Chicago Basin, Mt. Eolus, North Eolus (7/25-26/13)

TRIP REPORT:

Chicago Basin Ascent (7/25/13)

Needleton Start Time: 11:26am
Camp 2013 Time: 2:17pm
End Time: 2:27pm
Needleton Elevation: 8232 ft.
Camp 2013 Elevation: 10908 ft.
Basin End Elevation: 10980 ft.
Hike Elevation: 3254 ft.
Hike Mileage: 6.25 mi.

Kilpacker Basin (El Diente) (7/24/13)

Route: Kilpacker Basin Approach to South Slopes of El Diente Peak
Trailhead Elevation: 10,088 ft.
Basin High Point Elevation: 12,548 ft.
Hike Elevation Total: 3100 ft.
Hike Mileage Total: 10.3 mi. (my GPX)

TRIP REPORT:

Start Time: 3:25am
12550 in Basin: 6:40am
End Time: 9:37am

For myself, today was day 5 of 6 preparing to hike a 14er summit. Last Friday my family and I successfully summitted Quandary as a "warm-up" acclimation hike. On Sunday and then Monday Denny, David and I hiked the Wilson's. Yesterday we had a wonderful hike on Sneffels. And now today El Diente was on the table. Thus far, the weather had been great to us. However, today's report was the worst of the week. We were hopeful it would hold off til close to noon and give us a chance to go for El Diente's summit. We set plans to wake up at 3am to give ourselves as much time as possible to hopefully beat the weather. Our new friend Paco was also ready on time with us. We were able to hit the trail at 3:25am.

Mt. Sneffels (7/23/13)

Route: Lavender Col from Yankee Boy Basin
2WD Trailhead Elevation: 11,341 ft.
4WD Trailhead Elevation: 12,463 ft.
Summit Elevation: 14,150 ft.
Hike Elevation Total: 2907 ft.
Hike Mileage Total: 5.54 mi. (my GPX)

TRIP REPORT:

Start Time: 7:47am
4WD Trailhead: 8:48am
Top of Lower Gully: 9:48am
Summit Time: 10:41am (36 minutes)
Top of Lower Gully: 11:56am
4WD Trailhead: 1:13pm
End Time: 2:14pm

Mount Sneffels is a mountain I've looked forward to for years now. As far back as 2007 I've been making plans to find my way to its beautiful summit. In 2007 we were hiking in the San Juans for the first time in many years and we started on the easier ones like Handies, Redcloud and Sunshine. After summiting all 3 of those my brother had to head back home. We dropped him off at Albuquerque's airport and then were back in the San Juans. My father and I made plans on Aug. 6 to hit Mt. Sneffels and were geared up that morning and in our minivan heading for Yankee Boy Basin. The weather that day wouldn't cooperate for us however. We made it just a few miles up the Camp Bird road and found it washed out. We ran into a road work employee who said he could possibly get it open for us but it might just as likely close up again. Given the poor road chances, as well as the poor weather risk up high, we had to bail.

Wilson Peak (7/22/13)

Route: Southwest Ridge from the Rock of Ages Approach
Rock of Ages Trailhead Elevation: 10,349 ft.
Rock of Ages Saddle Elevation: 13,043 ft.
Wilson-Gladstone Saddle Elevation: 13,316 ft.
Summit Elevation: 14,017 ft.
Hike Elevation Total: 4260 ft.
Hike Mileage Total: 9.87 mi. (my GPX)

TRIP REPORT:

Start Time: 4:23am
ROA Saddle: 6:56am
Summit Time: 9:09am (20 minutes)
ROA Saddle: 10:59pm (13 minutes)
End Time: 1:36pm

We moved wake-up call back half an hour today knowing we wouldn't need as much time for the Peak as we did on Mount Wilson yesterday. So we set it for 4am. There was some concern how our legs would feel this morning after yesterday's long haul, but we were pleased to find they felt pretty decent getting started. We ate our quick breakfast and took care of our normal morning routines and were on the trail back to Rock of Ages at 4:23am.

Mt. Wilson (7/21/13)

Route: Northeast Ridge from the Rock of Ages Approach
Rock of Ages Trailhead Elevation: 10,349 ft.
Rock of Ages Saddle Elevation: 13,043 ft.
Navajo Basin Low Point: 12,241 ft.
Summit Elevation: 14,246 ft.
Hike Elevation Total: 6531 ft. (GEarth estimate of GPX)
Hike Mileage Total: 11.8 mi. (my GPX)

TRIP REPORT:

Start Time: 3:55am
ROA Saddle: 6:45am
Summit Time: 10:07am (10 minutes)
ROA Saddle: 12:57pm (15 minutes)
End Time: 3:23pm

It was tough setting a wakeup time for today's hike as we were running on a short amount of sleep (bedtime at midnight) but we also knew the amount of time that would be needed. We had it in the backs of our minds that we wanted to do Wilson Peak today as well. The Rock of Ages approach is a long haul and we were certain we'd have the time and energy to hit Wilson Peak on the "way back". The compromise time was wake-up cal at 3:30am which we did. I was pleased that I slept like a rock for the short 3 1/2 hours I was in my bag. Usually before a hike of this caliber, and at this elevation, I just can't sleep that well. This night, I did, a good sign.

Quandary Peak 2013

Trail: East Ridge Route
Trailhead Elevation: 10,897 ft.
Summit Elevation: 14,265 ft.
Hike Elevation Total: 3404 ft.
Hike Mileage Total: 6.58 mi.

TRIP REPORT:

Start Time: 5:55am.
Summit Time: 10:45am
End Time: 2:10pm

Quandary Peak was to be the first 14er attempt for my two youngest boys, Jonah and Seth. Jonah is 6 years old this summer and Seth is 4 years, 11 months. If Seth makes it he'd be the youngest in our family to summit a 14er, eclipsing his older brother Luke's record of 5 years, 7 months. We settled on Quandary Peak for this job because of its relative ease in route and the 6.75mi distance seemed within reason for the boys. We helped prep them this week with acclimation hikes on Mt. Royal and other trails in the area.