UNCOMPAHGRE PEAK 7/30/84
UNCOMPAHGRE PEAK 14,309'
Mountain........Uncompahgre Peak
Elevation.........14,309
Rank...............6th
Range..............San Juan
Trail length......7 miles
Elevation gain..5,000'
Difficulty..........**
Comments........Sloped football field summit
TRIP REPORT
7/30/84
The day after climbing Redcloud & Sunshine, Richard and I headed back into the San Juans from Lake City to try Uncompahgre. Due to recent storms and heavy usage, the road up Nellie Creek was in incredibly bad shape. We were sliding from one side to the other and had trouble staying out of deep ruts - we wished we had a real Jeep instead of the American Eagle station wagon with bald tires that we had rented. Eventually we forded a creek and tried to continue uphill but couldn't get any traction and nearly got stuck. I stepped out into the muck and pushed as Richard spun the wheels and splattered me pretty thoroughly, but we got nowhere, so backed down and parked next to the creek. From this point it was still a couple of miles to the trailhead, so we took off up the road on foot.
Uncompahgre loomed impressively above a flower-filled meadows trampled by sheep trails. There is a picturesque sharp spur on the mountain's southeast ridge. We headed for the ridge to the right of the spur and went up. From the top of the ridge to the summit plateau there was one short steep slippery section with loose rock, but no other problems as we headed up to what must be the tallest cairn on a fourteener (about 9 feet high at the time).
There were marmots everywhere, the weather was clear, and there were excellent views in all directions, as you would expect from the highest point in the southwest corner of Colorado.
As always, the hike down to the car seemed much longer than the climb up. Negotiating the slippery road downhill in our Eagle was even scarier than the drive up, but we made it okay and drove to Salida where we stayed in a small motel. Richard insisted on watching news shows(instead of the escapist fare I prefer), and also had developed an ear (probably tin) for country music while we were driving. I tolerated this out of respect for our climbing partnership.
Mountain........Uncompahgre Peak
Elevation.........14,309
Rank...............6th
Range..............San Juan
Trail length......7 miles
Elevation gain..5,000'
Difficulty..........**
Comments........Sloped football field summit
TRIP REPORT
7/30/84
The day after climbing Redcloud & Sunshine, Richard and I headed back into the San Juans from Lake City to try Uncompahgre. Due to recent storms and heavy usage, the road up Nellie Creek was in incredibly bad shape. We were sliding from one side to the other and had trouble staying out of deep ruts - we wished we had a real Jeep instead of the American Eagle station wagon with bald tires that we had rented. Eventually we forded a creek and tried to continue uphill but couldn't get any traction and nearly got stuck. I stepped out into the muck and pushed as Richard spun the wheels and splattered me pretty thoroughly, but we got nowhere, so backed down and parked next to the creek. From this point it was still a couple of miles to the trailhead, so we took off up the road on foot.
Uncompahgre loomed impressively above a flower-filled meadows trampled by sheep trails. There is a picturesque sharp spur on the mountain's southeast ridge. We headed for the ridge to the right of the spur and went up. From the top of the ridge to the summit plateau there was one short steep slippery section with loose rock, but no other problems as we headed up to what must be the tallest cairn on a fourteener (about 9 feet high at the time).
There were marmots everywhere, the weather was clear, and there were excellent views in all directions, as you would expect from the highest point in the southwest corner of Colorado.
As always, the hike down to the car seemed much longer than the climb up. Negotiating the slippery road downhill in our Eagle was even scarier than the drive up, but we made it okay and drove to Salida where we stayed in a small motel. Richard insisted on watching news shows(instead of the escapist fare I prefer), and also had developed an ear (probably tin) for country music while we were driving. I tolerated this out of respect for our climbing partnership.
posted by JansStores at 11:45 AM
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