WETTERHORN PEAK 7/27/89
WETTERHORN PEAK 14,015'
Mountain........Wetterhorn Peak
Elevation.........14,015
Rank...............49th
Range..............San Juan
Trail length......4 miles
Elevation gain..3,600'
Difficulty..........****
Comments........Don't look down
TRIP REPORT
7/27/89
From my Durango-based Sunlight & Eolus climb, I drove up to Telluride for an attempt on El Diente. An 'expert' at the local sports store told me the only route was to climb Mt. Wilson, take the ridge across to El Diente, and return back over the ridge to Mt. Wilson and down. I found another way, but not this day, as it was pouring rain. So I shelved Diente for the time being and had a pleasant breakfast in the Victorian Inn lobby.
Over muffins and coffee I met a woman from Virginia Beach and a couple from Wheaton, Maryland, just a few miles from my home. After breakfast and a chat, I drove to Lake City and had a great lunch at the Crystal Lodge (toasted cheese with avocado & onions). Afterwards I picked up a few things at the local grocery, had enchiladas at the local restaurant (I believe it was Murphy's at the time, but it's not now), and packed for my second shot at the Wetterhorn.
I woke up at 4, was out the door at 4:30 and at the trailhead at 5:20. I hiked into the basin at Wetterhorn's foot and met thousands of sheep, many very friendly or curious (I had to fight my way through them as they crowded around me to reach the base of the main ridge, which I quickly scrambled up). The weather was good and winds were light so I followed the ridge top to the 'keyhole' below the summit and ventured through (watch your step here and don't look down if heights bother you).
I searched for an easy way to the top, decided there wasn't one, and scrambled up steep, sandy ledges with indecent exposure until reaching the good-sized summit platform at 8:20. I had a pop-tart and some water for breakfast on top as clouds intermittently blew over the summit and alternately obscured and revealed the bright green fields and maroon rocks below. It felt like flying in a small plane.
The climb down the ledges from the top is a lot scarier than going up because you have to look between your legs to find the next step, and in doing so you also find that a missed step could plant you firmly in the rolling green hills at the base where the sheep would walk by for years and remark at the size of the crater you had made. Even from up here, I could hear the bleating from below as they discussed some of the mishaps from past climbs.
Anyway, I felt a lot more secure once I was back on the long ridge down. I reached my car at 10:30 a.m. just as it started to rain once again (it was Colorado's monsoon season). I drove to Aspen singing along with the radio and watching the mountains roll by on both sides.
TRIP REPORT
8/2/94
I returned to Lake City a few years later to climb Wetterhorn with some friends. I stayed at Christi's house (a local woman who had been on my Aconcagua adventure). Rory (a guy from my Mexico adventure) and Chuck (a guide from Aconcagua) and Christi and I went to a bar to celebrate Shannon's performance (Shannon was Christi's boyfriend at the time) in a local play. Christi and Shannon left for his place; she let me drive her Toyota 4Runner back to her house (I left around 12:30 a.m.); and Chuck and Rory stayed behind at the bar.
I had my sleeping bag on Christi's living room floor. I started to crawl in in the dark and felt something soft and squishy. Christi's cats had left me a "present" - a dead bird. I tossed it out of the house and washed up and then settled in around 1 a.m. Chuck & Rory hitched a ride back from the bar with a couple of young Texas girls at 03:00. I got everyone up at 5:15 (it wasn't easy) and we drove to within a half mile of the trailhead, where my car refused to climb over some large boulders.
We took off for the summit, with Rory and I lagging well behind Chuck. We reached the keyhole; Chuck, not being aware of the 'correct' route, had free-climbed the face to the right of the keyhole and was taking a nap on top. Rory and I took the pedestrian route through the keyhole and arrived soon after. It was a beautiful day and we took advantage of the warm sunlight for quite a while before heading back down, this time with Rory lagging behind. We washed up at Christi's and left her a thank-you note for her hospitality (she was at work) and Rory took off never to be seen or heard from again (I sent him a Christmas card in Oklahoma that year and didn't hear back). Chuck and I headed for Buena Vista (see Democrat, Lincoln, and Bross for our not-so-spectacular adventures there).
