Peak P (left) to West Partner Peak (right) as seen from the summit of the Spider (12,692') in mid-October of 2011

Rockinghorse Ridge connecting Peak P (left) to West Partner Peak (right) as seen from the summit of the Spider (12,692′) in mid-October of 2011 on a climb of the Fly & the Spider from Booth Lake

View northwest of Rockinghorse Ridge and all of our favorite peaks from the summit of east Partner Peak (13,057') in July of 2012 before one of my Partner Traverse trips

View northwest of Rockinghorse Ridge and all of our favorite peaks from the summit of East Partner Peak (13,057′) in July of 2012 before one of my Partner Traverse trips

Fast forward to last weekend and I thought Rockinghorse Ridge may make for a nice fall day trip from the Booth trailhead in East Vail. A few usual partners in crime joined me for the ridge including seasoned Gore enthusiast Brian Miller & recent Gore convert Dillon Sarnelli. Friends Jason & Becky Blyth with their golden retriever Taj joined us for the hike in and branched off to climb West Partner Peak via its manageable west ridge from just south of East Booth Pass. It was just perfect fall weather. The Aspen colors were really about in their prime and the Booth trail is always a nice hike. We got hiking around 6:30am or so and leisurely took our time chatting and catching up with one another. The plan was fairly simple: head up to East Booth Pass, descend/traverse over to a point below the Rockinghorse Ridge saddle, climb up to the ridge, summit Peak P, traverse Rockinghorse Ridge to West Partner Peak’s summit, and then continue south along the ridge over to Outpost Peak’s summit. Outpost was a requirement for Mr. Miller (and me too) as this low 12er is one of the few Gore peaks we have yet to top out on. Unfortunately, with the late day storms rolling in and thunder very close by, we chose to descend before tagging its summit. Nevertheless, Outpost’s northeast bowl will be a great spring ski for which we have already started game planning.

Our Rockinghorse Ridge loop from the Booth drainage

Our Rockinghorse Ridge loop from the Booth drainage. Red is the approach up and over East Booth Pass and traverse to Rockinghorse Ridge. Green is the quick trip up to Peak P. Yellow is Rockinghorse Ridge and West Partner Peak’s south ridge.

Mt. of the Holy Cross from the Booth trail

Mt. of the Holy Cross from the Booth trail

All the Blyths & myself en route to East Booth Pass. Photo by Dillon

All the Blyths & myself en route to East Booth Pass. Photo by Dillon

Brian and the beautiful secluded lake just south of East Booth Pass

Brian and the beautiful secluded lake just south of East Booth Pass

Becky, Jason, & Taj broke off for West Partner’s west ridge a few hundred feet below East Booth Pass and we said our goodbyes. I always love looking down onto the rarely visited Upper Piney Lake basin. The view down from East Booth Pass surely didn’t disappoint.

Upper Piney Lake from East Booth Pass

Upper Piney Lake from East Booth Pass. The Saw is the skyline on the right connecting Peak H (center) to Peak J (out of picture on the right)

Brian mentioned he and Mike Rodenack had traversed from East Booth Pass across the west facing slopes below Rockinghorse Ridge years ago without dropping all the way to Upper Piney Lake and it had worked out well albeit they were on snow.

Brian explaining the traverse over to a point below the saddle low point of Rockinghorse Ridge from East Booth Pass. Photo by Dillon

Brian explaining the traverse over to a point below the saddle low point of Rockinghorse Ridge from East Booth Pass. Photo by Dillon

The route looked very doable and we made our way northeast across slabs with some class 3/4 scrambling thrown in for good measure.

Brian on the traverse from East Booth Pass

Brian on the traverse from East Booth Pass

Brian on a fun slab portion of the traverse. East Booth Pass can be seen on the far right

Brian on a fun slab portion of the traverse. East Booth Pass can be seen on the far right

Brian on a nifty little dihedral

Brian on a nifty little dihedral

Dillon took a higher road than Brian & myself for some reason and ended up topping out on Rockinghorse Ridge to the south of the deep notch marking the low point of the ridge. Brian & I made it over to the steep grass gully we were aiming for and climbed straight up to the ridge. We heard Dillon calling to us and waiving a map. He was stuck. Nowhere to downclimb to join us on the north side of the deep notch. I felt bad as he wanted to climb Peak P, but honestly downclimbing into the notch was low 5th class terrain and he was better off just staying put and relaxing a bit until Brian & I came over to him. At this point, we saw Jason Blyth on the summit of West Partner Peak and I think he saw us. Brian decided to cook up some pasta with pesto on the ridge proper (talk about brunch with a view) and I decided to just boogie up to Peak P. I love the views from Peak P. I feel like I’m really in the center of the Gore Range.

Upper Slate Lake basin as seen from the summit of Peak P including the four tiers of lakes, Peak Q on the right, and Peal L in the distance on the left

Upper Slate Lake basin as seen from the summit of Peak P including the four tiers of lakes, Peak Q on the right, and Peal L in the distance on the left

Peak L

Peak L

Looking north to Peak J and the northern Gores

Looking north to Peak J and the northern Gores

Rockinghorse Ridge to West Partner Peak as seen from the summit of Peak P

Rockinghorse Ridge to West Partner Peak as seen from the summit of Peak P

A few minutes on top and a few pics later, I scampered back down to Brian and he offered me some of his feast. Yum.

Dillon shot this zoomed-in pic of me coming down from Peak P

Dillon shot this zoomed-in pic of me coming down from Peak P

Brian's kitchen on Rockinghorse Ridge with Peak Q looming in the distance

Brian’s kitchen on Rockinghorse Ridge with Peak Q looming in the distance. Photo by Brian

Brian feasting

Brian feasting

We then packed up and made our way south to the first deep notch inn the ridge. Fun scrambling down and out of the notch ensued and soon we were heading onto the second deeper notch which had stopped Dillon in his tracks.

The first notch. We reclimbed right up the center (maybe class 4)

The first notch. We reclimbed right up the center (maybe class 4)

Brian downclimbing to the first notch

Brian downclimbing to the first notch

Brian climbing out of the first notch

Brian climbing out of the first notch

Good scrambling

Good scrambling

Brian & I were both looking to take the reclimb out of the second notch head-on to meet up with Dillon. I attempted the lower portion directly, but really came to an impass which required me to surmount a small roof with some big exposure in trail running shoes. No thanks. I circled around to the east side of the ridge to find a nice class 4 dihedral which accessed the low 5th class upper portion of the ridge proper. Brian found another low 5th class route about 20′ to the west of the ridge proper.

Me attempting the lower portion of the ridge proper out of the second notch before backing off and going around to the left

Me attempting the lower portion of the ridge proper out of the second notch before backing off and going around to the left. Photo by Brian

Me climbing the upper portion of the ridge proper out of the second notch. Photo by Dillon

Me climbing the upper portion of the ridge proper out of the second notch. Photo by Dillon

Brian topping out on his line out of the second notch

Brian topping out on his line out of the second notch

Looking down Brian's route

Looking down Brian’s route

We both topped out and met up with ole Dillon. Was good to meet back up with him. We continued south on Rockinghorse Ridge to The Rocking Horse tower. Some fun scrambling led up to the fairly mellow class 3 north ridge of The Rocking Horse.

Brian & Rockinghorse Ridge up to Peak P behind hm

Brian & Rockinghorse Ridge leading up to Peak P behind him

Brian & Dillon scrambling to the north ridge of The Rocking Horse

Brian & Dillon scrambling to the north ridge of The Rocking Horse

Me on a cool little catwalk leading up to The Rocking Horse. Photo by Brian

Me on a cool little catwalk leading up to The Rocking Horse. Photo by Brian

Brian climbing The Rocking Horse with Upper Piney Lake down below

Brian climbing The Rocking Horse with Upper Piney Lake down below

Dillon shot this pic of me scrambling up the north ridge of The Rocking Horse

Dillon shot this pic of me scrambling up the north ridge of The Rocking Horse

Where the ridge really got exciting was after (south) of The Rocking Horse starting with the downclimb off The Rocking Horse’s south ridge.

Coming down off The Rocking Horse

Coming down off The Rocking Horse

Dillon starting the mini-catwalk

Dillon starting the catwalk

Me on the catwalk. Photo by Dillon

Me on the catwalk. Photo by Dillon

Little did we know that Mad (Dad) Mike was coming down off Peak H at this same time (noonish maybe) and saw us on the catwalk after The Rocking Horse and shot a very zoomed-in picture of Dillon & myself. Thanks, Mike! Mike had traversed Ripsaw Ridge from Peak C to Peak H this same morning.

Mike's zoomed in shot of Dillon & myself from the slopes of Peak H. The Rocking Horse is to our left

Mike’s zoomed in shot of Dillon & myself from the slopes of Peak H. The Rocking Horse is to our left

We downclimbed off the catwalk and then a few more towers presented themselves. While one could likely skirt most of these complexities with 3rd class scrambling a hundred or more vertical feet lower on the ridge’s west side, we stayed fairly ridge proper and encountered plenty of class 4/low class 5 scrambling.

The downclimb after the catwalk and a few more towers to go up and over

The downclimb after the catwalk and a few more towers to go up and over

The remaining portion of Rockinghorse Ridge up to West Partner Peak as seen from the catwalk

The remaining portion of Rockinghorse Ridge up to West Partner Peak as seen from the catwalk

We even found one nice looking crack up one of the towers that I was determined to climb. It looked oh so good. This crux could definitely be skirted to the ridge’s west side via class 3 ledges and join up with this more direct route on top of the tower.

Me heading up the good looking crack. Photo by Brian

Me heading up the good looking crack. Photo by Brian

Me at the top of the crack. Photo by Brian

Me at the top of the crack. Photo by Brian

It was a tough move with some air below, but as long as you could get a toe in the crack as a foothold and a right hand/arm jam in the crack it was manageable (if 5.4-5.5 is manageable in trail shoes).

Dillon crack sequence pic #1

Dillon crack sequence pic #1

Dillon crack sequence pic #2

Dillon crack sequence pic #2

Dillon crack sequence pic #3

Dillon crack sequence pic #3

The scrambling to the top of this tower didn’t end there as there was an exposed traverse, a small knife-edge, and still some 4th class moves to be had.

Dillon on an exposed traverse above the crux crack

Dillon on an exposed traverse above the crux crack

Dillon almost topping out on the tower

Dillon almost topping out on the tower

The remaining portion of Rockinghorse Ridge up to West Partner Peak as seen from the top of this tower

The remaining portion of Rockinghorse Ridge up to West Partner Peak as seen from the top of this tower

It was then a mellower downclimb off to our next set of towers, which mostly could be skirted ever so slightly to the ridge’s east side. Though, one could climb these towers as we did on a few occasions (ya know, for the views).

More awesome towers everywhere you look on Rockinghorse Ridge. Photo by Dillon

More awesome towers everywhere you look on Rockinghorse Ridge. Photo by Dillon

The terrain then eased off into more “hikeable” slopes and we made good time up the remaining north ridge of West Partner Peak to its lofty Gore summit.

