SNOWMASS MOUNTAIN 8/16/90
SNOWMASS MOUNTAIN 14,092'
Mountain........Snowmass Mountain
Elevation.........14,092
Rank...............32nd
Range..............Elk
Trail length......11 miles
Elevation gain..6000'
Difficulty..........****
Comments........One long day
TRIP REPORT
8/16/90
I woke up in Glenwood Springs at 4:30 a.m. and drove to the Snowmass Creek trailhead (5:45). I followed the big beautiful trail (a few boggy spots) past a beaver pond (I heard the little guy slap his tail), up the main valley (coyotes singing in the background), and on up to Snowmass Lake (saw a deer).
I had a small breakfast on the lake shore, then climbed around to the far side and went up a steep talus slope to the foot of the snowfield below the summit. There was only a small patch of the normally huge snowfield left this year. I climbed up the left hand side of the cirque atop a moraine until I was directly below the summit. This was wrong. I had missed the trail cutoff to the ridge on the left.
So I climbed the east face directly to the summit. I do not recommend this. It was very scary and near the top I was hanging on to near-vertical pillars of loose rock with sand on all the footholds and lots of exposure. I made the summit at 12:30 and shakily signed the register, scattered some of my dwindling supply of Richard's ashes (as I had on each peak since his death), and took my time with lunch.
I made sure to follow the correct trail down the ridge on the descent. It was much much easier. Then I retraced my steps the whole 11 miles back to the car. Towards the bottom there are some huge maroon boulders that have settled in among the aspens and are very picturesque and probably fun to climb, but I was too tired and pressed on to the car. I got back at 6 p.m. to complete my longest single-day climb (22 miles, 6000', over 12 hours).
I went to a 7-11 to pick up junk food for dinner. The next day I drove a scenic route from Glenwood Springs to Denver via Fairplay (I had planned to stay in Fairplay but there were no vacancies). I stayed at the Airport Ramada (at the old Stapleton airport). An afternoon hailstorm set off a Mercedes car alarm just below my window. But it stopped before bedtime.
The following day I had lunch at the entertaining Casa Bonita, then had pizza in my room as I watched a "Star Trekathon" where viewers voted for their favorite episode. The winner? "Miri", where the kids 'BonkBonk' the grups!
Having had enough climbing for one year, I flew back home to Maryland for a relaxing, non-adventurous year at work.
Snowmass Cards and Gifts Store
Mountain........Snowmass Mountain
Elevation.........14,092
Rank...............32nd
Range..............Elk
Trail length......11 miles
Elevation gain..6000'
Difficulty..........****
Comments........One long day
TRIP REPORT
8/16/90
I woke up in Glenwood Springs at 4:30 a.m. and drove to the Snowmass Creek trailhead (5:45). I followed the big beautiful trail (a few boggy spots) past a beaver pond (I heard the little guy slap his tail), up the main valley (coyotes singing in the background), and on up to Snowmass Lake (saw a deer).
I had a small breakfast on the lake shore, then climbed around to the far side and went up a steep talus slope to the foot of the snowfield below the summit. There was only a small patch of the normally huge snowfield left this year. I climbed up the left hand side of the cirque atop a moraine until I was directly below the summit. This was wrong. I had missed the trail cutoff to the ridge on the left.
So I climbed the east face directly to the summit. I do not recommend this. It was very scary and near the top I was hanging on to near-vertical pillars of loose rock with sand on all the footholds and lots of exposure. I made the summit at 12:30 and shakily signed the register, scattered some of my dwindling supply of Richard's ashes (as I had on each peak since his death), and took my time with lunch.
I made sure to follow the correct trail down the ridge on the descent. It was much much easier. Then I retraced my steps the whole 11 miles back to the car. Towards the bottom there are some huge maroon boulders that have settled in among the aspens and are very picturesque and probably fun to climb, but I was too tired and pressed on to the car. I got back at 6 p.m. to complete my longest single-day climb (22 miles, 6000', over 12 hours).
I went to a 7-11 to pick up junk food for dinner. The next day I drove a scenic route from Glenwood Springs to Denver via Fairplay (I had planned to stay in Fairplay but there were no vacancies). I stayed at the Airport Ramada (at the old Stapleton airport). An afternoon hailstorm set off a Mercedes car alarm just below my window. But it stopped before bedtime.
The following day I had lunch at the entertaining Casa Bonita, then had pizza in my room as I watched a "Star Trekathon" where viewers voted for their favorite episode. The winner? "Miri", where the kids 'BonkBonk' the grups!
Having had enough climbing for one year, I flew back home to Maryland for a relaxing, non-adventurous year at work.
Snowmass Cards and Gifts Store
posted by JansStores at 6:04 AM
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