Displaying items by tag: Class 5

I had always dreamed of climbing Teakettle Mountain ever since seeing my dad's photo (left) of him standing in the Teakettle's handle back in the 1980's. Naturally, as a small boy, this feat was legendary, epic and awe-inspiring - surely one of the drivers behind my own quest to summit the highest 100 mountains in Colorado. So, when I received an email from Rick McBee asking if I'd be interested in climbing Dallas Peak and Teakettle Mountain, I was ecstatic. The climb up Dallas was remarkable and was probably one of my favorite ascents to date. After conquering Dallas, we were all thirsty for more technical climbing and prepared for an early morning start up Teakettle via the standard route in Yankee Boy Basin. An early morning drive to the start of the climb brought us to a small parking lot and the steep south slopes of Teakettle. Teakettle remained out of view for most of the climb, but it was always there in my mind. I had much less anxiety about Teakettle than Dallas Peak and felt quite confident after our success there; however, I knew it could still pose some significant challenges, especially on the upper parts of the climb prior to the ridge as well as the summit block. The 13,819 ft. summit of Teakettle Mountain is pretty close to the Yankee Boy Basin road as the crow flies; however, the route up takes you through some quite interesting and somewhat dangerous sections of "trail," mostly unmarked and full of loose rock and dirt. 

Our group composition shifted from the prior day - we lost Ben and picked up a new partner named Brad Tucker - a good friend of Rick McBee's from Montrose. Brad was a dentist and somewhat new to climbing high peaks; however, he had done many rock climbs with Rick in the past and was a reliable and experienced climber (much more experienced at roped climbing than me). 

We departed the parking lot at around 5:30 AM and bushwhacked straight up the side of the mountain, following game trails and small drainages until we reached a plateau below the huge and formidable boulder field below the ridge between Teakettle and Coffee Pot. We enjoyed views of Potosi Peak and the rising moon to the east of us on the way up the steep grassy slopes.

We were all spread out across the slopes as to not damage the vegetation on the way up - we never did find a trail on the lower section of the mountain.

lI tried to stick with Natalie Moran so that I had someone to talk to on the way up the mountain - she was full of great stories!

As we climbed up the slopes, views of both Mount Emma and Gilpin Peak were fantastic - the only thing that was missing was some clouds to make the sunrise more exciting; however, I welcomed the opportunity and chance at a storm-free day climbing in the San Juans.

As sunrise hit the valley, the views back across to the south were great. Yankee Boy Basin never seems to disappoint.

Finally, the sun hit the tips of the peaks across the way, briging new light Gilpin Peak and Yankee Boy Basin.

The sun even began touching the tip of Mount Sneffels, which looks a bit less impressive from this vantage point than normal.

As we climbed up the slopes quickly, the rest of our climb came into view - a chossy rock gully. Oh joy.

It was cool seeing the little hole in the rock, which is not to be mistaken for the Teakettle's handle; rather, this hole was just another sweet feature of the area. The goal was to climb that rock gully to the right of the hole and follow a smaller gully up to the left below the hole.

Natalie points out the route to Brad and Rick on our ascent.

As we climbed up the face, more nice light was hitting the peaks behind us to the south.

I spotted a Bighorn Sheep up above us to the east; however, I only had my 24-70 lens on me at the time, so this was as good as I could do to photograph him. He made a ton of noise as he deftly climbed the seemingly impassable terrain of Teakettle Mountain.

We reached the base of the chossy boulder gully - it looked pretty inviting - all I remember is that Natalie was thinking it would be much better to do this in spring when there was snow - I agreed. The rocks were loose and mixed with dirt and scree - a true climber's nightmare.

As we continued to gain elevation at a quick pace, Dallas Peak came into view for the first time - showcasing just how insane of a climb it really is - and how awesome it did feel that we accomplished that sucker just one day prior. It felt good to be knocking out the toughest peaks in Colorado.

The next shot is just to demonstrate how rugged the terrain around us was. It was impressive to say the least.

The higher we climbed, the more we could see out across Yankee Boy Basin. The tip of Sneffels came into view, giving some credence to my belief that it is one of the most impressive mountains in Colorado. This whole area is a sight for sore eyes.

The chossy gully was really loose and steep and at times we had to stagger ourselves to prevent rock fall injury - groups really should take caution in this part of the climb due to how loose the rocks are. We knocked rocks down continuously as we went up.

Here is another view of the ugly chossy loose nastiness we went up.

And here is a view looking down the gully and out across a sea of San Juan peaks.

Once at the top of the gully, the views really opened up and we could finally see Coffee Pot, an unoffical peak to the east of Teakettle and impressive in its own right.

As Natalie emerged from the gully, she also enjoyed the views of Coffee Pot - with Dallas Peak behind her for scale!

And of course, the selfie.

The ridge also afforded us views of Uncompahgre to the east - such an impressive view!

After enjoying the ridge for a few minutes, we decided to move on. The route took us up and over a few more small ridges and the actual mountain finally came into view - such a small little spire of a peak above us.

The trail from here became less solid but easily climbable, just not very sturdy. A lot of loose dirt and worn scree.

From the loose dirt trail, Natalie enjoyed the views, snapping off some photos with her small camera.

We finally reached the infamous Teakettle handle at the base of the technical portion of the climb and we all got a chance to celebrate from inside the handle - a San Juan classic! Brad -

Matt enjoying the views of Dallas Peak.

Natalie - 

While we were busy having fun in the handle, Rick was prepping the climbing gear for our ascent up the 5.3 face of Teakettle Mountain. 

Rick led the climb quite easily and set some bomber protection for us to follow.

Here is a view looking up the face of Teakettle - an impressive spire with lots of great holds.

I went next to last and found the climb quite challenging but highly rewarding. Not nearly as difficult as Dallas Peak or Vestal Peak by any means, but the route was harder than I was expecting. I found the crux quite exhilerating and the summit was insane! It only measured 6 square feet at best and there was room for two or three people tops. The view of Sneffels and friends was outstanding. Who else can say they carried a Nikon D800 up to the top of both Dallas and Teakettle? :-)

I stayed on top while Brad belayed Natalie from below. Here's Natalie topping out. This is seriously how big the summit is. That's my boot.

Here I am giving the two thumbs up on top. Such a strange summit - no room to even get up and move around. No 360 pano this time!

After successful summits from the whole group, we stopped to let Rick bask in the glory in the handle of the Teakettle. This shot is one of my favorites I've taken, ever. I just LOVE it. I hope you do too! This photo one grand prize at the Colorado Springs Creative Photography group's annual photo contest in 2013 and I also submitted it to the National Geographic Travel Magazine's contest a few months ago.

As we descended, we came across a few groups of people and we were all noticing storm clouds starting to build - we pondered a climb of Coffee Pot but after examination of the route by Rick and Natalie, we decided against it. 

The whole party was quite ecstatic for our success - two for two. Here's Rick celebrating our conquest.

Another shot of Rick with the rugged San Juans behind him.

Unfortunately, Brad got really bad altitude sickness on the way down, which was good timing, considering the alternatives. We all helped him down the mountain as he vomited several times throughout the way out. We all really felt bad for the guy, but he was a real trooper! Natalie surely did not let it get her spirits down in this shot of her.

And this final image - hopefully not my last photograph of myself on the side of a Colorado Peak. I've since moved to Portland, Oregon and won't have many opportunities to climb in Colorado. I do have two trips planned this year, but my days of 20-30 peaks in a season are probably over. I'll continue to write about my adventures here in the Pacific Northwest, and I've begun recruiting other writers to keep this site alive, including Regina Primavera. If you are at all interested in contributing and getting trained, and want to reap the potential benefits - fame, fortune, experience (hahaha). Seriously though, let me know! Until next time... 

