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A Snowy Wetterhorn, Sneffels SW Ridge & Some Big Fish
Day 1: Wetterhorn Peak
RT Length: 7 miles
Time: 6 hours
Kaiti and I arrived at the Wetterhorn trailhead a little later than we normally like to, but the weather forecast was looking great and we were exhausted from trying to finish up work late Thursday night so we could take Friday off. The short approach to Wetterhorn has to be one of the best of the 14ers. No scree, no bushwacking, no crowds, just beauty.
The first glimpse of the route up Wetterhorn gave us a little pause. It was snow-covered a little more than I thought it would be, but we were hoping it would melt out by the time we got near the top.
We stayed pretty high on the prow, as the gullies were filled with snow and found the rock to be quite fun. There are quite a few ways you can ascend this area, and they are all fun.
I was quite anxious/nervous when we saw the notch. Would I be able to do it this time? What were the conditions going to be like? Well, it was snowier and icier than we had imagined, but we just started up and I surprisingly got more comfortable the higher we went. The snow/ice covered most of the middle section, so we had to climb up farther on the left than what looked to be the ideal route. There was only a couple spots near the top (ledge pictured below) and a move right above the ledge that were somewhat unavoidable/sketchy with the snow.
Summit time. Yes. Yes. Yes.
We stayed on the summit for ~5 minutes and headed down, as I knew that descending was going to be quite a bit harder than heading up. It took awhile for us to get down the last staircase, and one let out one giant breath of relief when we passed back through notch.
Redemption. It had been 4 years since I first attempted Wetterhorn back in September 2010. I had just moved to Colorado and had no idea what class 1/2/3 meant or what exposure really was. I got up to the staircase and about 1/4th the way up froze and was terrified. I turned back around while my friends went to the top. It was a really weird feeling being so freaked out, but I had never really felt exposure before and wasn't ready for it.
We didn't have any set plans as we were driving back to Lake City. We decided if we felt exhausted after Wetterhorn we would just go set up camp and do Redcloud/Sunshine the next day. We both felt really good and decided to make the 3 hour drive to Yankee Boy Basin and set up camp.
Kaiti and I have been wanting to do this route for a couple years now, and Daniell's trip report: "The Great Mount Sneffels: Southwest Ridge Classic" made it a must-do for us in 2014.
The approach to the SW Ridge has great views once you get to the upper trailhead (we were surprised with how many cars were making it up to the UT as the road is quite ugly).
Once on the ridge, we got our first glimpse of the route ahead. The entire route is pretty well-cairned, albeit a few spots. The only spot on the entire route we felt was a little dicey was in the second gully right before the kissing camels. We're not sure if we got off route or not, but had to climb some very steep rock that was still semi-snow covered in the gully. We were beginning to get a little worried that we got off-route and down-climbing what we just climbed would have been really sketchy, but then we saw the unique rock formation of the kissing camels and were quite happy to be (back) on route.
The rest of the route is by far our favorite scrambling we have ever done. ~500 feet of just pure fun. Extremely solid rock, fantastic views and just enough exposure to keep it exciting. We even stayed ridge proper for most of the time, something neither of us last year would have even contemplated.
We went down the standard route. The V-notch is quite overrated. However, if this was filled with snow it would be a different story. The standard route of Sneffels is just one long scree pile in a gully with hundreds of people kicking rocks down on each other. Yuck.
Day 3: Float trip lower Gunnison River
Length: 6 miles
Time: 8 hours
Fish caught: ~15
Fish lost: ~5
Beers drank: ~10
We did a fly-fishing float trip on the lower Gunnsion with RIGS and gave our legs a rest. We each caught a couple ~20 inch browns & rainbows that put up a good fight. If you enjoy fly fishing, this was one of my favorite trips I've ever done. Big river, big fish and not super-packed like the Fying Pan.
We got back to Ouray that night and stayed at the China Clipper Inn for a couple days. If you stay in Ouray, this B&B is absolutely amazing. Hans & Ingrid are super nice (Hans makes amazing muffins) Why can't Labor Day be every month? Can't wait to get back to the San Juans.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
... On two classic climbs and a nice report. Amazing how the exposure doesn't change - we just get more used to it and realize it's not so bad. Though that snow on wetterhorn looks like it added some definite spice!
Lville - So true, it still gets me a little, but not near as much now.
Jay - Yes, the standard route is quite miserable. I'm surprised with how many people mention Sneffels is their favorite coming up this way.
Ron - Thanks. I obviously picked the pic with the guide holding the fish. Somehow they magically add a couple inches through the lens.
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