Hagues Rowe Ridge

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LURE
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Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by LURE »

Sorry if this has been covered, I did a quick search and nothing initially seemed relevant. But honestly I didn't want to dig through all of the threads.

I'm just curious as to how technical this ridge is. I think I read a comment by someone that they managed to keep it class 3 but I'm not sure how accurate that is and can't even recall where I read it. Did Mummy Mania last fall and it was a tantalizing looking ridge, especially after some fun scrambling on Hagues. If anyone has done it or knows of a good place for information on it I would love to hear some comments or opinions. Not really planning on doing it anytime soon, but who knows, depends on what I can learn about it.

Thanks!
d_baker
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by d_baker »

LURE wrote:Sorry if this has been covered, I did a quick search and nothing initially seemed relevant. But honestly I didn't want to dig through all of the threads.

I'm just curious as to how technical this ridge is. I think I read a comment by someone that they managed to keep it class 3 but I'm not sure how accurate that is and can't even recall where I read it. Did Mummy Mania last fall and it was a tantalizing looking ridge, especially after some fun scrambling on Hagues. If anyone has done it or knows of a good place for information on it I would love to hear some comments or opinions. Not really planning on doing it anytime soon, but who knows, depends on what I can learn about it.

Thanks!
I haven't done these.
But if you look at Bill's (14ers.com King) sexy sister site, 13ers.com, you will find these:
Hagues via the saddle
Hagues and Rowe Peaks
krishcane
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by krishcane »

I assume you mean the rock ridge above the glacier, connecting Hagues and Rowe Peaks. I haven't done the ridge itself but I've been all over that area recently (I posted the two routes just referenced) and I have relatively close photos of the ridge shot from Rowe Peak and in front of Rowe Glacier.

I think I'd be impressed at the routefinding if someone could really keep it at Class 3. I spent a fair bit of time staring at it and trying to visualize the route, and I concluded that somewhere along the way you'd get forced into some more technical maneuvers.

I suppose as long as you're willing to turn back if it gets too gnarly, there's no harm in trying! Let us know if you traverse it. If you think my photos would be helpful for planning, give me an email and I'll send you the high res versions.

Kevin
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LURE
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by LURE »

d_baker wrote:
LURE wrote:Sorry if this has been covered, I did a quick search and nothing initially seemed relevant. But honestly I didn't want to dig through all of the threads.

I'm just curious as to how technical this ridge is. I think I read a comment by someone that they managed to keep it class 3 but I'm not sure how accurate that is and can't even recall where I read it. Did Mummy Mania last fall and it was a tantalizing looking ridge, especially after some fun scrambling on Hagues. If anyone has done it or knows of a good place for information on it I would love to hear some comments or opinions. Not really planning on doing it anytime soon, but who knows, depends on what I can learn about it.

Thanks!
I haven't done these.
But if you look at Bill's (14ers.com King) sexy sister site, 13ers.com, you will find these:
Hagues via the saddle
Hagues and Rowe Peaks
I've looked at those, they're great however neither of them describe the ridge over the glacier connecting the two (which is what I was referring to). I've done Hagues and we thoroughly enjoyed some of the class 4 moves that you can find (or avoid if you spend a little time looking around) on that direct route. I'm guessing and agree with you krishcane that you'd be hard pressed to find a class 3 route all the way across that thing. It could get hairy real fast to say the least after looking at it in person and some pictures so you also have to worry about how easy it would actually be to bail if it got too hairy and you didn't bring any gear.

There has got be someone out there that's done this thing.
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by unclegar »

I had originally planned on going this way while doing 'mummy mania' but when I saw it I decided to go around the lake on the other side to Rowe Peak. I do plan to go back for Rowe Mountain sometime so I may check it out when I go up there for that. Here is a picture of it from Rowe Peak:
Hagues to Rowe dnsz.jpg
Hagues to Rowe dnsz.jpg (115.99 KiB) Viewed 732 times
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LURE
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by LURE »

