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Sunday, August 2, 2009

North Ridge 4th Class Zen: Kit Carson Peak, Kat Carson Peak, Kitty Kat Carson Peak, Challenger Point


Peaks: Kit Carson Peak - 14,165 feet
Kat Carson - 13,980 feet
"Kitty Kat Carson" - 13,980 feet
Challenger Point - 14,081 feet
I had in mind that I wanted to Climb Kit Carson and Challenger this weekend after doing the Crestone Traverse and Humboldt a few weeks ago. Steve had out a post on climbing connection for any takers on the N. Ridge route of Kit Carson. I hadn't thought of that way eventually but with a little contemplation, I decided I was ready for the Challenge. My friend "ImNotHeySean" (Sean), agreed to join up after missing out on the Crestones and I told Steve that we would meet him and a guy from Saguache County Search and Rescue, Mike, at the base of Willow lake at 5 AM on Sunday with plans for Kit Carson, Kat Carson/Columbia Pt, Kitty Kat Carson, and Challenger Point.
Leaving Colorado Springs after 4PM on Saturday, we decided to stop in BV for some dinner at Pancho's. I have frequented this place this season and have always been pleased with the beaf and bean combo burrito mondo'ed with salsa. It never fails to hit the spot.
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At around 8PM, we arrived at the trail head. I would like to clarify that when they say "high clearance," the road is only 2 miles from the pavement of Crestone and could be driven over half of that with a Honda Civic. A CR-V could make the other half all of the way to the TH without any problems. We readied our gear, had a couple of cold brews and set off down the trail at about 8:30.
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There was a sign just after the start of the trail and this was Sean's reaction,
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Shortly after we passed a larger group of people who pad pack goats. I wish I had a picture. Their goats were carrying about 4X what my dog usually does. Half an hour later we lost the sun
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At about the same time, I realized that the moon was almost full and was on the rise. As our eyes adjusted to the dark, we realized how bright the moon was. We ended up hiking all of the way to the largest river crossing under the headwall before the valley below Willow lake (It seemed like about 3/4ths of the way).
After crossing that last larger river, we donned our headlamps and continued on up the headwall. There was a tent literally right on the left side of the trail. It looked like a really crappy spot! We made it to the "300' away from the lakes" sign at about 1130. This made our hike about 3 hours. We did not hike too hard but did not stop either. After being surprised by the amount of tents in that valley, we began to look for a spot. It seemed like everywhere we picked had someone else's bear bag hanging over it. Eventually, we settled with a spot right at the start of "tent valley." It was actually hidden from the trail a bit and ended up being a great spot. We set up the tent, had a couple of snacks, set the alarm for 4:25 and were asleep by midnight.
A few short hours later we awoke and readied ourselves. We hiked up to the edge of where the trail comes near the lake and Steve and a guy named Chris from Denver was there waiting. Less than a minute later Mike arrived and we all introduced ourselves and took off. We were headed for the "truck sized boulders." Because you can find pictures of that part of the route everywhere, I will not post one of the boulders. We did a little class 3 scrambling through the boulders and then came to a wall. It was either continue around on the talus or begin the class 4 at this point. We all drank some water, dropped some layers, and I put on my rock shoes. After climbing up about 20', the options were do a little lower class 5 up some cracks or skirt more left around the face. 2 of the guys skirted left, Mike climbed over the middle and Sean and I found a nice ladder up a crack. The start of the face just to the bottom right of the Outward Bound Coliour we all decided to flank each other so as not to kick any rocks on each other. Here is Sean…
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To keep it easier, you either have to stay left for a way around a steeper portion or head right over to the ridge. Hearing stories on other's beta, I heard it is possible to stay left too long and come into some uncomfortable terrain. Sean and I stayed left of the ridge about 50 meters and quickly got into some class 5. The holds were sort of running out so we skirted over to the ridge that was beautiful easier class 4.
Another good one of Sean…
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And one of me having a good time…
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I was happy, but every hold must be taken seriously. Mike reminded us before the hike that they hauled a body out off that route last year. I was glad he reminded us of the seriousness of the route. Every hold I would grab, shake, and pull on before putting my weight on it. For the most part, the rock was awesome, but all it takes is one loose hold. Every once in a while a few rocks would come apart that looked fully attached.
For as sustained as the class 4 was said to be, there were places every 100-200' to stop and catch a breath before the next pitch. You can see all of these notches in later pictures. Nearing the top, Sean snapped this one of the Sand dunes and the Blanca group.
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He also got these flowers, who figured you could see that at over 14000
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Soon after, we arrived at the summit. Everyone took their turn on the Flask with whiskey in celebration of the Awesome route. It was only 7:30 and we were the first ones on the summit of Kit Carson for the day.
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On the way up, we saw others on the summit of challenger who were making their way over. They made Kit Carson before we took off. They said they got some pics of us on the ridge and would get them to us through this TR. I am looking forward to those!
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Before 8 with great weather we headed over to Kat Carson/Columbia Pt. It was a class 3 scramble for the most part down the top of the ridge and to the saddle between the two mountains. I got this photo of Sean looking out over a cliff with his "Man" face.
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There was a cool gap to step over so I decided to hang off the rocks for my new Avatar photo.
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Looking down into the next couloir there were some huge boulders wedged between the rocks making a window to below. Sean posed nearby for a pic.
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Headed up Kat Carson, Mike climbed the infamous Shark Fin
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I wish I had a picture of it's sharkiness.
After a quck 3+ scramble, we made the top of Kat Carson. I would say there is only one 25' section of harder class 4 in the whole way up and was actually able to face down and out and not in on the down climb of it. I always face in when it gets too tough so that tells you that it is definitely doable.
Looking over to kitty kat
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From Kitty Kat looking out, I labeled everything else in the picture,
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Sean and I decided to do some hand stands on the summit of kitty kat

