Displaying items by tag: Tabeguache Peak

If you've followed any of my other trip reports this year or last year, you'd know that Tabeguache Peak is officially my nemesis. After one failed attempt last year (2009) due to weather, another failed attempt this May due to exhaustion after summiting Shavano, and then a 3rd failed attempt in September due to trying to knock off too many 13ers in one day, I felt I needed to return to conquer this beast of a mountain. Tabeguache is not a technically challenging 14er, or even inaccessible due to distance or other factors, so why has it given me and tons of other hikers problems? Quite simply, the standard route is a really long day that I'd not been in shape to do in past attempts, and the alternate routes are either "off-limits" or remote. After reading up about the Jennings Creek approach thanks to my friend Regina, who had summited Tabeguache eariler this year via Jennings Creek and thanks to my friend Terry who accomplished the same just a couple weeks ago, I felt that it was a good approach and that I had a high likelihood of success. Additionally, I had conferred with Aaron Johnson last year on Summitpost that the route was viable. The Jennings Creek trailhead was closed in 2002 by the Forest Service because the upper portions of the trail had major erosion and it was becoming quite an eyesore with no solution in sight. Fortunately, however, the trail leading to the Jennings Creek drainage is not closed off for those wanting to gain access to other portions of the area, such as the west ridge of Tabeguache. Please note that the route I used was not on the closed trail and that it is important for hikers to stay off of that route due to the damage caused on the mountain.

Having been instructed wisely by my wife to find a hiking partner for this November hike, I dialed-up a fellow 100summits.com member, Curt Kennedy to see if he wanted to go. It was a last minute invitation, but Curt was game. We agreed on the route and plan, and he drove down from Denver to pick me up early on Sunday morning for our climb. After a quick drive over Highway 24, down Highway 285 to Highway 50 West, we turned off on Chaffee County Road 240 and hit the trailhead after approximately 7.45 miles. The trailhead can be really hard to spot - the exact coordinates are: 38.60070^o N and 106.27929^o W. We arrived at the trailhead around 8:30 AM and started hiking at around 9:00 AM, which was a little late for my typical taste, but I felt we would be in good shape.

Curt Kennedy preps for a long day of hiking.

Here are some meaningful metrics from our adventure:

Total elevation gain: 3,533 ft.

Total distance hiked: 7.14 miles

Total time hiking: Approximately 10 hours

Total wildlife sightings: 1 (Mountain Goat)

Our planned route would take us up the trail and into the Jennings Creek valley, where we would follow the drainage up to the saddle between Carbonate Mountain and Tabeguache Peak. From there, we would ascend the ridge up to the first false summit at 13,936 ft., and then over to the summit of Tabeguache.

After hiking only a short distance, we noticed that already a storm was starting to build to the west. Since the weather forecast was only 10% chance of precipitation, I was not concerned that it would prevent us from accomplishing our goal. Regardless, the storm did pass through briefly and drop trace amounts of snow, which was a very peaceful yet exciting experience to have winter knocking on the door.

A storm moves in to the west of Jennings Creek. Photo by Curt Kennedy.

The skies darkened as the storm moved in on us early in the day.

From here on out, the wind became a factor, blowing steadily throughout the day at speeds varying between 10 and 30 or 40 MPH.

After a short hike up into the basin, the trail turned east to head up the closed restoration area and we continued straight north towards the top of the Jennings Creek valley. Both Curt and I greatly enjoy hiking off-route, due to the added challenge and the unexplainable feeling of excitement you get when conducting exploration.

Curt hikes up the basin.

The basin itself is not very challenging or difficult. There was a faint, relatively easy trail leading up the valley. We had seen boot prints in the snow periodically, most likely from the group Terry was in just the previous weekend. Speaking of snow, both Curt and I were prepared with gaiters; however, we never encountered much more than a few inches the entire day. The south-facing valley and ridges fared well over the past few weeks, granting us with bare ground on much of the terrain we would cross.

Looking back down the Jennings Creek valley.

The valley itself is littered with ancient-looking trees, placed in almost guardian-like poses throughout the hike up into the basin.The views of Taylor Mountain were ubiquitous while hiking up the basin, as evidenced by the above photo and the one below, which demonstrates the elderly presence of the trees in the valley.

Tundra grass grows on this ledge which rested in front of our view of Taylor Mountain - photo by Curt Kennedy

Our pace up the valley was steady - not too fast, not too slow. We took minimal breaks and enjoyed the amazing weather.

