From: ajs@hpfcla.HP.COM (Alan Silverstein)
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 86 14:13:56 MDT
Subject: Re: Trip reports on the San Juans
Newsgroups: hpnc.general

Saturday, July 19: Uncompahgre Peak, 14309'

The drive (crawl) up Nellie Creek brought us to 11400', which is a nice high start for Fourteener climbing. So, we made a late start the next morning, out of bed at 0530 and on the trail at 0635, under light clouds. ("late" is a relative term, )

The first 1/2 mile or so past the Wilderness Area boundary is still a road. Then it turns into a trail which quickly switchbacks up from the creekbed onto a huge, gently sloping, flower-covered plateau, passing a lot of holey poryphry (?) volcanic rock. Uncompahgre rises pyramidal about 1500' above the far end of the flats, to the west. The trail is a highway that winds through lovely tundra. Early light set the peak aglow, as clouds swirled slowly over the top.

As a hiker I'm a rabbit (sprint and pause) while Dave's a turtle (slow and steady, never stopping). Any time I was ahead of him I got nice long breaks to admire the scenery. But, on this morning, as most, I let him get ahead of me, while stopping to nibble and photograph. And as on most climbs, he beat me to the summit as a result, this time by a wide margin. He's one tough turtle to catch up to! This day, however, there were a number of other groups and singles on the trail to chat with.

Closer to the peak the trail cuts hard left, then around to the right and up the pyramid. I took a "direct" shortcut up a snowfield, but still didn't catch Dave. The trail switches up a broad SE face before reaching the mountain's south ridge at about 13400'. Here you get your first dazzling look west at Wetterhorn, Matterhorn, and even Sneffels.

The route then switches up steeper rock on the west side, eventually reaching a scramble of about 200'. It wasn't at all exposed or difficult, but it was enough to stop some of the people behind me. Above here, you cross a flatter section going north, then switch up a little more to the last summit slope.

The summit is a broad, gently angled field of rocks and flowers with a number of rock piles and braided trails. I strolled up this to the north side, where the world suddenly ENDS abruptly in a ragged, sheer cliff of soft, sedimentary rock. There's no prominent summit point or cairn, just a rolling edge, east-west, maybe a hundred yards wide; a sloping plateau on the south side, and nothing to the north.

It was a foggy whiteout when I arrived at 0915 (2:40 to climb 2900'), with the temperature 51 degrees F. We could tell there was a bottomless cliff, but not see anything over it. It was a fine time to snack and change socks!

After a while we got some breaks in the clouds blowing up and over from the NE. No matter how long you look over the abyss, and explore west and east to the edges of the summit, it remains a spectacular, awe- (and fear-) inspiring sight. Far, far below are rolling green valleys and ridges. Marmots bask right along the edge, and apparently live in the cracks where boulders are slowly crumbling off.

Dave started down, but I putzed around watching the weather change and the marmots play. I waited for a chance to photograph Redcloud, Sunshine, and Handies Peaks to the south, their tops piercing the low clouds. Finally I followed him at 1035. I joined a couple who'd backpacked in, offered them a ride down in the Jeep, and spent an hour hiking out with them in a heavy rain. Oh yes, I took them down the same shortcut, on gentle snow, which was a real blast -- the lady had never glissaded before.

I returned to camp at 1220 (delta 1:45, it could have been even less). I found Dave dry and well-rested under a tree.

We carted the couple, and another solo backpacker, down to their vehicles on the "main" road. They were glad to not spend another wet night in the rain. Back in Lake City, 5.3 miles and 20 minutes down the road, the couple got a motel room -- and offered us showers, which we gratefully accepted. After that, doing laundry, shopping, and getting some "real" food, I felt almost civilized again.

We drove out at 1700, this time going south and west toward Cinnamon Pass. We played "Keystone Cops" a little, getting separated and passing each other (unbeknownst) before joining up at Silver Creek, 19.3 miles from town on a rough 2WD road. Here we spent the night in a grassy field.