| Peak(s): |
Mt. Princeton - 14,200 feet |
| Date Posted: | 06/18/2014 |
| Date Climbed: | 06/14/2014 |
| Author: | Krullin_14ers |
| Peak(s): |
Mt. Princeton - 14,200 feet |
| Date Posted: | 06/18/2014 |
| Date Climbed: | 06/14/2014 |
| Author: | Krullin_14ers |
| Mt. Princeton East Slope (Standard Route) |
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Another summit down folks. Get your popcorn ready and recline those seats because your in for another trip report! This one coming at you from the beautiful Mt. Princeton! We decided to head out the night before to secure some high altitude sleep and ensure we had a parking spot.  ^^^Leaving good ol' B town for another mountain adventure On the way, we became aware it was friday the 13th, as well as a full moon night. Things began to heat up. The moon was hiding behind the clouds and I was beginning to wonder if it was still orbiting along the Earth. I was told it was, and soon after some howling thru the Subaru window, the moon arrived, in its full beauty. It was so incredible, I think we got a few dozen shots, but ill only share a few.  ^^^What a mooooon  ^^^Oh, hello Mr. Moon, what are you doing behind that tree?  ^^^Well, there's the moon again Princeton was very easily accessible from Buena Vista, just a few miles down the road. When we arrived, there were quite a few cars parked in the lower lot, I assume they were camping out for the night. Most of them had outdated 2WD cars that could not make it up the "rough" road. From the lower lot, we continued up 3 miles to the radio towers. The road was honestly not that bad. If you have a car with at least 6 inches of clearance and a driver with some cojones, you can make it to the towers. The biggest thing is just not psyching yourself out because once your committed, you are in it to win it. After only a few hours of restless sleep on what you would think was a bed of pillows, we began the journey quite dazed. Departure time was 5:30.  ^^^About a quarter mile in, captured in the panorama mode of the wonderlus iphone 5!  ^^^Being partially in robot mode while following another group, we found ourselves at the end of the road (top left of this pic) THIS IS NOT WHERE THE TRAIL STARTS!!! The trail starts on the right side of this picture. There is a large snowfield covering any ability to notice the trail.  ^^^This is right after the trail exits the road. Notice the small snowfield you must cross. After going all the way to the end of the road, we realized something was up. I should have had a closer look at the route description I printed out. We headed back to the snowfield we were ever so close to 30 minutes prior.  ^^^Within minutes of being on the right trail, we encountered all the other groups treading their way to the top. The trail is really only "a trail" for about a quarter mile, then it becomes a rocky ascent to the summit.  ^^^About a mile in, we encountered the first snowfield. Nothing special here, just make sure you plant your feet nice and tight to avoid a potentially not fun fall.  ^^^View down the snowfield. A little glissading here and you might crack that tailbone up!  ^^^Midway up looking into the almighty Princeton bowl!  ^^^Look at that sunrise hitting my back just bringing all that glow out  ^^^Looking left of where the last shot was taken from. You can see Antero, Shavano and Tabeguache in the distance!  ^^^After 3 long hours stuck in robot mode, as well as 45 minutes of hiking into nothing, we made it to the top!  ^^^many snacks were consumed at the top. One of which included an arugala (locally grown) tomato salad. Oh how my mouth waters just writing about it. Managed to snag some prime real estate at the top (location) to keep us from the wind.  ^^^For some reason, a cucumber was able to make it to the top, and for whats its worth, we gave it a moment with the sign, and then ate it. ('  ')After about an hour on the summit, we finally left and made it back to the car in about two hours. The descent is tedious but manageable.  ^^^After we got back to the car, I remembered I was extremely hungry. We decided to stop somewhere in Buena Vista...little did we know it would be the Buena Vista Pharmacy. We managed to catch the ribbon cutting ceremony, one that contained free hotdogs (score!). About 15 minutes of our time allowed us to have dinner and witness a ribbon cutting ceremony using bronze scissors, something most don't get the opportunity to experience! It was a great day and another one off the list...check back next time for another report! One love. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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