Lizard Head Peak 13,113

I woke on the morning of Friday, August 30th, filled with fear and apprehension of the plans I had to climb Lizard Head Peak the following day. I brushed my teeth and then talked to my dog about my concerns. I had decided to tell almost no one about my plans to climb Lizard Head. The team of climbers certainly knew, but beyond that I had only leaked it to one or two people. I have had a long standing issue with telling people my plans, and then coming up short and having to explain my failings. I recognize in the aftermath, I could have called one of many people and just talked of fear and apprehension. I ended up doing a meditation that I have learned in recent times. I comfortably sit and think of being in a snowstorm. For me, there is nothing more peaceful and quieter than falling snow. The bands of anxiety and fear dropped away. I moved forward by getting my gear ready for the following day.

August 31st, 2019

I was meeting my team at the Cross Mountain Trailhead at seven. I woke spontaneously at 4:45 and did a few minutes in deep thought at the reality of the situation: I’m getting ready to attempt to climb the hardest mountain in Colorado above 13,000 feet, which includes 689 other ranked peaks. I put myself into the “snowstorm” for a few minutes and after I came out, I changed my attitude. I am going to climb this mountain.

I arrived at Cross Mountain Trailhead at 6:45. I put the tailgate of my Tacoma down and had a great cup of coffee and enjoyed the peaceful mountain scene. I saw a group of two guys carrying a rope that took off up the trail around 6:55. I knew this could cause rockfall issues in a few hours, but it is what it is.

My team, Bryan who would lead the climb and had done so twice previously, Skylar and Micheal arrived around 7:00 and all seemed upbeat and in good spirits. We passed around a set of handshakes and hugs. We went down the list of things we would need, and made sure we had them.

We took off up the trail at 7:24. The air was cool and the walk through the woods was mostly spent chugging along and enjoying the elements. We arrived at the saddle between Cross Mountain and Lizard Head Peak at 9:25. At that time, the team ahead of us was just crossing the upper shoulder and hadn’t even reached the summit block. We decided that a good long break was in order to give the other team time to get far enough ahead to allow us safety.

Skylar, I and Michael

At 10:00, we started up the west ridge of Lizard Head towards the summit block. I’d say the bottom third of this ridge is a nice grassy slope and then becomes a well traveled path through the scree of the upper two thirds. When we arrived at the summit block, the team ahead of us still had one climber on the deck. We relaxed into another long break and made small talk and took in the awesome views surrounding us from all sides. We talked through our plan in a very detailed fashion and waited it out. You could kind of gauge the progress of the other team by the intensity and pattern of rockfall. When it felt like they were starting the 3rd pitch, we started racking up and stacking ropes.

The Wilson Group from the saddle

Bryan

Coming up the west ridge

The summit block of Lizard Head Peak

The view to the east from below the summit block.

Sunshine Mountain

The summit block

We went over the plan one additional time. Bryan started leading the first pitch at 11:35. A few butterflies in my stomach….I mostly just sat and watched his progress, his choice of gear placement, the holds he used and stood upon until he called “off belay.” Our plan was to be belayed from above by each successive climber and everyone would trail a rope besides Skylar, who would be the last climber. Michael went up next. After Michael made it to the anchor, it became fairly apparent the other group was rappelling. The word was passed from above for Skylar and I to move around the corner and find a safe spot out of the rockfall path until the other group finished rappelling. I talked to the other team briefly and tied myself to the climbing rope and the rope I would trail. I had an intense minute or so waiting for the starting gun….”You are on belay.” With some relief to make the rubber meet the road, I yelled back: “Climbing.” The first pitch is pretty straight forward and most people rate it as 5.7. Things were going great and somewhere slightly more than halfway up P1 a hold snapped off in my left hand. I yelled “rock” as it slammed into my left knee. I don’t remember if I fell onto the rope or if I maintained with my right hand, as a surge of adrenaline poured through my senses. I regrouped as instantaneously as possible and moved upward. Clipping into the anchor above the first pitch is my next available memory. I was stoked, pumped and breathing hard. My prior neck trauma was talking to me in waves of pain and spasms. We worked out a few minor details and I put Skylar on belay and in a short time, he was clipped in beside me.

Go time

Bryan on P1

Michael on P1

Me coming up P1

The first anchor

Brian took off on P2, which is basically a fourth class traverse across a sea of totally unstable choss. He set up a belay off a boulder about 20 feet from the bottom of the 3rd pitch. We met up there, exchanged some gear stacked the ropes and prepared for the final pitch.

Bloodied knee

Me on the first anchor

Bryan started up the third pitch at about 2:30. The crux of the pitch and of the climb is about 15 feet up from the bottom of P3. The climb heads up a crack system upward and to the right and 5.8 seems to be the consensus. About 15 feet off the deck, there is a chockstone looking overhang that has to be negotiated. Bryan worked this overhang with finesse and grace that was nice to watch, placing gear and moving on. He decided to move out of the crack system and to the left above the overhang and that was the last I could see of him. A few moments later, he called off belay. Michael got into place and waited for the call. He had some difficulty at the crux, but eventually powered through. I was honestly in the depths of fear when I heard I was “on belay” and yelled back “climbing.” It doesn’t take long to get to the crux, and shortly after my arrival there, I found myself swinging from the rope. I worked the crux until my arms were pumped and I was soaking wet with sweat. I freely admit to pulling on gear and leaving the realm of climbing this thing clean. Time was starting to be a factor, my neck was in spasms and I was on the edge of puking from the combination of all those things. I got above the crux, calmed myself and took a short break to let my heart rate slow. I clipped into the top anchor and tears of joy may have rolled down my face. I certainly felt good enough to cry about it. I let out my normal mountain top yell of satisfaction. I placed Skylar on belay and he joined us a few feet from the actual summit in short order. Skylar must climb like a beast and it is kind of sad that none of us were able to see him do it for the most part, or get many shots of his climbing.

Bryan on the crux P3

Bryan on the crux P3

Michael on the crux P3

Me belaying Skylar up to the top

It was 4:20 when Skylar clipped into the anchor and we were all safely at the top of the third pitch We bask in the glow of success for a short time taking in the moment and the views. We took turns climbing and belaying each other to stand on the true summit for a magical moment. We took some great photos of each other. We celebrated. Then we talked about time and getting down.

Skylar and Bryan on the top

I'm on the top with the true summit visible behind me.

The summit register

My summit shot

Bryan rapped first and we went in the order we had all day. I’d call the rappel off the top of Lizard head spicy. It didn’t make me as nervous as rapping off a V-thread, but it got my full attention. We all touched down to the base of P1 about 6:10. We coiled the final rope, changed shoes and were on the walk off by 6:30.

The walk off was uneventful for the most part. I’m almost certain that I have a torn meniscus in my right knee and have been dealing with that for several weeks. The trip down the west ridge of the upper mountain caused my knee to light up and start sending me pain messages. We completed the walk off at 8:15. It was almost completely dark, but we didn’t have to break out headlamps.

This summit was special to me for several reasons. It also has the distinction of being the 100th ranked summit I've stood on in Colorado.

We used the Cross Mountain trail to get to the saddle and then ascended the west ridge of Lizard Head. The roundtrip distance was 8.4 miles with a gain of 2,965 feet. Car to car, our time was 12:54, with a lot of time waiting for the group ahead of us.

Another round of hugs and handshakes.

The view to the south

Skylar while we wait our turn.

Me during the wait.

Captain!

Postscript: I heard Bryan use the words I used as the title a few days before we made this climb. I liked them a lot…….