Dillon & Brian making their way up West Partner's north ridge with the difficulties of Rockinghorse Ridge behind them

Dillon & Brian making their way up West Partner’s north ridge with the difficulties of Rockinghorse Ridge behind them

West Partner Peak was a new summit for Mr. Sarnelli. It was familiar ground for Brian & myself, but always good to be back here especially having climbed a different route up this peak other than the class 3 south ridge or 2+ west ridge.

Me on West Partner Peak's summit. Photo by Brian

Me on West Partner Peak’s summit. Photo by Brian

West Partner Peak summit (13,041') with Peak Q behind to our right. Photo by Dillon

West Partner Peak summit (13,041′) with Peak Q behind to our right. Photo by Dillon

Rockinghorse Ridge to Peak P from the summit of West Partner Peak

Rockinghorse Ridge to Peak P from the summit of West Partner Peak

Outpost Peak from the summit of West Partner Peak, our next destination

Outpost Peak from the summit of West Partner Peak, our next destination

I think it was maybe 1:30pm or so and thunderheads were definitely already starting to build to the west and north. We then descended the class 3 south ridge of West Partner Peak en route to Outpost Peak. This south ridge is a nice scramble in itself and is featured in David Cooper’s book Colorado Scrambles.

West Partner Peak's south ridge

West Partner Peak’s south ridge

I kept looking west at the building storms and then when we had reached maybe the halfway point along the ridge to Outpost, the thunder let loose and it was close. We decided to retreat back down to the Booth drainage via a steep grass gully and save Outpost for another day (hopefully, this spring as a ski-mountaineering outing). I believe the grass gully we used as a descent route is the ascent gully Cooper describes to access West Partner Peak’s south ridge in Colorado Scrambles.

Descent gully into the Booth drainage from the West Partner Peak-Outpost Peak ridge

Descent gully into the Booth drainage from the West Partner Peak-Outpost Peak ridge

The views down valley into Vail and of Vail ski mountain with Holy Cross behind were phenomenal.

Fall colors down the Booth drainage and into the Vail Valley

Fall colors down the Booth drainage and into the Vail Valley

Beautiful

Beautiful

Booth Lake as seen from our descent gully

Booth Lake as seen from our descent gully

We soon joined up with the Booth trail and hiked the 4+ miles back out. As we descended into treeline, it sure was hard not to stop and take pictures of the gorgeous fall foilage. Brian & Dillon did a wonderful job at capturing the views.

Aspens. Photo by Dillon

Aspens. Photo by Dillon

Me on the hike out. Photo by Brian

Me on the hike out. Photo by Brian

Booth drainage hillside. Photo by Brian

Booth drainage hillside. Photo by Brian

We met up with Kristine for high-end mexican food at Maya in the Westin and topped off a great day in the Gores with margaritas, IPAs, numerous tacos, and brisket nachos. Solid day, fellas! I’d rather be in the Gores than just about anywhere. I think the same could be said for Brian. Dillon? Well, he’s getting there.

Gore Range Traverse: Eagle’s Nest to Mt. Powell

With our little gal due in just about a month (October 12), I’m staying fairly local not to be gone all weekend (meaning day trips). And, what all that equates to are more adventures in our own Gore Range. Kristine has been absolutely wonderful in wanting me to get out and climb. Just because she cannot climb and scramble right now, she doesn’t want me not too as well. She’s quite amazing. We keep telling each other its good recon for me so we can do these trips together at a later date. Definitely. Its been a stellar spring, summer, and early fall of ski-mountaineering, hiking, and rock climbing trips, and this past weekend’s venture on the classic Eagle’s Nest – Mt. Powell traverse in the Gores was a phenomenal day out on terrific terrain with great buds. This was one of the few traverses J and I had not yet attempted in our Gore escapades and has been on the list for years now. Despite us both having summitted the Gore Range’s highest peak, Mt. Powell, a few times via its standard route from Piney Lake, we had never climbed the Gore Range’s second highest peak, Eagle’s Nest, and certainly never linked the two monarchs. This traverse, dubbed the Gore Range Traverse, is listed in David Cooper’s book Colorado Scrambles and is probably the longest traverse with most vertical gain described in his book.The cruxy ridge between the two peaks looked challenging yet at the same time very fun and we were excited. In Colorado Scrambles, Cooper describes the route as starting at the 8,600′ Surprise Lake Trailhead in Summit County near the Green Mountain Resevoir and ending at Piney Lake on the west side of the Gores north of Vail. A few good friends and fellow climbers have urged us to make a loop out of the two peaks all from Piney Lake in order to avoid a lengthy car shuttle, but this option doesn’t allow for a good adventure along the very lengthy east ridge of Eagle’s Nest. Personally, one of the reasons for doing the full traverse is to explore the east side of Eagle’s Nest as I had never done before. In the end, it was worth the car shuttle. It was to be a big day at about 16 miles and 7,100′ of vertical gain, but the weather looked pretty decent and we had a strong crew of four including our friends Rick Thompson and Marc Barella. It was super fun to have Rick and Marc join J and myself in doing what we absolutely love to do – scramble in the Gores.

The Gore Range Traverse from Eagle's Nest to Mt. Powell shown in red

The Gore Range Traverse from Eagle’s Nest to Mt. Powell shown in red

J and I drove over to the Surprise Lake Trailhead later Saturday evening arriving at 10:30pm while Rick & Marc came from Denver and arrived at about midnight. We cowboy camped at the trailhead and we woke up to frost covered sleeping bags in the fairly chilly pre-dawn air at 4:30am. After some coffee and oatmeal, we set off across the footbridge at 5:20am illuminating the trail with out headlamps and we were shedding layers shortly afterwards. At 2.6 miles or so, the route takes a right onto the Gore Range Trail, and after 3 or so miles, the route takes a left on another trail leading to Upper Cataract Lake. At about 4 miles and 7:00am, the sun had risen above the horizon and we no longer needed our artificial light. We took a short break and then headed left into the woods bushwhacking our way to treeline and up the steeper north facing slopes consisting of beautiful tundra hiking and some boulder hopping. The breeze picked up as we crested treeline and felt fairly sustained once we reached the enormous 12,400′ plateau at the beginning of Eagle Nest’s east ridge.

The boys heading up above treeline with Lower Cataract Lake behind (essentially where we began a few hours prior)

The boys heading up above treeline with Lower Cataract Lake behind (essentially where we began a few hours prior)

The north face of Eagle's Nest as seen from the northern slopes leading to its east ridge

The north face of Eagle’s Nest as seen from the northern slopes leading to its east ridge

J & Marc cresting the enormous 12,400' plateau

J & Marc cresting the enormous 12,400′ plateau

The east ridge of Eagle's Nest from the 12,400' plateau leading to its summit (far right) with Mt. Powell's summit just peaking over left of center

The east ridge of Eagle’s Nest from the 12,400′ plateau leading to its summit (far right) with Mt. Powell’s summit just peaking over left of center

Once we reached the beginning of Eagle’s Nest’s ever-narrowing east ridge, Mt. Powell’s north face came into view with the wind dying down a bit blocked by the east ridge itself. We made our way up the now much more defined east ridge gaining altitude fast up to Point 13,091′.

Mt. Powell's north face. Some fresh snow!

Mt. Powell’s north face. Some fresh snow on its summit plateau!

Upper Cataract Lake from the east ridge of Eagle's Nest

Upper Cataract Lake from the east ridge of Eagle’s Nest

The traverse from Eagle's Nest (far right) to Mt. Powell (far left) as seen from the east ridge of Eagle's Nest.

The traverse from Eagle’s Nest (far right) to Mt. Powell (far left) as seen from the east ridge of Eagle’s Nest.

Point 13,091'

Point 13,091′

However, what vertical we had gained in the last half hour, we then lost after Point 13,091′ and then proceeded to go up and over several minor bumps along the east ridge. Thus, the nature of Eagle’s Nest east ridge. But, the views were incredible and it was fun to be up high with a great crew.

Descending off of Point 13,091' in the morning sun

Descending off of Point 13,091′ in the morning sun

Got to enjoy the awesome tundra while it lasts!

Got to enjoy the awesome tundra while it lasts!

Mt. Powell's north face and the extremely secluded and rarely-visited Cliff Lake below

Mt. Powell’s north face and the extremely secluded and rarely-visited Cliff Lake below

Rick & J on the east ridge of Eagle's Nest. Point 13,091' is the far summit along the ridge

Rick & J on the east ridge of Eagle’s Nest. Point 13,091′ is the far summit along the ridge

We then came to the crux downclimb off of another 13,000′ point, which can be descended on class 3/4 terrain on the ridge’s left (south) side though we stayed a little closer to the ridge crest and spiced it up with just a few low class 5 moves.

Downclimbing the crux of the east ridge of Eagle's Nest

Downclimbing the crux of the east ridge of Eagle’s Nest

Descending

Descending

Rick can be seen right of center while J is dead center above him checking out the view

Rick can be seen right of center while J is dead center above him checking out the view. Marc is hidden from view between the two of them

Moon over Eagle's Nest

Moon over Eagle’s Nest

After descending maybe 200′ down the crux, we ascended the same vertical on the other side of the small col and continued upwards. We hopped on a small knife-edge, which is definitely not necessary, though it afforded nice views down the north face and good photos.

The boys on the knife-edge with our route down the crux point along the east ridge shown in red. Notice the cool looking peep hole as well

The boys on the knife-edge with our route down the crux point along the east ridge shown in red. Notice the cool looking peep hole as well

Knife-edge fun

Knife-edge fun

Gaining lost vertical again

Gaining lost vertical again

Rick & Marc and the east ridge extending out to the east behind them

Rick & Marc and the east ridge extending out to the east behind them

An interesting little traverse we found to overcome another point along the east ridge

An interesting little traverse we found to overcome another point along the east ridge

Rick making the moves

Rick making the moves

We continued to scramble up and over a few more sub-summits before arriving on the summit of Eagle’s Nest around 10:30am.

The boys approaching the summit of Eagle's Nest

The boys approaching the summit of Eagle’s Nest

Marc taking in the views

Marc taking in the views

Rick & Marc with Mt. Powell behind

Rick & Marc with Mt. Powell behind

Eagle's Nest summit (13,420')

Eagle’s Nest summit (13,420′)

After some snacks, gatorade, and photos, we were off again down the much mellower south ridge of Eagle’s Nest to the low point of the ridge with neighboring Mt. Powell. It was a beautiful Fall day yet the west wind was fairly stiff the entire time on the ridge, which made things just a bit more difficult and taxing.

Descending the mellow south ridge of Eagle's Nest

Descending the mellow south ridge of Eagle’s Nest

Looking ahead at the connecting ridge to Mt. Powell

Looking ahead at the connecting ridge to Mt. Powell

Starting at the low point of the connecting ridge, the challenges of the ridge presented themselves right away. The first in a series of impressive gendarmes reared itself up in earnest and a fun 4th class crack provided passage just right (west) of the ridge proper. Once could stay maybe 100-200′ down below the gendarmes on the ridge’s west side the entire way and keep the difficulty at maybe class 3. But, where is the fun in that? We came for some scrambling and hopefully we would get it.

