One of many
trip reports under the
SilGro home page for Alan Silverstein and Cathie
Grow.
Email me at
ajs@frii.com.
Last update: March 25, 2024
(Previous trip report: 1986_0721-23_Windom,Sunlight.htm)
(A
Fourteener
trip report.)
The previous day of weather left us in soggy spirits. We considered packing out of Chicago Basin without climbing Mount Eolus. It was not a good peak to climb in bad weather... I seem to recall Dave Landers saying, "If it's rainy again in the morning, I'm out of here."
Thursday, July 24: To our amazement, for the first time in eight days the morning dawned clear and bright! Just when we needed it.
No excuses: Tired as we were, we had to go climb that next mountain! So we (Dave Landers, Scottie, and I) started up from camp (11400') again at 0700. That's a late start for Fourteener climbing during a monsoon, but we were optimistic... Or maybe just too mellow to care. Certainly we were kind of tired!
To get to Mount Eolus we went almost up to Twin Lakes (12500') and turned left (northwest) into a long basin. The main peak was the high point of a long ridge on the left which dropped a little and rose up to North Eolus. This ridge continued a long way around, eventually becoming Sunlight Peak. The basin below Eolus was formed by a smaller sub-ridge east below North Eolus. The walls of the basin were steep and rugged on all sides.
I found Borneman and Lampert's description a little confusing. We found a trail on the northeast side of the basin that took us way in, to below the cliffs of the main peak. Here there was a small ledge running up and right (not left), and a bigger cut behind it, which was the way to go.
We climbed mostly on snow up to above some large, snow-capped flats atop the ridge east from the north peak, at 13500', by 0900. To this point the route was easy and reasonably fast. From here we got a nice view over to Sunlight Peak and Windom Peak to the east, and down to a frozen lakelet.
(I wrote back then:) Once you reach this spot, don't listen to B&L and head west to the Eolus ridge. Instead listen to Ormes (and me) -- go around north and northwest onto gentle snow. That takes you up to the Eolus - North Eolus ridge just a little north and above where you can get with much more difficulty!
The route we picked going southwest required some ledge and crack climbing with a couple of stretch moves and some intense exposure down a several hundred foot cliff. In fact getting to the main ridge this way was the worst part of the climb.
Once on the ridge itself we were almost there, just a couple hundred feet from either summit. The ridge was narrow and very steep on both sides -- more so than the infamous Capitol Peak knife-edge (but that's another trip report). Unlike the knife-edge, it had a wider, flatter top that was easy to walk along, most of the way. And a tremendous view west to Pigeon Peak and Turret Peak, brown masses thrusting high above the surrounding terrain, with shadows playing over them from the building scud clouds.
Eolus's horrible reputation and occasional deaths probably all came from the last section, or other (more difficult) routes. We chose not to take the ridge directly south, but to follow cairns onto ledges and cracks on the east face. The ledges were pretty wide and flat, unlike for example the Maroon Bells, and there was a wide choice of routes on the complex mountainside. It was steep, but comfortable as we were used to heights; the rock was good but not great. (I recommend a helmet...)
We reached the summit of Mount Eolus at 1005 (3:05 for 2680'). It was a narrow ridgetop built of huge angular boulders -- a fun kind of summit. It was narrower than the Windom Peak summit, with smaller rocks. We didn't stay long, only 15 minutes, before retracing our steps back to the "catwalk" on the main ridge.
From the low spot of the ridge North Eolus was a fast and easy climb on good, solid, rough-surfaced boulders. It took me only about eight minutes for the 200' rise.
The weather held (which was amazing), so there was no real rush. We glissaded and hiked down a series of snowfields and hillsides back to the southeast basin and then to camp, from 1120 to 1300. Coming off the ridge just south of the north peak was much easier and safer than from the low point.
Back at camp we luxuriated in the warm sunshine, drying out all our gear and packing up. We hiked out to Needleton pretty much separately. I made good time, with only one long stop, going the 6.5 miles (or more) from 1455 to 1820 (3:25).
Of course the last train north to Silverton for the day was long gone (no surprise). We had to spend the night down there again...
Friday, July 25: And the first train in the morning was a non-stop express. Finally at 1050 that morning we boarded the steam-engine train for the hour-long ride back to civilization. After the thrills of climbing the views of the Animas River valley again were ho-hum. It was more fun watching the tourists go ape over horseback riders, kayakers, and waterfalls. Me? I went ape over the donuts, popcorn, etc in the concession car!
Back in Silverton I shared a pizza with Scottie, said goodbye to him, and drove alone over Red Mountain Pass, north through Ouray again -- with another stop at the hotsprings pool, ah... I met Dave Landers, his brother John Landers, and friend Joe, at an intersection north and west. We went into Telluride for a hot dinner before driving up to the next trailhead to climb the Wilsons.
(Next trip report: 1986_0726_MountWilson.htm)