Matt Payne in the Jennings Creek basin - photo by Curt Kennedy

Before long, we gained our first views of Carbonate Mountain, located just west of Tabeguache Peak. I had been on the summit of Carbonate Mountain just a couple months ago, which was somewhat frustrating being that close to Tabeguache and not having the energy to reach it.

Carbonate Mountain.

Curt surveys the valley.

After taking a short break near the base of the ridge between Carbonate and Tabeguache, we quickly gained the ridge and began our grueling ascent up the steep and long west ridge of Tabeguache.

Tabeguache's west ridge.

Views from the ridge were spectacular. The Jennings Creek basin was littered with small snow drifts everywhere, making for a very interesting pattern as viewed from above on the ridge.

Jennings Creek valley. Photo by Curt Kennedy

Additionally, the view of Antero was great, which revealed that there was very little snow in this portion of the state.

Antero as seen from the Tabeguache - Carbonate ridge.

Curt plowed through the light snow leading up the ridge-line.

Once we gained elevation, the view back to Carbonate was outstanding. The ridge heading up Carbonate should probably not be under-estimated due to it's steepness and ability to hold snow, as evidence by the following photo.

Carbonate's east ridge.

Eventually, views of Cyclone and Grizzly were available, which was an interesting perspective since I had climbed them earlier in the year.

After reaching the first false summit of Tabeguache, the rest of the climb came into view and put a damper on our excitement. Tabeguache was still quite a long distance away from where we stood.

Tabeguache as seen from point 13,936ft.

Curt Kennedy is seen at left in this large panoramic photo taken from point 13,936ft.

This vantage also offered excellent views of both Taylor Mountain and Mount Aetna, two of the most southern summits in the Sawatch range.

I headed up towards Tabeguache at a brisk pace. For some reason, when I'm close to the summit of a mountain, my body shifts into high gear and I'm able to tap into an unknown energy source. It seemed that Curt was holding back and throughout my ascent to Tabeguache, I looked back to see that Curt was OK. Soon, I realized that Curt had stopped his ascent for some reason and that he was signaling me to continue without him. The terrain on the final two summit sections of Tabeguache were quite challenging, much to my satisfaction and surprise. By going up and over the top of every obstacle, I found myself completing class 3 moves to reach the summit of Tabeguache. It was a nice additional challenge that I somehow knew my nemesis would find a way to provide. I believe that people should take caution on this route due to this final section. While it was well within my comfort zone, I could see someone signing up to climb Tabeguache with the expectation of an easy walk-up, only to find themselves doing some class 3 moves outside of their comfort zone or skill level.

Reaching the summit of Tabeguache was very satisfying. Having had my previous attempts foiled, I was quite elated to finally put an end to this mountain's curse on me. Conversely, I was a little disappointed in how close Shavano appeared to be from this vantage point. Nothing at all what I had remembered when viewing Tabeguache from Shavano's summit back in May.

Shavano and the Sangre de Cristo range in the distance.

I set-up the self-timer to take the obligatory summit shot, took a few photos to later create a pano with, ate some light food, and headed back over to see what Curt's hold-up was.

Matt Payne poses in this self-timer on Tabeguache Peak.

A 360 degree pano from the summit of Tabeguache Peak

Looking west and north from Tabeguache.

I quickly made it back over to Curt, who was waiting for me on the false summit at 13,936 ft. He explained that he had developed a leg cramp on the way over to Tabeguache and was glad that I understood that he was not wanting me to wait for him on top. Unfortunately, his leg cramp was quite severe, and it greatly reduced his mobility and usage of his left leg. Our descent speed would be greatly reduced by his injury. We carefully climbed back the same route we had climbed up, being careful not to disrupt Curt's leg too much. When we reached the saddle between Tabeguache and Carbonate, the sun was already down and the light in the area was getting dimmer and dimmer by the minute. Fortunately, we both had head lamps packed and plenty of warm clothing. By the time we reached the trees at the lower half of the basin, we were in complete darkness. We were quite careful to select our route and ensure that we did not miss the trail. After much searching and good teamwork, Curt and I were able to find the trail heading back down to the trailhead. Due to our hike in the dark, I am sure that this trip will go down in memory as one of the more exciting and enjoyable ones I've had.

Earlier this year I had made plans to climb Mount Wilson, Wilson Peak, and El Diente with my dad; however, plans quickly changed through the summer as Ray painfully realized that he did not have the flexibility, strength, nor desire to conquer those mountains. We decided instead to take a camping trip with my son, Quinn, up to the southern Sawatch range and I would figure out alternative climbing options later.