A little exposed move on the ridge's left (east) side to kick things off

A little exposed move on the ridge’s left (east) side to kick things off

The 4th class dihedral on the right(west) side of the ridge proper to surmount the first gendarme

The 4th class dihedral on the right(west) side of the ridge proper to surmount the first gendarme

After the top of the first proper gendarme, the downclimb was a 25′ overhanging drop, so we backtracked just a bit and downclimbed around and back up to the ridge proper via a nice low 5th class crack.

J on the low 5th class crack

J on the low 5th class crack

Rick coming around a small tower with Eagle's Nest behind

Rick coming around a small tower with Eagle’s Nest behind

One of the numerous downclimbs, none of which were really all that exposed

One of the numerous downclimbs, none of which were really all that exposed

We tried to traverse the gendarmes as close to the ridge proper as was feasible (without getting into mid-upper 5th class climbing) and were able to find some pretty cool lines that went at maybe 5.3 or low 5th class. The downclimbs seemed to always be 4th class, which definitely made things a little faster. On one gendarme, J and I climbed a line that maybe went at mid-5th class, but it was such an elegant stemming chimney that it was hard to resist.

J stemming his way up a chimney

J stemming his way up the chimney

Looking down the mid-5th class chimney

Looking down the mid-5th class chimney

Another non-exposed downclimb

Another non-exposed downclimb

Making progress over to Mt. Powell

Making progress over to Mt. Powell

It was really a “choose your own adventure” ridge traverse. The ups and downs continued as did the stiff west wind. We then came to the 5.3 crux upclimb section that our bud Ryan Marsters describes on MountainProject. This was a nice pitch on solid rock. From a layback to a mantle, it was great fun.

Rick on the layback of the 5.3 crux upclimb

Rick on the layback of the 5.3 crux upclimb

Rick pulls himself over the top of the 5.3 crux pitch

Rick pulls himself over the top of the 5.3 crux pitch

Then, another easy downclimb to the next gendarme

Then, another easy downclimb to the next gendarme

It was after noon by now and the clouds were building to the west accompanying the stiff west wind. However, storms were not threatening. It was just chilly. Layers went back on. A nice little 4th class crack system on the next gendarme was great fun and then easier scrambling ensued.

Marc & J approaching the next gandarme

Marc & J approaching the next gendarme

J climbing the crack

J climbing the crack

Close-up of J

Close-up of J

Rick in the same spot as J in the picture above

Rick in the same spot as J in the picture above

J approaching the end of the series of gendarmes

J approaching the end of the series of gendarmes

The boys scrambling

The boys scrambling

Marc

Marc

I took a little video of Rick & J nearing the end of the nice scrambling:

We took a much needed break at this point and refueled with some snacks and gatorade.

Me taking in the views of Eagle's Nest and the ridge traverse. Photo by Rick

Me taking in the views of Eagle’s Nest and the ridge traverse. Photo by Rick

We then reached the end of the crux ridge traverse difficulties and it was more steep talus hiking for a little while. We meandered our way on the ridge’s right (west) side through some class 4 difficulties without losing any elevation and soon enough crested the ridge proper one more time.

J and Marc

J and Marc

J and the remaining portions of Powell's north ridge

J and the remaining portions of Powell’s north ridge

J and Marc leading the charge

J and Marc leading the charge

Rick downclimbing a bit on the ridge proper

Rick downclimbing a bit on the ridge proper

Rick ready to be done

Rick almost done with the traverse

A few more hundred vertical feet of class 3 scrambling on the ridge proper landed us on the large plateau leading up to Powell’s summit block. We saw another climber on the summit ridge waiting for his partner and we all soon caught up with those guys and ascended the familiar Powell summit block consisting of about 100′ of blocky scrambling.

Marc on some fresh snow approaching Powell's summit block with the traverse laid out behind him

Marc on some fresh snow approaching Powell’s summit block with the traverse laid out behind him

I think it was maybe around 1:30pm when we topped out on Mt. Powell and we could definitely see darker clouds and snow showers to our north. We got down out of the wind and ate our sandwiches. It was great to be on the summit of Mt. Powell again and be off the traverse especially with weather moving in. The views are absolutely amazing to the south with the entire Gore Range spread out beneath us. So many familiar peaks were visible and so many more since the last time J and I had climbed Mt. Powell (June 2008).

J reaching Powell's summit

J reaching Powell’s summit

Marc & Rick on the summit of Mt. Powell

Marc & Rick on the summit of Mt. Powell

Mt. Powell summit (13,580')

Mt. Powell summit (13,580′)

Eagle's Nest from Mt. Powell

Eagle’s Nest from Mt. Powell

After 25 minutes on the summit, we boogied down Powell’s standard south slopes route for about 2,000′ and reascended 200′ or so to Kneeknocker Pass. It snowed on us on the descent and the views of Peak C’s north face in the snow were pretty cool.

The always inspiring Peak C

The always inspiring Peak C

Peak C's  snowy north face from below the east side of Kneeknocker Pass

Peak C’s snowy north face from below the east side of Kneeknocker Pass

Peak C’s north face is a route I hope to climb at some point. I believe the face already has one established line at 5.7, but has the potential for more lines which would likely go at mid-5th class and up. Kneeknocker Pass definitely lived up to its name as our knees were “knockin'” on the descent down its east side. We took a nice break in what I like to call “Kneeknocker Meadows” and ate some food, re-filled with water from the stream, and chatted away with one other. It was a fine day. We finally had 4 miles or so of nice trail out to J’s volvo at Piney Lake, which our friend and J’s employee Kristin had so nicely left for us the day before. Thanks, Kristin!

J descending Kneeknocker Pass with Piney Lake, our final destination, beyond

J descending Kneeknocker Pass with Piney Lake, our final destination, beyond

We finally arrived at the volvo around 5:10pm for a total time of just shy of 12 hours since we departed that morning from the Surprise Lake Trailhead on the east side of the Gores. Our legs were definitely feeling it a bit. My quads, especially. All in all, a good tired and we were all so happy the day worked out so well.  After another few hours of car shuttling, picking up cars back at the Surprise Lake Trailhead, eating Chipotle in Silverthorne with the boys, I finally arrived at home around 10pm.

Thanks to J, Rick, & Marc for a super memorable day in my favorite range. It was awesome to finally complete the Eagle’s Nest to Powell traverse and have a blast on it to boot thanks to the wonderful camaraderie and positive attitude. Cheers, fellas!

Asgard Ridge

I’m a big fan of Norse mythology and an even bigger fan of the Gores, so when I found out a few years ago there was a ridge dubbed Asgard Ridge that led to the summit of one of the Gore’s prominent 13ers, Mt. Valhalla, I was hooked. What got me actually addicted to this ridge was the view from the summit of its western terminus, Palomino Point (13,060′), in late October 2013 when Kristine, myself, and a wonderful 14ers.com crew climbed Palomino Point & Mt. Valhalla from East Vail and Deluge Lake.

Asgard Ridge stretching out to the east down from the summit of Palomino Point (13,060') as seen October 26, 2013

Asgard Ridge stretching out to the east down from the summit of Palomino Point (13,060′) as seen on October 26, 2013

Point Odin (far left), the last tower and major difficulty before the final ascent up Palomino Point's north face. This picture was taken from Valhalla's north ridge en route to its summit on October 26, 2013

Point Odin (far left), the last tower and major difficulty before the final ascent up Palomino Point’s east face. This picture was taken from Valhalla’s north ridge en route to its summit on October 26, 2013

J had not actually climbed Valhalla and I thought this would be a great route to climb to the summit from the east and descend the class 2 normal route to Deluge Lake and out to East Vail. I also read that Stan Wagon & Joe Kramarsic had climbed Asgard Ridge to Valhalla’s summit and descended back to East Vail in July of 1997 per Stan Wagon’s website. The only beta those legendary Gore enthusiasts had written about (that I could find on Stan’s site) was that they used a rope. I am honestly not sure if there was an ascent prior to theirs or after, but perhaps at some point Joe’s encyclopedic knowledge of everything Gore can enlighten us all. Looking down on Asgard from Palomino Point & Mt. Valhalla the year before, it became evident that there were probably a few mandatory rappels. Maybe even a roped pitch or two, which would be wonderfully fun. So, J & I packed my two 30m/8mm alpine ropes, our harnesses & helmets, a light rack including 6-7 cams, a full set of nuts, and of course plenty of slings, biners, & webbing. We didn’t bother with our actual climbing shoes as we both feel pretty good up to 5.7/8 with our La Sportiva Boulder X approach shoes. I think the biggest attribute of gear we had when we traversed the Zodiac Spires in the Gores the year before was plenty of slings and webbing to set up the multiple rappels.

Friday night we dropped off my truck at the Deluge Lake/Gore Creek TH in East Vail and rallied over to the North Rock Creek TH north of Silverthorne arriving around 11pm. J had brought his cots and it was nice sleeping under a large moon albeit for only 4 hours. Up at 4am and after some oatmeal and coffee, we departed for the Boss Mine under clear and dark skies with semi-loaded packs. This is the standard trail, which leads to Keller Mountains’s very fun east ridge, which Kristine, friend Reid Jennings, and myself had climbed the year before as well. An hour later around 6am, we arrived at the old Boss Mine area, took a break and consulted our map. It was getting light out and we could turn off the headlamps. It looked like the cleanest route to attain the lower portion of Asgard Ridge was to cut across the marshy clearing, ford North Rock Creek, and make our way to a prominent boulder field from which it appeared we could climb steep slopes and hit the treed ridge crest. So, we dropped maybe 200′ down to the basin from the trail and literally about 100 yards away from North Rock Creek, J yelled at me “Stop! Back-up!”. A big bull moose was grazing and had J not said something I would have likely walked right into him. I was just minding my own business and watching my steps and not looking up. It definitely woke me up.

My morning coffee :)

My morning coffee 🙂

We were able to make our way around him and ford the creek a bit to the west by taking our shoes and socks off and braving the cold water. The routefinding really went about as smooth as we could have imagined and soon we were on the boulder field and scrambling up the lower flanks of Asgard Ridge to the ridge crest. This was where we gained a lot of our elevation – about 2,000′ from North Rock Creek to the first point along Asgard Ridge, Point 12,207′. However, the terrain was easy bushwhacking and nice hiking through forests after some initial class 3 scrambling to get up on the ridge crest.

J above the boulder field we spotted across the valley from the Boss Mine (tailings can be seen across the basin behind J) in the picture)

J above the boulder field we spotted across the valley from the Boss Mine (mine tailings can be seen across the basin behind J)

J above treeline on gaining Asgard Ridge

J above treeline on gaining Asgard Ridge

We could both definitely feel the heavier than normal weight of our daypacks – a necessary evil most definitely, especially on a ridge we knew very little about. We soon made it up easy terrain to Point 12,207′ with Asgard Ridge laid out before us. It was a wonderful sight. Asgard Meadows was down to our left and Valhalla’s other, southern east ridge reared up in earnest displaying its awesome Freya, Thor, & Loki Towers. Another day, I’d love to camp in Asgard Meadows and climb these awesome looking towers.