Mountain........Wetterhorn Peak
Elevation.........14,015
Rank...............49th
Range..............San Juan
Trail length......4 miles
Elevation gain..3,600'
Difficulty..........****
Comments........Don't look down
TRIP REPORT
7/27/89
From my Durango-based Sunlight & Eolus climb, I drove up to Telluride for an attempt on El Diente. An 'expert' at the local sports store told me the only route was to climb Mt. Wilson, take the ridge across to El Diente, and return back over the ridge to Mt. Wilson and down. I found another way, but not this day, as it was pouring rain. So I shelved Diente for the time being and had a pleasant breakfast in the Victorian Inn lobby.
Over muffins and coffee I met a woman from Virginia Beach and a couple from Wheaton, Maryland, just a few miles from my home. After breakfast and a chat, I drove to Lake City and had a great lunch at the Crystal Lodge (toasted cheese with avocado & onions). Afterwards I picked up a few things at the local grocery, had enchiladas at the local restaurant (I believe it was Murphy's at the time, but it's not now), and packed for my second shot at the Wetterhorn.
I woke up at 4, was out the door at 4:30 and at the trailhead at 5:20. I hiked into the basin at Wetterhorn's foot and met thousands of sheep, many very friendly or curious (I had to fight my way through them as they crowded around me to reach the base of the main ridge, which I quickly scrambled up). The weather was good and winds were light so I followed the ridge top to the 'keyhole' below the summit and ventured through (watch your step here and don't look down if heights bother you).
I searched for an easy way to the top, decided there wasn't one, and scrambled up steep, sandy ledges with indecent exposure until reaching the good-sized summit platform at 8:20. I had a pop-tart and some water for breakfast on top as clouds intermittently blew over the summit and alternately obscured and revealed the bright green fields and maroon rocks below. It felt like flying in a small plane.
The climb down the ledges from the top is a lot scarier than going up because you have to look between your legs to find the next step, and in doing so you also find that a missed step could plant you firmly in the rolling green hills at the base where the sheep would walk by for years and remark at the size of the crater you had made. Even from up here, I could hear the bleating from below as they discussed some of the mishaps from past climbs.
Anyway, I felt a lot more secure once I was back on the long ridge down. I reached my car at 10:30 a.m. just as it started to rain once again (it was Colorado's monsoon season). I drove to Aspen singing along with the radio and watching the mountains roll by on both sides.
TRIP REPORT
8/2/94
I returned to Lake City a few years later to climb Wetterhorn with some friends. I stayed at Christi's house (a local woman who had been on my Aconcagua adventure). Rory (a guy from my Mexico adventure) and Chuck (a guide from Aconcagua) and Christi and I went to a bar to celebrate Shannon's performance (Shannon was Christi's boyfriend at the time) in a local play. Christi and Shannon left for his place; she let me drive her Toyota 4Runner back to her house (I left around 12:30 a.m.); and Chuck and Rory stayed behind at the bar.
I had my sleeping bag on Christi's living room floor. I started to crawl in in the dark and felt something soft and squishy. Christi's cats had left me a "present" - a dead bird. I tossed it out of the house and washed up and then settled in around 1 a.m. Chuck & Rory hitched a ride back from the bar with a couple of young Texas girls at 03:00. I got everyone up at 5:15 (it wasn't easy) and we drove to within a half mile of the trailhead, where my car refused to climb over some large boulders.
We took off for the summit, with Rory and I lagging well behind Chuck. We reached the keyhole; Chuck, not being aware of the 'correct' route, had free-climbed the face to the right of the keyhole and was taking a nap on top. Rory and I took the pedestrian route through the keyhole and arrived soon after. It was a beautiful day and we took advantage of the warm sunlight for quite a while before heading back down, this time with Rory lagging behind. We washed up at Christi's and left her a thank-you note for her hospitality (she was at work) and Rory took off never to be seen or heard from again (I sent him a Christmas card in Oklahoma that year and didn't hear back). Chuck and I headed for Buena Vista (see Democrat, Lincoln, and Bross for our not-so-spectacular adventures there).
posted by JansStores at 6:27 AM
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