Mt Evans

Evans Trip Report

Date: Sat, December 16
Hike: Mount Evans – 14,264 ft
Route: Guanella Pass TH 11,669 feet
The hike is a Class 2 hike. Elevation gain 3,100 feet. Round trip 8.5 miles.

Weather Report:

Saturday: A 30 percent chance of snow, mainly after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 26. Wind chill values between -4 and 6. Windy, with a west wind 45 to 50 mph decreasing to between 30 and 35 mph. Winds could gust as high as 80 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
The Report
Wade Gardner, Scott Roberts, Russ Adelmann, and Jess Williams made up the crew. Everything was on time until we found out that the road was closed 2 miles short of the trailhead. We ended up leaving the vehicle at 6am and making the official trailhead at 7:20am, for an extra 800 feet of elevation gain.

The trail was well packed until we split off towards Evans. Then we were basically making a new trail all the way to the “scree gully” that we ascended. Actually, we stayed to the left of the gully for quite a ways, avoiding the soft snow at the base of the gully. While the temp stayed in the high 20’s for most of the day, the wind was whipping up that gully!! (See the weather report above) It was cold! There were times when the wind was actually knocking me about 3 steps before I could regain my balance! Probably not a good day to be doing the sawtooth traverse. J

We reached the beginning of Evans West ridge (13900’) at 12:30pm. Scott and Russ decided to call it a day and head back. Jess and I pressed on, and finally made the summit at 1:10pm. On the way down, I took a small detour and picked up Mt Spalding (13,842’) as well. Jess and I met up at the top of the gully and headed for the truck.

We made trailhead at 5pm, and were back to the vehicle just before 6pm. Twelve hours in the mountains - life is good!

Visibility was great, and no sign at all of bad weather.

Huron

Huron Trip Report

Wade #26. Dara, Caleb and Anna #2. Rob #10. Andrew #4. Amanda, Jordan, Nathan and Benjamin #1!!!

4 hours up
½ hour on top.
2 ½ hours down

GPS says 5.8 miles total
Map program says 6.5 miles round trip?! The profile looks a bit weird, so something is not right. Anyway, close enough.

3:47 moving time
3:20 stopped time

Moving average 1.5 mi/hr
Overall average .8 mi/hr

The Gardner family camped overnight, then the rest of the crew met us in the morning. We departed the 4wd trailhead at 7:15am. Beautiful day, beautiful hike all the way up. Summitted at 11:15am, with a 30 minute break on top.

After departing the summit at 11:45am, the thunder started rolling at noon. Soon after that the snow started, quickly turning into nice snow pellets. The biggest concern was to get off the top of that mountain, with thunder all around. Lightning was flashing in the distance, but not too close. Slippery conditions slowed the descent, but the snow let up and it was a fun hike all the way back to the vehicle.

Congrats to the 4 first timers!!! :)

Check out all the pictures. http://wadedara.spaces.msn.com/

Kit Carson & Challenger Point

June 20, 2006
Hike up Challenger Point 14,080’, Kit Carson 14,165’, Columbia Point 13,980’ and Mt Adams 13,931’. (All top 100 summits.)

Left the Willow Creek TH 8905’ at 5:20am. Returned at 6:30pm.

GPS says 17.4 miles of hiking.
7.20 moving time
5:51 stopped time
Moving avg 2.1
Overall avg 1.2 mi/hr

Went with Joel Hawkins. Camped out over night - it was beautiful. Stars all over. No moon. Alarms didn’t go off right, so we started a little late but it was all good.

Beautiful hike up to Willow Lake. Waterfalls, very green. Found a great glissade down the Outward Bound couloir off of Kit Carson. Wishing that we had ice axes. We did it anyway and it turned out to be a great slide.

Lessons learned: Ice axes are always nice to have, almost all year long. Tennis shoes really aren’t the best option out there. Water, water, water!!

La Plata

Pre-report
Date: Fri, Feb 18, 2006
Hike: La Plata Peak 14,336 feet
Route: Northwest Ridge via Lake Creek Trailhead, starting at 10,100 feet. We plan to hit the NW Ridge at timberline, and follow the ridge all the way to the summit, thus reducing the avalanche risk.
The hike is a Class 2 hike. Should be as easy as slogging through the snow can be. Elevation gain 4,300 feet. Round trip 9 miles.

Post-report
So, Jenni and I headed out of town at 3:30am. It was about 5 degrees, and snowing. Not the way to start a climbing day. We went on anyway, and just after passing through Woodland Park, the snow let up. We made trailhead by 6:30am and were hiking by 7am. It was 18 degrees there, with no wind! The peak was visible, although high clouds were covering up the sky.

The trail was already broken in until about ¾ mile from timberline. Through cautiously picking a trail we kept it fairly simple. True to other reports, when we hit the ridge we went around to the back side (East side) to gain access to the ridge crest. We had zero avalanche risk the whole way.

Once on the ridge, the wind picked up and the temp kept dropping. My thermometer stops working at about 5 deg. With the wind it must have been around -30. It was COLD, and the gusts that kept hitting us were huge. We would have to stop and brace with our poles to keep upright.

I carry hand warmers, but me philosophy has been to wait until I need them. I will not make that mistake again. My hands got so cold it was hard to get the hand warmers out and into use.