Asgard Ridge up to Palomino Point with Mt. Valhalla on the left (as seen from Point 12,207')

Asgard Ridge up to Palomino Point with Mt. Valhalla on the left (as seen from Point 12,207′)

Mt. Valhalla and its two east ridges with Asgard Meadows in between

Mt. Valhalla and its two east ridges with Asgard Meadows in between

The view of Asgard was a bit intimidating, but looked manageable from this vantage point. But, as we would later find out, that’s only because the difficulties hid themselves well. We then made the easy ridge run across beautiful meadows to Point 12,226′ and got a better vantage point of Asgard. It sure looked fun and interesting and we were very excited. The views of Freya & Thor Towers across the basin were just plain awesome.

Freya Tower (left) and Thor Tower (right), as seen from Asgard Ridge, form the lower ramparts of Valhalla's southern east ridge

Freya Tower (left) and Thor Tower (right), as seen from Asgard Ridge, form the lower ramparts of Valhalla’s southern east ridge. Hail Peak (12,904′) is behind in the center of the picture

Some minor class 3 scrambling soon ensued and the fun we came for began.

The first class 3 tower

The first class 3 tower

On the ridge proper with a  view of Valhalla and Asgard Ridge

On the ridge proper with a view of Valhalla and Asgard Ridge

J on a nice catwalk

J on a nice catwalk

Fun early-on scrambling

Fun early-on scrambling

It was fairly mellow, smooth sailing class 3 (some class 4) scrambling for awhile on the ridge proper until we came to a deep notch and drop-off in which it got a bit spicy though very exciting downclimbing to the notch.

J downclimbing into the notch

J down-walking across one of the many knife-edge ridges this day to access the deep notch

J descending the final headwall into the notch

J descending the final headwall into the notch

J climbing out of the notch

J climbing out of the notch

The re-climb was really good scrambling

The reclimb was really good scrambling

We made it down to the notch which had a cool reclimb of the same vertical lost up to a mellow, walkable ridge. This walkable ridge constricted down into a narrow knife-edge for hundreds of yards. This was the snake-like, S-shaped ridge I had seen that October day from the summit of Palomino Point. It looked amazing at the time and surely didn’t disappoint this day. J took the camera and got a few of me walking this line.

Me beginning the knife-edge

Me beginning the knife-edge

Making my way over a crux in the ridge. One thing you really had to be mindful of on this ridge was the rock. Since it really has seen very little traffic, you couldn't just prance across a knife-edge as confidently as you would as, say, on Capitol's knife-edge

Making my way over a crux in the ridge. One thing you really had to be mindful of on this ridge was the rock. Since it really has seen very little traffic, you couldn’t just prance across a knife-edge as confidently as you would as, say, on Capitol’s knife-edge

Me on Asgard's knife-edge

Me on Asgard’s knife-edge

Skywalking

Skywalking

Me at the end of the knife-edge contemplating the descent

Me at the end of the knife-edge contemplating the descent. The Grand Traverse looms in the distance with Palomino Point, our end goal, at far left

I came to the end of the knife-edge ridge to a serious drop-off: one that I remember seeing from my pictures and thinking we would need to rappel. I waited for J to join me and we agreed that this was downclimable. We took separate lines down to avoid kicking rocks on one another and joined up on a singular downclimable dihedral.

J downclimbing the dihedral with the knife-edge ridge's terminus looming way above

J downclimbing the dihedral with the knife-edge ridge’s terminus looming way above

100′ later we were down in another notch. There was a striking tower that wasn’t exactly on the ridge proper. It was offset to the south a bit, but it looked like it had a cool climb up to its summit on its north side. So, we dropped the packs and climbed for maybe 200′ up to its summit.

J taking a 5th class line to the tower's summit

J taking a 5th class line to the tower’s summit

Actually, it ended up being a nice preview of things to come. We discussed the route over the next bit and up to Point Odin, but because we looked at the ridge almost head-on, it was hard to see the difficulties.

J on the summit of the unnamed tower with the remaining portion of Asgard Ridge behind

J on the summit of the unnamed tower with the remaining portion of Asgard Ridge behind

Looking back at the snake-like, S-shaped knife-edge ridge. The drop-off is clearly visible at far left

Looking back at the snake-like, S-shaped knife-edge ridge. The drop-off is clearly visible at far left

J made a cairn on the tower’s summit and we were off scrambling down the tower to our bags. It was a relief to have the backpacks off, however brief it was. We gathered our packs and traversed a notch and over a small saddle.

The unnamed tower we climbed almost looks like a blade. J's cairn can barely be seen on its summit. Freya & Thor Towers can be seen on Valhalla's southern east ridge behind above the small lake (Asgard Lake?)

The unnamed tower we climbed almost looks like a blade. We climbed the left skyline up to the tower’s summit. J’s cairn can barely be seen on its summit. Freya & Thor Towers can be seen on Valhalla’s southern east ridge behind above the small lake (Asgard Lake?)

We then began the fun class 3/4 upclimb of what we thought was Point Odin.

J scrambling upwards withe Asgard Ridge beginning to spread out behind us

J scrambling upwards with Asgard Ridge beginning to spread out behind us

Me negotiating the low 5th class block

Me negotiating the low 5th class block

J topping out on the false summit

J topping out on the false summit

After some fun low 5th class moves up a block, we came not to the summit of Point Odin, but a measily false summit.

Left to right from the false summit: Valhalla, Palomino Point, & Point Odin

Left to right from the false summit: Valhalla, Palomino Point, & Point Odin

We had to descend to a notch over very exposed terrain only to climb back up on steep, angling slabs with big air on both sides.

J taking a breather on the sloping slabs up to Point Odin with the false summit behind

J taking a breather on the sloping slabs up to Point Odin with the false summit behind

J on the fun sloping slabs

J on the fun sloping slabs

We then came to an unexpected deep gap in the ridge about 3′ wide. The only reasonable means of getting across was to jump across the gap, which turned out to be fairly adrenaline pumping move.

J jumping the gap

J jumping the gap

J took a quick video of me jumping the gap:

From the deep notch after the jump, it was a really fun class 4 arete with super exposure and a lot of air.

J on the exposed arete

J on the exposed arete

We then seemed to come at an impasse, but soon realized there was a 10′ hand crack weakness on the right (north) side of the arete proper. I climbed this using a few hand-jams and was soon on top of this crux. It was then a mantle-type move to top out on the summit of Point Odin.

Me at the top of the low 5th class hand-jam crux

Me at the top of the low 5th class hand-jam crux

J climbing the low 5th class hand-jam crux up to the summit of Point Odin

J climbing the low 5th class hand-jam crux up to the summit of Point Odin

J topping out on Point Odin's summit after the mantle move

J topping out on Point Odin’s summit after the mantle move

I took a video of J on the hand-jam crux section as well:

Ahhh, was good to be on this summit. We were now pretty close to Palomino Point, a whole lot closer than we were 2 hours ago.

Valhalla (left) and Palomino Point (right) from the summit of Point Odin

Valhalla (left) and Palomino Point (right) from the summit of Point Odin

Summit of Point Odin

Summit of Point Odin

We could see the remaining climb up Palomino Point’s east face, but first we had to deal with getting down off Point Odin and some more knife-edge ridge. Again, this is where I envisioned us rappelling off Odin’s west ridge, but again we found a downclimable route. It was indeed exposed and very airy, but was downclimable for us. J went first and led us home.

J beginning the downclimb off of Odin's summit. the crux chimney was immediately below him  in attaining the angling slabs

J beginning the downclimb off of Odin’s summit. The crux chimney was immediately below him in attaining the angling slabs

J descending the angled slabs below Point Odin

J descending the angled slabs below Point Odin

And down another small drop to another angled slab

And down another small drop to another angled slab

Me and our descent off Point Odin

Me and our descent off Point Odin

The slabs leading off Odin’s west ridge weren’t nearly as steep as they looked from above over a year ago, but definite care & caution had to be taken on this descent, as with any descent. Again, a knife-edge ridge ensued to an interesting crab walk below the ridge proper over big air to the north.

J on another knife-edge ridge

J on another knife-edge ridge

Yet, the positions were pretty amazing

Yet, the positions were pretty amazing

J

J

Yep, another small catwalk

Yep, another small catwalk

And, finally, the crab-walk traverse on the ridge's north side

And, finally, the crab walk traverse on the ridge’s north side

Me on that crab walk traverse

Me on that crab walk traverse

Finally, we were on easier yet looser terrain. We had noticed a grassy ledge system to access this deep slot angling up Palomino Point’s east face and so we went with that.

Off the difficult terrain and climbing up Palomino Point's east face. Point Odin is behind

Off the difficult terrain and climbing up Palomino Point’s east face. Point Odin is behind

J on the grass ledge system crux

J on the grass ledge system crux

The grass ledge system was indeed exposed, but the holds were good and we were home free once we entered the deep slot leading towards Palomino’s summit. Once in the deeply inset slot, J found something very interesting – a 35mm camera film canister. He opened it up and what do ya know! It was a Palomino Point summit register by Joe Kramarsic himself. It must have blown/fallen off Palomino Point’s summit.

J dissecting the film canister in the slot

J dissecting the film canister in the slot

So, we carried it with us to the summit and left it where it belongs. The views from Palomino Point’s summit were indeed incredible especially looking at from where we had come.

Asgard Ridge from the summit of Palomino Point

Asgard Ridge from the summit of Palomino Point

Joe's summit register

Joe’s summit register

Summit of Palomino Point (13,040'): the western terminus of Asgard Ridge

Summit of Palomino Point (13,060′): the western terminus of Asgard Ridge

It was an enjoyable summit

It was an enjoyable summit

Our good friends Joel Gratz, Lauren Alweis, Andrew Annunzio, Devon Scott, & K9 friend Maude had hiked to Deluge Lake this same day and spotted us from the lake on Palomino Point’s summit. We quickly descended to the notch between Palomino Point & Mt. Valhalla and booked it up Valhalla’s north ridge to enjoy our breakfast burritos (courtesy of Kristine) on Valhalla’s summit around 11:15am.

Summit of Mt. Valhalla (13,180')

Summit of Mt. Valhalla (13,180′)

A beauty of a day with Grand Traverse Peak and The Grand Traverse behind us

A beauty of a day with Grand Traverse Peak and The Grand Traverse behind us

Looking north to where we were just last weekend - the Upper Slate Lake Basin peaks

Looking north to where we were just last weekend – the Upper Slate Lake Basin peaks

Asgard Ridge from the summit of Mt. Valhalla (13,180')

Asgard Ridge from the summit of Mt. Valhalla (13,180′)

Another one

Another one

 

Many familiar faces including myself :)

Many familiar faces including myself 🙂

We lounged up top for a good 25 minutes and soon descended down Valhalla”s standard slopes back to Deluge Lake to meet up with Joel and crew. We arrived at Deluge Lake around 12:30pm and ate, drank, and relaxed with good friends for an hour at least. I just love Deluge Lake. The best lake on the west side of the Gores, in my opinion. It seems high enough in the alpine tundra where you don’t have the overgrown marshy plants & bugs that seem to go hand-in-hand with Pitkin Lake, Booth Lake, etc. Deluge Lake just seems cleaner and more pristine to me.

