North Maroon Peak Trip Report 07/09/2013

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	North Maroon Peak - 14,022 feet
Date Posted	07/09/2013
Date Climbed	07/04/2013
Author	WarDamnPanic

Kiss the mountain air we breath
"I'll tell ya where we'll go. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talkin' bout a little place called..." North Maroon Peak July 4, 2013 Route: Northeast Ridge Start Time: 4:15 am Summit: 9 am Finish: 1 pm Goats Encounters: 5 Climbing 14ers on July 4th has become a tradition for my wife and I the last three years. Starting with Mt. Antero in 2011, and Longs Peak in 2012. July 4th has proven to be a day where there are surprisingly fewer climbers on 14ers. When the alternatives are fireworks, cold beer and bbq grills, who can blame them? As our list of 58 is dwindling down one of the Maroon Bells seemed like a good choice. We had originally planned to hike in and camp by Crater Lake on July 3rd, but after a 2-hour traffic delay leaving Denver, we did not arrive in Aspen until 10 pm. The "find me a room tonight" icon on Hotwire pulled up 3.5 Star for $84, not bad for July 4th in Aspen. We booked it and slept the next 5 hours at the Wildwood in Snowmass. Alarm went off at 3:30 am, we awoke and arrived at the trailhead at 4 am. The walk around Maroon Lake and up to the first turnoff went quick. Just on the other side of the lake make sure to veer right toward Crater Lake. Stay Straight After hiking for 1.5 miles we came to the Pyramid Cairn and then shortly after the turn off for the Maroon-Snowmass Trail. Make a right Taking a right here we quickly passed several Crater Lake campsites and came to the turn off for North Maroon Peak. The trail descended down to Minnehaha Gulch, which stands for haha, your feet are now wet and cold. After crossing the creek over logs that instantly sink upon being weighted, we reached the newly constructed CFI trail that acts as a freeway to the Rock Glacier, which we reached with ease in no time. The new trail was very pleasant and a lot of work went into moving the huge boulders to form the many staircases, impressive work by the CFI volunteers. North Maroon looms above Crossing the rock glacier was straight forward with many large cairns leading you to the base of North Maroon which towers above you. Shortly after crossing the glacier, we traversed along a great trail that gained about 100 feet to the entrance to the first gully. First gully and goats watching the sunrise The first gully is a series of semi steep grass ledges with an obvious trail that runs up the left side. The 600 feet of elevation gain went fast and soon we reached the bottom of the cliffs that produced the trail that led out of the gully and to the top of the rock rib. Here the there are 3 large needle like cairns that mark the entrance to the second gully. Make a mental note of these cairns. The trail traversed to the left side of the second gully and then turns right beginning the ascent. The second gully is much steeper than the first but mostly Class II until you reach the notch and cliff bands at the ridge crest. Second Gully I constantly looked behind me to get a good visual of the exit to the first gully, as this is not obvious on the descent, similar to the Kit Carson Avenue turn required on the descent of Kit Carson. About half way up the second gully I saw a climber ascending and we recognized each other by waves to assure communication should a rock tumble down the slope. After reaching the notch and ridge at 13,200 there are many routes to the base of the chimney but we traversed north on the ledges, which required a few Class III moves and eventually reached the base of the chimney. Chimney (photo by stuttle7) The chimney went fairly quick and required 2-ish Class IV moves on very solid rock. The exposure is also very minimal on the chimney section and after walking up to the top of the precipice, the remaining route comes into view. Remaining Route to Summit Here we veered too far North and ended up making some unnecessary Class III moves to reach the summit, staying south along the ridge avoids this and keeps the difficulty at Class II. We reached the summit just after 9 am. Here we ran back into the other climber who turned out to be Shuan (stuttle7). The views toward Snowmass and Capitol were great, and someone was doing the karate kid on South Maroon. Summit (photo by stuttle7) Capitol and Snowmass Karate Kid on South Maroon We snapped a couple of summit photos with the sign that was on top. After 10 minutes on top we all realized there was beer to be drank as it was 'Merica's Birthday. We began the descent back down the correct trail that was much easier and led us to the top of the precipice and then to the top of the Chimney. Suttle7 on precipice The Class II/III alternative that bypasses the chimney looked like an easier although looser option. We opted for the chimney and with a little help from Stuttle7 as a spotter; we make it down with no issues. The descents through the cliff bands at the top of the second gully and down the gully itself were the crux of the day for myself. The gully appears even steeper coming down and care must be taken with each step and handhold to avoid slipping or falling. Downclimbing Class III Cliffbands at Top of 2nd Gully (photo by stuttle7) More of 2nd Gully (photo by stuttle7) Thankfully this section goes quick and the trail leads to the 3 Cairns that mark the entrance to the first gully. Entrance back to First Gully The trail is very easy to follow back to the rock glacier, across and then down to the Maroon- Snowmass Trail. We made it back to Maroon Lake at 1 pm and surprisingly only a few people out by the lake. A perfect Independence Day on North Maroon and we lucked out with great weather well into the afternoon. This mountain is very similar to Pyramid in terms of difficulty; I would say North Maroon is a little steeper especially at the top of the second gully. Thanks to stuttle7 for the company and for waiting for us to descend the second gully. Amazing the character of people I have encountered on this board. We are blessed and lucky to have this type of community. After a beautiful morning, we crushed some Whole Foods pizza in Basalt and made it to Beaver Creek in plenty of time for dinner and fireworks with friends. Time to Celebrate America Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Kiss the mountain air we breath