August 30, 2013
Distance: 11.5 miles (according to GPS)
Elevation: ~5,700 ft (according to GPS)
Time: 10.5 hrs (4.50 am to 3.20 pm)
Team: Rick McBee, Ben, Matt Payne and Natalie Moran

 

---

I suppose I never dreamed of climbing Dallas Peak. First viewing it's full stature from the summit of Mount Sneffels in 2010, I was immediately struck by how intimidating the peak appeared and how overwhelmed I was with a sense of fear and surrender. I'm pretty sure my exact words were, "F*!$ that!" :-)

Fast forward three years and a few climbs later and my attitude towards difficult mountaineering feats has shifted quite a bit. Peaks like Dallas are a now a hearty and welcome challenge in my quest for the highest 100 mountains of Colorado. Ever since reading about Dallas as a boy, I've been fascinated with the technical aspects of how to summit it. When you're a kid, everything looks a lot harder than it really is, and this is especially true of mountains. My mountaineering hero, my dad Ray, never did make it to the top of Dallas, having deferred his quest for the highest 100 for a middle-aged devotion to my baseball career, which surely made him father of the year multiple years running. Knowing Dallas was never completed by Ray made it even more magical and impossible in my mind, just as I had thought of Vestal's Wham Ridge before I also completed it successfully in 2010. Exacerbating my Dallas Peak magical thinking was its extremely short-lived climbing history. The thing has quite simply not been climbed a whole lot. As Rosebrough puts it:

"Interest was renewed in Dallas Peak in 1976 when Spencer Swanger made a solo climb of the peak, which was the last of the hundred highest peaks in Colorado which he had not climbed. Swanger felt that of the nearly 300 climbs he had made, 'perhaps Dallas had been the toughest.' Indeed, only two ascents of Dallas have been recorded before Spencer Swanger's, Don McBride and Everett Long in 1934; and Stuart Krebs in 1956." - Robert Rosebrough - The San Juan Mountains - A Climbing and Hiking Guide.

So, when I received an email from Rick McBee about climbing Dallas and Teakettle on Labor Day weekend, I immediately responded with a prompt "I'm all in." Rick and I became acquainted with each other last year when he sent me a message after I completed the 14ers. He purchased several of my photographs for his company after seeing my shots from my Pyramid Peak and Maroon Peak trip report. I knew Rick as a fellow 14er completer and a very awesome dude. He had also named another accomplished mountaineer, Natalie Moran, as being a part of the climbing party, so my confidence in our success was very high. I had heard great things about Natalie from other 14ers.com members and so I felt great about our odds. The plan was to meet at the Mill Creek Trailhead above Telluride on Thursday night and climb Dallas on Friday morning. After Dallas Peak, we'd head over to Ouray and climb Teakettle Mountain on Saturday. Both mountains demanded the use of ropes and a keen ability for rappelling, neither of which being things that I am an expert in. I warned Rick of this and he assured me it was not a problem at all.

I debated a great deal as to which camera lens or lenses to bring for this trip, knowing I would be doing some technical climbing and quite a bit of tricky maneuvering on shaky terrain. I eventually decided to bring the heavier yet versatile Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 attached to my D800. Strapping the camera and lens to my chest vis-a-vis my Lowepro Toploader would not be too difficult, and I could always opt to throw the camera bag into my backpack for the roped sections. Note and shameless disclaimer: those are affiliate links above, so if you like to shop at B+H and want to help keep the site running, please consider using them.  

The drive to Telluride was totally uneventful minus some construction on Highway 50 between Gunnison and Montrose. My last stint through Montrose led me to a Denny's which was not exactly the most vegetarian-friendly establishment. I regretted not doing more research, again, and opted for a trip to Subway before heading to Telluride from Montrose. The trip began well, as I caught up on my email while eating dinner to learn I had won tickets to see Bill Burr at the Pikes Peak Center. Woohoo! A good omen indeed. Per usual Centennial procedure, I consulted Gerry Roach's "Colorado's Thirteeners" book for directions on how to find the trailhead. The description provided by Roach was quite accurate, taking me up an un-marked road exactly 1.9 miles east of the Highway 145 turn-off for Telluride. So far so good. My Subaru Forester made it up the hill without incident and I found both Rick and Natalie's vehicles parked on the side of the road near the end of the Mill Creek Road. I parked my car and introduced myself to Rick and his friend Ben, who was joining us for Dallas. Natalie was already fast asleep in her Forester. I decided to sleep next to them in front of my car, so I would have to test the sleepability of my Forester another night. The stars were out, but only for a brief moment as clouds rolled into the valley.

We all woke up at 4:30 AM for a 5 AM start. I introduced myself to Natalie, after having exchanged several private messages with her over the past couple of years on the 14ers.com forum. I knew that Natalie was from Russia, so it was quite awesome to hear her accent. You see, as my wife will attest, I have a thing for accents. They intrigue me, and I love listening to people talk with them. We began our hike up the trail and were immediately stumped by a marked split in the trail, a common occurrence when you begin hikes in the dark. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your outlook on the accuracy and usefulness of Roach's route descriptions, Natalie had brought a copy of the route description from Roach's book, which clearly stated to take a left at the signed trail junction, which we eventually did after some debate. Here's a photo of that trail junction taken later in the day on our waydown, which is clearly marked as the Deep Creek Trail.

From this junction, Roach writes that you need to hike another .7 miles through three switchbacks to a meadow at 10,000 ft. and then west through the meadow. For some reason we thought there would be another trail to take after finding the meadow; however, that was our misunderstanding. We found the large meadow in the dark, which continued west and then north. A heavy layer of clouds still obscured our views. We knew we were looking for the Sneffels Highline Trail after reaching a ridge at 10,600 ft. We found this trail without any issues as well, but were confused quite a bit in the dark before finding and turning right onto the marked trail junction as depicted below.

The views from the Sneffels Highline Trail were divine in the early morning light, showcasing amazing scenes of the Wilson Peak group to the southwest of us.

The light hitting the mountains above Telluride was absolutely sublime, and made for quite the stunning black and white image.

We followed up the trail through seven switchbacks as described by Roach and then found ourselves wondering when to start climbing up the slopes of Dallas. We found the trail quite easy to follow but often questioned our location and direction, having to consult GPS and map quite often before agreeing on our next course of action.

As the trail wrapped up and around the southern flank of Dallas, views to the north and west continued to wow us as the morning progressed. We were making great time, taking minimal breaks. I tried to stay back a little so I could get some good photos of the route heading up and of our awesome party.

Rick and Ben were setting the pace and keeping us on the right path, with an occasional team discussion about our next moves. Man, it was great having competent mountaineers on this trip. Rick was a strong leader, and Ben was a true champ.

The sky was pretty overcast most of the morning, but that did not stop the sun from lighting up the San Juan peaks above Telluride, across from us to the south.

We continued up the Sneffels Highline trail and enjoyed our views to the south very much. It was a very calm morning, and we were holding onto hope that the weather would improve and that our day would be marked with success on Dallas.

After losing a little elevation and crossing a small creek, the trail wraps around to the south and west and then across a large grassy area below Dallas, where we began eye-balling our route up to the first cliff bands on Dallas' southern flank, shown as a white band in the photo below.

We left the trail at stream coming down from Dallas and fanned out to ascend the very steep grassy slope up to Dallas' cliffs.

As we climbed, a deer was seen above us on a ridge. I did not have a telephoto lens with me, so this is heavily cropped from the D800 (about 100%).

Natalie sneaked a photo of me taking that shot. It was great having some people other than me taking photos!

Telluride was still looking great in this photo of Natalie as we continued up the steep grassy hillside.

And of course Lizard Head, Mount Wilson, El Diente and Wilson Peak (left to right) looked amazing across the valley from us.

Ben volunteered to take a shot of me heading up with my camera, with the great light behind us. Thanks Ben!

Mount Emma was also looking amazing as we ascended to the cliff bands, with early sun behind.

The lower section of this part of the climb was pretty straight forward, albeit rather steep. There was good rock and grass to grip with our boots, and the larger rocks were quite avoidable through here. We found this part of the climb to be relatively simple with little to no route-finding needed. There were numerous areas that had a clear trail identified all the way up to the cliff bands. We stopped a few times to catch our breath and take in the views.

We were a very strong group, so stops were not very frequent. Also, for not climbing together before, we were quite friendly and the group's conversations were very enjoyable. Rick carried the rope while I did the heavy lifting with the camera. Ben and Rick wore their harnesses all the way up, while Natalie and I opted to leave those in our packs until they were needed later.

 

 

 

 

 

We continued up the easier section without any issues. When we reached the first set of cliff bands, we were a little unsure where to go until some cairns revealed themselves to us and the route up past the cliff bands to the left became obvious. Also, the climbing become much more exciting as we entered some very fun class 3 sections of rock ledges.

Here's a shot of me heading up the class 3 section, taken by Rick. You can also see the general area we came from, having left the trail about where the trees end near the bottom of the rock gully far below.

As we continued up the lengthy class 3 section, the light below Mount Emma improved, illuminating the awesome stream coming down from above.

We found the climbing in this area to be very fun and enjoyable, with only the occasional loose section of rock. Natalie was a wicked climber and did a wonderful job of surveying the route.

