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We seem to be repeatedly throwing Alexis into the deep end along her fourteener journey. For her sixth and seventh peaks, it's pretty crazy to think that she's already doing non-standard, Class 4 routes! We had planned on doing Capitol at first, but with the active SAR mission occurring below the knife edge we figured it was best to choose a new place to climb. I settled on Kit Carson Mountain (a.k.a. Mt. Crestone, f.k.a. Kit Carson Peak, other complicated naming issues, etc.) after about five minutes of perusing the route selection tool. I verified from a few friends that the route wouldn't hit Class 5, since this would be Alexis' second scrambling route after Kelso Ridge, to which they replied that it easily remained the grade stated (you could take a guess at what ended up happening to us with my luck). After staying the night in Salida, Alexis and I carpooled down to the Willow Creek Trailhead during the early hours of August 11th.
The reason I decided we should wake up before 7:00 was because I had thought the mileage up to the lake was about double what it says on the site. I believe I didn't realize my mistake until we were already driving. Alexis and I wiped out the approach hike in something like two hours, leaving us over ten to just lay around the lake and do nothing. No matter! It was honestly a much-needed rest day, between my job guiding at A-Basin and filling up my leftover time climbing anyways.
I promise this photo is only slightly edited. Well, maybe slightly more than slightly.Alexis peering out into the nothingness that is the San Luis Valley with smoke.
It was a good thing we had hiked the trail around the lake a few times the day before, because we realized as we were going to bed that we had both forgotten headlamps! And to think that I believed I had experience climbing... Either way the trail was lit up enough in the A.M. to be visible without the use of our phone flashlights (which was fortunate considering I had barely charged it the day before and wanted to have the route descriptions on hand). The approach to the ridge was very straightforward. We aimed for the clearly-visible boulderfield just below the cliffs on Kit Carson Peak. If I were to give advice for this route, I would say keep following the bottom of the drainage all the way to Outward Bound Couloir instead of going through the boulderfield. This is where we strayed from the proper route. We made it to the furthest south corner of the cliffs, where we immediately began looking for an ascent route. I found one almost next to Outward Bound, but not quite there, contrary to what the route description says to do. It stuck mostly to Class 4, but there was one section of definite Class 5. I held out until Alexis got through the four-to-five moves of 5.2 to break the news (nice confidence boost I suppose!). However, after looking forward at the top of the crux it was obvious we had just taken the wrong path, now staring up the grassy ledges on-route.
The flowers were still in bloom! The morning alpenglow just about to start...We followed the boulderfield up to the leftmost corner of this wall. Don't do that.Alexis post Class 5, just behind this block. Outward Bound Couloir's apron behind.
Our quick navigation error over with, we continued climbing up the grassy ledges towards the North Ridge. For the first time this summer I remembered to apply sunscreen and drink water while climbing! TheClass 3 scramble up to the ridge was straightforward and easy. Once arriving at the ridge we were both very pleasantly surprised at how steep the route looked, with seemingly amazing rock the whole way up! It definitely never got more difficult than Class 4, while still being really exposed. There were terrific moves on bomber Crestone Conglomerate, and it never felt unsafe. I led most of the climbing, with Alexis taking over on the headwall pitch (at least looking back we think it was the headwall, although it didn't feel very cruxy). The hike to the top was easy to find and follow, and we were on the peak in no time, the first party of the day.
The ledges were pretty obvious if we had just followed the couloir...Nearing the end of the ledges, with Columbia Point in the background.A good view of the exposure.A good demonstration of just how steep this route is. Challenger barely visible.Alexis on what we think was the headwall pitch. Awesome conglomerate climbing!It's entirely possible we were supposed to go up and over this. We went right.
With perfect bluebird skies we had the chance to hang out on the summit, watching the various parties descend from Challenger to attempt the Avenue. After taking our traditional worst-possible selfie (not pictured due to technical difficulties), we headed back the way we came to descend south. The path that most people seem to take was a bit too loose for our taste, so we ducked skier's left into a much-more-solid, probably-a-bit-harder gully to take us down to the Avenue. Within no time we were making our way up the obvious ramp towards Challenger. We passed a party who had decided to turn back upon seeing the Avenue, as they didn't bring helmets and were feeling the effects of altitude (very respectable decision guys!). We got to chat with them on top of Challenger for quite a while before deciding to head down. Me being me, I couldn't be bothered with checking the route description, leading us down the slopes far too soon off the ridge. Let's just say that Alexis wasn't too happy with me (rightly) for not listening to her concerns...
A singular cairn off west signalled this gully instead of the more-frequented one.The Avenue had no routefinding difficulties at all, the way we did it.Descending the east face instead of following the north ridge of Challenger.
We made it out alive, only cliffing out a few times on our way. My reputation for routefinding was not looking good, although it was already tarnished after ski season. So kids, here's the lesson: don't think you're smarter than the route description! We had a pleasant, though long and loose, hike out, only getting rain right as we were packing up camp. We made quick work of the deproach, arriving at the car early in the afternoon to drive home. If I get the chance to come back (to climb Columbia Point, ski one of the couloirs, or all of the above), this could quite possibly be my favorite area of the state! I got a chance to preview the Crestones, my end-of-season goal, so I'll be making a return trip as soon as I can. More pictures below!
Alexis deciding which Class 4 line to take, right after the boulderfield.Our approximate route in light blue, with my guess at the standard route in dark blue.Her smile says everything about how freakin' awesome this route was!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Awesome report, great detail!! Just did this last week, so awesome to read your story. Don't be too hard with yourself on the route finding, I made every mistake you did...and some! We ended up ascending that first gully, NOT THE OB, and left us with a solid class 5 pitch and 3/4 up to the ridge. It was fun, but we knew we were off route, and that was not fun. Once we got to the ridge, all was well. :)
Great report! My partner and I didn't see this until now, two weeks after our ascent up the north ridge. We're thankful we both have climbing experience and the first couloir was manageable for us. It was unsettling to know we were off route, but this alternative route is forgiving if you are comfortable with 5.2 climbing. We exited the first couloir to the west at the obvious grassy ledges, then found an easy route towards the summit. We then came to a ledge which led to more class 3/4 scrambling towards the ridge. We ascend the ridge for a couple hundred feet before exiting to the south side to more obvious grassy ledges. From here, we were back on the standard route.
Seems to me like getting slightly off route is not an unusual thing around here. The good news is that the rock is bomber, so if you're comfortable with some light soloing everything will turn out okay! Thanks for the comment @Novakreb!
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