One of many
trip reports under the
SilGro home page for Alan Silverstein and Cathie
Grow.
Email me at
ajs@frii.com.
Last update: July 26, 2024
(Previous trip report: 1988_0706-07_HandiesPeak.htm)
(A
Fourteener
trip report.)
Thursday, July 7: Departing American Basin after Handies Peak the day before, I headed next to Wetterhorn Peak and Matterhorn Peak. First I rolled down to Lake City for a delicious hot meal. (Focusing on the mountaineering in these reports I left out a lot, like how scenic the drive was from Cinnamon Basin to Lake City. It was also pretty much 2WD.)
I headed out on the Henson Creek road at 1705 and went 12.3 miles west to Central City, up to the Matterhorn Creek turn, and to the end of the road (a gate) at 10800', at 1800. Only the last 0.7 miles from the North Fork road required 4WD, though it was rough before that. I camped for the night on a grassy platform above the creek.
It was attractive but impossible for me to get up early enough to be high on Wetterhorn Peak for sunrise. My alarm was set for 0400... I finally arose at 0530 and was on my way at 0557, five minutes after sunrise. All the way up, even as I enjoyed the hike, I wondered why I was bothering... Of course then I was glad I did!
The old road was slowly returning to nature but for a single track trail. It climbed through trees and meadows to the marked wilderness boundary and timberline at 11600'. I decided after some study to leave the trail, cut left, cross Matterhorn Creek, and scramble up grassy slopes and some rocky cuts through cliffs to the southeast ridge of Wetterhorn. It looked formidable but was much easier than appearances, actually a very nice "four-appendage-drive" route.
Once above the cliffs it was a long stroll through wildflowers on the broad ridge to rejoin the trail at about 13040', 0840. I came across a rare sight, a mother ptarmigan (a chicken-sized bird) protecting about four chicks.
I found out later there was a route just about directly up the ridge at about 13700' toward the summit. Like last time, I got out onto the steep, gravelly east face instead and traversed it. I reached the base of the summit proper at 0935.
Wetterhorn Peak was a nasty-looking pinnacle with only one non-technical route to the top. The last ~150' was up a narrow, steep gully between cliffs. To make the climbing easier I left my pack below and took only essentials. I reached the small, level top at 0949, climbing slowly and methodically; 3215' in 3:52.
For an hour I circled the summit, looked over all the surrounding cliffs, enjoyed the flowers growing right on top, built up the summit cairn, and studied the view. To my surprise at least one marmot lived in the tundra that sloped off the north side to end in cliffs. I wonder how he got there?
I descended carefully and paused to [re]build a number of cairns. Shortly off the summit I met a large group of camp kids and counselors who were straggling up... They eventually reached the very top. I was impressed.
I dropped down the east face, fast and easy but steep enough to require care, and made my way east towards Matterhorn Peak. (Running the connecting ridge proper would probably require three hours and a rope...) There were a lot of flat snowfields that made the trip quicker. I stopped for lunch at 1245, 12600', southwest of Matterhorn.
Unlike last time I was here, it was a quiet-weather day. There were lots of clouds, but the only threatening ones were quite distant. I was almost disappointed at having no excuse not to proceed the extra 1000' up Matterhorn, being "kind of" exhausted.
Of course later I was glad I went the rest of the way -- albeit at a plodding pace. I reached the small, jagged, virgin summit at 1342. Here I took half an hour to air my boots, eat the rest of my lunch, and marvel in the scenery -- Wetterhorn and ridge colorfully extending west, Uncompahgre Peak looming east, and Matterhorn Basin, a slice of Switzerland, to the south.
My return from Matterhorn went quickly, same as from merely high on its slopes two years ago. Once past the couple hundred feet of bare rock that comprised the summit and south ridge, it was a stroll down tundra and flowers to the main trail. I was back at my Jeep by 1540 and in Lake City again at 1700.
Much later and many miles away I camped for the night high on Mount Princeton, southwest of Buena Vista.
Saturday, July 9: The next morning I motored the rest of the way (rough 4WD) to Princeton's south shoulder, 12000', where gnarled bristlecone pines grew. It was tempting to take a two-hour hike to the top of yet another Fourteener, but I was just too sore and fatigued, even after nine hours sleep. I settled for some rockhounding in the gully below "South Princeton", drove home that afternoon, and was in Fort Collins by 1715.
To my surprise it took me about three days to recover from the hard exercise of the last week. As always the memories were but a shadow of the reality, but they long outlasted the fatigue. [2024: Decades later though, not so much! I'm glad I wrote these memoirs.]
(Next trip report: 1988_0731_McHenrysPeak.htm)