unclegar wrote:I had originally planned on going this way while doing 'mummy mania' but when I saw it I decided to go around the lake on the other side to Rowe Peak. I do plan to go back for Rowe Mountain sometime so I may check it out when I go up there for that. Here is a picture of it from Rowe Peak:
Hagues to Rowe dnsz.jpg
Whew, that's a good angle! And it definitely doesn't reinforce any claims that it can be entirely managed at class 3. From that angle it looks you'd surely want an alpine rack, depending on which direction you're going maybe just a rope for a rap. But who knows, pictures can be deceiving.
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by cougar »

this is in my plans (I want to include both Rowes it with my Mummy Mania, not sure why more people don't) - from the route description link, it looks like it can be kept to class 2 by dropping below the ridge on the west side. Lose about 300 ft elevation. Maybe a bit less. Although I'd also be interested in more info on this and how much time/effort it takes.
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LURE
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by LURE »

cougar wrote:this is in my plans (I want to include both Rowes it with my Mummy Mania, not sure why more people don't) - from the route description link, it looks like it can be kept to class 2 by dropping below the ridge on the west side. Lose about 300 ft elevation. Maybe a bit less. Although I'd also be interested in more info on this and how much time/effort it takes.
I think you meant to say drop off the east side around the glacier.
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unclegar
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by unclegar »

cougar wrote:this is in my plans (I want to include both Rowes it with my Mummy Mania, not sure why more people don't) - from the route description link, it looks like it can be kept to class 2 by dropping below the ridge on the west side. Lose about 300 ft elevation. Maybe a bit less. Although I'd also be interested in more info on this and how much time/effort it takes.
Our plan was to add on both Rowe Peak and Rowe Mountain. We miscalculated :oops: and ended up going E to Gibraltar Mountain (13300) instead of N to Rowe Mountain. I'll probably try to head back up there sometime to climb the rock pile to the N named Rowe Mountain (didn't look like much from where we were). I'm not sure what is on the W side of the ridge but it would probably be easiest to just go down to the E side of the lake and up Rowe Peak.
...the mountain peaks belong to Him. -- PS 95:4

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LURE
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by LURE »

unclegar wrote:
cougar wrote:this is in my plans (I want to include both Rowes it with my Mummy Mania, not sure why more people don't) - from the route description link, it looks like it can be kept to class 2 by dropping below the ridge on the west side. Lose about 300 ft elevation. Maybe a bit less. Although I'd also be interested in more info on this and how much time/effort it takes.
Our plan was to add on both Rowe Peak and Rowe Mountain. We miscalculated :oops: and ended up going E to Gibraltar Mountain (13300) instead of N to Rowe Mountain. I'll probably try to head back up there sometime to climb the rock pile to the N named Rowe Mountain (didn't look like much from where we were). I'm not sure what is on the W side of the ridge but it would probably be easiest to just go down to the E side of the lake and up Rowe Peak.
I'm thinking that west side isn't something you'd wanna try from looking at my topo. This picture shows the west side of the ridge extending from the left of the summit of Hagues.

Image
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Re: Hagues Rowe Ridge

Post by krishcane »

Cougar,

That drop from the east ridge of Hagues, skirting east of Rowe Glacier, isn't bad at all in the summer. You drop to about 13,100 to cross the valley and then climb 300 feet up to Rowe Peak on Class 2 rock. There's no trail, but it's obvious where to go.

I suspect a lot of people skip these just because the climb from Ypsilon to Fairchild is tough (1200' gain from the saddle) and then Fairchild to Hagues is tough again (1200' gain again from that saddle). That's of course after you've done 2500 to 3000 vertical to get to the summit of Ypsilon. Rowe Peak just isn't that exciting of a summit and it's not in the circle loop so by the time I got to the summit of Hagues, the idea of getting further from the trailhead was less tempting.

If you want Rowe Mountain as well, it's easy to get tricked because it's not obvious from the Rowe Peak summit. The high point east of Rowe Peak's summit (is that what unclegar called Gibraltar Mountain?) is much more prominent looking. Rowe Mountain's summit is a series of bumps due north.

Picture of Rowe Mountain summit from Rowe Peak approach:
http://13ers.com/peaks/routes/small/201 ... 208_21.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If anyone if going back up there just for Rowe Mountain (like I did after missing it on my first two expeditions), I'd recommend the Pingree Park approach just for variety. It's beautiful.

Kevin
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