"I'll tell ya where we'll go. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talkin' bout a little place called..."

North Maroon Peak

July 4, 2013
Route: Northeast Ridge
Start Time: 4:15 am
Summit: 9 am
Finish: 1 pm
Goats Encounters: 5

Climbing 14ers on July 4th has become a tradition for my wife and I the last three years. Starting with Mt. Antero in 2011, and Longs Peak in 2012. July 4th has proven to be a day where there are surprisingly fewer climbers on 14ers. When the alternatives are fireworks, cold beer and bbq grills, who can blame them? As our list of 58 is dwindling down one of the Maroon Bells seemed like a good choice. We had originally planned to hike in and camp by Crater Lake on July 3rd, but after a 2-hour traffic delay leaving Denver, we did not arrive in Aspen until 10 pm. The "find me a room tonight" icon on Hotwire pulled up 3.5 Star for $84, not bad for July 4th in Aspen. We booked it and slept the next 5 hours at the Wildwood in Snowmass. Alarm went off at 3:30 am, we awoke and arrived at the trailhead at 4 am. The walk around Maroon Lake and up to the first turnoff went quick. Just on the other side of the lake make sure to veer right toward Crater Lake.

After hiking for 1.5 miles we came to the Pyramid Cairn and then shortly after the turn off for the Maroon-Snowmass Trail.

Taking a right here we quickly passed several Crater Lake campsites and came to the turn off for North Maroon Peak. The trail descended down to Minnehaha Gulch, which stands for haha, your feet are now wet and cold. After crossing the creek over logs that instantly sink upon being weighted, we reached the newly constructed CFI trail that acts as a freeway to the Rock Glacier, which we reached with ease in no time. The new trail was very pleasant and a lot of work went into moving the huge boulders to form the many staircases, impressive work by the CFI volunteers.

Crossing the rock glacier was straight forward with many large cairns leading you to the base of North Maroon which towers above you. Shortly after crossing the glacier, we traversed along a great trail that gained about 100 feet to the entrance to the first gully.

First gully and goats watching the sunrise

The first gully is a series of semi steep grass ledges with an obvious trail that runs up the left side. The 600 feet of elevation gain went fast and soon we reached the bottom of the cliffs that produced the trail that led out of the gully and to the top of the rock rib. Here the there are 3 large needle like cairns that mark the entrance to the second gully. Make a mental note of these cairns. The trail traversed to the left side of the second gully and then turns right beginning the ascent. The second gully is much steeper than the first but mostly Class II until you reach the notch and cliff bands at the ridge crest.