Dallas was quite imposing as we reached higher and higher to the base of the peak.

And damn, the light over on the Wilson's was spectacular in the early morning sun.

The terrain got a little more tricky as we kept heading higher on the southern flank of Dallas, forcing us to find fun and entertaining routes up the mostly solid rock. Here's Natalie powering up one of the final sections of this part of the route.

Once up to the end of the cliff band, the route evened out quite a bit and lead us to the west to a notch referred to as 13,000 ft. notch. Rick led the way.

The route heading up to the notch was very straight-forward, we just followed the cliff band and up a boulder field on a very well-established trail.

A look back on the route we took up to the notch.

As we rounded the corner a bit, the route to the notch became even more apparent - stay as far left as possible without climbing straight up a wall.

We stopped just below the notch to enjoy the views.

The frequent rain over the past few months really greened-up the mountain-sides. Vestal and Arrow were just coming into view in the distance (left middle).

A look back at the Wilson Peak/Mount Wilson massif shows the trail we followed up to the notch.

As we reached the notch and rounded the corner to head up the west face of Dallas, Sneffels and Teakettle came into view, filling us all with a sense of excitement and glory.

Once the notch is reached, the fun begins. We immediately began working our way up a fairly obvious route towards Dallas' summit towers above through loose dirt and rocks.

Teakettle was looking quite awesome. I was savoring it already. I was wishing I had a longer lens to get a nice zoomed-in look at the handle of the kettle, but a super-cropped shot from the 24-70 would have to do.

Climbing up this section was pretty straight-forward, but quite loose. I could see this being a challenging section if there was snow on the ground still or if significant rain had happened prior to the climb. There seemed to be a feint trail all the way up to the class 4 section on the west face. The trail led us up this loose gully that was directly against the face of the peak, and then over some ledges to the west.

Once over the ledge system we reached what was clearly the class 4 section. To our left was an impassable chimney and to our right was a huge drop-off into the basin between Dallas and Sneffels. We worked our way up to the base of the class 4 section and mentally prepared for the steep rocks that awaited us above.

Finding the class 4 section was not hard, but locating a route up it was quite the challenge! I love class 4, personally, so I was very happy to find this section, as I had mostly forgotten about it from the route descriptions I had read. A look back down where we came up showed just how steep the west face was, but it was certainly nothing too hard, in my opinion.

Approaching the class 4 section was not hard, but it was strewn with a lot of loose garbage.

I kept my position as caboose and Natalie fired off some shots of me coming up the class 4 section, which I found to be quite exposed but very solid.

 

I continued to enjoy the views of Sneffels as we continued up the side of Dallas.

We found the class 4 anchor station, which we figured some people used to rappel down the class 4 on the way off the mountain.

At this point, the route became looser and steeper, but nothing overwhelming in nature. We followed the loose scree up to the first crux below the summit towers.

A look back towards Sneffels revealed some awesome hoodoos on the ridge. What a cool geologic playground.

Almost to the first crux, Ben and I stop to revel in the San Juan glory behind us.

We reached the first crux, which was quite obvious and marked at its base with a cairn. This chimney looked very challenging and I was wondering how I would get up it with my camera on my chest.

Thinking that would not work out so well, I opted to put my camera bag away and head up the same way as the rest of the group. The chimney was low class 5, for sure.

I found ample but difficult handholds on the left side of the chimney and worked my way up to the first ledge seen just above Ben's yellow bandana above.

From this ledge, the route becomes a little less obvious, and the footing is somewhat unstable due to the slope of the rock you are standing on; however, I decided to head to the left through an awkwardly diagonal weakness between rocks.

We did not rope up for this short section, but I think some parties might benefit from a rope at this spot for some added security and peace of mind.

Natalie captured a photo of me coming up the small chimney from above. 

A view from above, shot by Rick:

Here's another view looking up from the bottom, showing the general line you take to reach the top of the chimney.

We also found an anchor at the top of the 1st crux and figured it was used to top rope the chimney. Photo by Natalie.

Once past the chimney, we were a little perplexed as to where to go next. Ben and Rick study the route in this photo from Natalie.

The route was not obvious at all. Roach describes down-climbing from here, but we found no such need or desire. The only way that looked even do-able was a ledge system going up and around the north face of Dallas, which had dramatic exposure as seen in this photo snapped by Natalie. Would you downclimb here? No - thanks though Roach.

Following a lightly worn area of rock up a small series of ledges proved to be the best bet.

At least the views were still holding up.

 

We found it difficult to find the summit pitch, but some sleuthing by yours truly discovered a dirt gully leading up to a ledge which was at the base of the summit pitch, which looked quite challenging. Rick set-up his rope and got down to business as soon as Ben arrived to belay.

Here is another view of the dirt gully leading up to the summit pitch.

Rick placed only one cam for protection before reaching a belay ledge about 30 ft. above. Our route went right over the first boulder and then up to the right.

After watching Rick tear up the face to the belay station, I took one last look over at Sneffels and Blue Lake before mentally preparing for the ascent up the face. Rock climbing is not really my area of expertise, with only a few other forays into the alpine roped climbing arena in my past. Ben ensured I was tied in correctly and helped clean some mud off my boots.

Natalie got one last photo of me before my first alpine ascent in several years. Adrenaline started pumping.

A look up revealed my route. Nothing too crazy, right? That's Rick perched up there with the white hat barely showing. Oh, and hey, an appearance by the moon.

Up we go into the crazy class 5 crux. I found it pretty tough in muddy mountaineering boots, but managed to find some solid footholds with the help of Ben's finger pointing out some spots for me to try. Photo by Natalie.

A patient and watchful Rick watched from above. I'm not sure if I should be happy or disturbed he got photos of me while belaying. All is well that ends well. All joking aside, Rick was an awesome leader.

Once up the 1st big boulder, climibing became quite a bit easier.

After I unclipped, Rick threw the rope down to Ben.

Ben topped out with ease and enjoyed the views of Sneffels while Natalie roped up.

Natalie made it up to the belay station without any issues and Rick continued up the route. We found the next section to be a bit easier.

Rick went first and got to the top within about a minute. He setup a belay and I went 2nd, deciding to clip in for added security. The final section was exposed but there was a lot more handholds and footholds to choose from and it felt very low class 5, perhaps class 4. I reached the top of Dallas and was overwhelmed with joy. What an amazing climb! Natalie came next, and I was able to document her topping out beneath Rick's "meat anchor."

Natalie was just as excited to get to the top as I was.

The views from Dallas were expansive and incredible. Blue Lake was awash in light. This panorama is pretty huge. In the full resolution version, you can see all of the buildings at Telluride and make out people on top of Sneffels. Click on it to go to my photography gallery.

I was all smiles on top of the world. Only 18 more Centennials to go!

 

Natalie got a great shot of me after I fired off my summit panorama.

After enjoying some lunch and watching the storms build to the west, we decided to get a group photo and prepare for the rappel off the top.

Rick set up the rappel and everyone gave me a needed refresher on rappelling. Rick went first and I went second. Setting up the rappel for this was a bit tricky. Natalie let me borrow some cord to anchor myself to the anchor and then I got onto the final ledge and roped up. We had about a 90 foot rappel off the west face of Dallas, which contained some interesting rappelling features. First of all, as soon as you step off the edge, the rock inverts and you're off to the races. Second of all, you have to aim for a hole between a giant car-sized chockstone below, about 60 ft down. Natalie got an awesome shot of me moving into the first part of the rappel.

I think the rappel was even more heart-pumping than the climb up. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy rappelling, but it had been at least two years since my last rappel and I was hanging off the side of a huge mountain. Amazing stuff.

Once I popped through the hole below, I was ectatic. I photographed the others coming down through - here's Natalie.

Our fearless leader awaited us below.

Another view of the hole we rappelled through, this time Ben coming down.

After the rappel, we head down pretty fast. I took a nice tumble on the class 3 section on the south slopes and got a few cuts, nothing too crazy. We made it down to tree-line just as rain began to move in.

We reached the infamous meadow that Roach refers to and I decided to get a parting shot of Dallas above.

Back at the parking lot, we conspired for our plan of attack on Teakettle for the following day.

