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2009/9/20 Uncompahgre Peak 13,309
Solo
Nellie Creek TH- Round Trip 7.98 Miles
TH to TH in 3:49
I had planned to climb on Saturday morning. My alarm clock failed me and I woke at 4a.m.. That would normally be about right, except it’s a long way to Uncompahgre from Cortez. I revamped to Sunday. My alarm came through at 2a.m.. I pulled my ATV up to Silverton, which is a two hour drive. I then rode my 4-wheeler 25 miles or so across Engineer Pass to Nellie Creek TH. It was interesting driving across in the dark with intermittent rain.
I arrived at the Nellie Creek TH at 7:21 and was off at 7:30. I won’t spend a lot of time on trail details, as the trail could possibly be the best marked summit trail I’ve ever traveled. The main problem was the weather. I could see approximately 10% of the mountain, the rest was consumed in dark clouds. I plodded forward at quite a good pace. As I neared the saddle, I encountered a couple (from Craig, CO) that deferred for better weather. They indicated another couple was still heading up. The second couple was coming down the more difficult section of the northern aspect when we met. They said the weather was no worse above. I was on top a few moments later. There was 1-3” of snow on top and on the northern aspects.
I climbed up what I believed was the summit block in horrible visibility. The clouds suddenly parted and I had immediate realization of extreme exposure less than 18 inches away. Almost made me woozy. No register to be found.
I basically jogged down until the tricky spot. There was enough snow to make me cautious with foot placement. Once on solid ground I just walked as fast as possible. I caught back up with the other summit couple, chatted briefly and continued on to the TH. I used the convenient outhouse to put on heavy riding clothing and took off. I was pelted with graupel for most of my trip. Just above Animas Forks, the sky opened up and the sun came out. |
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