Being that one of the best months to climb mountains in Colorado is September, I wanted to get in as much hiking time as possible to soak in the fall colors. I chose the far southern Sawatch range to begin my quest for great fall color photos and hoped to conquer my personal nemesis, Tabeguache Peak, as a bonus. Due to it's location, Tabeguache is generally climbed in conjunction with Mount Shavano - which I've already climbed twice in two years due to my quest for Tabegauche's summit. For this trip, I'd planned to hit Tabeguache from the north, while bagging Grizzly Mountain, Cyclone Mountain, and Carbonate Mountain; however, upon further inspection of the TOPO map for the area (St. Elmo Quadrangle), I discovered that there were several other 13ers right near where we were planning to camp, all of which were connected by long ridges, and that it would be a shame not to climb them while we were in the area. My plans quickly changed and I added Boulder Mountain and Mount Mamma to my itinerary.

Trip Statistics:

Summits reached:

Boulder Mountain: 13,528 ft. (ranked 236 in Colorado)

Mount Mamma: 13,646 ft.(ranked 173 in Colorado)

Grizzly Mountain: 13,708 ft. (ranked 142 in Colorado)

"Lo Carb": 13,591 ft. (unranked)

Cyclone Mountain: 13,596 ft. (ranked 192 in Colorado)

Carbonate Mountain: 13,663 ft. (ranked 165 in Colorado)

Total elevation gain: 4,883 ft.

Total prominence in feet: 2,723 ft.

Total distance hiked: 11.41 miles

Total time hiking: 10 hours, 30 minutes

Total photos taken: 592

Total wildlife sightings: 1 (Mountain Goat)

Collegiate Peaks - located in the Sawatch Range, including Mount Antero left of center, Mount Princeton at center and Mount Yale at far right.

On Saturday, September 18, 2010, my dad, my son, and I loaded into my Jeep Grand Cherokee and headed for Baldwin Gulch. To get there, we traveled to Highway 285 via Highway 24 and drove south from Buena Vista / Johnson's Corner to Chaffee County Road 162, heading west towards Mount Princeton & St. Elmo. After 12.5 miles, we took a left (south) on Chaffee County Road 277 (Mount Antero / Baldwin Gulch Road).

The aspen changing colors in Baldwin Gulch.

This is a 4WD road and put my Jeep to the test. In fact, when I purchased this Jeep earlier this year, I had this road in mind as a good barometer for how much clearance etc. I wanted to have. The road is fairly rough in spots, and I knew that after the road splits towards Baldwin Lake, it becomes even rougher. Sure enough, after passing the turn-off for County Road 278 at Baldwin Creek and staying right, the road became fairly crazy. If you don't have good clearance, this would be a great place to stop.

We found a great campsite roughly 4.3 miles up the road (1.7 miles from the Baldwin Creek turn-off) near a large boulder field near the smaller lakes below the main Baldwin Lake. We set-up camp and enjoyed the cool yet pleasant fall weather. Speaking of weather, the forecast for the weekend was ideal for hiking - no rain, no storms, no wind. I took a small hike around the area to enjoy the fall colors. I was very impressed by the golds, yellows, reds, and browns of the vegetation - it certainly made for quite the view, and complimented the diverse colors of the mined rock on the mountainsides.

Antero Peak is reflected with vibrant blue colors.

Cronin Peak and lower Baldwin Lake.

Cronin Peak and lower Baldwin Lake.

Baldwin Creek.

The moon was nearly full and much to my surprise, there were great views of the moon rising above Cronin Peak in the early evening.

Cronin Peak with the moon rising above it, reflected in the water.

Cronin Peak with the moon rising above it, reflected in the water (lighter this time).

After enjoying a large campfire and roasting marshmellows with my son, we all went to bed. I set my alarm for 4 AM so that I would have a full day for my planned epic hike:

The route map for Boulder Mountain, Mount Mamma, Grizzly Mountain, "Lo Carb," Cyclone Mountain and Carbonate Mountain.

Elevation profile for Boulder Mountain, Mount Mamma, Grizzly Mountain, "Lo Carb," Cyclone Mountain and Carbonate Mountain.The first 1/2 mile was pure bushwhacking scree hell.

I left camp at 4:30 AM and bushwhacked straight up the side of the ridge of Boulder Mountain. I stumbled across an abandoned mine on the way up and found this part of the hike to be the worst part of the day. As you can see above, the first 1/2 mile of the hike was absolutely brutal - I gained 1,400 ft in the first 1/2 mile on loose scree, boulders and talus. It was the kind of rock where you took one step forward and then slid backwards half a step. It took me only an hour to reach the ridge, where I was greeted by strong, cold wind and pure darkness. The stars were amazing though, and the sun was just beginning to provide the first glimpse of light on the eastern horizon, left of Antero. Looking north, I could see the vague outlines of Boulder Mountain, which seemed to be pretty far away in the darkness. Through the cold wind, I pushed my way up the summit ridge of Boulder Mountain, and reached the summit at 6 AM, a mere 1.5 hours after I began my adventure. The summit had a very awesome looking cairn at the top, which provided nice contrast with the light of the rising sun.

