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Pyramid Peak (14,018’)
Buckskin BM (13,370’)
UN 12940
UN 12942
I decided to take Wednesday off to stretch my legs a bit. Since I hadn’t done anything in the Maroon Lake area this year and it’s a reasonable predawn drive for me, I’d start with Pyramid and see how the day developed. The T-storm forecast was iffy and I promised myself to be conservative.
5:30 AM. I leave the welcome restrooms a little later than hoped and hike toward Crater Lake. Never having used the apparently-spiffy new CFI trail, I’m on the lookout and expecting some fancy neon-signed junction. Well, here’s the good old cairned turnoff. I shrug and head up. It’s quickly clear that the trail has been engineered some, so this must be it. Turns out that it is quite wonderful once it begins to climb above the flats. In the basin, there’s enough snow left for easy traveling.
The day has been sort of cloudy and humid, but things appear to be progressing well. I grunt up to the saddle on the Northeast Ridge and meet a couple of guys just before the terrain gets interesting. I’m about to ask whether there’s anyone above when rock fall and shouts resound. My helmet goes on. I plod up and explore a number of different route options when there are choices. Now how would this work with snow? If there’s anything left of the pink chalk arrows from several years back, I don’t notice it. At 9:25, I pop onto the summit. A few new clouds are forming.
I pig out on fig newtons for half an hour, then scurry down trying not to annoy the goats. In the basin, I cruise the snow highway keeping John Prater in mind, pick up the trail, and soon reach the Buckskin Pass junction at 10,100’ near Crater Lake. Decision time. I haven’t climbed “Thunder Pyramid” since 1986 and I’m itching to check it out, but I need a chit from the mountain gods guaranteeing a calm afternoon. I don’t like the odds; save it for some morning.
What then, to do? After hemming and hawing, I formulate an ingenious plan. I’ll hike toward Buckskin Pass. At 10,700’, if things look stable, I’ll “zip up” North Maroon. Otherwise, I’ll try something near the pass; escape will be easier from there. Good to go. At the North Maroon turnoff, it’s not quite a slam dunk, but I reflect on a potentially serious incident from 2005 in this area. Some of you may recall the story of an experiment almost gone wrong.
http://www.fourteenerworldforum.com/showthread.php?t=5653
That poor slob had more brawn than brains.
So, I continue toward the pass, refill bottles, and soon enter a summer wonderland of wildflowers. Oh man. Any passing thoughts of getting naked and rolling through fields of Paintbrush are … well, let’s just say there were too many flies around. I top the pass. Storms are booming east of Pyramid, but I’m OK. I briefly consider an ascent of UN 13039; looks grungier than I recall. Instead, I chug north and head for Buckskin BM. The summit makes a fine viewing platform for Capitol and Snowmass.
I no sooner have my socks changed to a fresh pair when it starts to rain for a bit. Cut it out please. I break through some grungy cliffs and drop southeast along the ridge to Willow Pass. Can I work in a few more summits? I make the mistake of side hilling the next bump, but soon regain tundra. A goat herd leads me part way up UN 12940 before turning off. I sit on top for just a few minutes before moving on; that Symphony bar hits the spot.
Down to the saddle and I start up UN 12942. OK, Ken, final call, last ascent of the day. I boogie, but, halfway up, the hail wins that race. Start down? Not a chance, you summit-fevered idiot. I slap the cairn and I am so outta here. The hail stops, but the lichen-covered rocks are hideously slow. The saddle arrives and I drop east in a hurry. Am I literally and figuratively in the clear?
It’s not to be. Within minutes, the next storm pounces and essentially does not stop for the hour and half it takes to get down. It’s a fabulous performance, observed from inside. Thunder and lightning seem to explode on my hat. Time to hand my fate to the mountain gods and just keep moving. When the thunder shushes, there’s a roaring, grinding noise from my left. Mud and rock flows are moving off the ridge south of Willow Lake. Pretty impressive. Almost too late, I locate the climbers trail for the steep section above Maroon Lake. I’m tempted to butt glissade the mud; it would be quicker.
I regain the truck at 6:45 and jump in back to strip. Good thing I brought a change. The adventure is not quite over. To escape the parking lot, I have to use 4wd to cross a mud flow. Colorado. You gotta love it. |
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