Meeeoooowwww
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Once back on Kat Carson we searched for the Columbia shuttle plaque that MattPayne11 couldn't find last week. 5 of us searching and the thing is not there. We signed the summit log as well. Someone either stole the whole rock or sent it down the hill. From here Mike setoff for Obstruction point to the South and planned on dropping back into our valley farther around the cirque.
Here is the remaining route back over the avenue below Kit Carson…
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I'm not really going to show any pics of the Ave because they are all over the web already. The thing is almost 10' wide and the exposure is not as bad as it looks. At the top of the Ave, Sean said he was about exhausted. Chris took off to climb this beautiful fin. Before getting on top, he realized the exposure and posed here for a pic. He is much braver than I.
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Sean bolted Challenger Pt. While Chris and Steve trailed behind me. As soon as I began up Challenger Pt, I finally felt some fatigue and Chris, the animal, blew by me and almost caught Sean before the top. I made it with Steve trailing behind me. By this time, I think it was about 1130 and the weather was still looking great. Our route was awesome because we missed all of the other hikers almost in one fashion or another. While we climbed KC, they did Challenger Pt, While we did Kat, and Kitty, they did Kit and we snuck under neath them on the way to challenger. It was great! I got this pic of Sean Enjoying the San Luis Valley nearly 6,000' to go.
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After some whisky, we began our descent down Challenger point. You just follow the ridge until you hit a trail and follow it down through the nasty scree. I felt sorry for anyone who has to come up that. It was bringing back memories of Mt. Columbia in the sawatch. Yuck! We passed hikers who were still headed up after 1:30 as we continued our meandering descent. I didn't say a word to them, but you can't sleep in and then just decide to summit a 14er. One guy said he was trying to make both summits still and was not going to let anything stop him to make 50. He was talking like a new climber was on their first few peaks. I don't know how anyone with that many peaks could have such a mindset. Every man is entitled to his own opinion but that is just asking for search and rescue to come recover your corpse. The weather held for a couple of hours so I'm sure they made it. I never want to become complacent like this in the mountains. So far I learn lessons every time out and tighten up everything a bit and adjust accordingly. I put the notches on my belt as learning experiences. Back to the story…
Here is a pic of the nasty scree
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Here is looking back up our route down (the standard Challenger route). This snow is what the guy fell down a few weeks ago.
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Here is a look back at our route up Kit Carson. Right up the ridge.
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We made it back down to look at the waterfall and then pump some clean water from above. From there Mike caught back up with us and we all set back for camp. Sean decided to take a while crossing over this log
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And the infamous shot of Willow Lake
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And our campsite
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While resting the notorious big horns decided to pay us a visit. We were so quiet that they just walked right on through. I was slow to get the camera so as not to spook them. After a while, Sean grabbed it and followed them around snapping a few pics. One was kind of ugly, but this one was near perfect. I wish there was a better shot of him.
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We packed up camp and left for the car at 3:25.
Here is a typical shot of what you might expect up there
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And lastly Sean crossing a stream up higher before dropping down to the headwall.
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It took us a little over 2 hours to make it back to the car from camp. Just as we were approaching the car, it began to rain lightly. We changed clothes, pulled out the chairs and cracked open a couple of cold ones. I thanked God for another safe Journey.
Next stop- Amica's for some pizza and green chili beer in Salida. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the end of a road bike race and about 50 people outside of Amicas so we went to the red and yellow striped Mexican place right off of hwy 50. It was awesome…and the rest is history.
What another great journey. This is 10 weekends in a row for me with a total of 12 weekends for the season. I have sixteen 14er summits this year since may. 15 of them are new to make a total of 25 peaks for my list out of 58. That makes 33 to go. Kat Carson was my first non 14er centennial and I was excited to check this one off.