If you've never experienced the sunrise from the top of a mountain before, it should be on your bucket list. This marks the third time I've been able to witness the sunrise from 13,000 ft+ and it never gets old. The sunrise provided excellent outlines of Mount Antero, Mount White, Tabeguache Peak, and Mount Shavano to my east. Additionally, as the sunrise continued to increase the amount of light, it became clear that there were incredible views of gold and red aspen across the valley along the ridgeline for Mount Princeton to the north. It was quite stunning to see all of the colors emerge from the darkness as the sun rose above the horizon.

The sunrise illuminates the sky, revealing Mount Princeton (left) and Mount Antero (right).

The sunrises behind Mount Antero.

The changing aspen are visible from the summit of Boulder Mountain.

Matt Payne on the summit of Boulder Mountain - it was really windy!

Aspen change colors on the slopes of Mount Princeton and it's neighbors.

After enjoying the sunrise, I started to head back down the ridge of Boulder Mountain to the south. As I traveled along the ridge, the sunrise lit up skyline to my right (west) across the slopes of Mount Mamma and to the north, illuminating groves of aspen trees. It was nothing short of spectacular.

Grizzly Mountain in the far distance...

Mount Mamma is lit up by alpenglow.

Aspen are further revealed by the rising sun across from Mount Mamma's north ridge.

As I approached the ridge between Mount Mamma and Boulder Mountain, the full length of my next summit revealed itself in quite an overwhelming way. The distance between the two peaks seemed quite vast; however, I was so entranced by the surrounding views that any doubts I had about going onwards were destroyed.

At center - Cronin Peak. In the far distance just right and behind Cronin were the final two mountains I would end up climbing - Cyclone and Carbonate. The ridge to Mount Mamma is quite long from Boulder Mountain.

The lower Baldwin Lakes were right below me on the saddle between Mamma and Boulder.

Baldwin Lake pools reflect parts of "Lo Carb" to the South from the saddle between Mount Mamma and Boulder Mountain.

About halfway across to Mamma, it still felt like I had a long way to go...

Mount Mamma was quite a long haul from Boulder Mountain...

At 7:30 AM I finally reached the summit of Mount Mamma, just three short hours from the start of my trip. My legs were feeling extra spicy!

Matt Payne on the summit of Mount Mamma - with insane aspen in the background.

A panoramic landscape looking south to north from the summit of Mount Mamma.

Mount Princeton seen at far right among changing aspen, as seen from the summit of Mount Mamma.

A 360 degree panoramic landscape from the summit of Mount Mamma.

Huge groves of aspen are seen to the north and west of Mount Mamma.

A zoomed-in panoramic landscape of aspen trees west and north of Mount Mamma.

A panoramic photo looking west from Mount Mamma.

After taking some time to rest on Mount Mamma, I peered over to my next objective: Grizzly Mountain. Grizzly Mountain would be the highest mountain for me to summit this day, and it was not easy.

The terrain on the ridge from Mount Mamma to Grizzly Mountain is steep and rugged, without a trail. The rocks were looser and slightly more dangerous on this section of the route, so I was careful to choose my foot placements.

After another hour of hiking, I reached the saddle between Mamma and Grizzly and took time to appreciate the sheer northern face of Grizzly that stood before me. At this point, the ridge became quite narrow, and it was quite fun having nothing but sheer drop to my left and incredible views of Grizzly Gulch to my right. Grizzly Gulch contains Grizzly Lake and some of the most photogenic and pristine looking wetlands I've seen.

Grizzly Mountain's north face is quite impressive.

Grizzly Gulch seen from the saddle of Grizzly Mountain and Mount Mamma.

As I approached the summit of Grizzly Mountain, I could really gain some perspective on the hike I had completed so far. It was certainly impressive seeing the distance I had traveled thus far:

Additionally, I was able to get a great view of the entire route for the day, from start to finish. I had traveled a great distance already, but could see that I had a long way to go yet...

A view of Baldwin Gulch, including Baldwin Lake, Boulder Mountain, Mount Mamma, Cronin Peak, Antero Peak, Mount White, Cyclone Peak and Carbonate Peak.

