| Peak(s): |
North Maroon Peak - 14,022 feet |
| Date Posted: | 09/06/2009 |
| Date Climbed: | 09/05/2009 |
| Author: | emcee smith |
| Peak(s): |
North Maroon Peak - 14,022 feet |
| Date Posted: | 09/06/2009 |
| Date Climbed: | 09/05/2009 |
| Author: | emcee smith |
| One step at a time |
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North Maroon Peak Trailhead: 5:50am Summit: 10:15am Departure: 10:45am Trailhead: approximately 2:30pm Hiking Crew: Dave (carpeDM), Don (Don Eberl), Marc (marcvolland) General Thoughts Background: I have been trying to hike more difficult peaks this summer, gaining Wetterhorn, Eolus, and Longs. With good end of summer fitness and feeling like I currently have good trail legs, I wanted to take it another step. When Dave put the word out for an Elks trip, I couldn't pass it up. North Maroon was a challenging peak. Pretty much after the rock glacier, every corner, view, move, etc. seemed more than I wanted to handle. Almost every point on the ascent, I was concerned how the same section would be on the way down. Coming around the corner and viewing the second gully was the most intense sight I have seen yet in the mountains. Also, I had to back away from the chimney (and several other spots) to get a second look before proceeding. That said, all of the pieces of this mountain were manageable, especially with multiple eyes. The rock was more solid than I expected, most of the moves were OK by themselves. There is plenty of loose dirt and rock, but when I really needed a handhold, there was a solid one nearby. The only really loose stuff I saw was the last few hundred feet below the summit. Focusing on the next move or the next few feet make this a manageable climb. Not easy, but manageable. The thing that sticks in my mind about the trip, other than the visual intimidation, is the amount of time needed to be "on guard". From the point where we crossed the stream, there was either steep dirt, loose rock, steep rock, or some combination. We didn't feel we could relax until we were back at the creek. For us, that meant about 5-6 hours of mental concentration and tense legs, which was tiring. Trip Report Don and I met Marc in the parking lot for Maroon Lakes at about 4:45am. We put on the headlamps and started up the trail. Dave was camping near Crater Lake and met us just before 6am at the 1.75mile intersection. After introductions and what-not, we began up the Maroon-Snowmass trail. By the time we reached the stream crossing, it was light enough to see without the lamps. Good thing, as after the stream, the trail was steep. Some of the steep dirt trail between the stream and the rock glacier  Between the stream crossing and the rock glacier, there is plenty of steep dirt (coined by somebody as class 3 dirt), willow bashing, rock fields, and the occasional scrambling up small sections of rock. Crossing the rock glacier was uneventful, but was loose enough to need attention. Exiting the rock glacier and rounding the corner, the area got a bit more cliffy, but the trail was generally good. Coming around the first corner  Coming around the corner and turning up the mountain (maybe the baby gully) introduced us to the loose nature of what was ahead. Up that small section, we then went around the corner into the first gully. Coming up the baby gully, getting used to the steep dirt trail  The trail into the first gully is easy to see from the corner. We entered and began up the slope. Although steep, with loose dirt and rock, the trail wasn't too bad. I still had my poles out at this point, and we made pretty good time up the first gully. The cliff bands appeared fairly quickly, but it seems that we had to get higher than we thought before the trail exit. The trail swung way to the right, then all the way back to the left to exit the gully. The trail is very visible, so if you aren't seeing it, keep climbing. Heading up the first gully  Coming across the top of the first gully, into the exit  Between the two corners separating the two gullies  Exiting the first gully and hitting the corner, there is a very good ledge area to sit and contemplate. I can't say it was a religious or life changing moment, but I had to stop for a minute. The view of the second gully (pictures don't really do it justice) is intimidating as it is described as harder than the first, and steep at the exit. It was time to take a measure of every mountain, every mile, every move that I had done in the three years up to this point. Experience and confidence gained, failures, and lessons learned were all summed up in the decision to proceed. This is what I have been hiking for. View into the second gully  I was glad to have 3 partners, 2 of which I had hiked with before, and Marc quickly becoming a trusted partner. Their outward confidence and the knowledge that I could always turn around made the decision a pretty easy one. From the ledge area, the trail into the second gully is visible. We made our way across and began to work upward. There is a small gully within the left side of the second gully. At times it seemed easier to work up the small gully; other times the area just to the right was easier. There is plenty of loose rock and dirt, but again, there are solid rock seemingly where they were needed. Low in the second gully  Farther up, showing the gully within the gully. Alternate is to the left in the photo (climbers right)  The terrain does get steeper, but there is a trail most of the way up. We ended up literally just below the notch, turned left and worked our way out on the ledges. Near the top of the gully working toward the ledges  Looking back down the gully  Working across the ledges, most of the time the trail and direction to go was easy to spot. A few times, we had to poke around a bit left or right to determine the best way up. At one point, I started up a section, got uncomfortable, and came back down. I had been looking left; my partners said that it looked like you could go right. I scrambled back up to the same spot and