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What started out as a little bad luck having my equipment stuck in ATL, turned out to be a spectacular adventure up to Capitol Peak. I was able to rent equipment at REI and the weather was absolutely beautiful. Mike and I started about 4:30pm from the Capitol Peak trailhead and made it to camp #6 just as it got dark. This is a shot about midway to camp:
Our camp, although a bit of a climb, had an awesome view of Capitol and the surrounding area:
We started out around 8am, knowing the weather was going to hold, and quickly made our way to the first saddle:
In hindsight, we should have stayed high instead of following the lower Roach route to K2. The boulder field up and down was a lot to trudge through but being out there made it all worthwhile.
The knife edge does not disappoint. The ridge leading up to it was longer than I expected but very solid and grippy. You can walk a lot of it and the exposure is thrilling not intimidating.
Much of the time you can straddle the edge with bent ankles rather than getting down on all 4's (although it makes for sore ankles at the end of the day!).
The climbing after the main ridge was longer than expected (at least it was for me). There is still quite a bit of scrambling and ridge climbing. None of it too bad but route finding was a challenge. I kept seeing "trails" on the South side but staying on the ridge proved more productive and I think less dangerous.
I know I am a fairly slow hiker, especially coming in the day before from the flat lands. It took me about 5 hours to reach the summit and 4 hours to get back to camp. It was an exhausting but fun-filled day!
After summiting, you get to come across the knife-edge again and get an awesome view of K2. Mike waited there and enjoyed several hikers come across this area. The weather held nice the entire day so I could just take my time coming across.
I remembered this sketchy move coming down from K2 and it was just as interesting coming back up. There is a good bit of exposure and some care must be taken for this move. There might be a better way to go but several guys were taking this approach. Not a huge deal but I actually thought it was a bit scarier than the knife edge. There is a similar move coming back off K2.
Overall this was an awesome trip and for anyone a little worried about the exposure I would encourage you to just go up and take a look and give it a try. Worst case you get an awesome camp with spectacular views.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
arianna2 - i definitely encourage you to give it a try - i really thought it was less intimidating than some of the other moves required on Pyramid, Maroon, etc... of course nice weather always makes a difference! good luck on your attempt!
Capitol's an amazing mountain! I felt too that going around K2 was the hardest part of the climb since some of the rock there is a little unstable and pretty exposed; but all in all, I didn't think Cap was as difficult as I expected it to be. I'd love to go back and do it again some time! I'd also like to try the ridge going up to the summit. Great job!
Thanks for the trip report. I was thinking of doing this one as well. But at 45 I take my time. The camping spot looks great. I will definitely give this on a try.
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