Wetterhorn Peak
(14,015 ft)
8-06-2006
Josh and I set out from Colorado Springs in the afternoon on Friday the 4th. On the way to the Lake City area, we stopped by Pueblo so that Josh could see a friend, then we continued on, arriving at the trailhead / campsite after dark. With the light from our headlamps we set up our tents a few feet away from the car in a surprisingly flat area (though once in my tent I discovered an impossibly sharp rock right under my hip, haha). I set my watch’s alarm for 4 AM and went to sleep.
I’ve never been able to sleep well in a tent, and that night was no exception. It rained pretty hard during the night, knocking a few of my stakes over and soaking through my rain fly a bit. At one point my watch beeped once, but when I tried to check the time I saw that the battery must have just died. I decided to head back to the car and check my cell phone’s clock. Josh heard me exit my tent and asked if it was 4 AM yet. Looking at the black sky, I told him that it wasn’t even close to 4 AM. Two minutes later after I had retrieved my cell phone from the car, I informed Josh—with some embarrassment—that it was actually 4:15 already, haha.
After a quick breakfast of Lara bars and Little Debbie cinnamon rolls, we packed up our soaked tents and set off down the trail. We decided to leave the bulky Fourteeners book in the car and only brought some printed directions and a rather pitiful topo map I found on the internet. The directions told us that we would walk up a 4x4 only road for 0.6 miles before coming to the trailhead. We walked for some time in silence until I finally mentioned, “this seems like way more than 0.6 miles.” Josh agreed, but after all, it was just after 4 AM so we were still not awake enough to judge such things. We came to a gate, just as the directions said, but this gate had a sign reading “Uncompahgre Base Camp—Private Property.” Ignoring the sign, we hopped over the fence and proceeded down the trail. The area was soaked from the previous night’s rainfall, and within a half hour of hiking our boots were completely soaked through.
Day 1: Andy stares pensively into the mist
By this time we began to question if we had accidentally taken a wrong turn; the trail looked overgrown and unused, and we didn’t see any other people around. The sun was up by then, though, and we saw a peak that we believed to be Wetterhorn. Examining the topo map led us to believe that we were still on track. Clouds soon started descending and obscured the tops of all the nearby peaks. At about 12,000 feet or so the trail leveled out for a very long time, which was most certainly not what the map showed. Added to that oddity, we found a couple ominous piles of bones right in the middle of the trail. We hiked for hours until we decided without a doubt that we were on the wrong trail.
Bones! (yes, this should have been a big hint to turn back)
Now, we were certainly disheartened at losing an entire hiking day, yet the area was quite beautiful, and I have always loved hiking on overcast days. We saw at least 20 varieties of mushrooms along the way, including one type that looked like a large golf ball, and another that looked like a bunch of bread rolls stacked on top of each other (no, we did not eat any). We also got to see a lone female mountain goat. Well, we think she was a mountain goat; she could have been a big horn sheep. Josh and I are not zoologists. At one point as we headed back down the trail, we heard a loud crashing in the trees nearby. Josh jumped back a couple feet and I think I might have, too. I thought the sound was thunder at first, then I thought it might have been a large animal, until through a gap in the trees I saw a large pine tree fall. Josh was excited, saying that he had always wanted to see a tree fall in the woods.
A confident mountain man: Josh knows the way to go (haha, just kidding)!
Andy also knows the way (even more lost than Josh).
On the way back, we searched for any turn offs we might have missed in the trail due to the darkness and fog, but we didn’t see anywhere we went wrong until we reached our car. Fifteen feet away from where we camped, the road branches, and we missed the sign saying that the trailhead was on the right, haha. I was so amused that we had missed an obvious trail 15 feet from where we began!
That afternoon we drove into Lake City. If you’ve never been to Lake City, you really need to go. I have never seen a town so eager to cater to all of your T-shirt buying needs! Every shop sold T-shirts! Hundreds! Thousands! Blues, reds, greens! Key chains and shot glasses abounded, as well.
