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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Nov 17, 2007 - 02:33pm PT
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The Sawtooth traverse to Bierstadt was my first intense climbing experience. I went up there as a high school kid, no gear except an aspen pole for a walking stick, and smooth-soled work boots. My companion dropped out of our adventure when he saw the steep ridge, so I kept going solo -- with no idea what I'd get into. After traversing the Sawtooth, for some reason I descended the south side of Bierstadt, out of sight from Mt Evans. Somewhere in a gully I got cliffed. At one hard move, I tried to figure out how to sling a flake with my leather belt, but that didn't work. Had to do some exposed scrambling to continue, totally scared and alone.
It was almost dark by the time I got back to the Mt Evans road, where my companion had concluded I was dead and it was his fault for quitting.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Nov 17, 2007 - 04:28pm PT
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That Jack, he's got it goin' on, yo.
The lucky mutt has had a good life but he's graying now too. Took him to the vet for what turned out to be a torn ligament from one too many talus fields. We're thinking about getting him one of those doggy-stairsteps things so we don't have to lift him to get in the car. I laughed when I saw one of those years ago.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 17, 2007 - 04:32pm PT
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Slingin' horns with our belts on the front side and borrowing the doggie stepper on the back:
Buckle up, we gonnah have it all!
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Nov 17, 2007 - 04:35pm PT
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You see the big picture.
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SteveW
Trad climber
Denver, CO
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Nov 22, 2007 - 05:27am PT
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Hey Tarbuster
How come no photos of alpine forget-me-nots?
How something that delicate & bootiful can live in
such places. . . :-)
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J. Werlin
climber
Cedaredge
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Nov 22, 2007 - 11:25am PT
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Finally found my way into this thread. The very very best of what ST is about.
Thanks Tarbuster. I hear yah. Cheers.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 01:52pm PT
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Thank you for the complements fellas.
I much enjoy putting these things together.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 02:07pm PT
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To resume my ramble and to cut loose the next scrambles installment,
Featuring a Southern traverse of RMNP to Elk Tooth & Ogallala Peak,
First, an introductory passage from a reply to Stich in a thread midsummer:
"Master Stich, on this Sunday last, my precious wife and I, traveling unburdened of photographic supplies, gained the col between Meadow Mountain and St. Vrain Mountain, a good deal southeast of your position on the Pagoda, thence gaining a rare and distant view of that most brooding and barren southwest escarpment of Long's Peak.
This is a rugged and inaccessible portion of our beloved Park which we gazed upon, it appears remote, unmarred, yes, verily untracked with either trail or trinket.
I shall return and seek further engagement with this narrow corridor of ridgeline upon which we stood, which terminates West of the splendidly cleaved Elk's Tooth, but only after it handily bounds the Park's southern shoulder and is beset on either side with a most formidable precipice indeed."
-Roy Boy
While it appears that I may have ingested an entire leather-bound Victorian novel, please allow me to explain. I had in fact the night before been perusing “Mountain Climbing”, from Scribner's The Out Of Door Library, published 1897.
Detail from the spine:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 02:08pm PT
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And more excerpts from the book “Mountain Climbing”, to entertain us & build a proper mood:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 02:08pm PT
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 02:13pm PT
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I’ll be back in a bit; gotta go select the wine for Thanksgiving dinner.
I’m thinking and Austrian Gruner Veltliner for the white and one of their Blauburgunder for the red.
Both have nice fruit & crisp acidity: while these are typically accessible wines, they are also precise & complex.
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Nov 22, 2007 - 03:13pm PT
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Speaking of Mt. Evans...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 03:33pm PT
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Ooh Lala!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 05:35pm PT
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Roundabout late September this year I felt well rested and ready for a nice long day out.
What made this ramble particularly interesting was its position along the northern border of the Indian peaks: the route traces a long cross country ridge, following the demarcation line of Rocky Mountain National Park’s southern boundary, for some grand views of that territory.
The long red line at the bottom of the map marks above the route, while at the top of the map, by way of comparison, I have highlighted the approach to Long's Peak. The green highhlighter indicates 4th class rock.
On the pictorial map below, the line follows the left edge of the page, eventually leading over Elk Tooth, and onto Ogallala Peak, and hence the Continental Divide:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 05:36pm PT
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Early morning at a point leaving the trail, looking east out over the plains above Boulder:
Just after sunrise I gained the saddle between Meadow Mountain and St. Vrain Mountain, which affords a wonderful view of the southern aspect of Long's Peak and Mount Meeker:
And panning south I could see Mount Alice, a nice face on the left of the picture:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 05:36pm PT
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 05:37pm PT
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After 3 miles of steep trail and 3 miles of cross country ridge, my stony objectives began to appear to the west:
A long spine of fourth class rock leading up to Elk Tooth:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 05:38pm PT
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A view to the southern edge of St. Vrain glacier cirque:
And up into the cirque itself, with Elk Tooth to the right, Ogalala in center, and Ooh Lala! to the left:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 05:38pm PT
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Looking back east along the incline of my morning’s path:
Looking east, down into the St Vrain drainage & Peaceful Valley:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2007 - 05:39pm PT
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To arrive at the position depicted in the photos above, I had climbed a significant amount of fourth class terrain, at one point, stemming and finger locking in a corner with key face edges to the left. Sometimes that fourth class stuff is sort of spooky: at another juncture, I traversed out along a slab to a great balcony which commanded much exposure, then slipped upward out of that position, pulling up over some tiers of solid granite.
I don't have pictures of this section of the traverse, but the going felt much like the efforted progress depicted below:
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