Saturday, July 25, 2009

Peak Baggin The Sawatch Around The Storms: Mt. Belford, Mt. Oxford, Missiouri Mtn.

Peaks: Mt. Belford - 14,197 feet
Mt. Oxford - 14,153 feet
Missouri Mountain - 14,067 feet
With my first peak this year being Belford in mid-may and a missed attempt on Oxford due to weather, I have been itching to get back and get Oxford and Missouri peaks. I have also been begging my wife to come out and bag some peaks with me. With 11 peaks already down for the 14er season, it was time for both things.
We arrived at the TH at about almost 7 PM on Friday because we left home almost an hour later than planned and then there was construction on the Bridge between Johnsonville and BV that held us up for a while. Within 10 minutes we snapped this photo of the TH signs and were on the trail with our dog headed for somewhere near treeline (hopefully past the ol' cabin.
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I was excited to finally get my wife up to see this beautiful valley despite the nasty approach. That approach was not something that I was looking forward to for a second time (especially with a stuffed pack). There is no warm up here. You go over the river via the bridge and then straight up you go for the next couple of miles.
After looking for a spot near the cabin, we decided that we should be camping farther up to save some elevation gain from the next couple of days. About ¼ of a mile past the cabin the dark set in and headlamps were completely necessary. We gave up on searching for the perfect spot and picked an absolutely horrible spot. I wish I had a picture of what we both agreed was the worst place that we ever camped. We setup the tent as it began to rain thinking we were going to be eating a cold spaghetti dinner and were eventually able to sit in the tent and have the food cook just outside and then we just ate in there. I would have been scared of doing for that because of animals but my .357 mag made me feel a little better about it.
After getting to sleep around 11 or so and sliding into eachother all night because of the slope, we awoke at 5:30 AM the next morning. My plan was to step off by 0600 but Anna was a little slower than I am getting ready and we were off by 0630.
Less than half an hour later, as we were on Belford's steep finger of a ridge, the sun began to peak over the ridge at the other side of the valley. The red is the trail back to Missouri and Elkhead Pass.
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Around 8:30 we made it to the summit. As slow as we were hiking, only 2 individuals passed us on the way up and I believe only a few started before us from what I saw.
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We had someone snap a quick summit shot of us. Anna decided that she would stay on Belford and watch me as I did oxford so she could save some energy for Missouri the next day. Looking back down Belford, we could see many folks coming up so I knew she would have plenty of company. We had our summit celebration shot of whiskey and she snapped my traditional shirtless flex shot (notice the Scooby doo underwear) I was off for Oxford.
Image Instead of carrying our full pack of rain gear, emergency gear, first aid gear, food, etc, I just grabbed the small camelbak that she was carrying and the camera and took off with the Dog.
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I was able to snap this great pic of Harvard and Columbia from hear the top of Belford's saddle.
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32 minutes later I was on the top of Oxford. It went fast because I was able to jog the flatter portions. I took my shot of whiskey, my shirtless photo (not included in this TR), slammed a cliff shot and 6 minutes later I was on my way back to Belford not looking at going back up the other side.
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Including my short stay I was back at the summit of Belford only 1:13 later. Anna was greeting me as I returned with the Dog.
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By this point, there was a block party going on at the summit. I had to snap a photo.
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Quietly we decided to descend via elkhead pass. As we didn't want the block party to follow us . We took this route for a couple of reasons. First, it was less steep than the ridge route of Belford. Second, we wanted to see what Missouri was looking like and our approach for the following morning. Anna got this picture of me, the dog's behind, and Harvard in the background.
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The flowers were absolutely stunning in the valley and Anna took over 100 pictures of them.
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Passing by the Missouri Junction some darker clouds began to pour over. We passed a few parties who were done with Missouri and were on their way up for the other two. We instructed them that from that direction Oxford would be a better choice and then Belford and then Down. That is the best way to alleviate as much back tracking as possible. It was almost 11 am at that point and I really wanted to caution them not to head up that late for the other peaks, especially with darker clouds rolling over. I kept my mouth shut in the end. I don't think I would have changed their minds. Being caught in a couple of storms myself in my earlier 14er days, I know better.
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We made it back to the Belford/Elkhead Pass junction at about 11:45 and I snapped this photo of the route up the ridge. We then proceeded back to our camp which was at about 11,500'. We ate some lunch and packed up all of the gear to find a better site. We had already spotted a few places on the way down and had a good idea of what we wanted.
From there on out, it rained on and off (mostly on) and even some hail between noon and after 9 PM. After a good nap, I snapped this photo of Anna:
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This campsite was much better. It was semi-hidden from the trail and was near the river about ¼ of a mile after the split for Elkhead Pass and Belford on the Elkhead side about 100 yds before you cross the river in the next picture. It is visible coming down the trail but not up and was near enough to the river without risking being washed away in a flash flood.