Overall, I would rate Dallas Peak as one of the hardest Centennials (highest 100 mountains in Colorado). The long, steep approach coupled with the challenging route-finding and intense class 5 climbing as well as the bomber rappel make this one of the most demanding peaks in Colorado. So far, I think Dallas would be rated as the hardest mountain I've climbed to date. As far as route-finding goes, don't rely to heavily on Roach. We found his descriptions somewhat lacking, especially on the upper section of the route after the 1st crux. Study our photos carefully and you should have no problems finding your way if you should choose to attempt Dallas. I would highly encourage other climbers to use Natalie's GPX file and reference her trip report as well. Here's a map and a rough hand-drawn route to reference as well.

For more information on travel and lodging in and around Telluride, check out this site, full of great information.

Lastly, I want to thank my amazing climbing partners, Rick, Natalie and Ben. These three were amazing to climb with and I could not be more happy with how our climb went. Next up, Teakettle...

Capitol Peak carries a mystique among hikers and climbers in Colorado. First climbed in 1909 by Percy Hagerman and Harold Clark, Capitol Peak is often revered as the most difficult 14er in Colorado. Capitol Peak towers above treeline in the Elk Mountains of Colorado, a crumbling mass of granite, shaped into a rugged pyramid with spiny ridges. While I have a great respect for Capitol Peak, I felt that I had personally prepared myself for the climb through graduation along the difficulty continuum of climbs in Colorado. Having summited several of Colorado's harder Centennials (highest 100 mountains), including Crestone Needle, Crestone Peak, Vestal Peak and Little Bear Peak, I felt that I had the skills and mental toughness to complete Capitol. Capitol is well-known for its "Knife Edge," a 150 ft. narrow and jagged section found on the main route of Capitol Peak. The Knife Edge is very exposed on both sides, making it a mental challenge for many climbers. Many personal friends and family members as well as reports on the internet had built up Capitol's Knife Edge's difficulty in my mind; infact, YouTube is full of videos of people climbing the Knife Edge, some recklessly crossing it like a tightrope. I was hopeful that it was more hype than people it made it out to be...

Here are some meaningful metrics from this amazing trip:

Peaks summited:

Capitol Peak: 14,130 ft. (ranked 29th in Colorado)

"K2": 13,664 ft. (unranked)

Total elevation gain: 5,300 ft.

Total distance hiked: 17 miles

Total time hiking: Approx. 14 hours

Total photos taken: 356

Total distance driven: 520 miles

Trip duration: 1 day, 19 hours

K2 (far left) and Capitol Peak (far right) seen in this dramatic panoramic. Click for high resolution version (15 mb).

That being said, Capitol Peak was not without other dangers. Many climbers have perished on Capitol over the years, oddly enough, very few of the deaths have occurred on the Knife Edge. In 2009, James Flowers, the United States Paraolympic Swim Coach, perished on the Northeast side of "K2," a sub-peak of Capitol Peak, as reported by the Aspen Times. Needless to say, great caution, respect, and preparation would be required if I were to successfully climb Capitol. First on my list for preparation was to find capable partners. This is often difficult in the mountaineering community, since many climbers inflate their abilities or do not disclose their limitations to potential partners.

Earlier this summer, I climbed Huron Peak with Mike Vetter, a Sioux Falls, South Dakota resident and an up-and-coming star in the IT realm and CEO of DataSync. Mike and I made plans to climb again this year and we set our sights on Capitol Peak. Mike invited his friend, Travis Arment, an avid marathon runner. Neither Mike nor Travis had extensive experience climbing class 4 peaks; however, having hiked with Mike in the past, and knowing that Mike was a comfortable and avid rock climber, I knew I could trust him to make solid decisions and that they would both be personally responsible enough to turn-around if the climb became too difficult. We all exchanged plans via Facebook, ensured we all had the proper gear and knowledge, and established ground rules for the climb in case something unexpected happened. Travis and Mike flew in to Denver on Friday, August 13th. I picked them both up from Castle Rock, where Travis' aunt lives, on Saturday morning and we departed for Capitol. The total drive from Colorado Springs was approximately 260 miles and took roughly 5 hours.

We arrived at the trailhead for Capitol at about 10:00 AM and were hiking by 10:30 AM. As usual, my pack was the heaviest and largest, weighing in at just over 50 lbs. 

Mike's pack was medium-sized and Travis literally backpacked with a daypack. We made sure to give Travis a hard time for having the smallest pack, and Mike was quick to point out that he was carrying half of Travis' stuff. Travis was a great sport about it and agreed to share his tasty snacks on the hike up.

There are two trails for Capitol Peak - the standard trail and the "ditch trail." We chose the ditch trail due to its lack of elevation loss and gain at the start of the hike. The ditch trail is aptly named, following an irrigation ditch along the side of a ridge line which wraps around towards Capitol Peak. The irrigation ditch is used to provide water for cattle, which are known to graze this part of the Elk Mountains in large numbers.

The topo map of our route. Want to make your own maps like this? Check out the TOPO! program from National Geographic!

Capitol Peak seen from the trailhead.

Matt Payne and Travis Arment on the Capitol Peak Ditch Trail - photo by Mike Vetter

After about a mile and a half of hiking on the trail, it leaves the ditch and heads uphill, gaining half of the ridge to the west. Before we knew it, the trail meandered into a great opening, revealing Capitol Peak. Capitol Peak remained in view for much of the remainder of the hike up to Capitol Lake.

Matt Payne on the trail

Capitol Peak, about 1/3 of the way up to Capitol Lake from the trailhead.

On the way up the trail, we passed many raspberry plants, sometimes stopping to grab a snack to help fuel our ascent.

Wild Raspberries - photo by Travis Arment

Matt Payne braves the spiky bush to score some berries.

Travis Arment reaches in to score some berries.

Eventually, the trail reaches the Capitol Lake basin and intersects two side trails leading to two campsite areas, each split into four campsites (#1 through #4 and #5 through #9). We found ourselves camped at site #6, a quaint spot in the trees up on a hill.

Mike Vetter unpacks at our campsite.

After we got situated at our campsite, we took a small nap. The hike up to Capitol Lake was pretty exhausting for all of us. After our short nap, we took a walk down to the lake with our cameras and took pictures. The lake rests right below Capitol itself and was a great area to relax and take in the afternoon sun.

Capitol Lake sits beneath Capitol Peak in this 180⁰ panoramic photo taken above the shore. 

Mike went down to the lake to fill up his water bottles, using his steri-pen to sterilize the water. Unfortunately, the steri-pen bested Mike's weary intellect and he gave up on the endeavour, conceding that my Ketadyn Hiker Pro filter would later suffice. Mike and I went down to the stream near our campsite before cooking dinner and refilled all of our water. The area surrounding Capitol Lake is really quite gorgeous, with Capitol looming over the whole area like some kind of ancient protector of its treasure.

Mike Vetter filling his water up at Capitol Lake.

I pulled out my food for the night - a custom-made soup with dehydrated vegetables and pasta with chicken. Mike and Travis were somewhat jealous of this fancy treat at first; however, the meal was about the saltiest thing I've ever ate. Mike and Travis cleaned up on their Knorr Pasta side meals and we all hit the sack at around 8 PM, with the alarm set for 4 AM.

4 AM came all too soon, despite the long night of sleep we all enjoyed. I scarfed down some homemade zuchinni bread that my wife made for me and we all grabbed our backpacks and headed for Capitol. The trail for Capitol happened to be the same trail used by our campsite, which perpendicularly intersects the Capitol Lake trail just below Capitol Lake. We made our way up the switchbacks in quick order, passing several groups. Being that it was quite early in the morning, we could see all the other hikers in the area ascending beneath us and above us. We counted about 15 to 20 other headlamps heading up.

Travis Arment (left) and Matt Payne (right) excited to be on the trail to Capitol Peak.

We reached the Mount Daly - Capitol Peak saddle about 30 minutes into the hike and enjoyed some pretty awe-inspiring sunrise views from there, which Mike documented on video:

Sunrise

Sunrise... again

Clouds rest in the light of sunrise to the east.

We continued up and over the ridge and descended a well traveled gully to reach the beginning of a very long stretch of boulders to the north and east of K2. The trail here mostly consisted of cairns and boulders, making for fun travel in the early light.

Mike Vetter hikes up the immense boulder field.

Out of nowhere, as if we were not expecting it, the sun blasted alpenglow onto the mountains surrounding us.

Mount Daly basked in alpenglow in the early morning. 

Mount Daly in Alpenglow.