instead of looking left, I looked right and the way was evident. For this section (ledges up to the ridge), I found that if I was in a tight spot, it was often as simple as looking behind me (left vs. right) and could find a way up. Working up the ledges  Pretty quickly we gained the ridge. We took a good mental and verbal note at our entrance/exit spot, then began to work up to the crux. It seemed that the distance between the ridge and the crux was very short. So much so, we had to get out the pictures to compare and confirm that the chimney we were about to climb was indeed the crux. The ridge; the ledges are down to the right  I walked up to the crux, looked around at the moves and couldn't see a good way up. Marc took the lead and quickly made it up to the top, and we followed soon after. To me, the difficult part is getting into the chimney in the first place; I had to get both hands in a mantle position and lift myself into the notch. Once in the notch, it is easy enough to get to the top, then there is a crack at the top that seemed to allow an easy exit. Once gripped into this crack, I could get my legs into somewhat precarious positions and provide an easy exit. So the entrance and exit was tough for me, the rest was straightforward. Top of the chimney, grabbing some crack.  Above the chimney, we moved quickly to the precipice, where we took a brief rest and some photos. The rock is flat and solid and was a very nice change from the past few hours. After the precipice, the trail turns an exposed corner, then scrambles up some more rock similar to the ledges above the second gully, but shorter. Obligatory shot of Dave  View to the top, showing the last short ledge area  Working up the ledges above the precipice and below the summit walk up   Above this, the trail eases up and it is a quick walk to the summit. At the summit, we were relaxing, happy, but nobody was celebrating as this place is a good reminder that we were only halfway there. Just below the summit  And summit shot  At this point, about 10:30am, there were one or two clouds in the sky, and they really didn't appear to be building. After snacking, we got together and began our way back down. The first few hundred feet below the summit, the trail and rocks were very loose, and really, this was the only place on the route I felt that I was going to slip and fall. Luckily this is in an area where a fall wouldn't send me over the edge of anything. Getting back to the precipice and to the top of the chimney was uneventful, some down climbing that was easy enough and the trail was mostly obvious. Down the upper ledges   I was nervous about the chimney down climb, so since I was first to the top, I announced that I was going first and prepared to drop in. It looks very intimidating from above. Similar to the way up, the hardest part of the chimney on the way down was getting a good handhold and dropping in. Once I did that, it was easy enough to get down to the bottom ledge, then I got into a reverse mantle position, committed to dropping down, saw the foothold between my legs, and came off cleanly. This was a new experience for me to be looking for the next foothold between my legs. Upper portion of the chimney, a good handhold is necessary to find the footholds below  Middle part of the chimney, pretty easy and obvious  Lower part, notice the foothold Don is using to get out. Pretty key  The rest of the crew came down, taking slightly different routes or facing out vs. in. From the bottom, we dropped down the ridge and into the top of the ledges. We slowly worked our way back down the ledges, there were a few spots that were tricky on the way down, but nothing too scary. Note that by this time the sky was overcast. Probably 40 minutes from the summit with blue skies and one cloud to overcast at the top of the gully. Coming down the ledges below the ridge and above the gully  Back into the gully, it felt that most of the time, I was in a crab position shuffling my feet and hands. Way more so on the way down than on the way up, there was plenty of rock falls due to the nature of our descent. For every 10 small rock falls, 1-2 would go beyond 10-20 feet and warrant the dreadful "Rock! Rock!" call. Marc in the lower left showing the scale of the second gully  Exiting the second gully  We all felt good when we got below the second gully and back onto the ledge. By this time, it was sprinkling, the clouds were everywhere, and we could see quite a bit of precipitation over Maroon. This got us up quickly and back into the first gully. The first gully was easier to come down that the second, but still required concentration. By the time we were at the bottom of the first gully, or before the rock glacier, we could hear thunder. We felt for the few groups that were still above us on the mountain. The area between the rock glacier and the creek was longer than we remembered, plenty of rock and steep dirt to descend. We all relaxed, sighed, etc. once we reached the creek. After a break, we began back down the trail. Finally able to relax  We parted with Dave at the junction (he was camping and possibly attempting another) and came back to the car. What a trip! It is so cool talking with other hikers, hearing about Maroon, Pyramid, or N. Maroon. You could see the exhaustion and accomplishment in everyone's faces. My wife often asks how it can be fun when you look like you are suffering so much. Standing in the parking lot of the Maroon Bells, it is easy to see through the exhaustion on faces to the pride and accomplishment. I was almost giddy, and in a lot of ways just wanted to sit there for a few hours to soak it in. Hunger outweighed, and after changing, resting, etc. we loaded up and headed out. This trip is mentally the halfway point for me. It now seems possible that I have the tools necessary to complete the 14ers. It may take 10 more years, but I feel good about where I am. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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