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For Website and Slideshow: http://geocities.com/rob_runkle/Colorado14ers/Sneffels20060706_FR.html
Mt. Sneffels (14,150 feet)
Via the Yankee Boy Basin TH
July 6, 2006
Approx RT mileage: 4.74 mi
Sneffels was the peak that Scott wanted to do most. He wanted to dabble in Class 2+ or class 3. Sam and Jeanne were more interested in a nice class 1 or 2 hike, with a beautiful view. So, Scott recommended that they hit Handies, while Scott and I hit Sneffels. So, for the day, we parted ways, with plans to meet back at the Grizzly Gulch TH in the late afternoon, the following day. Late at night, Scott and I finally arrived in Ouray. It was close to 11 pm, and very dark. We were a bit worried about traveling the road to the Yankee Boy Basin TH in pitch black, but, we started up the road anyway, looking for camping opportunities along the way. The road is awesome at first, but turns nasty. We continued anyway. The condition of the road was still better than what we had experienced on the way to the Harvard Lakes TH. We passed through the "C" tunnel, and wondered what steep drop was just off the side of the road. I was driving and Scott was definitely on "pins and needles" in the passenger seat. Ultimately, we found a camp ground, just short of the TH. We hadn't plan to drive that far, but we didn't find any good camping until then. There was a camping area at the beginning of the road (along the 2wd section), but it was in horrid shape, so we skipped it. The spot that we ended up with was #39, I think. It wasn't until the next morning that we realized we missed an awesome spot in #34, on the left side of the road, along the creek. Oh well!
This trip didn't start off well when it rained all night. This made our choice in camp spots even more frustrating as this spot didn't have good tree cover; #34 did. Needless, neither Scott or I got very good sleep. It finally stopped raining around 4 am. The rain gave us an excuse to crawl out of bed late. We got up and up to the trailhead around 6:30 am. We parked the SUV at the parking spots with the bathrooms around 11,400 ft.
The first part of the trail is pure 4x4 road. In fact, we saw several vehicles that decided to go further than we had. Now, that's just cheating... The road was very wet, and we had to hop over several sections of running water. From talking with Matt Mahoney the day before, we were both excited about attempting the class 3 ridge option. But, with a very heavy fog, Scott became hesitant. Stupidly, I was still up for it, ignoring the obvious route finding risks. The trail left the road at a sign in register. It takes a left (or straight really) off the road. I don't know where the road continues to. At this point, the trail changes from dirt, to a combination of dirt and rock, mostly rock. Soon, it becomes all rock, pretty much the base of the class 2, standard route. At the turn off for the standard route, I chose to continue towards the ridge (class 3), while Scott turned right, up the talus field.
Not long after leaving Scott, I took a right also; at the next sign. I figured that I was on the class 3 ridge. I wasn't even close. That is how bad the viability was. I was 200 yards up into the rock field when I finally got a glimpse of the ridge, which I had missed badly. I turned way too soon. Accepting my route finding faux pas, I decided that I'd better meet back up with Scott and stick to class 2+ today. It wasn't long that I ran back into Scott. Scott had taken more of a switch backed approach, while mine was more of a rock scramble. We also passed by a family - a man, lady and their two young boys. They was going very strong, and the boys seemed to be having a blast on the mountain.
Scott and I continued up the talus slopes. It was a combination of rocks, some boulders, and scree. It wasn't too bad. The scree was wet, and pretty hard packed. The hard packed scree made it a little bit easier to climb. Eventually we made it up onto the ridge/saddle. Our next move was to follow up to the left, and into the gully. What gully??? That is how bad the visibility was. Luckily we had some GREAT pics of the route. Without them, there is no way we would have know where to go. Several times, these pics saved out trip. Although we couldn't see the notch very well, I identified several other features in the pics, that we were standing next too. And, I could barely see the shadow outline of the notch, although Scott couldn't see it at all.
I trudged us forward towards the shadow notch. It is a boulder climb at this point. Sure enough, I was right. Just into the notch, we encountered a group of three others. They were standing at the bottom of a 200 ft snow climb and wondering if they should continue. Scott and I had the same thoughts. Luckily for all of us, the snow was soft, and easy to kick steps. One of the members of the lead group kicked steps for all of us. It turned out to be pretty easy. Both Scott and I had the same concern though, and didn't tell each other, "What is this going to be like going DOWN?" Neither of us had any ice gear, nor the skills to use it. None of the others had ice gear either, so we were all in the same boat. Just past the top of the snow climb, there was a "V" notch to the right of the route. According to our pics, our target was just past this notch, and an easy scramble to the top.
Maybe it was just the fog, but the drop off right next to the "V" notch through seemed very exposed to me that day. The climb through the "V" was pretty easy. It was definitely a class 3 move, wet. But, there were some decent hand holds, you just need to make sure to have one solid hand at all times. Through the "V", it was a pretty easy scramble to the top. With the low visibility, and wet, it was definitely a mix of class 2 and mild class 3. But, overall, it wasn't too bad.
Scott and I didn't spend much time on top. We reached the top in 2 hours 27 minutes, and spent 7 minutes on top. With the fog, we couldn't see anything, so the enjoyment was limited. When we headed down, there was a bit of confusion with the other group as to which direction was the correct direction to go. Man, that could be a dangerous situation: Low visibility, with huge exposure in the region, and not sure which way to go down. Me, and another guy in the other group were positive which direction was correct though, and I guided Scott and myself that way. I ended up dropping a little bit too much, and got below the "V" notch. Instead of going back up, I made a class 4 move, right to the "V". At that point, the father of the family group we passed at the bottom came through the "V". Smartly, he had left the kids at the bottom of the snow field. Scott and I farted around taking pictures of various poses in the "V" notch. As we were doing this, the father had tagged the summit, and was already caught up with us. The three of us crawled through the "V", and headed down the snow climb. It turned out to be pretty easy. The snow was soft enough that we could bury our heels pretty deep, even though both Scott and I were only wearing trail shoes (my staple foot wear). Scott and I were put at easy on the snow climb pretty quickly, when we found that slippage pretty much only got your hands wet, and you didn't slide down. It was that soft.
We reach the bottom of the snow climb, and continued down the bolder field. The father caught up with his family. Then, Scott and I had a bit of fun taking pics, and video of our scree skiing down the slopes. It was a blast, and we dropped 500 ft in no time at all. At the bottom, we left the scree, back to the talus, and ultimately, back to the road. On our way down the road, two more 4x4 vehicles passed us, going up. For the first time in my life, I cut a switchback in the road. Scott pointed it out, and it was a very environmental friendly cut. So, we took it. We got back to the car in 1 hour 57 minutes; RT of 4 hours 31 minutes.
This climb turned out to be pretty fun. The fog was the only inhibitor. Both Scott and I stated that we'd be back to do this one proper; with clear conditions to enjoy the beauty of the climb. And, we agreed that we'd hit the class 3 ridge route next time. |
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