Square Top Mountain

I hiked Square Top Mountain with a CMC trip. This is the first CMC event I've done since the Barr Trail over two years ago. It was a fun mountain and a nice hike. The trip leader, Marland Billings, hiked at a good pace and was a good navigator. There were two other women on the trip who knew each other from WTS. They hiked on the slow side, but we all had a good day.

We drove to Guanella Pass and started on the Square Top Lakes Trail opposite of Mount Bierstadt. After visited both lakes, we headed off trail up the nice ramp that led all the way to the summit. As you can imagine, the top was large and relatively flat. Apparently, when viewed from the north and south, it looks like a giant square. We started on the trail just before 7:00 and summited as a group around 10:15. The clouds were quickly building even at that early hour. We began our descent down the east ridge and tagged the summit of an unnamed, but labeled 12,000 bump. Then, instead of continuing along the ridge, we dropped down to the lower lake to try to avoid any potential lightning. We got a little bit of hail and rain before getting back to the car shortly before 1:00.

Just at that time, a helicopter was flying low around Bierstadt. It landed on the flanks of the mountain just above all the willows. There were emergency and rescue vehicles at that trailhead. Nothing has been reported on the news yet, but 14ers.com users who were there say a teenager fell, hit is head, and was slipping in and out of consciousness. I hope he's OK.

Intermediate Snow Part 2-LMR

You may recall that last summer I sprained my shoulder. Yup, I remember! The injury not only prevented me from participating in the sprint triathlon last summer, but it also precluded me from going to the Intermediate Snow field trip with Dan. Well, today was my make-up day. The snow school director invited me to join this year's class, so I did.

We met in South Boulder at 3:30 this morning. We drove up to the Bear Lake trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a gorgeous, bluebird day from the start. We began hiking as dawn was breaking in the east. To everyone's surprise, there was a ton of snow everywhere! Not 30 minutes from the trailhead did we put our crampons on because the snow on the trail was ubiquitous and very icy.

We hiked up to a slope near Lake Helene. There we practiced crampon and self-arresting techniques for about an hour. Then we started hiking towards the couloir at the edge of the bowl. However, once we got past Lake Helene our instructors noticed huge cornices on both sides of our route that might break off in the hot sun. So, it was on to plan B.

There was another slope off to our left that we decided to try. The bottom 300 feet or so were at a 30-degree angle, and then what looked like the upper part was a steeper 35- to 40-angle. However, once we got past that section, the slope started to gradually flatten. So much so, that repeatedly I thought I was 20 steps from the top, but it was more like 400 steps. We stopped for lunch shy of the Flattop Mountain summit. Then, the plan was to hike the rest of the way up the mountain and take the neighboring Tyndall Glacier down back to Bear Lake. Unfortunately, 200 feet from the summit, we had a good look at the glacier and it was more corniced than the other side! It looked like some weather was rolling in, so we quickly turned around and glissaded down the slope we had just come up. Then we traced our route back to the parking lot.

Using crampons to attack snow slopes is so much fun! I really want my own pair of plastic boots and spikes to climb up all our snow! All in all, today was super fun and we were out hiking 10 hours. It's 6:30 and I'm ready for bed!

More Avalanche

So, today we were back for more....avalanche training, that is. As Dan mentioned, we enrolled in a CMC/National Ski Patrol Avalanche Level 1 class. We had two nights of 4-hour lectures, yesterday's field trip and then today's all-day outing.

We drove up past Berthoud Pass to Second Creek. Here we hiked up about a mile while spending an hour at different stations. There was backcountry travel, snow pits, decision making, beacon search, and simple and complex rescue simulations. Thankfully, it was much warmer than yesterday and the wind was not quite as bad. We still didn't see the sun, but I'll take 30 degrees with wind over 16 degrees with wind any day.

Overall, it was a good day and a great course. We learned a lot and hopefully we will never be caught in an avalanche or will never have to rescue anyone from one.

Avalanche!

Avalanche school, that is. We had two long nights of instruction this week, have been reading for homework, and today had our first field day at St. Mary's Glacier.

First, the weather. It was cold, windy, and snowing. At times visibility was less than 100'. The high was 16°F but with the wind chill was -8°F. In the morning it must have been even cooler.

