Uncompahgre Peak Trip Report 08/31/2007

Peak(s):	Uncompahgre Peak - 14,318 feet Handies Peak - 14,058 feet Redcloud Peak - 14,037 feet Sunshine Peak - 14,004 feet
Date Posted:	08/31/2007
Date Climbed:	08/24/2007
Author:	mountainlover

Tour de Lake City 14ers
As a final farewell to Colorado before my return to college, my dad and I decided to spend a couple of days in Lake City, hiking several of the 14ers in that region and exploring the San Juans- one of two ranges (the Elks being the other) that we hadn't yet hiked. Our plan was to first climb Uncompagre and Wetterhorn Peak from the Matterhorn Creek TH in one day, and then hike up Handies from American Basin the following day. Day 1: We made the pleasant drive down to Lake City on a Thursday afternoon, arriving in the early evening to pick up our jeep rental (affectionately named "Nellie") and settle into our rented cabin. While the weather was very pleasant when we first arrived in Lake City, it grew worse throughout the night, ultimately culminating in a loud thunderstorm at 2AM. The loud ruckus of electrical activity in addition to our anticipation for the following day of hiking kept both of us from getting much sleep that night. Regardless, the thunder eventually subsided, restoring our optimism regarding the planned Wetterhorn-Uncompagre climb later that morning. An hour or so later, once our official wake up call sounded at 3:30AM, we quickly grabbed our gear and pre-made bagel breakfasts, hopped into Nellie the Jeep, and drove up the 4WD Engineer Pass loop to the Matterhorn Creek TH. While we had a couple of directional mishaps along the way (including accidentally driving up a 4WD private road as opposed to the established public road), we eventually found ourselves at the proper trailhead albeit not without incident: I somehow managed to pull a shoulder muscle during the drive on the rough road, which wasn't exactly the best way to start out the morning. After swallowing down an Advil for my shoulder, my dad and I strapped on our headlamps and finally started up the trail around 5:25AM. The Matterhorn Creek trail was well-traveled and easy to navigate in the dark although we did seem to trip on the occasional loose rock. Once the sun began to rise, it revealed a vaguely ominous sky. Neither my dad nor I was particularly pleased to see that nearly half of the sky was filled with dark clouds at 6:30 in the morning, but we continued onward with our hike in the hope that the clouds would blow away from us. We soon passed the Wetterhorn trail cutoff, and continued on the Ridgestock trail to a basin where we were finally treated with our first views of Uncompagre in the dim, gray morning light. We paused a moment to gape at the massive volcanic peak with the slightest glints of snow scattered across its slopes, and then continued onward across the relatively flat basin to a well-marked junction where the Ridgestock trail connected to the Uncompagre trail. Taking a break on the slopes of Uncompagre Upon reaching the upper slopes of the mountain, we noticed that the dark clouds had blown out of our vicinity, which bolstered our spirits. However, a cold wind still lingered, prompting us to bust out all our warmest gear to keep comfortable. The upper reaches of the trail were noticeably steeper than the preceding switchbacks, but nowhere did the route exceed class 2 in difficulty. We finally reached Uncompagre's summit around 9:15 at which point we were treated to the return of the dark clouds and the freezing wind. My victory pose on the cold, windy summit of Uncompagre My dad's victory pose...there are no words After signing the register and scarfing down a PBJ in a nearby rock shelter, we hastily began our descent of Uncompagre. Once down from the steep section of the trail, we made our way back down to the basin and started the long trek back to Wetterhorn. Wetterhorn Peak in one of the brief moments of clear sky that morning During this time, we encountered a huge flock of sheep, which we had originally assumed were rocks on the mountainside; after snapping some pictures of these little guys, we continued with the traverse across the basin. Throughout this traverse, the sun played mindgames with us, darting in and out of the quickly moving clouds. Once we finally reached the trail junction for the Wetterhorn, we decided to skip our planned ascent of the Wetterhorn, noting that the surrounding clouds appeared to be building as opposed to receding. Feeling confident that we made a smart decision, we arrived back at our car around 12:30. Instead of returning to Lake City immediately, my dad suggested that we drive the Engineer Pass loop. Little did I know what I was getting myself into: a narrow, rough shelf road with sheer dropoffs lingering around every corner. While I wasn't 100% comfortable with serving as a passenger over this pass, it was VERY beautiful so I tried to contain the internal terror during