The trail eventually lead us to a snowfield, which was mostly ice. I had been warned by the snowfield by a fellow hiker, Terry Mathews. We tested our footing on the snow and ice and decided to cross it, cautiously. There were great footsteps already kicked into the snow, and the relief was not terribly steep at this point. We all made it across quite easily and continued up the boulders. We saw a large snowfield at the top of the basin on the K2 - Clark Peak saddle's face and knew that we needed to turn right before then to reach K2. We decided to head up a very solid class 4 section.

A snow and ice field adorns the face of the saddle between K2 and Clark Peak.

Travis up-climbing the solid Class 4 terrain leading to the base of K2.

Once reaching the top of the ridge between K2 and Clark Peak, we realized that we still had quite a ways to go before reaching K2. The terrain became much flatter and we were able to get to the top of K2 in short order. Many parties opt to skip K2, arguing that the approach is more difficult; however, we did not want to miss out on the views from K2's summit.

To reach the top of K2, we broke off from the main trail just after it winds itself to the right of K2 and climbed a steep but solid dihedral to the summit. Capitol Peak looked ominous from K2, dwarfing it's surroundings.

Capitol Peak, Snowmass Mountain, and the Maroon Bells come into view from the summit of K2.

The down-climb from K2 was trickier than expected, and it forced us to backtrack a little bit to meet back up with the proper trail which winds around the side of K2. The terrain here is steep, loose, and slightly exposed.

Matt Payne downclimbing from K2.

Downclimbing K2 to reach the K2 - Capitol saddle.

I had read some reports of people dying near K2 in the past, and had always wondered how this was possible. Undoubtedly, there did not seem to be any obvious threats to one's life until we reach the backside of K2 and saw the impressive cliffs surrounding K2 and Capitol Peak. One false move and a climber could find themselves in a world of hurt.

A huge cliff greets climbers reaching the base of K2. Don't slip here...

The remainder of the climb was amazing. Capitol's ridge is a spine of crumbling boulders and jagged knives, a real tribute to the harsh and remote wilderness that the Elk Mountains call home.

Mike with K2 in background.

At this point we knew we were quickly approaching the fabled Knife Edge. The North Face of Capitol Peak shot up like an angry beast from the pits of hell. Ok - maybe not that freakish, but it was sincerely one of the more impressive rock faces I've seen. Either side of Capitol presented thousands of feet of exposure and immediately reminded you of the need for caution and careful routefinding. A fall anywhere from here on would almost certainly be fatal.

Capitol Peak's North Face - not a good place to fall.

Fortunately, the views from this part of the climb were unreal. The sun slowly rose above, providing light for the most incredible vistas of the Elk Mountains.

Snowmass Mountain, Capitol Peak's closest 14er neighbor.

We traversed across small ledges and quirky chimneys and found ourselves with what must have been the Knife Edge. K2's previously daunting surroundings now felt much easier.

Nearing Capitol Peak's Knife Edge

Looking behind: K2 and climbers reaching it's summit.

We finally reached the Knife Edge, gathered our wits about us, and gave it a go. The plan was for Mike to go first, and then to take video with his camera of us crossing. We watched the group before us, and they mostly employed a mix between the 'scoot on your ass' method and the 'hang from one side like monkey bars' method for crossing. We figured to follow suit, as both strategies seemed to appeal in their own ways.

Mike Vetter ready to cross the Knife Edge.

Mike made it across without a hitch and took this revealing photo while crossing, looking down one of the sides. It goes to show how freaky and exposed it really was.

I crossed second, making sure I had perfectly solid holds on the rock as I crossed. I employed a mix between scooting and hanging from a side and made it across fairly quickly. The technical nature of the crossing is not terribly difficult or physically demanding; however, the mental requirement to cross was great, knowing that one mistake meant death. Needless to say, don't get yourself too hyped up for the Knife Edge. It is dangerous but the risk is quite manageable with caution, careful movements and mental toughness. I did find myself breathing heavily at the end, mostly from the excitement of the whole thing.

Matt Payne starts the Knife Edge - photo by Mike Vetter.

Mike compiled some video of our crossings of the Knife Edge and placed them on YouTube:

After the Knife Edge, the going got much easier, mostly a Class 3 / 4 scramble across a fun boulder ridge. We reached somewhat of an impasse about 3/4 to the summit, having to choose to either continue straight ahead and around the left side of Capitol per the standard route's description, or to head straight up to the ridge, ascending Class 5.2 / 5.3 terrain. Being the adventurers we are, we chose the latter and went straight up. The route was solid, challenging, and enjoyable, with minimal exposure and many places to rest. All in all, I would recommend taking the upper ridge route if you feel comfortable with light Class 5 climbing and steeper terrain. Never did any of us feel unsafe on this section; although, Travis did mention later that it was somewhat spooky for him. Fortunately, Travis is an excellent athlete and managed to power himself up the steep section without any problems. We were very cognizant of the rockfall potential, taking special caution not to pull rocks down on people below us.

Once reaching the ridge again, we stopped to rest and recoup our strength for the final summit push.

Matt Payne with Capitol's summit block. Almost there.

From here, the summit push was quite fun, with Class 4 and low Class 5 moves required. We were quite pleased with our choice to go the high route, enjoying both the challenge and the solidness of the route. We watched several climbers take the lower route, a looser, chossier, and less enjoyable section of the mountain.

Mike and I took some video footage of this section:

We reached the summit at 10:15 AM as one of the first groups up. The views were outstanding and the company was superb. A group from Ft. Collins joined us on the summit, and conversation quickly went to skiing Capitol Peak. Being probably the hardest 14er to ski, theorized on the possible ski routes and I swapped stories and names of climbers we both knew of that had either skied it or attempted to, referencing Brian Kalet and Jordan White of 14ers.com fame.

The summit party. Travis tinkers with his cell phone while Matt converses with fellow climbers.

After refueling with Resees Peanut Butter Cups and Raisins, I went on a photo frenzy.

A 360⁰ view from the summit of Capitol Peak. Click for high resolution view.

A panormaic view of the Pierre Lakes, Snowmass Mountain, and the rest of the awesome Elk Mountains.

A panoramic photo looking north and west from Capitol Peak. The Snowmass - Capitol ridge strikes me as being quite impressive. 

A massive panoramic photo of the Snowmass Basin, K2, Maroon Bells, and Snowmass Mountain. Click for high resolution version (26 meg file). How many climbers can you count?

A zoomed in panoramic photo of the Maroon Bells and Pyramid Peak. Click for full resolution version.

A super zoomed in view of the Maroon Bells.

A zoomed in view of one of the Pierre Lakes.

Mike Vetter on the summit of Capitol Peak.

Matt Payne on the summit of Capitol Peak.

A panoramic view looking down at Capitol Lake, Mount Daly, and across Capitol's ridge to the Pierre Lakes and the rest of the Elk Mountains. Click for high resolution version.

Mike was able to capture some video from the summit as well:

With no threat of weather in any direction, we decided to hang out on the summit for about an hour, enjoying the views. We eventually headed down and chose to follow the standard route. The rock was nasty through this section of down-climbing, and required good concentration, footing tests (make sure the rock does not fall when you step on it), and patience. Most accidents occur on the way down, so we were vigilant and cautious. Travis was able to capture this perspective of the rock and exposure beneath us on the down-climb.

Travis plants his foot firmly on a ledge during the down-climb from the summit of Capitol Peak.

Matt Payne carefully down-climbs from Capitol Peak.

Matt Payne with one of the Pierre Lakes in background.

About halfway back to the Knife Edge, a group of climbers were coming up Capitol below us, without helmets. They asked us if this was the way to go and we responded that it was one of the ways up. It surprised me to see how oblivious they were that we were climbing above them on loose rock. I ordered my group to stop moving until they were in a safe location below us. It really is no wonder that more people do not perish on these mountains. Ironically and sadly enough, we later learned that a 20-year-old hiker died the day before on Maroon Peak from rockfall that had come from above him. Even though he was wearing a helmet, the rock that struck him had enough force to knock him loose from the mountain and caused him to fall to his death.  I strongly believe that if people took more caution and paid attention to their surroundings and used some common sense, there would be less deaths. If you need a good climbing helmet, check out this one.

We reached the Knife Edge at approximately 12 PM and crossed it in much the same fashion as before, except this time, I went first. I generously used the 'scoot on your butt' maneuver to get across.

Matt Payne crosses back over the Knife Edge on Capitol Peak, heading towards K2.

Mike captured yet another great shot from the Knife Edge, looking down at Capitol Lake:

The climb back down from K2 was fairly straight-forward but tiring. We were ready for some pizza at Beau Jo's Pizza, no doubt. We finally reached the snowfield again, and it was much softer this time, with rivers of slush flowing down it. It was somewhat scary, but I tested the footing and it felt great, so we crossed again.