Our crew at Deluge Lake (11,700')

Our crew at Deluge Lake (11,700′). Grand Traverse Peak at top left in picture

Great friends & great surroundings

Great friends & great surroundings. Snow Peak behind us

We then took off down the well-groomed Deluge Lake trail trading stories and having a good ole time with those guys finally arriving back at the Deluge Lake/Gore Creek TH around 4pm. Our route is outlined below:

Blue is our ascent from the North Rock Creek TH up Asgard Ridge and red is our descent to East Vail

Blue is our ascent from the North Rock Creek TH up Asgard Ridge and red is our descent to East Vail

This was a very fun and enjoyable traverse of the Gore range in the latitudinal direction. We got to climb the amazing Asgard Ridge and descend the mellow west side of Mt. Valhalla. Asgard was everything I hoped it would be – long, exciting, fun, quality-scrambling, knife-edge ridges, towers, exposure, and big air. I love it all. Asgard seemed to be a mix of the Little Bear-Blanca Ridge with some of the gnarlier Gore traverses such as Zodiac Ridge, Ripsaw, and the crux sections of the Partners Traverse. Even though we never broke out our gear for any climbing or rappelling on Asgard, that’s not to say some may prefer the comfort of a rope on certain sections. Its always good insurance to have the gear and not need it rather than need it and not have it. Stan & Joe certainly knew how to pick the good lines and adventures back in 1997 (and continue to do so) and it is truly an honor to follow in their footsteps.

Notch Mountain Loop

Kristine here – A few weekends ago I was home with the dogs and decided that Notch Mountain would make a nice day climb for everyone, especially since I’d never done it. I recruited a few others, but early in the morning as we were about to depart the weather was not looking promising. We arrived at the Half Moon Trailhead (10,300′) and started off on the Fall Creek Trail in a cold drizzle. When we reached treeline, it began to sleet / snow and the wind picked up. Luckily, just as we were a the point of calling it, the sun broke through and we decided to push on.

Sarah and Ketih bundled up on their way up the switchbacks as the blue sky pokes through.

Sarah and Keith bundled up on their way up the Notch Mountain Trail switchbacks as the blue sky pokes through

We were all glad we didn’t turn as we made it to the Notch Mountain Shelter (13,077′) with relatively good weather and an excellent view of our local 14er Mt. of the Holy Cross.

The crew with Holy Cross in the background.

The crew with Holy Cross in the background

DSC01126

Me, Kona, and Rainier

Notch Mountain Hut, Rainier, and Kona (sporting her fleece jacket).

Notch Mountain Hut, Rainier, and Kona (sporting her fleece jacket)

With 5 dogs and threatening clouds in the distance we were satisfied with the hut as our destination. We made it back to the car just as the skies opened up and it began to pour. Overall, a great way to spend a fall day with less than stellar weather.

A week later, Brandon and I decided to go back without the dogs to traverse the “Notch” on Notch Mountain. This time we began on the Half Moon Pass Trail. In just one week, conditions had changed and we ascended in a mixture of rock and snow up to Point 12,743′.

Brandon at point 12,743ft.

Brandon at Point 12,743′

From there we were able to do a bit of rock-hopping to stay mostly on dry rock across the ridge to the true summit of Notch Mountain at 13,237′.

Brandon and I on Notch Mountain Summit 13,237 ft.

Brandon and I on the summit of Notch Mountain (13,237′)

Notch Mountain's southern summit & the Notch Mountain Shelter from the northern true summit

Notch Mountain’s southern summit & the Notch Mountain Shelter from the northern true summit

We then descended a bit to the east and entered the “Notch” through a snowy couloir. At this point we were glad we didn’t have the dogs with us as we navigated some blocky 3rd/4th class scrambling up to Notch Mountain’s south summit at 13,224′.

Snow filled couloir approaching the notch.

Snow-filled couloir approaching the “Notch”

Rocky scramble through the notch.

Rocky scramble up to Notch Mountain’s south summit

Final class 4 moves back to the ridge

Final class 4 moves back to the ridge

The snow definitely made the scramble more challenging as I was not entirely trusting my shoes and trying to avoid the wet patches. After that, it was an easy cruise down to the Notch Mountain Shelter where I was just a week earlier.

Notch Mountain Hut & Holy Cross

Notch Mountain Shelter & Holy Cross

Great stone fireplace inside the hut.

Great stone fireplace inside the hut

We were kind of wishing we could spend the night – the hut is really cool, and much better maintained than any of the abandoned mining huts we have visited. It was fun to see how much snow had accumulated in just a week both on Holy Cross and looking out into the Gores.

Brandon and I with Holy Cross in the background.

Brandon and I with Mt. of the Holy Cross and its Cross Couloir in the background

We descended the Notch Mountain Trail back to the Fall Creek Trail. I read that there are 36 switchbacks along this route, but it felt like much more 🙂 Both ways of climbing Notch Mountain were really fun. The first climb up to the shelter was a great day with friends and dogs, and doing the loop was a nice way to add in some rock scrambling.

The Little Bear – Blanca Traverse

There are generally considered four great Colorado 14er traverses, i.e. ridge traverses between two 14,000’+ summits in Colorado. Now, there are many ridges connecting numerous 14ers in our state, but most of them are simple hikes or scrambles. What makes there be four great ones is the exposure of the ridge, at least 4th class scrambling, sometimes length of ridge and time required to complete the ridge, and especially the commitment level. The other three great  Colorado 14er traverses are the Mt. Wilson – El Diente Peak Traverse, the Crestone Traverse linking Crestone Peak to Crestone Needle, and the Bells Traverse linking South Maroon Peak to North Maroon Peak. Having completed the Crestone Traverse earlier this summer on my 2nd try, that left me with only the biggest and baddest of all the great 14er traverses: the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse. Still not being able to really rock climb due to my ongoing forearm tendonitis, its been a summer of scrambling high on our beloved peaks and to do some of the traverses that have been on my list for some time. I had completed the Bells Traverse three times in the past and the Mt. Wilson – El Diente Peak Traverse twice, but now having traversed the ridge from Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak I can truly say it lived up to its reputation and puts the other ridges to shame in just about every aspect: length, exposure, 4th class/low 5th class scrambling, and especially commitment. There is truly no way off the ridge if something should happen, i.e. storms, lightning, fatigue, etc. You either complete it or turn around. At the low point of the ridge, one could scramble down into the Blanca Basin in case of emergency (as in to escape lightning), but this puts the climber in the wrong basin from Lake Como. The Little Bear – Blanca Traverse is truly one of my favorites to date and it was just so much fun and continually challenging and exciting. My good friend J Weingast and I have done a lot of ridge traverses in Colorado and I think we are both in agreement that this one was one of our favorites. This traverse would be the last of the four great Colorado 14er traverses for J, Derek Drechsel, & myself. Also, Derek & I would have done all the traverses together, which was pretty special.

Rewind about 7 1/2 years to a late October 2006 attempt at these peaks for our first visit to the Blanca Group. We didn’t know what we were in for and my buddy Lee Hoffman’s jeep almost took a nose dive between Jaws 1 & 2 into a creek bed. Fortunately, the Alamosa 4WD club came to our rescue the next day after we camped out on the road. That morning, several of us and Rainier attempted at least one of these peaks, but witha decent amount of snow and no snowshoes/skis, we didn’t get very far past Blue Lakes in the Lake Como basin. So, not much (if anything) went our way that first attempt at these peaks. Live and learn.

Now, rewinding to Memorial Day Weekend 2007 before J, Kristine, & I left for Denali puts us back in this Blanca Group camped at Lake Como for two nights with all our good climbing buddies and furry K9 friends. It was the first time any of us had been to these three peaks (Little Bear Peak, Blanca Peak, & Ellingwood Point) and we had a truly incredible weekend climbing them snow-covered with our ice axes and crampons. Rainier was with us as well and was able to summit both Blanca & Ellingwood. Not only did she summit these peaks, she ran laps around the rest of us. I guess we were all in our youth back in those days. The climb up the standard “Hourglass Couloir” on Little Bear was exciting and made for a great, steep snow climb. Its a very dangerous place to be in summer or dry conditions due to rockfall and this is precisely what makes Little Bear to be considered the most dangerous 14er by its easiest route. So, we all vowed to never climb the “Hourglass” without snow. A little blast from the past:

Rainier & I on the summit of Blanca Peak in May 2007 with the connecting ridge to Little Bear behind us

Rainier & I on the summit of Blanca Peak in May 2007 with the connecting ridge to Little Bear behind us

Rainier & I looking off at Ellingwood Point & the northern Sangres from the summit of Blanca Peak

Rainier & I looking off at Ellingwood Point & the northern Sangres from the summit of Blanca Peak. This is one of my favorite photos

Our Denali team (J, Kristine, me) on the summit of Blanca Peak

Our Denali team (J, Kristine, me) on the summit of Blanca Peak

Kristine & I on the summit of Ellingwood Point in May 2007 with Little Bear Peak behind

Kristine & I on the summit of Ellingwood Point in May 2007 with the northwest face of Little Bear Peak behind

The "sun's out guns out" pose by the boys on Ellingwood Point

The “sun’s out guns out” pose by the boys on Ellingwood Point over Memorial Day Weekend 2007

Kristine leading the charge up the "Hourglass Couloir" on Little Bear Peak in May 2007

Kristine leading the charge up the “Hourglass Couloir” on Little Bear Peak in May 2007

Kristine & I on the summit of Little Bear Peak

Kristine & I on the summit of Little Bear Peak In late May 2007

Unfortunately, our good friend Reid Jennings was unable to make the climb and so that left Mike Santoro, J, & I driving down in my Tahoe from Vail and meeting Derek Drechsel at the lower Lake Como trailhead on his way back to Denver from Albuquerque for work around dark on Friday night.

Little Bear Peak from the 8,000' level at the start of the Lake Como Road. The start of this rough 4WD road can be seen on the left of this picture

Little Bear Peak from the 8,000′ level at the start of the Lake Como Road. The start of this rough 4WD road can be seen on the left of this picture

We all piled into my Tahoe with all the gear and started for my truck’s third time up one of the roughest 4WD roads in Colorado though I always parked at around the 10,000′ level before the really nasty 4WD sections dubbed Jaws 1, 2, & 3. The sections over Jaws 1,2, & 3 shouldn’t even be in the 4WD category – one needs a certified rock crawler for these sections. So, after driving around 2.5 miles up the road very slowly and over some tough sections in the dark, we reached where I always remembered parking and set up camp. Mike & I slept in the back of my truck while J & Derek shared the tent.The alarm went off at 3:30am and after some coffee & oatmeal we were on the road by 4:30am. The moon was bright as it was almost a full moon. After what seems like a few weeks of torrential monsoonal flow, we would finally get our bluebird Fall day. We hiked by headlamp the 2.5 miles up to Lake Como at 11,750′ in about an hour marveling at the Jaws 1, 2, & 3 sections and how these rock crawlers are able to navigate such serious terrain. Other climbers who had camped at Lake Como were stirring and headlamps were visible. We continued up the Lake Como road to above the lake turning south across a creek and made our way through the forests to the base of the northern access couloir to Little Bear’s west ridge. The last time we climbed this couloir was in snow, which was definitely easier than the scree-filled 35 degree couloir presenting itself to us today. However, we made really good time to the top of this couloir and the start of the west ridge.