the drive (my dad would probably debate about how successful I was in containing my inner fear). Driving the road over Engineer Pass and then Cinnamon Pass on the way back to Lake City, we conveniently found ourselves near American Basin around 3:00...the storms had blown out during our two and a half hour drive, which left clear skies and shining sun all around. My dad and I looked at each other, and decided that because the weather was so great (and because we were so tired of being jostled around on a 4WD), we might as well take advantage of this opportunity and hike up Handies. The hike up American Basin was probably one of the most beautiful I have ever encountered. Wild flowers were in abundance, and the colors were like that of an Impressionist painting. Beautiful flowers were everywhere on this trail! The meandering trail curved around this beautiful area, directing us toward the stunning teal alpine lake, Sloan Lake. Beautiful Sloan Lake from Handies' upper slopes From there, the trail steepened a bit, finally leading to a series of long switchbacks up to Handies' shoulder. The rest of the hike was a steep hike up to the summit, especially for our tired legs (which had hiked up Uncompagre- the long way- earlier that day), but we persevered and made it to the top around 5:00. My dad and I had not just the summit to ourselves that evening, but the entire mountain! It was truly an experience to remember....at the top, the sun was beginning to set, and we could see the entire San Juan range from Handies' summit. Me on top of Handies in the early evening, pointing to Uncompagre and Wetterhorn. Being on top of a 14er that late in the day (without fear of death by storms or lightning) was certainly something I'll never forget. After enjoying the summit for a while longer, my dad and I hurried on back to the car, admiring the views on our rapid descent. We returned to the car around 6:15, bade farewell to Handies (which was now glowing in the setting sunlight), and continued onwards to Lake City for a well-deserved Italian dinner. Saying goodbye to beautiful American Basin Day 2: After our double bagger day the day prior, both my dad and I were extremely fatigued, so we decided to skip climbing Wetterhorn on tired legs in favor of a gentle hike up Redcloud and Sunshine; we felt more confident that we could slog up these two in spite of our less-than-fresh legs. That morning, the weather was just perfect: clear blue skies as far as the eye could see and very pleasant temperatures throughout the day. A great view of Handies on the trail to Redcloud We began our hike around 7:00AM, and slowly made progress up to timberline on the trail that runs parallel to a stream. The hike up to the shoulder of Redcloud was especially beautiful, particularly the portion through the alpine meadow (whoa wildflowers!). The remainder of the hike felt steep because my legs were so whipped from my previous hikes that week, but on fresh legs, it would have been relatively easy. We sumitted Redcloud around 10:30, enjoyed yet another PBJ (which we were getting tired of at this point in our travels), and basked in the great weather up top. I must note that the summit of Redcloud was kind of cool if only for the martian-like dust surrounding it. From Redcloud, the summit of Sunshine didn't look too far, but this initial impression was very deceiving as the journey took us a little over an hour to complete. For those planning to climb Sunshine in the future, the hike up to Sunshine was harder than the hike back to Redcloud due to Sunshine's steep grade and loose talus surrounding the final pitch to the summit. After contending with this annoying, loose rock, my dad and I found ourselves a top our 4th 14er in two days (and my 7th in a week). My pitiful attempt at a Victory pose on top of Sunshine...I was too tired at this point for a proper summit pic. Once again, the weather was fabulous, so we enjoyed the company of our fellow hikers for a while, and then made the easy return back to the summit of Redcloud. From there, the rest of the hike was uneventful....we enjoyed the views (my last of the season before returning to college), and took our time to stop and smell the fresh mountain air. We encountered a beautiful little reflecting pond along the trail. The wildflowers were outstanding in the alpine meadow. All in all, our trip to Lake City was a fabulous one. Even though we didn't summit Wetterhorn (as we had originally intended), I felt more than pleased with our successful hikes up Redcloud, Sunshine, and Handies. To boot, not summiting Wetterhorn on this trip gives me yet another excuse to return to this wonderful part of Colorado (having fresh legs for future climbs wouldn't hurt either). I'm eagerly anticipating next summer's return to the spectacular San Juans, my newly annointed favorite range in Colorado. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Tour de Lake City 14ers

