First Flatiron - 7,200 ft
Longs Peak - 14,255 ft
Pacific Peak - 13,950 ft
Date: 6/20/08
Climbers: George and Paul W.
Route: Direct East Face 5.6 R, 1,000ft
RT distance: 2 miles
Elevation gain: 1,700 feet
Trip Report:
Paul arrived from Oregon Thursday for a few days of climbing in Colorado. I thought swinging leads up the super classic east face of the First Flatiron would be a good acclimation/warm up climb. We met only one other party on the route thanks to our weekday ascent. They were on the third pitch when we were gearing up at the base, but we caught them once we reached the summit ridge on pitch 6. With a single 70m rope we ended up doing 8 pitches (and one ~100ft rappel off the backside from the summit.)
The First Flatiron (on the right) as seen from Canyon Blvd
Paul following the first pitch
Paul leading the second pitch
View of Boulder from the top of the third pitch
Paul climbing the third and fifth pitch
Paul following the sixth (ridge) pitch
Paul leading the seventh pitch.
Just before the summit
Longs Peak - 14,255 ft
Date: 6-21-08
Climbers: George Barnes, Nate Stutzke, and Paul W.
Route: North Face II, Class 5.4
RT distance: ~14 miles
RT time: 12 hours 30 minutes
Time to summit: 7 hours
Time on summit: 1 hour
Time to trailhead: 4 hours 30 minutes
Elevation gain: 4,850 feet
Trip Report:
For Saturday's adventure Nate and I thought we'd show Paul why we like the Cables route so much on Longs Peak. We'd done the route in April, but definitely didn't mind going back. Saturday's trip was my fifth time up the route and Nate's fourth.
We left the trailhead at 2:30AM to make sure we beat the afternoon thunderstorms. The trail is now completely snow free to treeline, I opted to hike in light approach shoes and swap for my boots at the base of the route.
George and Nate on the trail to the Boulderfield
A few cow elk guarding the edge of the Boulderfield at 12.5K.
Sunrise in the Boulderfield never gets old.
As we approached the base of the route we observed someone trying to solo the technical portion of the route. As we got closer we noticed that the party in question had come prepared to ascend the route with no crampons, no ice axe, and no helmet and was now backing off and struggling to downclimb steep snow just as we reached the snowfield below the route. Apparently summer has arrived at Longs Peak and with it the tourons.
Nate and I have been taking turns leading the technical pitch, and today Nate would get the sharp end. Conditions were among the most enjoyable we've found, with nearly continuous alpine ice down the route. As usual, Nate made the climbing look easy. In fact "Mr. Longs Peak", Jim Detterline, arrived at the route while Nate was climbing and asked who our guide was. Jim went on to solo the route (in holey blue jeans no less) and then sign the summit register for his 297th ascent of Longs Peak.
George and Nate at the start of the pitch
Nate on lead
Above the eye bolts we unroped and made short work of the snow to the summit. We saw only Jim Detterline and one other lone climber on the summit (who had climbed the Trough). The weather was flawless, so we lounged for over an hour before heading down.
Above the technical climbing, en route to the summit
The trail out went quickly, and was made more enjoyable once we reached our cached approach shoes and shorts. We reached the trailhead in a little over 12 hours after another great day on Longs Peak made even better with great partners.
Pacific Peak - 13,950 ft
Date: 6-23-08
Climbers: George Barnes and Paul W.
Route: North Couloir
RT distance: 7.0 miles
Elevation gain: 2800 feet
USGS Quadrangle: Copper Mountain
Trip Report:
After scouting out the north couloir on Pacific Peak from Crystal Peak last weekend, I was eager to get back for what looked like some great snow climbing.
Pacific's North Couloir, as seen from Crystal Peak on 6-15-08
We camped at the trailhead and got started hiking around 4:30AM. This was my first visit to the Mohawk Lakes area, and it turned out to be a great place to watch the sun rise and cast alpenglow on our day's objective.
Sunrise at Mohawk Lakes
The climbing in the couloir turned out to be enjoyably steep. While not necessary, a second ice axe made our climbing a little faster and more secure. The slope of the couloir didn't really feel like the 60-65 degrees advertised, although I suspect the relatively soft snow might have increased our comfort. Paul and I agreed that it was one of the most enjoyable snow climbs we had done.
As we climbed a few clouds rolled in, which helped keep the sun from softening the route too much. Once on top we considered a run over to nearby Atlantic Peak, but decided that such an excursion would be pretty reckless given the building clouds.
We caught a nice glissade on our way back to the lakes just as the fly fishermen and day hikers were starting to arrive.