Early morning on the start of Little Bear's west ridge direct

Early morning on the start of Little Bear’s west ridge direct

Heading towards the meat & potatoes of the west ridge

Heading towards the meat & potatoes of the west ridge

I had been wanting to try the rarely climbed west ridge direct up Little Bear after seeing Alan Arnette’s blog entry & video on his team’s ascent up the route earlier this summer. It just looked so good and I figured would be a good warm-up for the traverse to Blanca. And, the west ridge direct surely didn’t disappoint. Great 4th class/easy 5th scrambling on a super exposed arete hit us right off the bat above the “Baby Thunder” couloir.

J getting into the scrambling of the west ridge direct

J getting into the scrambling of the west ridge direct

Mike on an exposed 4th class arete

Mike on an exposed 4th class arete

A really fun slab portion of the arete. There was a piece of webbing slung around a rock at the top of this slab

A really fun slab portion of the arete. There was a piece of webbing slung around a rock at the top of this slab

J on the upper west ridge direct

J on the upper west ridge direct

The terrain mellowed out to class 3 about halfway up the ridge, but then more 4th class fun was to be had. J & I made  a few seriously exposed low 5th class moves out over the northwest face to avoid a overhang on the ridge proper, moves which could have been avoided by traversing south as Mike & Derek did, but it was fun and exciting all the same.

Me displaying this short low 5th class yet exposed section

Me displaying this short low 5th class yet exposed section

Almost to the summit of Little Bear Peak via the west ridge direct

Almost to the summit of Little Bear Peak via the west ridge direct

Me on an airy perch

Me on an airy perch

Northern Sangre de Cristos with Crestone Peak & Crestone Needle visible above the Great Sand Dunes

Northern Sangre de Cristos with Crestone Peak & Crestone Needle visible above the Great Sand Dunes

The boys coming up to Little Bear's summit with the beautiful San Luis Valley far below

The boys coming up to Little Bear’s summit with the beautiful San Luis Valley far below

We all reached Little Bear’s summit by about 8am for a time of about 3 1/2 hrs from the truck.

J on the summit of Little Bear for the 2nd time

J on the summit of Little Bear for the 2nd time

Little Bear Peak summit (14,037')

Little Bear Peak summit (14,037′)

The west ridge direct definitely goes down as one of my all-time favorite routes up a 14er. Highly recommended for folks who enjoy that sort of thing. I would think the ridge is even downclimable with maybe a rappel or two in there if used as a descent route. It was a gorgeous morning though a bit windy. The stiff breeze continued with us the entire traverse to Blanca so we accepted it as our climbing companion. We made our way down the northeast ridge of Little Bear from the summit to start the traverse around 8:30am. The downclimb off of Little Bear’s summit to the ridge proper is one of the traverse’s cruxes because of the exposed 4th class downclimbing.

Mike & I heading down Little Bear's northeast ridge to start the traverse

Mike & I heading down Little Bear’s northeast ridge to start the traverse

Mike & Derek on the downclimb off Little Bear to start the traverse to Blanca

Mike & Derek on the downclimb off Little Bear to start the traverse to Blanca

The boys downclimbing off Little Bear's northeast ridge

The boys downclimbing off Little Bear’s northeast ridge

We made it down to a small notch and continued on to the northeast up and over several towers and knife-edges on great rock all making for an incredible traverse. The sustained “airiness” and exposure was so exciting. We saw two climbers ascending Little Bear’s northwest face below us and we made sure not to kick anything down on them from the ridge proper. These northwest face climbers turned out to be Tyler, aka MountainMedic, from 14ers.com and a friend.

Climbers below us ascending the northwest face route of Little Bear

Climbers below us ascending the northwest face route of Little Bear

Derek on an airy move with Little Bear Peak behind

Derek on an airy move with Little Bear Peak behind

The climbing never really exceeded low 5th class, but it felt like more in places because of the exposure.

J & Mike on the traverse

J & Mike on the traverse

Derek heading down to another notch in the ridge

Derek heading down to another notch in the ridge

Me on a knife-edge of sorts with Blanca Peak in the distance

Me on a knife-edge of sorts with Blanca Peak in the distance

A climber can be seen on the summit of Little Bear Peak behind J & Derek

A climber can be seen on the summit of Little Bear Peak behind J & Derek

Mike and some air below him

Mike and some air below him

Traversing around to the north of a small tower - I think this is the tower dubbed "Captain Bivwacko" tower, but who knows. There are so many towers

Traversing around to the north of a small tower – I think this is the tower dubbed “Captain Bivwacko” tower, but who knows. There are so many towers

J & I had to climb it though

J & I had to climb it though

J downclimbing a knife-edge ridge of another tower

J downclimbing a knife-edge ridge of another tower

The knife-egde we downclimbed

The knife-egde we downclimbed

I believe this was the low point of the traverse - around 13,600'

I believe this was the low point of the traverse – around 13,600′

A nifty and fun little chimney

A nifty and fun little chimney

Me having some fun

Me having some fun

The first half of the traverse definitely was harder and more airy than the second half of the traverse up to Blanca though the 750′ vertical gain up and over three major towers and an exposed “catwalk” to Blanca from the traverse’s low point was a whole different kind of challenge. The middle section of the ridge was essentially class 2-3 talus walking and we made good time on this part until the 1st tower up to Blanca reared itself up in earnest.

Mike on the "walking" portion halfway across the ridge

Mike on the “walking” portion halfway across the ridge

Derek with a tower on the right and Little Bear Peak behind him to the left with climbers on its summit

Derek with a tower on the right and Little Bear Peak behind him to the left with climbers on its summit

Typically, folks traverse to the right (south) of the 1st tower, but J & I decided to find a way up and over as we always love the “ridge proper” method. We found a weakness in the tower at the right up a dihedral and to a left-ascending traverse. It was about 100′ in total of low-mid 5th class climbing.

Our line up the 1st tower went up the obvious dihedral right of center and then back left to the summit

Our line up the 1st tower went up the obvious dihedral right of center and then back left to the summit

J stoked to have climbed the 1st tower head on

J stoked to have climbed the 1st tower head on

We met Derek & Mike around at the base of the notch after the 1st tower’s summit ridge. It was then a short scramble up to the infamous “catwalk” portion: a very narrow (1-2 ft) wide ledge system with serious exposure on both sides. It made for great pictures.

Climbing along the ridge to the "catwalk" and the 2nd tower

Climbing along the ridge to the “catwalk” and the 2nd tower

Along the "catwalk"

Along the “catwalk”

Mike & Derek traversing the "catwalk"

Mike & Derek traversing the “catwalk”

Derek on the "catwalk" with Little Bear getting further & further away in the distance

Derek on the “catwalk” with Little Bear getting further & further away in the distance

After a short scramble up to the summit ridge of the 2nd tower, it was a short downclimb to the notch and the base of the 3rd tower. The ascent up the 3rd tower was easy enough considering what we had already traversed and we were soon on top of Blanca Peak around 10:40am for a traverse time of just over 2 hrs.

Derek on the summit ridge of the 3rd tower with the San Luis Valley over 7,000' below

Derek on the summit ridge of the 3rd tower with the San Luis Valley over 7,000′ below

The Little Bear-Blanca traverse from Blanca's summit

The Little Bear-Blanca traverse from Blanca’s summit

Looking north from Blanca's summit

Looking north from Blanca’s summit

Blanca Peak summit (14,345')

Blanca Peak summit (14,345′)

Its a bit lengthy, but here is a video of the boys reaching Blanca’s summit after the traverse:

I really felt great to have completed this traverse and we were all very pleased with how well it went. I would definitely come back and do this traverse again despite the effort in getting here – it was that good. The wind was still whipping pretty good and it was getting cold. We departed the summit around 11:15am or so and descended Blanca’s standard northwest ridge. I had thoughts of continuing onto Ellingwood Point with J, but my throat was really starting to get sore from the stiff wind we had been enduring for hours, I believe. I thought it best to get down and save my throat, though we definitely had the energy to continue on. Another time. It was a bit disappointing though because besides Ellingwood Point the only other 14er I need to have climbed all the Colorado 14ers twice is my original finisher, San Luis Peak. C’est la vie. Nevertheless, I’m glad we continued down to get out of the wind and we still had a long descent back to my truck. The hike down to Lake Como was beautiful and we stopped several times to refill water and take in our surroundings. Once back at Lake Como we chatted with Tyler and his friend who had descended down the “Hourglass Couloir” and were packing up camp. It was good to meet those guys. We got some good looks at the ridge we had completed as well the entire hike out.

Little Bear Peak from Lake Como. The west ridge direct follows the right skyline and then the traverse to Blanca follows the left skyline

Little Bear Peak from Lake Como. The west ridge direct follows the right skyline in the foreground and then the traverse to Blanca follows the left skyline

Derek's panorama of the entire 3.5 mile ridge line we traversed from the notch in Little Bear's west ridge (far right) to Blanca's summit (far left)

Derek’s panorama of the entire 3.5 mile ridge line we traversed from the notch in Little Bear’s west ridge (far right) to Blanca’s summit (far left)

We finally reached the truck around 2:30pm for a 10 hour day including many stops and rests on the way down. It was a great day out in the highcountry with my good friends. We feel lucky to have had such a nice day for a ridge like this. We packed up the truck and it took an hour or more to drive the few miles down the extremely rough (for a stock 4WD) Lake Como Road. After dropping Derek off at his car, we all headed north for some awesome burgers at the Steel Horse Grill in Villa Grove. Derek then headed back to Denver while Mike, J, & I found a cool car camping spot up the Marshall Pass Road off Poncha Pass and had a nice campfire under the stars. I helped them shuttle cars the next morning so they could ride the famous Monarch Crest mountain biking trail and then I headed back in my truck to Vail. My truck sure has been through the ringer with over a decade’s worth of 14er trailheads (many more than once), but the Lake Como Road continually proves to be the roughest ride we’ve been on together. The Little Bear – Blanca ridge was certainly all that it was advertised to be. I hope to go back there with Kristine someday to try it with her.

Zodiac Ridge

My good friend J Weingast and I were successful on a traverse this past weekend we had long wanted to attempt in our favorite range in Colorado – the Gore Range. What makes this range so special to us is the fact that it does lie in our backyard just to the north of Vail, sees very few visitors, especially up higher on the peaks themselves, and has some of the most rugged terrain we have encountered making for fun and exciting climbs and ridge traverses. We had done several traverses in the Gores, all of which were so fun and memorable. However, the almost “mythical” Zodiac Ridge was always in the backs of our minds. This ridge is really pretty secluded. It can only be seen from a few perspectives as it lies deep in the heart of the southern Gores between the Silverthorne massif to its north and Red Peak to its south. On a recent weekday camping extravaganza, Zodiac Ridge could be seen in all its glory from our camp up high on a perch southeast of Benchmark Peak on Vail Mountain. Seeing the ridge from up high at a distance was amazing and unforgettable. And to know J and I were going to attempt it in a few weeks time made us that much more excited (and apprehensive). Zodiac Ridge comprises numerous spires/gendarmes that just like sharks’ teeth straight to the heavens. Its got to be one of the more rugged ridges in the state. Each spire (9 in total) is named for a animal or configuration in the night sky, i.e. the Zodiac. Per a very knowledgeable and accomplished local acquaintance, the Zodiac Spires were named in Mark Addison’s article in the January 1957 issue of “Trail & Timberline” magazine of the Colorado Mountain Club recounting his two trips and naming of the Zodiac Spires in 1956. This local acquaintance helped both J and myself out by giving us his beta from a few of his climbs of the Zodiac Spires in 1984.

