July and August 2009These are photos from July and August 2009. The first few are from a family trip to Crested Butte and Durango in southwestern Colorado, including a side trip with Rick to go scrambling in the San Juan mountains. Then there some of Crestone Peak in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, where Kurt Mensch and I finally managed to climb the Ellingwood Ledges on our third attempt. The next few are of Rick and me climbing The Matron, a rock formation just a few minutes from Boulder. Then there’s a climb of the Red Wall on Longs Peak with Gordon Laurens (Gordon did most of the hard work), followed by a rather more relaxed hike up Longs Peak with Rick. The last few are from a scramble up Snowmass Mountain and a traverse across to Hagerman Peak with Kurt Mensch.
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After Crested Butte we drove on to Durango, where Fran and Alex spent a couple of days at a nearby B&B while Rick and I took the steam train to go scrambling in the San Juan mountains. Here’s where the train dropped us off – it isn’t strictly necessary to take the train to get here, but it saves a day of hiking and it’s more interesting than driving. - IMG_6638.JPG
Arrow Peak (13,803’) (in the centre) and Vestal Peak (13,664’) (just peeking out to the left of Arrow). Our goal was the “Wham” Ridge on Vestal Peak. - IMG_6644.jpg
Rick crossing Elk Creek on the way to Vestal Basin. - IMG_6659.JPG
Rick approaching Vestal Basin, with Arrow Peak in the background. - IMG_6674.JPG
Rick on the “Wham” Ridge on Vestal Peak. This is a great climb on excellent quartzite. It’s mostly a 4th-class scramble with a few 5th-class moves. - IMG_6679.JPG
Rick higher up on the “Wham” Ridge on Vestal Peak. - IMG_6689.JPG
Rick and Martin on the summit of Vestal Peak. In the background is Mt. Eoulus and Pigeon Peak. We had amazing weather throughout this trip – none of the summertime afternoon thunderstorms that one usually gets in the Colorado mountains. - IMG_6736.JPG
The Trinities (left) and Vestal Peak (right) from Vestal Basin. The “Wham” Ridge is the dividing line between light and shade on Vestal. - IMG_6758.JPG
Back at the train stop at Elk Park. - IMG_6767.JPG
Fran at Willowtail Springs - IMG_6790.jpg
Crestone Needle (14,197’) in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Kurt Mensch and I climbed the Ellingwood Ledges, which is the right skyline. This was our third attempt on this route. The climbing isn’t very difficult (mostly 3rd and 4th class, with a couple of mid 5th-class pitches) but every time I’ve been in this area the weather’s been uncooperative. - IMG_6804.jpg
Kurt on the first pitch of the Ellingwood Ledges. - IMG_6813.jpg
Kurt near the summit of Crestone Needle, with the mist starting to swirl around us. - IMG_6825.jpg
Descending from the Crestone Needle. Fortunately it didn’t rain. On a previous trip I’d climbed up the descent route when it was wet, which made for lots of scary, slippery scrambling. - IMG_6952.jpg
Rick on the way to climb The Matron, one of the Flatirons near Boulder. - IMG_6953.jpg
Rick on the first pitch of The Matron’s north face (5.6) - IMG_6959.jpg
Rick near the summit of The Matron. - IMG_6963.jpg
Rick rappelling from The Matron - IMG_6965.jpg
Gordon Laurens next to Chasm Lake (Longs Peak), on our way to climb the Red Wall. - IMG_6969.jpg
Looking back at Chasm Lake. - IMG_6971.jpg
Gordon at the top of the Red Wall. - IMG_6994.jpg
Longs Peak again, this time with Rick. We had a pleasant scramble up The Loft and Clark’s Arrow. - IMG_6997.jpg
Rick descending the Keyhole Route on Longs Peak. - IMG_6999.jpg
Another view of Rick descending the Keyhole Route on Longs Peak. - IMG_7003.jpg
An unnamed peak near Little Gem Lake on the approach to Snowmass Mountain. - IMG_7007.jpg
Kurt Mensch on the southwest (“S”) ridge of Snowmass Mountain. - IMG_7012.jpg
Kurt at the summit of Snowmass Mountain (14,092’) - IMG_7013.jpg
Kurt on the knife-edge traverse between Snowmass Mountain and Hagerman Peak. For the most part this is straightforward scrambling, but there’s one very exposed section of low 5th-class climbing where we’d have been very happy to have brought a rope. - IMG_7021.jpg
Kurt on the knife-edge traverse between Snowmass Mountain and Hagerman Peak. - IMG_7023.jpg
Kurt at the summit of Hagerman Peak (13,841’) - IMG_7025.jpg
The “Crystal Mill”, a much-photographed spot on the Crystal River that Kurt and I passed on the way back from climbing Snowmass Mountain. The building actually housed an air compressor, not a mill, but I guess there wouldn’t be as many tourists if they called it the “Crystal Compressor Station”. - Mt-Owen-Panorama.jpg
While Fran, Rick and Alex were relaxing next to Green Lake I scrambled up nearby Mt. Owen (13,058’). This is a panoramic view from the top. - P7130216.JPG
Rick and Alex at the condo we rented in Crested Butte. - P7140230.jpg
These next few photos are from a day hike to Green Lake, near Crested Butte. - P7140237.JPG
If you look very carefully you can see Martin and Alex as well as Rick. - P7140243.jpg
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Rick and Alex next to a partly-frozen Green Lake (this was on July 14). - P7170319.jpg
Alex at Willowtail Springs, the B&B near Durango - P7180342.JPG
Back in Durango, where Rick and I met up with Fran and Alex. - P7190356.JPG
Sunrise over the pond at Willowtail Springs - Red-Wall-pitch-5-a.jpg
Martin following the Red Wall. Maybe we were out of shape, but it felt a lot harder than its grade (supposedly 5.10a). On the last two pitches I was reduced to shamelessly pulling up on gear at all the crux moves. - Red-Wall-pitch1-c.jpg
Martin leading the “easy” first pitch of the Red Wall. - Vestal-Peak-Panorama.jpg
Panoramic view of the San Juan mountains looking east and south from the summit of Vestal Peak. Some of the peaks in this photo are the Trinities, Storm King, Mt. Silex, Jagged Mountain, Windom Peak, Sunlight Peak, Mt. Eolus, the Turret Needles, and Pigeon Peak.