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Anna also snapped this photo of some of the Columbines up there. There were thousands all over the place. These pics are between rain storms. We made it during a 15 minute bout of sunshine down to the riverbank to filter some water and wash our feet and faces.
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Not sure if the rain would let up for dinner, we once again had to cook outside of and eat in the tent.
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The rain cleared again and we got out for a last photo before dark
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The next morning we woke up at 5:30 once again. This time to more rain. We decided to lay there for a while to see if it would blow over. The plan was to be all ready so when it cleared up we could make the summit. We easily fell back to sleep and I woke up at about 7:30 shortly after the rain stopped. That's the awesome thing about Colorado. If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes. The sky looked ok so we decided to get ready and head towards Missouri while monitoring the weather. We had some oatmeal, hot tea, and a cliff bar for breakfast. We probably didn't start hiking until maybe 8:30. I wasn't watching the time but it was later than I would have liked. Only 3 groups of hikers had passed by. I assume they were all late due to the weather as well. Anna was feeling great and we made it to the Missouri split in no time. The sun was now out full blast and the sky was blue. We lathered up in sunscreen and set off for the summit. We could see that the first group already made it to the top of the ridge. After we went up the first few switcbacks, I snapped this photo of most of the route up the ridge. As nasty as the photo looked, the trail wasn't too bad. People the day before made it sound much worse.
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I was actually glad for the poor early weather because I'm sure that prevented many from venturing out. Anna's goal was for no one to pass her for the day so she held a fast pace compared to her normal. We could see another group down below that was catching up. This ridge went quickly and in about an hour we made the top of the ridgeline. Huron was waving hello to us-
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The clouds began to darken a bit at this point and became somewhat worrisome. I felt that we had time to summit before things got bad so we pressed on. This is what the rest of the ridge looks like to the summit from where you top out. You actually hike mostly on the other side of it though.
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I had been warned from other's TR's of this short class 3 downclimb that you have to do just before the last push to the summit. I didn't think it would be too bad but was a little worried that Anna would not appreciate it. She is definitely a class 2 hiker and plans on staying that way. The mud made it a bit interesting. I climbed down below her and coached her through the moves. I suppose we could have slid down on our butts, but I don't roll like that! The rocks had good holds and we were able to grip our way down. The dog just kind of scurried right down the dirt line. For serious peak baggers this section is fun and nothing but a cool little bonus surprise, but I wanted to include the photo for those who are newer to climbing or are planning on bringing kids or something. This section is there and is definitely not just class 2.
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Anna did much better than I thought. Finally, we made it to the summit. I grabbed this photo of most of the route up.
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We had the summit to ourselves! Yay. Having Missouri to yourself on a Sunday in late July is nothing short of a miracle.
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After our traditional shot of whiskey, I had to do my shirtless pose. I was up for something new so I decided to do some pushups on the side of the hill and had Anna take the pic. I may not be in the Marines anymore, but you just can't un-program some things from the Brain of a Marine.
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Anna gave one last good Hooray before the decent. As we snacked a bit, the other group made it to the top.
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The clouds were coming in from the West, the South and From the South East a bit. This is usually not a good thing. When systems converge, things tend to get nasty. I told Anna that we needed to be moving fast but careful. You cannot sacrifice safety for speed…. Ever! We made it back to where you drop down off the ridge and about half of the way down to the Missouri split from Elkhead pass at about 13'500 and it began to rain. When we saw hail, we donned our rain gear and suited up. The hail was just small but it lasted about 20 minutes until we made it to the junction. It stung the hands a bit but was not terrible. Just before dropping down the ridge another hiker was coming up and headed for the summit. Anna cautioned him due to weather and he said he was gonna hurry. Getting back to the junction we heard a few loud lightning and thunder strikes and were wondering about that guy. I bet he needed to wipe after that! After another 45 mins or so, we made it back to camp safely. It began to rain again so we jumped in the tent and had a snack. A while later the rain let up so we packed up and got out. The rain probably only stopped for about 15 minutes and began again and remained steady all of the way back to the car and most of the way home. We trudged down the trail and made it back to the muddy TH at about 3:15. We put on some fresh clothes, had a cold brew and set for home paying special attention to stop at Pancho's in BV for a burrito. That always does the trick!
This makes 7 weekends in a row and 9 total trips for the season to make 14 summits of 13 new peaks (Belford in May and now) for a grand total of 23. My goal is 25 for the year for a total of 35. We shall see… I do have a full time job and time will get slim once school starts in another month.

If you have had the privilege to hike with Jean Roy (the Canadian) this summer in his adventure to get all of the 14ers in Colorado, please join us in Westcliffe on Saturday Evening to celebrate his finish. I'm sure there will be more postings about exactly where and when. Just watch for them.

See you at the top!!!