The named Zodiac Spires on Zodiac Ridge as seen from the west

The named Zodiac Spires on Zodiac Ridge as seen from the west

As J and I really only wanted it to be the two of us on the ridge since we had no idea what we would be really getting into and we always feel super comfortable and confident with one another on traverses and climbs such as this, several of our good friends, Kristine, the dogs, etc all decided to join us up at the small ponds we dubbed the “Zodiac Ponds” at the base of the south face of the peak called Zodiac View (12,505′). These ponds are a bit off the beaten trail to Gore Lake, which makes the area so much more secluded and special. It is an absolutely wonderful place to camp and spend some time. Our friend Keith Webber joined J and I on the 6+ mile backpack with 3,000′ of vertical gain into the Zodiac Ponds on Friday afternoon. We took our time due to the heavy loads (climbing rope, rack, webbing, slings, shoes, helmet, camping gear, etc), but that was just fine as it gave us more time to enjoy the scenery and not to wear us out for the next day.

J and the "graveyard" on the way up the Gore Lake trail

J and the “graveyard” on the way up the Gore Lake trail

Other good friends, Sarah Webber (Keith’s wife), Kristine, Rainier, Kona, etc were to backpack in on Saturday and stay overnight. After a good blackened Qdoba burrito over a roaring campfire and some good campfire chat, we headed to bed anticipating an early morning start.

Zodiac Ridge from our campsite at the Zodiac Ponds

Zodiac Ridge from our campsite at the Zodiac Ponds

Our campfire

Our campfire

Our basecamp at the Zodiac Ponds

Our basecamp at the Zodiac Ponds

Cancer (right) & Capricorn (left) in the alpenglow

Cancer (right) & Capricorn (left) in the alpenglow

Right to Left: The north side of Capricorn, Gemini Twins, Taurus, Scorpio, Libra, the south side of Sagittarius

Right to Left: The north side of Capricorn, Gemini Twins, Taurus, Scorpio, Libra, the south side of Sagittarius

I can't take enough pictures of this awesome ridge

I can’t take enough pictures of this awesome ridge

I woke up at 5am to my alarm and woke J up shortly after. We tried not to make much noise so as to let Keith sleep, but alas he sleeps like a log. We left camp at 6am, boulder-hopped along a boulder field and aimed for a long, steep grassy slope leading up to Red Peak’s north ridge. I figure a good and proper ridge traverse is defined as linking a ridge between two prominent peaks on each end. Thus, in my mind, I would like to summit Red Peak first before heading north along Zodiac Ridge. This is exactly what we did. J said he was glad he didn’t know beforehand how far Red Peak’s summit was away, but he didn’t have much ground for telling me that as we were on the summit of Red Peak by 7:15am – only an hour and 15 minutes after we left camp.

Looking down at Red Buffalo Pass & Demming Peak to the south from Red Peak's summit ridge

Looking down at Red Buffalo Pass & Demming Peak to the south from Red Peak’s summit ridge

J coming up to Red Peak's summit

J coming up to Red Peak’s summit

It was a nice morning – quite cool due to the whispy clouds. The Zodiac Spires to the north looked like a long ways away and pretty intimidating. We looked over at Mt. Silverthorne and East Thorn, the 13ers comprising the Silverthorne massif at the Zodiac Ridge’s northern terminus, and they all looked very far away.

Zodiac Ridge and surrounding peaks to the northwest from Red Peak's summit

Zodiac Ridge and surrounding peaks to the northwest from Red Peak’s summit

Zoomed-in shot of Zodiac Ridge from Red Peak's summit

Zoomed-in shot of Zodiac Ridge from Red Peak’s summit

The Silverthorne massif

The Silverthorne massif

Red Peak summit (13,189')

Red Peak summit (13,189′)

We left the summit and sped down Red Peak’s north ridge to the base of the most southern and largest of the Spires, Cancer. Cancer is likely the largest of the Zodiac Spires with Capricorn next door coming in at second largest. Now, I am a Cancer so I figured at least this Spire would take good care of me.

Me at the start of the most southern Zodiac Spire, Cancer

Me at the start of the most southern Zodiac Spire, Cancer

We climbed the south face/ridge directly to Cancer’s summit over really fun and airy class 3 and class 4 rock.

J climbing Cancer's south ridge

J climbing Cancer’s south ridge

J doing his thing

J doing his thing

J on the summit of Cancer with our future behind him up to Mt. Silverthorne

J on the summit of Cancer with our future behind him up to Mt. Silverthorne

From afar at the Zodiac Ponds, it almost looked like perhaps we could scramble down Cancer’s north ridge. We did scramble quite a ways over class 4 rock until we came to a ledge with severe drop-offs on every side. Well, we donned our harnesses and gear, I withdrew the webbing and slings from my pack, and we looked for a secure anchor. The one boulder we had in mind seemed fine, but after a tug on the rope and webbing, it was definitely teetering – bad idea. However, the large boulder below provided a solid anchor and I tied my first 10 ft piece of webbing around it with a water knot. J rappelled first while I made sure the rope and anchor were secure. I went second and we landed on a small ledge 80 ft below, which after a few airy maneuvers, provided access to the saddle between Cancer & Capricorn.

J rappelling off the north ridge of Cancer to more manageable ground

J rappelling off the northeast side of Cancer to more manageable ground

Me rappelling off Cancer's northeast side

Me rappelling off Cancer’s northeast side

Well, the first big Spire was behind us and we continued on up the really solid class 3/4 rock to Capricorn’s summit ridge, which entailed an actual summit cairn.

Me scrambling up Capricorn's south ridge with our rappel ledge and rappel route off Cancer show behind

Me scrambling up Capricorn’s south ridge with our rappel ledge and rappel route off Cancer show in red behind

Me on top of Capricorn with Cancer behind me  to the right and Red Peak in the distance behind me to the left

Me on top of Capricorn with Cancer behind me to the right and Red Peak in the distance behind me to the left

Now, we knew there was going to be a big rappel off Capricorn’s north ridge because of what we saw from a distance. We were just hoping our one 9.8mm/60m rope would be enough or that there was a ledge to build an anchor and set up a second rappel station. We traversed the summit ridge to the northern end and figured we could scramble down about 30 ft to another large ledge. We did so only to find serious drop-offs on every side. J spotted a small ledge 30 ft down the north ridge at which point I believe we could get the rope to reach the ground. So, we found a good rock horn to loop the rope around and each of us rappelled down to this extremely airy ledge. I again looped my second 10 ft piece of webbing around a solid boulder on the small ledge, we pulled the rope from above, and set up the second rappel by looping the rope through the webbing and throwing the ends. At the last second, we could tell the ends barely reach a rock ledge which provided easy access to the next Spires, so we were good to go. J again went first.

J on the second rappel off Capricorn's north ridge

J on the second rappel off Capricorn’s north ridge

J rappelling Capricorn's north ridge

J rappelling Capricorn’s north ridge

Me rappelling Capricorn's north ridge

Me rappelling Capricorn’s north ridge

This was a full 90 ft rappel and a mostly free-hanging rappel, which added to the excitement. We were “hooping” & “hollering” and we could hear the same from Keith who at that time had just summited Zodiac View across the basin and was obviously having a ball watching us on the ridge. I thought to myself how cool it would be to have front-row seats to watching climbers traverse these Zodiac Spires. I’m very glad Keith decided to pack in with us on Friday and summit Zodiac View this morning. We then pulled the rope after I got to the ground, coiled the rope, and continued onto the Gemini Twins, which were right next door. Gemini Twin (south) comprised really two summits with a steep gully separating the two. A short class 3/4 scramble up for only about 30 ft put me on the west summit and J on the east summit.

J on the east summit of Gemini Twin (south)

J on the east summit of Gemini Twin (south)

I then traversed over to the east summit where J was and while we could have maybe down climbed the gully to the north, we just found a rock to rappel off of since we were already in the rappelling mode and mindset.

Me rappelling down the east summit of Gemini Twin (south)

Me rappelling down the east summit of Gemini Twin (south)

Gemini Twin (north) was next which consisted of a fun class 3 scramble up to a notch and a nifty low 5th class 15 ft dihedral on its north side to access the summit.

Me traversing over to Gemini Twin (north)

Me traversing over to Gemini Twin (north)

J climbing up to Gemini Twin (north)

J climbing up to Gemini Twin (north)

Wer found a pretty cool 15' dihedral (maybe low 5th class) to access the Gemini Twin (north) summit without pulling out the rope and rack

Wer found a pretty cool 15′ dihedral (maybe low 5th class) to access the Gemini Twin (north) summit without pulling out the rope and rack

J on the summit of Gemini Twin (north)

J on the summit of Gemini Twin (north)

J heading down into the 15' dihedral from the Gemini Twin (north) summit

J heading down into the 15′ dihedral from the Gemini Twin (north) summit

After the down climb off Gemini Twin (north), we scrambled up to the base of Taurus’ southwest face and scoped out a potential route. From afar, this face looked almost too vertical to scramble up and may warrant a rope. However, upon closer inspection, it looked to be some of the most solid & fun class 4 rock for about 80 ft to its summit ridge – something akin to Crestone Needle’s class 4 summit pitch after traversing from Crestone Peak. This scrambling was a delight and one of the highlights of the Spires for me.

J climbing Taurus' southwest face

J climbing Taurus’ southwest face

J on the class 4 rock of Taurus's southwest face

J on the class 4 rock of Taurus’s southwest face

Taurus’ summit ridge was very narrow, exposed, and exciting and I joined J on the northern end of the lengthy knife-edge scoping out a rappel station. I found a good location for a single sling, fed the rope through it, and off we went down Taurus’s steep north ridge for about 80 ft.

J at the northern end of Taurus's extremely airy knife-edge ridge

J at the northern end of Taurus’s extremely airy knife-edge ridge

J rappelling off Taurus' north ridge

J rappelling off Taurus’ north ridge

Me about to rappel off Taurus' north ridge

Me about to rappel off Taurus’ north ridge

We then ascended steep terrain up to Scorpio, which is overhanging on all sides except the north ridge. We wrapped around to its north side and quickly suited up for J to lead the 40 ft to its summit. My forearm tendonitis is still in its prime, especially in my left arm, and I needed to lay off the harder climbing as much as possible. Well, then I probably shouldn’t be traversing Zodiac Ridge, but I can’t pass that up because my forearm tendons are inflammed, now can I? No way. Nevertheless, J placed a few pieces of gear and topped out on Scorpio’s airy summit. I think we’d both agree the pitch we did was 5.6/5.7 – we never put on our rock climbing shoes. Our trail shoes were sufficient. J brought me up and soon after found a sufficient rock horn for a rappel back down to our packs.