As a final farewell to Colorado before my return to college, my dad and I decided to spend a couple of days in Lake City, hiking several of the 14ers in that region and exploring the San Juans- one of two ranges (the Elks being the other) that we hadn't yet hiked. Our plan was to first climb Uncompagre and Wetterhorn Peak from the Matterhorn Creek TH in one day, and then hike up Handies from American Basin the following day.

Day 1:

We made the pleasant drive down to Lake City on a Thursday afternoon, arriving in the early evening to pick up our jeep rental (affectionately named "Nellie") and settle into our rented cabin. While the weather was very pleasant when we first arrived in Lake City, it grew worse throughout the night, ultimately culminating in a loud thunderstorm at 2AM. The loud ruckus of electrical activity in addition to our anticipation for the following day of hiking kept both of us from getting much sleep that night. Regardless, the thunder eventually subsided, restoring our optimism regarding the planned Wetterhorn-Uncompagre climb later that morning.

An hour or so later, once our official wake up call sounded at 3:30AM, we quickly grabbed our gear and pre-made bagel breakfasts, hopped into Nellie the Jeep, and drove up the 4WD Engineer Pass loop to the Matterhorn Creek TH. While we had a couple of directional mishaps along the way (including accidentally driving up a 4WD private road as opposed to the established public road), we eventually found ourselves at the proper trailhead albeit not without incident: I somehow managed to pull a shoulder muscle during the drive on the rough road, which wasn't exactly the best way to start out the morning. After swallowing down an Advil for my shoulder, my dad and I strapped on our headlamps and finally started up the trail around 5:25AM.

The Matterhorn Creek trail was well-traveled and easy to navigate in the dark although we did seem to trip on the occasional loose rock. Once the sun began to rise, it revealed a vaguely ominous sky. Neither my dad nor I was particularly pleased to see that nearly half of the sky was filled with dark clouds at 6:30 in the morning, but we continued onward with our hike in the hope that the clouds would blow away from us. We soon passed the Wetterhorn trail cutoff, and continued on the Ridgestock trail to a basin where we were finally treated with our first views of Uncompagre in the dim, gray morning light. We paused a moment to gape at the massive volcanic peak with the slightest glints of snow scattered across its slopes, and then continued onward across the relatively flat basin to a well-marked junction where the Ridgestock trail connected to the Uncompagre trail.

Taking a break on the slopes of Uncompagre

Upon reaching the upper slopes of the mountain, we noticed that the dark clouds had blown out of our vicinity, which bolstered our spirits. However, a cold wind still lingered, prompting us to bust out all our warmest gear to keep comfortable. The upper reaches of the trail were noticeably steeper than the preceding switchbacks, but nowhere did the route exceed class 2 in difficulty.
We finally reached Uncompagre's summit around 9:15 at which point we were treated to the return of the dark clouds and the freezing wind.

My victory pose on the cold, windy summit of Uncompagre

My dad's victory pose...there are no words

After signing the register and scarfing down a PBJ in a nearby rock shelter, we hastily began our descent of Uncompagre. Once down from the steep section of the trail, we made our way back down to the basin and started the long trek back to Wetterhorn.

Wetterhorn Peak in one of the brief moments of clear sky that morning

During this time, we encountered a huge flock of sheep, which we had originally assumed were rocks on the mountainside; after snapping some pictures of these little guys, we continued with the traverse across the basin. Throughout this traverse, the sun played mindgames with us, darting in and out of the quickly moving clouds. Once we finally reached the trail junction for the Wetterhorn, we decided to skip our planned ascent of the Wetterhorn, noting that the surrounding clouds appeared to be building as opposed to receding. Feeling confident that we made a smart decision, we arrived back at our car around 12:30.

Instead of returning to Lake City immediately, my dad suggested that we drive the Engineer Pass loop. Little did I know what I was getting myself into: a narrow, rough shelf road with sheer dropoffs lingering around every corner. While I wasn't 100% comfortable with serving as a passenger over this pass, it was VERY beautiful so I tried to contain the internal terror during the drive (my dad would probably debate about how successful I was in containing my inner fear). Driving the road over Engineer Pass and then Cinnamon Pass on the way back to Lake City, we conveniently found ourselves near American Basin around 3:00...the storms had blown out during our two and a half hour drive, which left clear skies and shining sun all around. My dad and I looked at each other, and decided that because the weather was so great (and because we were so tired of being jostled around on a 4WD), we might as well take advantage of this opportunity and hike up Handies.

The hike up American Basin was probably one of the most beautiful I have ever encountered. Wild flowers were in abundance, and the colors were like that of an Impressionist painting.

Beautiful flowers were everywhere on this trail!

The meandering trail curved around this beautiful area, directing us toward the stunning teal alpine lake, Sloan Lake.

Beautiful Sloan Lake from Handies' upper slopes

From there, the trail steepened a bit, finally leading to a series of long switchbacks up to Handies' shoulder. The rest of the hike was a steep hike up to the summit, especially for our tired legs (which had hiked up Uncompagre- the long way- earlier that day), but we persevered and made it to the top around 5:00. My dad and I had not just the summit to ourselves that evening, but the entire mountain! It was truly an experience to remember....at the top, the sun was beginning to set, and we could see the entire San Juan range from Handies' summit.

