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Date: August 27, 2006 Team: USAKeller and TalusMonkey Route: Southeast Ridge from Matterhorn Creek TH
TalusMonkey and I were supposed to climb Redcloud and Sunshine on Saturday, and Handies on Sunday. However, since plans got rearranged due to a snow storm, we climbed Handies on Saturday (see trip report http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=2715&np=30&cpgm=tripmain) and decided it would be best to climb Wetterhorn on Sunday (mainly because it looked as if it had the least amount of snow).
We woke up at 6:30am and arrived at the Matterhorn Creek TH at 7:30am. Since we were driving a 2WD passenger car, we had to park at a road junction just shy of the 4WD turnoff. We began hiking at 7:45am; this time the weather looked more hopeful! The main trail has two main junctions- the second junction has 'Wetterhorn Trail' (pointing to the right) written in someone's handwriting, so be sure to look for that.
Snow-covered Matterhorn Peak seen from the main trail:
The trail is well-defined all the way up past the yellow dirt section, which then turns into a somewhat broken path.
TalusMonkey and USAKeller on the Wetterhorn upper ridge with Uncompahgre Peak behind:
The first section of scrambling below the 'Prow':
From here, we both agreed that the snow (and ice) would add a fun twist to the climb. Once we passed the notch, TalusMonkey thought that it would be best to stay on the left side of the gully to avoid the most ice and snow that we could. For us, we didn't have any problems climbing through it to the summit.
Climbing up just before the notch:
We summited Wetterhorn in 3hrs. flat, took some photos, and had a snack.
USAKeller and TalusMonkey on the summit of Wetterhorn Peak:
The snow and ice started to melt just enough and we made it back down to the car in 1hr. 50min. It was a great day for both of us!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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