Travis Arment crosses the snowfield beneath K2. Photo by Mike Vetter.

We made great time back to the Daly - Capitol saddle and I sprinted the last stretch to the saddle, anticipating the victorious beer that would be consumed once back to civilization.

Matt Payne runs the final section on the back side of the ridge between Capitol and Daly. Photo by Mike Vetter.

On the way down the hillside, Mike stopped to take some great shots of the wildflowers found on Capitol's northeast shoulder:

We made it back to camp at 2:15 PM and packed up. We refilled our water and headed out. Travis and I were motivated solely by the prospect of cold beer and fresh pizza.

I hope you enjoyed this trip report. We surely enjoyed the trip and I personally can't wait to join Mike and Travis for our next adventure.

There really is only one word that can aptly describe the Grenadier Range: incredible. This sub-range of Colorado's San Juan Mountains rests deep within the Weminuche Wilderness Area and sweeps up from the valley below in a gravity-defying statement of beauty, ruggedness and splendor. Sitting approximately 9 miles south-southeast of Silverton, Colorado, and 32 miles northeast of Durango, Colorado, the Grenadier Range cannot be missed. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this group of mountains should be among the places one should see before they die. Made mostly of quartzite, these mountains are the spine of the San Juan Mountains, and arguably, some of Colorado's most difficult to climb. In fact, Arrow Peak was once considered the hardest major mountain in Colorado to climb until a class 3 route was established on its northeast rib¹. Vestal Peak's "Wham Ridge," impressively seen from many vantage points in the San Juan Mountains, is considered by most to be a classic climb in Colorado. Lt. George Marshall of the U.S.G.S. 1876 Wheeler Survey reported on the Grenadier Range:

No where in Colorado can be found such steep slopes, such shapeless crags, such rocky and impassable ravines, such generally detestable characteristics and features as are here seen. The hard metamorphic rocks are shivered along their cleavage planes for hundreds of feet, leaving their odd pinnacles, there the likeness of the shattered outspread wings of some gigantic bird, and again of the grim grinning teeth of death.²

Additionally, from the summit of Mount Sneffels, Rhoda of the U.S.G.S. 1871 Hayden Survey reported:

The group of quartize peaks stood out as boldly as ever about thirty miles to the southeast. In fact, I may state here that we have never yet seen a group from any station (and we have viewed it from all sides) without feeling both deep respect and awe for their terrible ruggedness. The fact already stated, that the storm clouds seem to hover about them before starting on their meandering ways, only served to add to our other feelings of uneasiness.³

Given the incredible fanfare this group of mountains has received over the years by many visitors, I made sure to include it on my summer's climbing itinerary. Scheduling the trip would prove somewhat difficult since I was relying on the 5th class climbing expertise of one of my best friends, Jeremy Park. Jeremy was able to clear his calendar and join me from Seattle, Washington for this amazing backpacking adventure. Jeremy is a highly qualified trad climber who has spent many years climbing difficult routes in the rugged Cascade Mountains of Washington. For more on his adventures, see his profile on CascadeClimbers.com.

To start off, here is a break-down of relevant numbers from the trip:

Peaks summited:

Vestal Peak: 13,864 ft. (ranked 77th in Colorado)

Arrow Peak: 13,803 ft. (ranked 104th in Colorado)

Total elevation gain: 8,782 ft.

Total distance hiked: 25.12 miles

Total time hiking: Approx. 22 hours

Total photos taken: 582

Total wildlife sightings: 2 (marmots, mountain goats)

Total distance driven:  610 miles

Trip duration: 4 days, 16 hours

Day 1:

The rough plan was to leave Colorado Springs on Friday, July 9th, 2010 and return on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010. These plans were altered somewhat; however we did end up leaving at 8 AM from Colorado Springs on Friday and arrived at the Molas Pass trailhead at approximately 3 PM.

The long drive from Colorado Springs to Molas Pass

After arriving at Molas Pass, I became quite excited to see the Grenadiers for the first time. The range lived up to its name, striking both excitement and awe into me immediately.

The Grenadier Range as seen from Molas Lake.

One of the Grenadiers, Mount Garfield, really rises quite steeply from the valley below, and is rated 33rd on my list of "most impressive summits."

Mount Garfield rises high above (right of center)

Jeremy and I loaded our heavy packs (mine was 65 pounds) onto our backs and began hiking. We started down the Colorado Trail, which leads down 1,700 ft over 2.5 miles and several switchbacks (37 to be exact) to the Animas River and to the Durango & Silverton Railroad. Generally, most people take the train to this point to avoid the downclimb (and later upclimb); however, Jeremy and I chose to hike from Molas Pass to save money and to avoid being tied to the train schedule.

The full route map for the trip. Click to see a larger version.

Matt Payne heading down the Colorado Trail.

Before long, the river and railroad tracks became visible. Our route would eventually take us to the bottom, over the river, and up the valley to the left towards the steep looking mountains (the Grenadiers) that are nearly hidden left of center.

Looking down at the Animas River from the Colorado Trail

Once lower into the valley, Mount Garfield became more and more impressive, towering over the river like a midevil castle's guard.

Mount Garfield

Once we crossed the river over a very well-maintained bridge and over the railroad tracks, the trail leading up Elk Creek appeared and started us up into the Elk Park valley. This trail is very well-maintained, and there was even quite a bit of evidence that trail crews had been working on it this summer to fix some washed out sections. The trail is quite steep, but very manageable with a heavy pack. We followed this trail for nearly 2.9 miles until we reached a set of beaver ponds at 10,000 ft., our pre-determined trigger to head up into the Vestal Basin.

 

Vestal Peak towers above the Elk Creek valley and Vestal Basin.

Jeremy looking tired at the beaver ponds with Vestal Basin in the background.

After 3 hours of backpacking, we were determined to make Vestal Basin before nightfall. We headed south up Vestal Basin's trail - an unmaintained, but easy to follow trail which climbs quite steeply up towards Vestal and Arrow Peaks. Did I mention that this trail is steep? The trail gained 600 feet in 3/4 of a mile with large amounts of fallen trees and boulders to navigate around. In several other trip reports I've read, people have mentioned that the trail was difficult to find or follow; however, we did not find this to be the case at all.

After hiking another two hours into the basin for a total of 8.7 miles, our legs finally gave out at 10,620 ft shortly after nightfall. We found a cozy campsite near a small tributary of Vestal Creek and made our first meal of the trip - two packets of Zatarain's ready to serve rice and chicken. This was surprisingly good and filled with sodium (a nice thing to take in after a full day of backpacking). We decided to set the alarm for 4 AM and hit the sack around 11 PM. It was at this point that I realized that my Thermarest pad had somehow sprung a leak from the hike up and that I would be sleeping on hard ground. Yay!

Day 2:

4 AM came and went, and we finally crawled out of the tent around 8 AM. Both us were thankful for the extra rest and tore down camp and hit the trail at about 10 AM, heading for the upper sections of Vestal Basin.

Jeremy hikes up into Vestal Basin along Vestal Creek.

Great views of both Electric Peak and Arrow Peak were had while hiking up into the basin.

Electric Peak

Arrow Peak's steep northeast face, seen from the Vestal Basin trail.

After hiking a little over a mile and gaining 893 ft., we found an ideal campsite at the foot of Vestal and Arrow, at the end of a long clearning and in some trees next to Vestal Creek. Vestal Peak itself could be seen directly from camp, with it's "Wham Ridge" rising above us.

Vestal Peak's Wham Ridge

Since we were planning on climbing Wham Ridge, it was particularly exciting to see it close-up.

Vestal's Wham Ridge zoomed in from our campsite.

After setting up camp, I repaired my Thermarest using a repair kit that I always carry with my on backpacking trips. For once the extra weight paid off! We set-up camp just in time. Clouds had been forming since we had woken up and as typically happens in the San Juan Mountains, a thunderstorm decided to develop quickly above us around 12 PM. We crawled into our tents and napped through the storm, which subsided around 4 PM. We woke up, ate a few snacks, and finished setting up our campsite. At around 5 PM, after the clouds had completely cleared out, I somewhat jokingly told Jeremy that we should climb Arrow that evening. Jeremy said, "why not," and before we knew it, we were packing our day-packs for an ad hoc summit of one of Colorado's finest summits. We departed camp at 6:15 PM, headlamps and helmets equipped, and headed up a climber's trail right next to our campsite, which went straight up the head-wall of the lower area beneath Vestal and Arrow. This trail was also easy to follow, but ridiculously steep, rising 645 ft. in just .45 miles until it reached a plateau in between Arrow and Vestal. Arrow's classic ramp was easy to spot, and Vestal's Wham Ridge continued to blow my mind.