We were hungry by this time and walked around to see if the town had any good restaurants. A&A’s Steakhouse looked like the best bet, but we found out that they were closed for a private event. The Cannibal Café (yes, seriously) also looked pleasant, despite the name, but it was closed due to “personal reasons.” The next restaurant we checked was also closed. Finally we stopped in a coffee shop for some icy beverages, and a girl there recommended a restaurant called Charlie P’s. We waited until the place opened at 5, diverting ourselves with a game of cribbage in the town’s central park (I’m terrible at figuring out my score after each hand. *sigh*). At Charlie P’s I ordered a hamburger and a large glass of Avalanche Amber draft (soooo good), and Josh ordered the “Gristle Missile,” the world’s least-appetizingly-named steak.
We returned to the campsite and decided that we really didn’t want to set up wet tents, so we slept in the car. If camping is a guaranteed bad night’s sleep, sleeping in a car is a bit worse, especially since Josh had hiccups for a significant portion of the night (coming in 8 –10 second intervals. And yes, I timed him), and I had some, uh, “gastrointestinal fulmination,” to use a pseudo-scientific euphemism (I appreciate your understanding, Josh, haha).
Early morning light on Wetterhorn Peak
Once again we awoke at 4 AM, ate some Lara bars, then hit the trail. The correct trail. Hiking in the dark by headlamp is a lot of fun, especially since we were the first people on the trail. Near treeline we spotted a herd of 6 or 7 deer grazing near the trail. Soon after, we saw a herd of bighorn sheep, the first time Josh had seen them in the wild. Josh took some nice close-up photos of some marmots.
Wetterhorn!
Around this time my right knee began to ache badly. I think it was just strained from the previous day’s hike and two uncomfortable nights of sleeping curled up in awkward positions (as I write this over a week later it still hurts, though not nearly as bad). I would have enjoyed the hike far more if not for this painful irritation.
We finally reached the class 3 portion of the trail. Until Wetterhorn, I had never done anything above class 2. I’m happy to report that I not only survived, but I had a wonderful time on the class 3 areas! Working my arms and other muscles in my legs gave my knees a break. Much to my pleasure, we met two experienced women at the beginning of the class 3 section who guided us much of the way up. One woman had climbed all the fourteeners, and the other had only two remaining. The class 3 section took us awhile, but it was not as difficult as I had expected. The experience of testing hand and footholds and the prospect of falling down the mountainside in a few places were new to me, and quite a thrill.
When we reached the summit we took a break for a few minutes and admired the valleys and nearby peaks, including Uncompahgre, another fourteener. The ladies who helped us on the ascent had broken their camera the previous evening, so I took a photo of them, and they gave me an e-mail address (unfortunately, I think I lost the paper, haha).
Andy & Josh on the summit (note descending clouds)
Uncompahgre from Wetterhorn
Our timing was perfect because after we had rested the clouds began to descend. These clouds were not dangerous, black clouds; they were light and fog-like when they covered us. Two teenagers who were coming up after us believed that they were storm clouds and began a panic among the other climbers close to the summit; the teenagers, only 100 feet from reaching the summit, ran down recklessly, yelling about a “storm!” Josh and I, both having hiked in Colorado for years, knew that the clouds posed no danger, but they sure fooled those other guys. We met a few hikers on the descent who were really irritated by the needless alarm the guys had sounded.
The roughest class 3 part on the way down...
Actually, this part was harder (*shrugs*)
Matterhorn, a 13er connected to Wetterhorn by an evil-looking ridge
Clouds on Wetterhorn
To make this part shorter, we made it back to the car and set off down the road without any weather trouble. For dinner we stopped in Canon City at Wendy’s and made great time on the rest of the drive back to Colorado Springs. Wetterhorn is one of my favorite fourteeners so far, and I can't wait to try more class 3 climbs!
