Past Featured Trip Reports

Tracy (gurlyclimber), our friend Jody and I are all planning an ascent of Rainier this July and wanted to get up on some snow together as part of our training. In looking through all of our books the North Star Couloir on North Arapahoe Peak seemed really appealing, and with the potential for some nice ridge scrambling we decided to give it a shot over the Memorial Day weekend. After hitting the snooze alarm an extra time, Tracy and I met Jody in Boulder Canyon and we all drove up in the dark. We hit the 4th of July Trailhead at dawn with just enough light to be able to keep the headlamps off. The trail conditions were pretty good, some patchy snow but not too bad for the first part of the hike.

I have to admit that I approached this climb with a great deal of apprehension. The lack of information on conditions, the new approach route and the limited amount of details contained in the Dawson’s guide gave me more concern than usual. I arrived at the parking area at the gated closure on the Silver Pick Road at around 5:00 p.m. on May 31, 2006. After a final check of gear, I loaded up my overburdened pack, snowshoes and all. Stopping at the gate I paused to shoot a new photo of the latest access information. The owner of the mining claims has posted a No Trespassing sign on the gate which if a flagrantly illegal posting. Essentially he is saying that you cannot trespass on public lands that lead to his property. Totally bogus!

The Chockstone Couloir is one of the most visible snow climbs in the Sawtooths. The route can be easily viewed from Stanley or the Redfish Lake area. As one of the closest climbs to a trail in the region, I’d been waiting for the optimal time for this climb. Early season is perfect, as much of the backcountry is still snowed under. The Redfish Lake Lodge is often crowded during midsummer with hikers, backpackers, boat enthusiasts, and families staying in the cabins and playing around the high altitude beach. The Lodge also offers a nifty boat shuttle that takes climbers across Redfish Lake to the edge of the wilderness area.

Alpinists are used to obstacles. Usually these are encountered on the actual peaks. When Nadine and I set off for the Mercedario area in Argentina, we didn't imagine the climbs of two 6000 meter peaks would be the easy part of the trip. The walk in was taxing. The way to Mercedario was dangerous and hard and the walk out was nothing but a life threating venture. Two very intense weeks in the middle of Los Andes.

After having gotten off work Tuesday morning, I drove over to Silverthorne to have some breakfast; no particular reason, just something different. I drove south to Leadville taking my time. I stopped at the Safeway in town for some last-minute provisions and continued south towards the Sand Dunes and the Blanca Mastiff some 175+ miles away. On a quick side-note, it's great to see the changes that Leadville is currently undertaking. The roads, sidewalks and drainage improvements are long due in coming.

Beep... beep... beep... my alarm jolted me out of sleep at 11:50pm. What's going on? Where am I? What am I doing... Oh yeah - I'm climbin' Dream Weaver Couloir today (err tomorrow)! I stumbled into the shower and washed the sleep out of my eyes as I tried to wake myself up after a mere two hours of sleep. Tomorrow (err today now that the clock had ticked past midnight) is going to be a big day - my first venture out onto alpine ice!

Acquiring the summits of these peaks is no easy task, either, and climbing all three in one day makes a memorable Tour de Kit Carson. I had been studying the routes and reading trip reports for these mountains, and at last a one day window of opportunity coincided with perfect climbing conditions and a decent weather forecast.

Some of us will be back next month to finish the job. The others have also vowed to return. Even a wet soggy day in the Enchantments is still a pretty darn good day so we were a fairly contented lot that descended on the nearest pub an hour later.

Having read a tongue in cheek e-mail from Mike about climbing every conceivable hill in Sutherland I decided to make it an early night and retire to bed with a copy of “The Corbett’s and other Scottish Hills”. After no more than five minutes I declared to Shirl that I’d sorted it! To which I was told to be quiet and let her go to sleep.

Ever since I got into hiking the 14ers, I have been intrigued and scared of one day climbing Little Bear Peak, a notorious 14er that has no easier route than class 4.