We knew that we were getting close to the top, but Jenni was getting worn out. As it turned out, we were about ¾ mile from the top, but Jenni turned back. She planned to slowly work her way back down the ridge, while I summitted then caught up with her. We had 2-way radios, so I felt pretty comfortable about it. I kept asking myself, when would I turn back? And the answer kept being: if conditions get worse. But the peak stayed clear, and as I was able to work my way off of the top of the ridge line, the wind decreased, so I pressed on. It took another 1:10 to make the summit, making it a 7 hour summit climb.

I caught up with Jenni at the end of the ridge, and together we returned to the car. It took about 4 hours from summit to car.

Lessons learned: (1) Start earlier with the hand warmers! (2) Plan more time for winter hikes. Probably about .75 miles per hour. (Verses 1 mile per hour in the summer with groups.)

Quandry Peak

Quandry Trip Report

Date: Thu, Dec 15
Hike: Quandry Peak - 14,265 feet
Route: East Slopes Route from Monte Cristo Trailhead. TR 10,900 feet

Stats
GPS was not working well, as it was too cold! The guide book said 3.5 miles up, and that is probably what we did. We were able to stick to the trail pretty good on the way up.

On the way down, we missed the trail. That made for less miles, but it made a LOT of extra work for Scott and Richard breaking trail through 3feet of powder!!!

4:10 hours up
2:40 hours down

About 5 degrees all day, not including the wind chill. We estimated 20 MPH gusts, taking it down to about -25deg. Probably consistently around -10 to -15 degrees

Timeline
Leave Saturday at 4am (Yes! On time). Stop in Denver at 5am to pick up Erik. Arrive trailhead at 7:30am. Begin hiking by 8am. (Began hike about 7:30am) Summit by noon. (11:40am) Leave summit by 12:30pm. (Left by noon) Back to the vehicle by 4pm. (back by 2:40pm)

Lessons Learned
The water bottle insulator worked great!
Don’t hike in weather any colder than this!
Battery operated thermometers don’t work below 10 degrees!

The report
Wow, what a beautiful day. No clouds, bright sun, white snow….. almost heaven.

Went with Scott Roberts, Richard Seldomridge, Erik Wainionpaa, and Josh Dunham. Everyone was prepared with snowshoes. Probably weren’t essential on the way up, as we stuck pretty close to a trail that others had been using and packing down (although no one had been on it in several days.). I would say that the snowshoes were just plain useful for traction, through.

It was cold – real cold. Not only did it slow one down, it also seemed to rob one of motivation. I ended up being the only one to summit. Josh and Richard were within 15 minutes of the top before calling it a day.

On the way down Scott and Erik were leading. They missed the trail and got into the deep powder. Probably made the trip shorter, but much more work in breaking a new trail through deep powder.

All in all a great day with no incidents. The 2-way radios came in incredibly useful again. Don’t hike without them!

Mt Bierstadt

Winter is definitely here. Any further 14er hikes this season will require full winter gear, and will most likely be by invite only! So start gathering the snowshoes and warm clothing now!

Bierstadt Trip Report

Date: Sat, November 5
Hike: Mount Bierstadt - 14,060 feet.
Route: Guanella Pass TH 11,669 feet

Stats
Went South from the trailhead rather than East, making it a much longer trip.
Going up:
5.6miles up
3:53 moving up
2:17 stopped up
Moving avg 1.4 mi/hr
Overall avg .9 mi/hr

Coming down:
2:30 down
2.7 (rough) miles down

Timeline
(Black was the plan - red was the actual) Leave Saturday at 3:30am(About 3:40am). 2:15 Drive time. (probably took closer to 3 hours due to snow and pitstop)Begin hiking Saturday by 6:15am(got away at 7:15am). Back to the vehicle by 3pm(back by 3:45pm).

Lessons Learned
Need cover for camelback hose!!
Ear muffs would be nice.
Only fully prepared people go on winter hikes!!!!!
Give MORE time on planned timeline!
Pay more attention to GPS!

The report
Ended up just being Joel and myself, which always makes for a good time! (Both Jenni and Eric backed out the morning of…) It was raining/snowing/sleeting on the way up – an indication of a great day!

When we started the trail head was very confusing. And it was snowing and overcast, all of which added together to have us get off on the wrong trail. Then it was too cold for me to want to use the GPS like I should have, so we were MILES into it before we realized that we were on the wrong trail. When we figured it out, we just turned and went straight up Bierstadt. (SW face approach)

Anyway, there must have been about 6inches of powder on the ground – good thing we had snowshoes! And it was either snowing or blowing all day. Very cold. The sun did peek through finally, but still crazy cold.

No accidents to report. I think we saw 5 other people all day long

San Luis Peak

San Luis Peak 14,014 feet (52nd highest)

October 8th, 2005
Eric, Wade, Holly, Joel (the Frenchman!)

It was an incredible day. The sky was blue, the wind was minimal, the aspens had a few last golden leaves hanging on... wow, isn't God's creation amazing?!? What a blast to share a great day like this with great friends.

The second picture is of two in our party with Organ Mountain as a backdrop.

Check out Gardner Pics & Places (on the side bar) to see trip pictures.