One of many
trip reports under the
SilGro home page for Alan Silverstein and Cathie
Grow.
Email me at
ajs@frii.com.
Last update: June 15, 2024
(Previous trip report: 1989_0829-31_Challenger,KC.htm)
The second day at Willow Lake after summiting Challenger Point and Kit Carson Mountain the previous day, we did another hike up Mount Adams. This was a pointy pyramid of a peak across the valley and up a side creek from Challenger and Kit Carson. From them it appeared as just one more sharp tooth amongst many other similar Sangre summits. Its south face was lined with sloping rock layers that paralleled its steep west ridge.
Bruce Tepley and I got a little earlier start than the day before, at 0640, just after sunrise. We were still the only campers at Willow Lake. We proceeded directly north from camp at the west end of the lake, up a steep grassy slope. There was a primitive trail at the left edge of this hillside, but we missed it and stayed too far right all the way to the base of the mountain. Still the climbing was fun, painless, and straightforward most of the way.
Above Willow Lake there was a higher valley, leading north to Adams, perpendicular to the main valley. We found a route in it through willows and past numerous ponds. Rather than aim for the low point of Adams' west ridge, we shot straight for a grassy slope between rocks. This led us to the ridge somewhat higher and closer to the peak.
Following the ridgetop was fun; mostly easy walking on clean, solid rock. We came upon a herd of young bighorn sheep, some silhouetted against the sky on the far (east) ridge. After a while we had to drop off to the right and follow cairns around the face to below the summit proper. There were points where the route wasn't marked, but I thought it was pretty clearly best to cross right to the east ridge. Then we worked our way back up along it. The last hundred feet were complex, challenging, steep, and rocky.
We gained the tiny, jagged summit at 0910 (2:30 for 2400'), both feeling pretty good about the climb, plus life, the universe, and everything. It was a pretty morning with low clouds hugging the Wet Mountain Valley to the southeast, and some wisps forming in thermals around us. The view was wonderful in all directions, but especially memorable south to the Crestones, Kit Carson, Challenger, and the distant Blanca group. Once again I was surprised to see no one on any of the surrounding peaks, even with binoculars.
Regretfully we departed at 1000. We returned to the upper basin by traversing lower across the south face to the west ridge and the U-shaped saddle. Below the notch it was not as steep as it looked from below, but the talus wasn't soft enough for good screeing either. We found and followed the pale trail back to camp at 1145, packed up, and headed out. Expecting Bruce to catch up, I hiked out ahead of him, 1335-1610. I felt surprisingly strong and fast.
Before leaving the Willow Lake area I must try to describe the magnificent, overwhelming view of the lake from about 400' above and to the north of it. Just before dropping from a ridgelet down the grassy slope into timberline, there were some perfect rocks on which to sit and study the scene. Let me take you there:
It is a cool, humid morning. First, if you listen, you hear a gentle breeze and the muted white noise of the waterfall at the upper end of the lake, balanced by the myriad smaller falls at the outlet end to your right. Now open your eyes and try to take in all at once the breadth and depth of the panorama. The grassy slope drops sharply before you into a medieval forest below you. A wide, U-shaped valley flanked by steep walls reclines upwards to the left. Its rolling floor is colored by a pastel brown, orange, red, and some still green tundra carpet. Suddenly it drops breathtakingly away over a high, rocky cliff into the emerald waters of Willow Lake. Down the uneven face, between bright projections and dark shadows, flows a white ribbon of water. Its reflection is also in motion, upwards.
High beyond the lake, rising thousands of feet in a smooth wall, tundra yields to rough rocks, ending in the smooth ridge of Challenger Point. Left along this sinuous skyline you see a sharp notch and the fluted, pinnacle summit of Kit Carson Mountain. Low around the lake, soft, dark spruce trees dwell between white boulders. The left half of the lake is deep, bottomless; the outlet side is shallow. The golden sandy bottom is alive with wave shadows.
Mere words do not capture the intensity of this magnificent vista. The colors were rich and varied and the details crisp. It was very special.
Next Bruce and I continued south to the Crestones area.
(Next trip report: 1989_0901-04_CrestoneNeedle.htm)