We did some decision making exercises, practiced searching with beacons, dug snow pits to analyze the snowpack, and practiced probing and digging for victims. (The "victims" were buried pieces of clothing or 1'x1' plywood.)

Very enlightening. It's hard to imagine actually finding someone (in time) who was buried in an avalanche without a beacon. Even with beacons, you first have to find a signal, which could require scanning a large area depending on the size of the slide. Trying to track a signal, probe, or dig on a slope adds to the challenge.

Day two is tomorrow at Berthoud Pass... if the roads stay open. The avalanche report looks pretty bad given all the new snow.

Intermediate snow, part 2

The second field trip for the Intermediate Snow class was crampon practice in Rocky Mountain National Park. Laurel didn't make this trip since she had a pretty bad spill on her bike earlier in the week and sprained her shoulder.

To get some good hard snow on steeper slopes, we needed an early start. At 2:50am my alarm woke me up. I picked up a few other CMC'ers in Lyons at 4am then met the rest of the class at the Bear Lake trailhead at 5am. It was raining lightly but soon turned to snow as we gained elevation. We hiked to some steep slopes near Lake Helene, arriving there before 8am.

Despite the early start, the snow was not great for crampon practice, as there was 5 inches of new soft snow on top. We practiced the techniques, but unfortunately the conditions didn't always warrant those techniques. Still, it was great practice and a great experience. At the end of the day we glissaded back down the slopes and hiked back to the car. We made it to Oscar Blues in Lyons around 1:30 for lunch.

See pictures someone else took that day.

Intermediate snow

We got up not-so-bright and early Sunday morning to meet for a field trip with the CMC Intermediate Snow School. At St. Mary's Glacier we practiced building anchors in the snow using natural features, pickets, flukes, and ice axes -- standard snow climbing tools. We learned how to do hip belays from bucket seats, boot-axe belays, and a few other techniques. We also practiced traveling in rope teams and setting protection up a steep snow slope. Both of us got a turn leading our rope teams. It was fun and we met a lot of nice people. After 8 hours on the snow we unwound at Tommy Knockers in Idaho Springs.

Pike's Peak

Yesterday we did our fourth CMC trip (it's been a while...). We registered for the trip for a couple of reasons. First, we thought it would be fun. Second, we've never been on the east side of Pike's Peak, and third, we're hoping to run up this particular trail in the Pike's Peak Ascent Half Marathon in August.

So, we got up super early (5am!) and met the rest of the group just outside of Colorado Springs. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and by 8am we were stashing away layers at the trailhead. The Barr trail begins in historic Manitou Springs and climbs a total of 13 miles to the peak. Our objective today, though, was the infamous Barr Camp halfway up the mountain. We started at 6,800 and climbed to the camp at 10,200. There were beautiful views of Colorado Springs and the peak along the way. We were passed by dozens of trail runners on the bottom few miles of the icy/slushy trail.

At lunch time we made it to the camp. There are year-round caretakers, Teresa and Neal, who live in the main cabin and cook spaghetti dinners for their guests. There are also lean-to shelters and tent sites. Teresa and Neal were very hospitable and offered us hot drinks, a warm fire, and bird seed. The birds up there will actually eat out of your hands. It's something else!

We got back to the cars uneventfully, yet very tired after hiking 13 miles. We all went out to eat at Rosie's Diner in Monument afterward.

Pettingell Peak

We couldn't have had better weather for our WTS reunion hike. Adam organized the trip to Pettingell Peak, an 13,500+ foot mountain not too far from Denver. There was a good amount of snow once we got into the higher elevations, but the temperature stayed high and the wind was fairly calm. We hiked up the Herman Gulch trail to Herman Lake, then headed off trail towards the summit. The last stretch of the hike, and returning on the way down, was treacherous. So much loose rock and scree mixed in with the snow made every step uncertain. You never knew where you might posthole up to your knee. It took us almost 4.5 hours to get up and then about another 3 to complete the 8.5 mile round trip.


Click pic to see whole album.

Graduation Day!

We finally finished WTS (Wilderness Trekking School). After five lectures and five long all day field trips, we are finally equipped to explore the wilderness... or something like that. Actually, we can now officially go on level C hikes through the CMC and sign up for Basic Mountaineering School next spring, if we so choose.