Arrow Peak

Vestal Peak

Vestal and Arrow Peaks as seen from the top of the headwall above our campsite.

Additionally, the Trinities were quite prominent just to the left of Vestal.The Trinities are the middle three mountains of the Grenadier Range, composed of West Trinity, Middle Trinity, and East Trinity.

The Trinities as seen from the base of Arrow and Vestal Peaks.

Matt Payne posing with Vestal Peak behind.

We headed up to the base of Arrow and began the climb up Arrow's prominent ramp. The ramp itself was nearly free of snow and consisted of easy class 3 climbing.

The base of Arrow Peak and the start of our route.

As we climbed, I could not help but constantly look left at the impressive nature of Vestal's Wham Ridge, which swept up as if it were carved out with a fine instrument.

The impressive profile of Vestal Peak's Wham Ridge.

The higher we were able to climb on Arrow, the more and more impressive Vestal became. I simply could not stop myself from gazing over at its sheer beauty, and eventually, Vestal Lake came into view as well.

A panoramic photo of Vestal's Wham Ridge.

Jeremy and I reached a junction in our route and made a decision to stay left and continue up a class 4 variation of Arrow. This decision was one of our best of the trip, as Arrow's upper ramp provides some of the most fun, yet least exposed, class 4 climbing I've done to date. For those that do not know, exposure is defined as "the condition of being on high vertical rock with full consciousness that nothing exists between you and the distant ground but thin air⁴."

The start of Arrow Peak's class 4 terrain

Following the higher ridge to the left also provided some great views of the Needle Range to the south, and Jagged Mountain, Windom Peak and Sunlight Peak came into view for the first time, Jagged's pinnacles rising up like upside-down stalagtites.

Jagged Mountain (left of center), Windom Peak and Sunlight Peak

Matt Payne with Vestal's insane Wham Ridge behind him.

A high resolution panoramic photo of Vestal's Wham Ridge.

Jeremy Park on Arrow Peak's class 4 ridge, just east of the traditional class 3 route

Jeremy Park navigating the class 4 terrain on Arrow

Jeremy took my camera and was able to take some photos of me negotiating some of the class 4 terrain. The climbing was fun, challenging, and quite rewarding. Exposure was minimal, and various holds were quite ubiquitous.

The sun was setting quickly, which was both exciting and troublesome, as we did not look forward to down-climbing Arrow in the dark, but I was really excited to see the sun set from 13,803 ft.

The sun setting on Vestal Basin.

After an exhilirating climb, Jeremy and I topped out on Arrow's summit at 8:15 PM, and enjoyed the sunset from the top. This was one of the most majestic and spiritually fulfilling moments of my life.

A 360⁰ view from the summit of Arrow Peak, with the sun setting over the San Juan Mountains.

The Needle Mountains across the Tenmile Creek and Noname Creek drainages from us were impressive, each living up to their namesake.

The Needle Mountains - from left to right: Jagged Mountain, Windom Peak, Sunlight Peak, Mount Eolus, Animas Mountain, Turret Peak and Pigeon Peak

Pigeon Peak was quite possibly one of the most impressive mountains I've ever seen, with its east face dropping off like the edge of table.

Pigeon Peak

Jeremy with Jagged Mountain directly behind him to the right

Jeremy with Vestal in Arrow's shadow to the left

A self-timer captures Matt and Jeremy on the summit of Arrow Peak

Rio Grande Pyramid and  The Window were looking pretty awesome in the late evening sun as well. Rio Grande Pyramid has really piqued my interest lately since I am going to climb it in August, 2010 with my dad (update - completed - see the Trip Report). It should be pretty amazing to look back towards Arrow and Vestal.

Rio Grande Pyramid and "Window Peak" as seen from Arrow's summit. The Window is the notch on the ridge just right of Rio Grande Pyramid.

The sun sets behind the San Juan Mountains. Check out that lake below!

Arrow Peak's north face and an airy fin connecting it with the true summit

Vestal Peak's Wham Ridge during sunset.

After spending just 20 minutes on the summit to enjoy the sunset, Jeremy and I departed Arrow's amazing summit via the standard class 3 trail, which was marked by several cairns heading down the steep face of Arrow. Before long, we adorned our headlamps and were in complete darkness, but not before we had successfully navigated below the more treacherous sections. The down-climb in the dark provided quite an interesting challenge. The ramp on Arrow was quite solid and easy to climb down, rarely requiring either of us to sit down on steeper sections. We could see other campers much higher in the basin above our camp with their headlamps on, watching us. I thought the climbing down would be difficult in the dark; however, the route on Arrow is so straightforward that I think it could even be up-climbed in near darkness if one were experienced and comfortable. We reached our campsite at approximately 9:15, just 3 hours after we had set-out to climb Arrow.

We cooked our dinner in the dark again, this time creating an amazing medley of re-hydrated black beans, jalapenos, green chilis, velveeta cheese, and tortillas. We planned to climb Vestal's Wham Ridge the next day, so we set the alarm for 5 AM again, and hit the sack at 12 AM, snoozing the night away.

Day 3:

We awoke on day 3 and quickly prepared for what we hoped to be an amazing climb. Having read about Wham Ridge over and over again the past several years, I had mentally hyped up the climb to be an epic adventure. A small group of three climbers headed up the trail shortly before us, which was somewhat concerning to both Jeremy and I as we did not want any rocks to fall down onto us during our ascent. We decided not to deviate from our plans since Jeremy felt confident that if we bumped into the other group we could find a route around them. We left camp and headed up the steep climber's trail again to Vestal's base. I carried the 60 meter rope, a nut key for taking out nuts from the rock, as well as my personal gear, and Jeremy carried the climbing rack (a full compliment of anchors, quickdraws, webbing, camalots, and nuts). The Columbine flowers on the climber's trail were outstanding.

A Columbine flower

We reached the base of Vestal and Arrow again and headed towards the start of Wham Ridge.

Vestal Peak in the morning sunlight

We stopped at the base of Wham Ridge and put on our climbing harnesses and climbing shoes. We decided that we would stash the rest of our gear under a large rock at this point. Jeremy went to take out the climbing gear from his backpack and opened to find... all of his food. Yes, that's right - his food bag and climbing bag are identical and he mistakenly grabbed his food bag instead of his climbing bag when we left camp. So, Jeremy needed to hike back to camp and then back up to the start of Wham Ridge before we could begin climbing. While we were both upset, I assured Jeremy that it would be fine and that I was not mad at him. He left for camp and I headed over to Vestal Lake to take some photographs.This turned out to be a good mishap as I was able to capture some of the most stunning photos of the trip.

Vestal Lake and West Trinity

Vestal Peak reflected in Vestal Lake

There was a small group of 4 men fishing quite successfully at the lake, and I stopped to talk to one of them. He was from Memphis Tennesee and explained that he had climbed Wham Ridge the day before without rope, and that he had only climbed one mountain prior to this. While this seemed rather dangerous to me, it did instill some confidence in my ability to complete the climb. He also said he saw us downclimbing Arrow the night before and that he was praying for us to make it down safely. Not being a religious person, I thanked him for the warm thoughts and headed off to take more photos.

Vestal Peak's Wham Ridge

I headed back to the rendezvous point and waited for Jeremy to return. It was not until 10:30 AM that Jeremy reappeared and reconvened with me. At this point, clouds had already formed and we were questioning if we should continue or not. We decided to keep going and keep an eye on the clouds. With a full compliment of climbing gear, we headed up Wham Ridge in our climbing shoes. I reached the last grassy ramp of Vestal and re-evaluated the weather. Jeremy asked me what I thought and I told him that my gut told me we should bail. We both agreed that heading back would be the best choice - safer to start earlier the next day than to get struck by lightning. I took some parting photos of both Vestal and Arrow and headed back down the steep slopes of Wham Ridge, which proved to be a quite painful experience in climbing shoes.

A view of Vestal from the turn-around point

Arrow Peak with stormy weather forming above

The somewhat loose fitting climbing shoes were quite painful on the downclimb, and caused some very painful blisters to appear on 5 of my 10 toes. This did not bode well for my chances of using climbing shoes on the actual climb. Jeremy and I changed back into our mountaineering boots, and stashed all of our climbing gear at the same large rock at the base of Vestal in a waterproof bag for the next day.