I constantly looked behind me to get a good visual of the exit to the first gully, as this is not obvious on the descent, similar to the Kit Carson Avenue turn required on the descent of Kit Carson. About half way up the second gully I saw a climber ascending and we recognized each other by waves to assure communication should a rock tumble down the slope. After reaching the notch and ridge at 13,200 there are many routes to the base of the chimney but we traversed north on the ledges, which required a few Class III moves and eventually reached the base of the chimney.

The chimney went fairly quick and required 2-ish Class IV moves on very solid rock. The exposure is also very minimal on the chimney section and after walking up to the top of the precipice, the remaining route comes into view.

Here we veered too far North and ended up making some unnecessary Class III moves to reach the summit, staying south along the ridge avoids this and keeps the difficulty at Class II. We reached the summit just after 9 am. Here we ran back into the other climber who turned out to be Shuan (stuttle7). The views toward Snowmass and Capitol were great, and someone was doing the karate kid on South Maroon.

We snapped a couple of summit photos with the sign that was on top. After 10 minutes on top we all realized there was beer to be drank as it was 'Merica's Birthday. We began the descent back down the correct trail that was much easier and led us to the top of the precipice and then to the top of the Chimney.

The Class II/III alternative that bypasses the chimney looked like an easier although looser option. We opted for the chimney and with a little help from Stuttle7 as a spotter; we make it down with no issues. The descents through the cliff bands at the top of the second gully and down the gully itself were the crux of the day for myself. The gully appears even steeper coming down and care must be taken with each step and handhold to avoid slipping or falling.

Downclimbing Class III Cliffbands at Top of 2nd Gully (photo by stuttle7)

Thankfully this section goes quick and the trail leads to the 3 Cairns that mark the entrance to the first gully.

The trail is very easy to follow back to the rock glacier, across and then down to the Maroon- Snowmass Trail. We made it back to Maroon Lake at 1 pm and surprisingly only a few people out by the lake. A perfect Independence Day on North Maroon and we lucked out with great weather well into the afternoon. This mountain is very similar to Pyramid in terms of difficulty; I would say North Maroon is a little steeper especially at the top of the second gully. Thanks to stuttle7 for the company and for waiting for us to descend the second gully. Amazing the character of people I have encountered on this board. We are blessed and lucky to have this type of community. After a beautiful morning, we crushed some Whole Foods pizza in Basalt and made it to Beaver Creek in plenty of time for dinner and fireworks with friends.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Chinook	Nice quote 7/10/2013 3:49am Loved the dumb and dumber quote. Every time I head to the bells I use that line, although I haven't run into many French people there :D . Did the goats follow you up at all? Twice I've had goats follow me all the way up to N. Maroon's summit.
Brian C	Where the beer flows like wine... 7/10/2013 1:02pm Haha. It's impossible to have a bad report after starting with a line like that! Nice write up and good photos. I always appreciate seeing other people that get out and climb with their wives. Cool!
Wish I lived in CO	Great Report 7/10/2013 2:34pm Being the first report of the season, this makes me anxious to attempt this in a few weeks. Thx for the post.
Spivey	Vortcity (aka The Karate Kid) 7/11/2013 9:19pm Karate Kid, well that is my good friend Rick. This was his 52nd summit, and I guess he was a little happy. In the photo, Max is toward the left of the Karate Kid, while I guess I was on the other side of them. Max and I did the traverse over to N. Maroon, while the Karate Kid down climbed Maroon. Congrats on your annual summit.
vorticity	Karate Kid ... Wow! 7/11/2013 11:51pm I am the Karate Kid on South Maroon. That was #52 for me, so I was pretty happy. Didn't we climb Capitol together last year with Roger Kilcoyne?? Seems like I recognize you guys. Vort.
WarDamnPanic	Congrats Vort 7/21/2013 3:54pm That was a great day on Capitol, funny that was you on South Maroon. Good luck on your finisher!
CHWitte	Awesome! 7/29/2013 9:01pm Excellent report. I love hearing about the different routes people choose, even while following the standard route. Great pictures also. We did this one last year and it truly was amazing. Thanks for sharing.

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