So, you might ask, what was entailed in graduation day. Well, we had to get up at 5am, meet our classmates at 5:30 and drive to Stoney Pass near Bailey to start hiking by 8:30. Without following a single trail, we were able to follow a 13-leg route that we mapped out using topographic maps and features, compasses, and some newly-mastered skills. Aside from the thunder, lightening, and brief rain in the afternoon, it was a fun, 8-hour hike. Over the course of this class, we've bonded with some neat people and managed to survive our over-zealous instructor. After dinner and drinks it was really nice to get home just before it was totally dark.



Check out the whole album -- nice bear-claw marks on the trees in the first two pictures!

WTS Survival Day

Today was our 4th WTS field trip -- Survival Day. The highlight was shelter construction. We paired up and had 30 minutes to construct an emergency shelter out of whatever material was in our packs or could be gathered from the surrounding area. That's not much time but we were all able to get some pretty decent shelters started. To get a sense of what we were making, read this (pdf).


This has sorta become our team motto so we made up T-shirts.

WTS Snow Day

We spent 11 hours on St. Mary's Glacier, needless to say this was a long, long day. We met in Idaho Springs at 7:15 and then traveled on to the trailhead. At 10,000 it was cold and VERY windy. We bundled up and headed up the glacier practicing self-arrests without ice axes and cutting in steps up the snow. Due to the 40mph winds and the slushy snow conditions our instructor decided we should go to another spot for the rest of the day's activities.

After lunch and descending to a wooded area, we headed up towards a steep section of the mountain. Here we practiced self arresting with ice axes many, many times. Then after learning about rope handling techniques we practiced roped travel and passing pro on snow.

After glissading we mapped our bearing directly to the parking lot and postholed cross-country to the cars.

Wet weekend

Saturday we took a hike to find Saddle Rock. It was wet.


Sunday we had our 3rd WTS field trip -- Snow Day at St. Mary's Glacier. We practiced kick-stepping with mountaineering axes. We did a lot of self-arrest practice with the axes (feet-first, head-first, head-first belly-up, and head-first belly-up with-packs). We also did some rope-team practice. At the end of the day we glissaded down our practice slope and hiked out cross-country through the woods back to the parking lot.

Sunday was pretty wet and cold too.

April Weekend

It seems that I passed my cold on to Dan this weekend. Unfortunately, he seems to have gotten it a lot worse than I had it. So, he stayed in Saturday to try to get better. Even though it was foggy and lightly raining I decided to go to Sugarloaf Mountain (halfway between here and Nederland) to summit. But, it was so incredibly foggy up there I couldn't even tell if I was at the trailhead. So, instead I went to Betasso, hiked the loop, checked out Bummer's Rock, and previewed the link trail from Boulder Canyon to see if we could bike it.

Sunday was our second WTS field trip. We met up with our team over in Evergreen at Genesee Park. We spent the day traveling off-trail to locate points we plotted at home. We used our compasses, maps, and pace counts to find trees with tape on them. Both Dan and I located the points our teams were supposed to find! Afterward we had dinner at BeauJo's with Ann and Sean (from our team). Next week is snow travel day! Yay!

WTS Field Trip #1

Today was our first field trip with our Wilderness Trekking School (WTS) class. Today's topic was dry land travel, but up at NCAR there was quite a bit of snow.

We practiced using a compass and reading topographic maps. We hiked over to Bear Canyon and practiced stream crossings. We headed up towards Bear Peak a bit and learned to cross snow-covered talus and then continued off-trail for a while. We circled around the NCAR Mesa and then scrambled back to the parking lot.

Once there we reviewed important pack contents and the ten essentials. After some knot tying we went to the Dark Horse for food and beer.

When Dan and I got home we hit our bikes (I got a new mountain bike yesterday!) and went up to the Cottonwood Trail. A fun day!

CMC snowshoe trip

View Larger Map

Our 3rd CMC trip was a snowshoe starting at the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel. It was a big group -- 17 of us total! The way was easy going until we left the trail. A few of us took turns breaking trail up that steep hill. The group stopped for lunch at the top while a few of us headed a bit higher.


After finishing lunch and waiting for a few stragglers we got to run down the huge hill, a bit off to the side so we'd have nice fresh snow to plow through. According to the GPS my max speed was 10 MPH.