Jeremy stashes our climbing gear under this huge boulder beneath Vestal Peak

We went back down to camp and decided to take a nap. The decision to bail on Vestal proved to be a very good one, as the whole basin was riddled with rain and lightning for three hours. Fortunately, the group ahead of us had safely made it down from Vestal before the storms hit.

We got out up and cooked dinner - this time a carbohydrate-filled meal consisting of re-constituted mashed potatoes, country gravy, Spam, and cheddar cheese. While this sounds horrible - it was amazing! Go Spam! We set our alarms for 3:30 AM and crashed at a much more respectable time of 9 PM.

Day 4:

We woke up and made our way up to the base of Vestal to watch the sunrise from the final grassy ledge before the beginning of the more difficult climbing. Since my feet were completely mangled from the prior day's adventure, I decided to wear my La Sportiva Trango Evo Sport mountaineering boots for the ascent. With heavy socks on, I could barely feel my blisters. Watching the sunrise from the base of Wham Ridge was pretty awesome. The sun lit up the surrounding mountains and made for quite a peaceful start to an incredible climb.

Arrow Peak in alpenglow from the start of Vestal's Wham Ridge.

Vestal's Wham Ridge in alpenglow, with Jeremy resting at the base.

Jeremy watches the sunrise

I even took a short video of the sunrise:

Arrow Peak at sunrise.

A closer view of Wham Ridge - looks like fun!

Jeremy watches the sunrise over Vestal Lake

Jeremy warms up

Matt looking cold

Jeremy poses in front of Wham Ridge

Matt looks ready to begin Wham Ridge

We finally started up Wham Ridge, making our way quickly up the small ledges and cracks. The going was pretty easy and unexposed for awhile, with plenty of great hand and foot holds to be found.

Jeremy heads up the ledges

We continued up into some 4th class sections, with exposure and steepness increasing gradually as we climbed.

Jeremy climbs the lower Class 4 section of Vestal Peak

Before long, Rio Grande Pyramid and the Window appeared, looking really cool in the early light.

Our first view of the day of Rio Grande Pyramid and The Window

Wham Ridge continued to become more and more steep, decreasing my comfort level of being unroped.

Wham Ridge's profile

We reached a great stopping point with plenty of room at our feet for belaying, and prepped the rope and our gear for 5th class climbing. Let the fun begin! While I did the route in my La Sportiva EVO Mountaineering Boots, Jeremy did Wham Ridge in his Evolv Bandits. According to Jeremy, they were quite comfortable shoes and he felt like he probably could have gone without a rope (being that he is very experienced and the shoes made for great traction).

Jeremy prepares for our 1st pitch of Wham Ridge

Jeremy led the first pitch as I belayed from below, only placing two pieces of gear for protection on the way up - a camalot and a nut. Once Jeremy arrived safely at the next obvious stopping point above at about 55 meters up from me, he created an anchor and signaled me to begin climbing.

The first pitch

I easily ascended the first pitch, removing Jeremy's protection as I climbed. I reached the anchor and Jeremy prepped for the 2nd pitch. Meanwhile, I decided to take a few photos from this vantage, looking down.

Looking down Wham Ridge

Arrow Peak's profile from about 3/4 up on Vestal's Wham Ridge

We cruised up the 2nd pitch in quick order and set-up for one last pitch, which proved to be quite difficult in one section. I found myself at a point where there were no foot-holds and only one hand-hold - a large inset section holding a rusted cam. Having on mountaineering boots and not climbing shoes made the climb much more difficult than it needed to be, but I welcomed the challenge. The move required me to do a one-armed push-up with my right arm in the inset section and to reach up with my left arm to a hand-hold. Once in this position, I pulled myself up and placed my feet where my right hand was previously at. This was probably the crux of the entire route. It felt much harder than 5.4, but I suspect that was because I was wearing boots.

Matt on Wham Ridge

At this point, Jeremy and I both felt comfortable being unroped and headed up the class 4 / low class 5 remainder of the route. There was only one other section that was greatly exposed, which required us to do a really crazy move with about 1,000 ft. of exposure below us. The move was on a completely solid rock, so I felt comfortable enough to make a go at it without rope. This proved to be OK, as the move was totally solid, and fun to say the least.

The last section of Wham Ridge proved to be a very fun class 4 and 5 playground.

We finished up to the top of Vestal, and I celebrated. Since I had been dreaming of doing Wham Ridge for quite some time, this moment was especially exciting for me. I thanked Jeremy for leading the climb and began to go crazy with my camera.

As expected, the views from Vestal were outstanding. The Needle Range and the remainder of the Grenadier Range to the east were quite the sight!

A view of the Needle Range to the south of Vestal Peak.

A zoomed in view of Pigeon Peak

A zoomed in view of Jagged Mountain

A zoomed in view of Windom, Sunlight, and Sunlight Spire

A zoomed in view of Mount Eolus

A zoomed in panoramic of the Needle Range.

 

The La Plata Mountains seen in the distance to the southwest, including Hesperus Mountain

A panoramic photo looking west to north from Vestal Peak.

A fully zoomed in panoramic view looking down and east from Vestal Peak, with Vestal Lake below. Seen at far right are the Trinities, Storm King Peak, Mount Silex, and The Guardian.

Jeremy sits on the summit of Vestal Peak with Pigeon Peak behind him.

Matt and Jeremy are captured in this self-timer from the summit of Vestal Peak.

Matt looking proud on the summit of Vestal Peak.

I think I see my house from up here!

A panoramic photo of the Needle Range

A panoramic photo from Vestal Peak, looking north to south - with Basalm Lake between the Grenadiers and the Needle Mountains.

With more sky this time...

After a great time on the summit, we decided to descent via the "class 3" route of Vestal on the south side of the mountain. I put class 3 in quotations marks because this was the worst, chossiest, nastiest, most unpleasant class 3 climbing I've done in my life. The route was unmarked, with no trail, and no cairns until the bottom. We weaved in and out of gullies, unsuccessfully finding one dead-end after another. Finally, as we were nearing desperation, Jeremy found a narrow but climbable gully leading down to a large cairn below. The climbing on the backside of Vestal reminded me of Crestone Needle, except steeper and looser. Not a good combination! We finally reached the saddle between Arrow Peak and Vestal Peak and descended via the "Dues Collector Couloir." I've often wondered why it was called this, and realized it was because it was loose talus and dirt, not the most enjoyable stuff to climb up or down.

Jeremy in the "Dues Collector Coulior"

We reached the end of the coulior and headed towards the end of the base of the mountains where we would down climb back to our campsite.

A view of Vestal's Wham Ridge on the way down

Vestal Peak and some Columbine flowers

We reached our campsite about six hours after we had begun, still high from the amazing climb. We prepped our dinner - this time a hearty meal consisting of tortellini and pasta sauce with chicken. Yum.

A view of Vestal Peak from Vestal Creek near our campsite. It should be noted that the steep section between us and Vestal (right of center) was the trail up from our campsite.

The flowers were incredible in the afternoon sun, so I took some time to photograph them after dinner.

A purple flower in front of Vestal Peak

Lower Vestal Basin, where we were camped

We hit the sack around 10 PM, and set the alarm for 5 AM, tentatively planning to do the Trinity Traverse the next morning.

Day 5

We awoke around 6 AM, seeing that the clouds had already formed in the basin. We opted to cancel the Trinity Traverse and head back to the car. We packed up and left camp around 11 AM, making our way back down the steep trail and to the beaver ponds. The view from the beaver pond was incredible as ever.

Vestal Peak and Arrow Peak are reflected in a beaver pond

We cruised back down the Colorado Trail, meeting up with the train around 2:30 PM.

The Durango & Silverton Narrowgauge Railroad

We reluctantly trudged back up the 1,700 feet to our car in a matter of 2 hours and drove into Silverton, where we dined on Elk Burgers and French fries.  The drive home was uneventul yet completely satisfying.

Vestal marked the 60th mountain of the highest 100 in Colorado for me. 40 to go!

References:

1. The San Juan Mountains - A Climbing and Hiking Guide. Robert F. Rosebrough

2. Wheeler, Annual Report of the Chief Engineers for 1876, Appendix JJ, p. 101

3. Rhoda, Summits to Reach, p. 75

4. http://climb.mountainzone.com/glossary_a_l.html