The entire route as seen from Grizzly Mountain.

I finally reached the summit of Grizzly Mountain at 10 AM and dove into my pack for some much needed food. The views from Grizzly were great, but I could see that I still had quite a lot of ground to cover if I were to complete my goals.

Matt Payne on the summit of Grizzly Mountain, with Cyclone Creek Basin in the background.

Cyclone Creek Basin, south of Grizzly Mountain. Taylor Mountain in the foreground with Mount Ouray in the distance.

A 360 degree pano from the summit of Grizzly Mountain.

Knowing that I had a long day in front of me still, I departed Grizzly Mountain's summit promptly and made my way over towards saddle of "Lo Carb" and Grizzly. From afar, the terrain between Grizzly and "Lo Carb" seemed rather intimidating, and I was a little concerned with what I would find once I began climbing to the top of ridge at the end of the ridge-line.

Steeper terrain greeted me at the saddle between Grizzly Mountain and "Lo Carb."

The terrain indeed proved to be challenging, but quite fun. I would rate the tough section of this climb low Class 4 or high Class 3.

At this point, Boulder Mountain seemed like a completely different trip - it was so far away!

After reaching the false summit of "Lo Carb," which is basically the high point between Lo Carb and Cronin Peak, I was able to get a full grasp of the distance I had traveled. It continued to amaze me.

Grizzly Mountain (left), Mount Mamma (center), Boulder Mountain (right of center) and Cronin Peak (far right).

I began the long hike towards Lo Carb, Cyclone Mountain and Carbonate Mountain. Tabeguache was still a long way away, which pretty much sealed the deal for me - I would be coming back for Tab a 3rd time!

I don't know what came over me at this juncture of the trip, but I just remember being overcome with positive feelings and I remember saying to myself, "Man - THIS is so awesome!" I think the combination of solitude, great weather, awesome views, and the sustained time above 13,000 ft. had something to do with it.

Cyclone and Carbonate are really gentle peaks nestled at the top of Brown's Creek Basin, which divides Mount Antero and Mount White from Tabeguache Peak.

Cyclone Mountain and Carbonate Mountain.

One detraction from the view was the large network of roads that connects Mount White and Mount Antero. As many know, these mountains are rather famous for gemstone mining, so a lot of people probably make a living from these roads' existence. With that being said, it seems like there are too many roads up there and it is an eyesore for sure.

Mount Princeton, Cronin Peak, Mount Antero, Mount White and Tabeguache Peak as seen from the saddle of "Lo Carb" and Cyclone Mountain.

Reaching the summit of Cyclone was somewhat of a treat because the summit register there had listings from all the way back to 1349. Of particular note, I saw an entry there from the famed Bob Martin, of Martin and Garratt - Colorado's High Thirteeners, which is one of my favorite mountain books. One more note about Bob Martin - he's probably climbed every mountain in Colorado over 10,000 ft., not an easy task to complete! In fact, at the date of this report, he's climbed 2,563 mountains in Colorado... as compared to my 91 (at the date of this report) and some people think I'm obsessed! :-) My take on it - impressive dedication!

Bob Martin sighting...

From the top of Cyclone, I was able to get a really nice zoom-in pano of Cyclone Gulch and the mountains across the valley. In case you're wondering what that means - I take several photos where I've zoomed-in as far as I can with my camera, and I've combined them. The result is that you are able to see a great deal of detail in the photo. Individual trees can be made out easily. Of course to see this, you need to see the full resolution version of the photo. Let me know if you'd like to!

Cyclone Gulch seen at high resolution. Carbonate Mountain at far left with Taylor Mountain and Mount Aetna in the valley over above the groves of changing aspen trees.

At this stage, my legs were definitely getting tired. I strolled on over to the summit of Carbonate Mountain, and after seeing the huge drop in elevation between Carbonate and Tabeguache, I made an official declaration that Tab would just have to wait for another day.

Matt Payne on the summit of Carbonate Mountain.

Taylor Mountain and Mount Aetna rise above a forest of colorful aspen tree and North Fork Reservoir.

While it was somewhat of a hazy day, I could still see aspen changing in every valley that I could see with the naked eye.

Having summited 6 mountains in one day, 5 of which being ranked 13ers, I felt that my day was a huge success and that I was ready to return to camp for some awesome burgers. I made my way back over Cyclone Mountain and Lo Carb, down to the saddle between Lo Carb and Cronin, and down to Baldwin Lake.

Baldwin Lake.

Once I reached our campsite, it was only 3 PM. Quinn was happy to see me, and many burgers were happily consumed!

"Welcome back dad!"