Mount Princeton - 14,197 ft

Date: 7-31-2005

Climbers: George & Abby Barnes

Route:  East Slopes II, Class 2

RT distance:  5.0 miles

Elevation gain:  2,800 feet

USGS Quadrangle:  Mount Antero

Trip Report:

After dinner at the Coyote Cantina in Johnson Village, Abby and I drove up the Mt. Princeton road the night before the climb so that we could guarantee an early start.  A few nervous maneuvers to avoid oncoming traffic on the one-way road later, we found a suitably flat parking spot a ways above the radio towers.

By 5:30AM the next morning we were moving up the Mt. Princeton road.  Shortly after 6 we were treated to a striking sunrise and pink alpenglow on Princeton's east face.  This was Abby's first Sawatch peak, and she would soon come to appreciate the steep, never-ending feel to all these peaks.

A little before 8 we left the trail and made our way up to the Princeton-Tigger saddle.  The summit's just a short jaunt from here, and we top our right at 9 AM.  For the next 45 minutes we soak up the views and refuel with freeze dried ice cream.

The trip down is pretty miserable as the scree slope from the saddle to the trail is super loose and the trail is mostly undefined.  The highlight of the descent is watching the flocks of cottoneers slowly ascent, despite the billowing clouds over the summit.  By the time we reach the lower stretch of main trail, thunder can be heard constantly from the clouds overhead.  I lose all respect for the cottoneers when an ascending party asks us if we've "seen any lightning" over the booming thunder. 

The drive down from our high camp was uneventful.  I took a small amount of satisfaction driving past a descending party of four individuals wearing 100% cotton and sharing one backpack.