Me on top of Handies in the early evening, pointing to Uncompagre and Wetterhorn.

Being on top of a 14er that late in the day (without fear of death by storms or lightning) was certainly something I'll never forget. After enjoying the summit for a while longer, my dad and I hurried on back to the car, admiring the views on our rapid descent. We returned to the car around 6:15, bade farewell to Handies (which was now glowing in the setting sunlight), and continued onwards to Lake City for a well-deserved Italian dinner.

Saying goodbye to beautiful American Basin

Day 2:
After our double bagger day the day prior, both my dad and I were extremely fatigued, so we decided to skip climbing Wetterhorn on tired legs in favor of a gentle hike up Redcloud and Sunshine; we felt more confident that we could slog up these two in spite of our less-than-fresh legs. That morning, the weather was just perfect: clear blue skies as far as the eye could see and very pleasant temperatures throughout the day.

A great view of Handies on the trail to Redcloud

We began our hike around 7:00AM, and slowly made progress up to timberline on the trail that runs parallel to a stream. The hike up to the shoulder of Redcloud was especially beautiful, particularly the portion through the alpine meadow (whoa wildflowers!). The remainder of the hike felt steep because my legs were so whipped from my previous hikes that week, but on fresh legs, it would have been relatively easy. We sumitted Redcloud around 10:30, enjoyed yet another PBJ (which we were getting tired of at this point in our travels), and basked in the great weather up top. I must note that the summit of Redcloud was kind of cool if only for the martian-like dust surrounding it.

From Redcloud, the summit of Sunshine didn't look too far, but this initial impression was very deceiving as the journey took us a little over an hour to complete. For those planning to climb Sunshine in the future, the hike up to Sunshine was harder than the hike back to Redcloud due to Sunshine's steep grade and loose talus surrounding the final pitch to the summit. After contending with this annoying, loose rock, my dad and I found ourselves a top our 4th 14er in two days (and my 7th in a week).

My pitiful attempt at a Victory pose on top of Sunshine...I was too tired at this point for a proper summit pic.

Once again, the weather was fabulous, so we enjoyed the company of our fellow hikers for a while, and then made the easy return back to the summit of Redcloud. From there, the rest of the hike was uneventful....we enjoyed the views (my last of the season before returning to college), and took our time to stop and smell the fresh mountain air.

We encountered a beautiful little reflecting pond along the trail.

The wildflowers were outstanding in the alpine meadow.

All in all, our trip to Lake City was a fabulous one. Even though we didn't summit Wetterhorn (as we had originally intended), I felt more than pleased with our successful hikes up Redcloud, Sunshine, and Handies. To boot, not summiting Wetterhorn on this trip gives me yet another excuse to return to this wonderful part of Colorado (having fresh legs for future climbs wouldn't hurt either). I'm eagerly anticipating next summer's return to the spectacular San Juans, my newly annointed favorite range in Colorado.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

CODave	Sweet! 8/31/2007 11:16pm Nice TR! Looks like you two had a great time. Did you climb Katahdin this summer?
USAKeller	Very cool! 11/30/2010 5:28pm I also climb a lot with my dad; he's definitely my favorite person to climb with . It's a wonderful father-daughter bonding experience- something I (and hope you) will treasure forever, and what better place to do it than in the beautiful San Juans! Glad you had a nice time!
mountainlover	Thanks! 11/30/2010 5:28pm Thanks for all the nice comments! Hiking with my dad down in the beautiful Lake City region was certainly something neither of us will ever forget. CODave, I did climb Katahdin this summer, and it was easily the best mountain I encountered back East (Mt. Washington's Huntington Ravine route was fun as well). It's like a shorter, easier version of Longs...lots of fun scrambling on the way up and a little bit of exposure on ”The Knife Edge”.
scotthsu	nice TR! 2/5/2011 12:22am san juans are my favorite CO range as well. -scott

Caution: The information contained in this report may not be accurate and should not be the only resource used in preparation for your climb. Failure to have the necessary experience, physical conditioning, supplies or equipment can result in injury or death. 14ers.com and the author(s) of this report provide no warranties, either express or implied, that the information provided is accurate or reliable. By using the information provided, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless 14ers.com and the report author(s) with respect to any claims and demands against them, including any attorney fees and expenses. Please read the 14ers.com Safety and Disclaimer pages for more information.

Please respect private property: 14ers.com supports the rights of private landowners to determine how and by whom their land will be used. In Colorado, it is your responsibility to determine if land is private and to obtain the appropriate permission before entering the property.

14ers.com

Social

Mobile App