On the way down the group split up a bit. On parts of the hill we got cliffed-out and had to figure out a safer way down. Eventually we regrouped at a meadow. The snow was wet enough from being melted by the sun that we had a snowball fight and made a funny-looking snowman.


After the trip we had drinks and dinner at the Sundance Cafe in Nederland. Good chow and fun time socializing.

Brainard Cabin

On Sunday we snowshoed out to the CMC Cabin on Brainard Lake. We took the Snowshoe Trail to the roads around the lake. Once we were there we chopped firewood (yes, I actually swung an ax and split wood!) and got trained in how to open up and close down the cabin ourselves.


View Larger Map

So....if anyone wants to come out to CO we can reserve the cabin for a couple of nights. It sleeps 12 and has a wood burning stove and oven and fireplace with chairs and other goodies. After the training we followed THE WHOLE Snowshoe Trail back to the parking lot.

CMC Adventure #2

So, we decided to join the CMC (Colorado Mountain Club) back in November, but for whatever reason, we haven't done many trips. We found one for today that looked like a lot of fun in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The alarm went off at 5:30 (yuck!) so we could meet the group up in the park at 7:00. Though we were a bit late to the designated meeting site, we were able to meet up with the group at the trail head at Bear Lake. In the parking lot the wind was howling so we dressed for a cold day, even though the forecast was for sun and 40-degree temps.


Our group of eight began snowshoeing around Bear Lake and then westward towards Flattop Mountain. When we were in the trees for the first half of the hike, the wind was blocked and we were very comfortable. There were awesome views of Longs Peak and many other mountains above 12,000ft. The group members took turns breaking trail, or should I say bushwhacking, because we were about 600 feet higher than the trail. Some of the snow was two or three feet deep so it was slow going for quite a while.

When we broke out of the trees, our goal was to gain the ridge and then follow it to the summit. Without our trees to offer some relief from the wind, the gusts were blowing full force down the ridge. There was a fairly steady 10-20mph wind with gusts up to about 30. When we gained the summit of 12,300ft around noon, the winds were annoying but not debilitating. Therefore, we continued on the route originally planned for the day. We turned a bit north to head for Ptarmigan Lake. We last about 20 minutes as the winds picked up strength and were blowing at a steady 40mph. At times I was blown off balance.

Picking up the trail, we headed back down to the tree line for a sheltered spot for lunch. On the way back down we saw a few pure white ptarmigans (cool alpine birds that are gray in the summer) and then finally stopped for lunch at 2:00. We made it back to the trail head a bit after 3:30 after nine miles and 3000 feet elevation gained. See our trek in Google Earth or Maps.

This was a first true winter summit. Our first CMC trip failed to summit Mt. St. Vrain and we've done mountains in town, but those are just over 8,000ft. It was a fun, yet windy day, and the folks we snowshoed with were just wonderful. I should mention, though, that we were the youngest people there by over 40 years. I hope when I'm in my seventies I can still do trips like this!

Lefthand Reservoir and Brainard Lake

Last weekend was too cold and windy for snowshoeing but today was awesome. We went back to the Brainard Lake area. Laurel skied and I snowshoed up to Lefthand Reservoir:


From there we went off trail and skied/shoed through the backcountry to Brainard Lake. The snow was very deep and it was tough getting through the trees in places. We got to Brainard Lake and found the CMC cabin. It was nice to stop in for some tea and coffee. After talking to the cabin host for a bit we headed out the South St. Vrain trail and picked up the Sourdough trail back to our car. (pics map)

Knot Tying School

Monday night we braved the snowy roads to drive down to Golden for the first day of a CMC course in knot tying. The class was very good -- we learned a few things and met a lot of knowledgeable people. Towards the end of the class Laurel and I got to chat with local legend Gerry Roach for a bit. Looking forward to the second half next Monday.

Arestua Hut!

Last time we tried snowshoeing on the Jenny Creek Trail, we didn't get on the right trail, there wasn't enough snow, and we couldn't find the CMC hut at the top of Guinn Mountain.

Sunday was redemptive! Lots of snow (although it was melting at temps in the 50s). Better signage directing us to the trail. And... at the end of it was the Arestua hut.

Looking forward to staying an overnight sometime soon. Check out the pics.