I am not a soloist. I do not get particularly excited about climbs, but I do get excited about climbing with friends. I generally dislike pictures of scenery and instead prefer to have people as the subject with nature or the climb providing the setting. However, my climbing partners from earlier in the week with whom I'd climbed Stettner's and Kiener's were off to tackle the Casual Route or were on the way home. I was rested but without a partner; a solo trip was the necessary result. When my main motivation is absent, I have to find others: exciting climbing but not technical; longer distances; route-finding problems or unknown routes. And so at 3 in the morning on a Tuesday I found myself at the Wild Basin trailhead in a part of Rocky Mountain National Park I had not yet visited with an itinerary partly based on a guidebook suggestion and partly based on whim.

Approximate route.

An Inauspicious Start

The first sign at the trailhead reminded campers that bear canisters were currently mandatory. The second warned about entering mountain lion country ("Don't run on trails...Fight back if attacked"). At this point I was questioning my decision to wander into the darkness alone. Of course, if (hypothetically) your backpack were to brush some branches mimicking the sound of a 200 lb. man-eater launching itself at you out of the forest, and you (also hypothetically) were to shriek like a girl, you might be happy that no one was around to witness it.

My dim headlamp made the uneven trail treacherous, and when I found myself walking in circles in a rocky clearing without enough light to find the exit trail, I began to wonder how sure I was that I'd replaced the batteries before the trip. I pulled fresh batteries from my pack and, holding my breath, killed the light. I was not immediately eaten by a bear/lion/grue. After some fumbling, the new batteries were in place, and I peered anxiously at the LEDs as I hit the switch. The intense burning in my retinas indicated success.

Mount Alice

Morning alpenglow on Mt. Alice.

As the sun rose, my fear of being eaten diminished and the first objective of the day came in to view: the north ridge of Mt. Alice. The so-called Hourglass Ridge is given a three-star rating in the Gillette guide, probably not so much for the climbing (the class 3 section is short) but for the setting. It is fairly remote for RMNP at 9 miles from the trailhead. The approach requires routefinding through the krummholz and waterfalls separating the Lion lakes in a high cirque formed by the impressive faces of Chiefs Head Peak and Mt. Alice. As I rose, the summit of Longs Peak appeared over Chiefs Head. What I was missing in a climbing partner I found in the mountains and the scrambling and the (fortunately herbivorous) wildlife.

Trio Falls, an obstacle to cross-country travel.

Bighorn sheep on the Chiefs Head - Alice saddle.

A sheep and the Hourglass Ridge.

A ptarmigan.

The long shadow of Longs Peak.

Chiefs Head, Longs, and Meeker in the early morning light.

Summit of Mt. Alice.

A Walk Along the Divide

For half an hour I enjoyed the summit of Alice. For at least a couple miles in either direction I had the continental divide to myself. Finally at 8:30 I dragged myself from the sunny rock and began talus hopping down to Boulder-Grand Pass. The guide recommends descending here, but I continued along the divide to get a view of the Cleaver before topping out on Tanima Peak.

The Cleaver.

Thunder Lake from Tanima Peak.

Tanima Peak

The east ridge of Tanima attracted me because on the map at least it appeared to deposit the willing climber at the end of the Thunder Lake trail with the minimum amount of bushwhacking. Of course, it could just have easily ended in a cliff; the only beta I had on hand was the contour lines on the map. These are the kind of experiences I relish; solo or not, a bit of uncertainty makes the activity far more mentally engaging. I cliffed out once, but I retraced my steps and found a descending ramp that deposited me low on the north side of the ridge. I contoured above the trees and finally descended a probable avalanche path to the east tip of Thunder Lake and the trail back.

Looking down the east ridge.

Looking back up at the east ridge.

Mt. Alice from Thunder Lake.

Conclusion

Within a mile on trail I crossed the first people I'd seen all day. The solo experience was soon replaced by the national park experience, and while I don't like being alone, I'm not a big fan of crowds either. I picked up my pace and passed time by waxing philosophic, stopping only briefly for a couple pictures of waterfalls I'd heard but not seen on the approach hike. Should I be looking for a deeper meaning to the climb, like it was some sort of vision quest? No, I decided, the path I'd chosen was simply a function of my conditioning, comfort level, and lack of partner. On the other hand, with a partner, it was doubtful that I would have even seen that part of the park; we certainly would have picked a technical route instead. Was this experience more or less satisfying than a more difficult route? I decided it was an unfair comparison. I'd enjoyed the day immensely, I'd beaten the afternoon thunderstorms down, and I had some good pictures. Solo or with a partner, that's a pretty good measure of success.

Ouzel Falls.

If you're visiting RMNP and are looking for a great day hike, check out the Wild Basin area. Bring a friend. Preferably one you can outrun.

Statistics

Route:		Mt. Alice, Hourglass Ridge; Continental Divide to Tanima Peak; descent of Tanima Peak's east ridge
Grade:		III Class 3, ~18 miles RT, ~5000 ft. total elevation gain
Date:		5 Aug 2008
Time:		9:47 car to car

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