J approaching the overhanging Scorpio

J approaching the overhanging Scorpio

J beginning his trad lead on Scorpio's north side

J beginning his trad lead on Scorpio’s north side

The crux up Scorpio was getting up on the bulge J is on in this picture

The crux up Scorpio was getting up on the bulge J is on in this picture

J climbing Scorpio

J climbing Scorpio

J on top of Scorpio

J on top of Scorpio

Self-portrait atop Scorpio

Self-portrait atop Scorpio

Zodiac View (12,505') to the right with the Zodiac Ponds (11,500') and our basecamp at lower left

Zodiac View (12,505′) to the right with the Zodiac Ponds (11,500′) and our basecamp at lower left as seen from Scorpio’s summit

J rappelling back down off Scorpio

J rappelling back down off Scorpio

Next up was a lengthy class 3/4 scramble up very solid rock to the summit of Libra. This was some of my most enjoyable scrambling as well.

J scrambling up Libra's south ridge

J scrambling up Libra’s south ridge

Looking back at Scorpio and our 5.7ish route up it

Looking back at Scorpio and our 5.7ish route up it

J climbing Libra's great south ridge

J climbing Libra’s great south ridge

Per the beta we had read, there was a knife-edge traverse  to the slopes of Sagittarius. I think J & I always enjoy a good knife-edge and this one didn’t disappoint. Very airy positions and great rock.

After topping out on Libra, we had this awesome knife-edge traverse over to Sagittarius

After topping out on Libra, we had this awesome knife-edge traverse over to Sagittarius

J working the ridge

J working the ridge

J in an airy position on the knife-edge traverse

J in an airy position on the knife-edge traverse

J having a ball on the Zodiac Ridge

J having a ball on the Zodiac Ridge

Me skywalking on the knife-edge ridge between Libra & Sagittarius

Me skywalking on the knife-edge ridge between Libra & Sagittarius

Libra's summit to the left with Red Peak dead center in the distance and Zodiac Ridge at right

Libra’s summit to the left with Red Peak dead center in the distance and Zodiac Ridge at right

J coming down off a really fun class 4 scamble up this spire between Libra & Sagittarius

J coming down off a really fun class 4 scramble up this spire between Libra & Sagittarius

We then managed the class 2 slog up to Sagittarius’ summit. By this point, we were starting to feel the wear and tear of the day. However, the weather was holding and we were feeling good.

The mellow class 2/3 slopes up to Sagittarius' summit

The mellow class 2/3 slopes up to Sagittarius’ summit

Self-portrait atop Sagittarius

Self-portrait atop Sagittarius

We found two old pitons at the top of Sagittarius’ north facing gully, which we pulled on and realized they were very solid. I fed a sling through the pins and chicken-headed it while feeding the rope through the sling. We rappelled only about 40 ft down to safer terrain, coiled the rope, and stowed it away in the pack.

Two old pitons at the top of the north gully of Sagittarius, which we used as rappel anchors

Two old pitons at the top of the north gully of Sagittarius, which we used as rappel anchors

We were only one Spire away from having climbed them all and we knew Aries was probably the easiest. However, it wasn’t a let down at all. It was a fun class 3 scramble up its south side to a great summit with wonderful view of all the Spires to the south. We were both excited to be here and were somewhat amazed that the weather held and looked like we’d make it all the way to Mt. Silverthorne.

Then, finally the mellow class 3 slopes up the final Zodiac Spire, Aries

The mellow class 3 slopes up the final Zodiac Spire, Aries

Me excited to be on top of Aries, our final Zodiac Spire

Me excited to be on top of Aries, our final Zodiac Spire

J & I on top of Aries

J & I on top of Aries

Parting shot off the summit of Aries looking south down Zodiac Ridge to Red Peak

Parting shot off the summit of Aries looking south down Zodiac Ridge to Red Peak

The downclimb off Aries' north ridge had some interesting moves

The downclimb off Aries’ north ridge had some interesting moves

We down climbed the exciting north ridge of Aries and made the slog up steep grass and talus to a weakness in the Mt. Silverthorne massif’s south face – a small gully with large solid boulders. This is when your second wind needs to kick in for sure. The gully was pretty fun class 3 climbing with a class 4 move here and there, though none of it very exposed.

Looking back down our class 3/4 gully to access the Mt. Silverthorne plateau. Aries & Sagittarius can be seen below

Looking back down our class 3/4 gully to access the Mt. Silverthorne plateau. Aries & Sagittarius can be seen below

It was great to get to the Silverthorne plateau. We decided to drop our packs and quickly traverse over to East Thorn, a prominent 13er above the town of Silverthorne with steep faces on all sides. The class 3 scramble up to East Thorn’s summit was very fun, though taxing on us. It would be fun to climb East Thorn by another, steeper ridge route someday.

We decided to continue the scrambling up the west ridge of East Thorn (13,333')

We decided to continue the scrambling up the west ridge of East Thorn (13,333′)

J making some fun moves to the summit of East Thorn

J making some fun moves to the summit of East Thorn

J on the summit of East Thorn (13,333') with Mt. Silverthorne behind

J on the summit of East Thorn (13,333′) with Mt. Silverthorne behind

Me on the summit of East Thorn

Me on the summit of East Thorn

The east side of Zodiac Ridge as seen from the summit of East Thorn

The east side of Zodiac Ridge as seen from the summit of East Thorn

A snicker’s bar and gatorade provided some key energy to get us back to our packs. We picked up our packs and made our way up to the mighty Mt. Silverthorne’s summit and had lunch at the lower southern point. It was now about 1:30pm and it was time to eat. We were starving.

Self-portrait on the summit of Mt. Silverthorne (13,357')

Self-portrait on the summit of Mt. Silverthorne (13,357′)

East Thorn from the summit of Mt. Silverthorne

East Thorn from the summit of Mt. Silverthorne

After some good bread, cheese, and tuna, we headed down Mt. Silverthorne’s class 3 west ridge to the southern ridge leading to the unranked 12er, Zodiac View. I honestly couldn’t believe the weather was holding for us as this is typically the monsoonal period. It felt more like a late fall day with the weather patterns. We decided to leave Zodiac View’s summit for the next day when all the ladies and pups could join us. The views of Zodiac Ridge were absolutely amazing from this ridge and the entire way down into the basin leading back to the Zodiac Ponds and our camp.

Zodiac Ridge on our descent down Mt. Silverthorne's class 3 west ridge

Zodiac Ridge on our descent down Mt. Silverthorne’s class 3 west ridge

J and I on the descent

J and I on the descent

Zoomed-in shot of Capricorn's north ridge, which we descended in 2 rappels as shown

Zoomed-in shot of Capricorn’s north ridge, which we descended in two rappels as shown in green and red

Zoomed-in shot of the Gemini Twins

Zoomed-in shot of the Gemini Twins

Zoomed-in shot of Taurus. We climbed the class 4 right skyline with knife-edge ridge traverse to the summit and rappelled off the left (north) side

Zoomed-in shot of Taurus. We climbed the class 4 right skyline with knife-edge ridge traverse to the summit and rappelled off the left (north) side

Right to left: Scorpio, Libra, Sagittarius

Right to left: Scorpio, Libra, Sagittarius

Keith had a great fire waiting for us when we rolled into camp around 3pm (9 hours after we began). Our good friends Joel Gratz, Alec Hall, and Andrew Annunzio were there as well and all greeted us and congratulated us on a successful day up on the Zodiac Ridge and accompanying 13ers. Joel, Alec, and Andrew had dayhiked in to our camp and had arrived a few hours earlier. Joel and Andrew had even hiked up to the Zodiac View-Mt. Silverthorne saddle. It was great to see these guys. We all sat around on a rock outcrop trading stories and laughing. We were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of Kristine, Rainier, Kona, Sarah, and our friend Lauren McKeone and her dog, Scout. Joel, Alec, and Andrew left around 5pm and ran into the girls and dogs on their way out. It was so awesome to have all the ladies up at camp for Saturday night, especially Kristine, Rainier, & Kona of course. We built up a great campfire, heated up burritos, made freeze-dried food meals (which were actually good), and enjoyed some vino and a little help from Jack Daniels (courtesy of J). It was a nice evening.

Lauren & Scout at basecamp

Lauren & Scout at basecamp

We woke up not too early in the morning, enjoyed some oatmeal and coffee, and all decided to hike up to Zodiac View for the 360 degree views of our awesome surroundings. Everyone did extremely well even on the loose talus hiking the last couple hundred vertical feet. Rainie may be 10.5 years old, but she sure is a trooper and still a great hiker.

Zodiac View from the rocky tower J and I climbed up

Zodiac View from the rocky tower J and I climbed up

J making things interesting as always

J making things interesting as always

J checking out Gore Lake from the rock tower

J checking out Gore Lake from the rock tower

The views atop Zodiac View were amazing – would you expect anything less with that name?

J and Rainie on the summit of Zodiac View (12,505')

J and Rainie on the summit of Zodiac View (12,505′)

Looking down at Zodiac Ponds and the rock tower at right from the summit of Zodiac View

Looking down at the Zodiac Ponds and the rock tower at right from the summit of Zodiac View

Our route up to the Silverthorne plateau from Aries is shown in red

Our route up to the Silverthorne plateau from Aries the previous day is shown in red

Zodiac View summit (12,505')

Zodiac View summit (12,505′)

Me & Rainie on the summit of Zodiac View with Zodiac Ridge behind

Me & Rainie on the summit of Zodiac View with Zodiac Ridge behind

Sarah & Molly on top of Zodiac View

Sarah & Molly on top of Zodiac View (12,505′)

Kristine & Kona on top of Zodiac View (12,505')

Kristine & Kona on top of Zodiac View (12,505′)

The ladies on Zodiac View with Red Peak standing tall in the distance

The ladies on Zodiac View with Red Peak standing tall in the distance

Zodiac Ridge one last time

Zodiac Ridge one last time

We then descended to the Zodiac View-Mt. Silverthorne saddle and headed down east to the upper basin below Zodiac Ridge.

Rainier among beautiful surroundings

Rainier among beautiful surroundings

Parting shot of the ladies & Scout with Zodiac Spires on the hike back to camp

Parting shot of the ladies & Scout with Zodiac Spires on the hike back to camp

After packing up camp, made our way back to the Gore Lake trail essentially pretty close to the route we forged on the way up, and back out the long 4.5 miles to the Gore Creek/Deluge Lake trailhead in East Vail. The heavens absolutely unleashed its fury on us in the form of a torrential downpour for a good hour and a half. It actually felt good to be hiking in the rain again, though Kona would have begged to differ. It didn’t matter, though. We were going to be in the warm confines of my car soon.

It was a big weekend full of fun, excitement, ridge runs, family, and good friends in the heart of the Gores. Can’t get much better than that. I’m very happy and grateful that traversing Zodiac Ridge worked out for us because I honestly didn’t know how good our chances were at completing this ridge. Now, I guess, maybe we should see if we can do the traverse north to south instead of south to north? Ah, shucks, let’s leave that for another year.