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Peak(s):  Marcellina - 11348
Date Posted:  10/18/2016
Date Climbed:   10/15/2016
Author:  dhgold
 Marcellina, Emperor of the 11ers.   

In what strikes me as an interesting geological anomaly, six of Colorado's 81 peaks with at least 2000 feet of prominence are clustered in a 20 mile stretch along the Kebler pass road between Paonia Reservoir and Crested Butte. Odder still, the lowest of these, Marcellina Mountain, is both the most striking and the most prominent peak of the set. The view from the road as it passes within two miles of Marcellina's west and south faces dismisses any notion that proximity will make for an easy ascent; these faces can fairly be described as cliffs.

(All photos are better viewed in fullscreen.)

Image
South face of Marcellina, 2000' of rise


A look at the map, however, indicates that approaching from anywhere but south of the summit would entail miles of what would likely be brutal bushwhacking. The maps show a road and trail system from the south that gets to within about a mile and 2400' vertical of the summit. Internet beta described a route that started from the south and traversed east, past the cliffs into class two terrain with plentiful, unenjoyable bushwhacking. Somehow, after viewing satellite imagery and (mis?)remembering trip reports I'd read a while ago, I had it in my head that a more direct route was possible and preferable and would go at a dog-friendly class three.

The road and trail system quickly degenerated into intermittent cow paths and moderate bushwhacking. After about a mile of this, I had a decent view of the SE face and convinced myself I saw a reasonable line through it. While I sensed that such optimistic thinking might be taking me down the primrose path, I reasoned that, given the splitter Indian summer weather, I would, if it came to it, have time to backtrack and make the less interesting traverse around the difficulties.

I left the flats and beelined towards the summit, starting with steep bushwhacking but soon stumbling into a dry creek bed (obvious in satellite photos) which allowed me to relatively expeditiously gain 1000' and reach the base of the steep section. I tried to locate the "reasonable line" I'd seen from below but saw nothing that resembled it; up close the topography was more complex that it had looked from below and I suspected a large, impassable ridge was between me and what I was looking for. The only alternative was to continue upwards in a slabby bowl that eventually turned into vertical cliffs. I decided to keep going and turn around if there was something too crazy for the dog.

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Start of the scrambling


The first few hundred feet were quite enjoyable, following the dog up switchbacking, incipient ramps on solid rock. It began to seem that higher up, a traverse to the easier-looking next gully to the south might go. The dog seemed to grok the program and lead on, a couple of hundred feet ahead of me.

Image
Preoccupied


The traverse to the next gully felt like easy third class but didn't slow Wilbur down. When I reached the small saddle between the two gullies, I gulped as the first moves into the new gully were steep traversing on class three or four slabs that seemed too hairball for a dog; then I saw him looking down at me, from atop the gully, on what I hoped (double hoped) was the summit ridge. As I followed the crux-so-far traverse I decided that from the summit we would have to descend to the north and find the class two bushwhack because I didn't see how Wilbur could reverse this traverse or how I would stomach watching him do it.

When I caught up with Wilbur on the ridge, my heart sank -- we were not on the class two summit ridge but a spur leading to it. The spur was about 100 meters of knife edge talus, separated from the summit ridge by what appeared to be a very steep and deep cleft. I dropped my pack, put Wilbur in a stay, and made a recon of the spur to see if the cleft was as impassible as it looked. If I hadn't been preoccupied with worry about getting Wilbur up (or down) from his current position, I would have found the spur very fun. To the south was a straight drop of at least 100'; to the north there were about 20' of terraced 45-degree talus slabs above a real cliff. Most of the rock was completely shattered, delicate and engrossing third class. I continually shouted back to Wilbur to maintain his stay but eventually he got bored and when I looked back, he was halfway up the spur. At the end of the spur I was overjoyed to see that the north side of the cleft, the part I couldn't see from below was actually class two talus that lead easily to the summit ridge. I descended the spur, briefly rejoining Wilbur on the way to the pack. The section between him and the pack seemed much dicier on the way down, loose knife-edge talus; once again I was glad I hadn't had to watch Wilbur sketch his way along it. I collected the pack, reascended the lower half of the spur and began escorting Wilbur through the upper half of the spur which gave him a lot of trouble. Eventually, he worked out sequences that he felt comfortable with and, for the first time in his life, seemed to understand the concept of a spot.

Image
Postoccupied. Wilbur, at the top of the spur.

Image
Crux traverse from summit ridge


A few minutes of easy strolling put us on top.

Image
The summit with Raggeds in the background


The class two descent of the east ridge was straightforward and uneventful. The bushwhacking south along the flats towards the car wasn't too bad with avoidable deadfall, no scrub oak and the occasional section of animal path to make things easier.

Image
Typical bushwhacking


Marcellina will likely go down as my favorite and most memorable 11er. For those who like scrambling on Colorado choss, our ascent route is highly recommended (for humans). Our descent route is a good class two way to and from the summit with much less irksome bushwhacking than that described in the internet TRs I'd come across. Either way, it would be useful to have the attached GPX file at your disposal.

Image
Marcellina S Face. Starting from the highest trees, we went up the gully directly beneath the summit

Image
Our route through the crux. Summit ridge not visible. (Route marked on left, click for full size)

My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):




Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


Comments or Questions
Matt
User
Much Appreciated!
10/18/2016 1:33pm
Marcellina has been on my radar for a long time. Your TR clarifies much that had been guesswork before.
The P2K list has taken me way too long, and this gives me some encouragement to get back on that horse.
Thank you.


piper14er
User
interesting peak
10/22/2016 11:47am
nice write up and way to go Wilbur


SuperPolok
User
P2K
10/25/2016 11:17am
Marcellina is a compelling peak! I, like Matt, have had this on my list for some time. Thanks for showing us an alternate route.



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