Ice Mountain 13,951 and North Apostle 13,860'

The Short of It:
Whew! a 9.5 hour day... Gaia says ~9.4mi and 5,000' of gain... still not sure how that adds up
- 5:24 AM - Start at Huron TH
- 10:25 AM - Summit of Ice (a whopping 5 hours later)
- 11:20 AM - Saddle of Ice & N. Apostle - see the sky, drop packs & helmets
- 11:40 AM - Summit of N. Apostle
- 12:00 PM - Saddle - Snack time, grab our packs, head back down
- 1:30 PM - Treeline
- 2:00 PM - Large log creek crossing
- 3:00 PM - Done!

The Long of It...

My first attempt at Ice and N. Apostle was just about 2 years ago in July 2018. My friend Trevor (TwoMeterTrophy) and I made it to the basin, crossed the creek, and willow whacked our way across the basin... All during annoying rain and mist which shortly turned to hail. When that became too dense to get a good sense of where we were going we decided to turn back and get breakfast burritos in Leadville. And I think that is what kept us going and chugging along back to the trailhead in defeat after being soaked in the rain (with rain jackets but those dang willows will get ya!) for too long.

Fast forward to June 27, 2020, and we decided to give these rugged and ominous peaks of the Sawatch another go. We checked the weather the days leading up to it - fairly typical for summer: 20% change of t-storms after noon. Perfect. 5-ish am start, we'll be good.

We carpooled from Leadville and turned onto the quite familiar CR 390 and down to Clear Creek/S. Winfield. Per usaul, Missouri Gulch was packed, even at 4:30ish. Cars all along the road, up and down CR 390 - car camping, tents along the road, people gearing up... Mountains are getting more popular, but I think given the state of things right now, the outdoors are definitely getting more love.

It was wonderful to hike to the willow basin, see the rock glacier, and cross the willows to the forest to trek to treeline without any rain and being able to see the goals for the day without low-hanging clouds. Great start!

We didn't cross the creek here - this is where the trail dumped us, and it was too far across. We tried for that nice-looking log. Ice covered. Farther up, there was a good spot to cross with just one little leap of faith, which, in my morning stupor of not wanting to get my feet wet combined with short legs, caused me way too much pause (yep, I'll abashedly admit that creek crossings can get me too in my head sometimes). On the way back, no biggie - but now, I just didn't want to slip and fall into the creek! Wet shoes and socks suck.

Thank goodness for the GPX file - that helped significantly with getting us past the willows, above the rocks, and through treeline. It may sound like a quick and simple cross the basin, skirt through the trees to treeline, but there was just a bit more time in trees than anticipated. And we're fairly decent at route finding. There were some trail segments here or there, possibly just game trails, but they were nice to use in the midst of all the down and old trees. Once we broke through, though, the views up through the rock basin were stunning.

There is a trail through this flat-ish area and some cairns. If you can find it, they'll help quite a bit because, frankly, if you can avoid some rock hopping through here, you won't be disappointed to miss out on it - you have plenty coming up! After you get through this part and turn the corner, you'll be rewarded with views of the basin and your objective - climb up and over the little grassy section to the rock ribs then up to the saddle.

More of the same smaller rock hopping interspersed with some dirt and grass. Nothing too out of the ordinary for this range so far. Just a lot of rock. The closer you get to the base of these mountains though, the more imposing they are. They really do inspire awe and seem, at least to me quite different for this range.

Did I mention how many rocks you have to go up and over and through and across yet? If not, well, it keeps going!

All the snow was avoidable. I actually managed not to step on or through any until the very end of the descent many hours later. So up we went aiming to the right of those rocks. I'm fairly certain the snowy area would have been preferable to the route I chose. I think I may have gotten in additional scramble that wasn't necessary... and by "think" I mean I did. No wonder Trevor had to wait so long for me at the saddle! I was going at a snail's pace after going up and over some crazy-loose rock and scrambling up and over things that I shouldn't have been. It was fun but slow-going and unnecessary. I went right. And then more right. The route description, after just looking at it again, looks to zig and zag. I forgot the zag and kept on the zig.

It was about this point we saw the one other person out there for the day - he had finished Ice (as evidenced by his helmet and later the summit log) and was going down. He went down the gully to the left of the rocks that we went to the right of. We kept this in mind for our descent...

You're probably thinking "OK EMILY ENOUGH OF THE ROCKS". Well, lucky for you, we've reached the saddle! Time to don our helmets and head on up to the summit of Ice - but first, some fun class 3.

Starts out mellower and increases as you go. Fun route. Some route finding but the route photos and description were helpful!

The above photo shows the remaining route for the most part, with the upper-most section to the right of the snow being the final crux (if I'm looking at it correctly that is!). Some of this route heading up there is loose, though. Reminded us a bit of Lindsay (but shorter and narrower). Definitely shouted "ROCK" at one point down into the empty basin (you never know) after I inadvertently sent a not-so-small one flying by accident. The rock itself is all really solid though. Great handholds and footholds. And definitely some fun scrambling. Crossing the dirt gullies or going up the ledges with some dirt and scree takes more patience and, to an extent, some finesse so as to stay stable and not send rocks flying around.

We made it to the crux. Trevor was leading the whole time, which I am fine with. I find it helpful to watch how someone else goes about these scrambles. Plus, I'm not as tall as he is, so my legs go a little slower at times. Luckily, he's patient with waiting for me, and we both take lots of photos of the wilderness, route, and of each other doing the cool parts of the climb:

We followed the route through here - cross over to the right side of the gully and climb up the somewhat exposed but class 3 rock. I guess it's rated as a 3 because of how solid all the holds are and the fact that there are some ledges to stand on. That being said, I find if I don't turn around or look around much (i.e. "don't look down"), I'm set and good to go. If I do, I'll get in my head and second-guess myself. I took the above photos of Trevor from across the gully so as to be out of any potential rock-fall area. Once he got to the top, I crossed over and continued on up.

I can see why this is the crux. It definitely requires some concentration, a little coordination, and some trust in your abilities to get up there. At one point I said I have never been more grateful for picking up indoor (and 1x outdoor) rock climbing just to learn some technique and to trust myself more. My first class 3 was Longs and after that is when I started the rock climbing. Between that and more experience on the harder mountains, my skills have definitely grown. While it's been a while since I've rock climbed or done a class 3 (probably 2 years ago), I have done a handful of them. The time taken between them is what caused this to be a tad bit more nerve-wracking at times. No matter what, though, this was such a blast! What fun scrambling. I would say stick to the right of the crux. I used the wall on the side for some balance and good, grippy handholds. There was one part where I had to use my knee to help me up, but otherwise the handholds had enough ledge and grip to help. I found it key to remember to use your legs for steps up and bank on their strength rather than using your arms to pull you up throughout this part.

After you get to the top of this crux, there is a little more climbing before the summit. You can see it. You can feel it. You can taste it! You got this!

I like summit logs. I know there are a lot of differing opinions on them, but I think they're fun. I enjoy seeing how far back they go, how much traffic the mountains get, who the last person was, the comments people write, where they're from, etc. Of course I signed it! Lots of paper and pens in a plastic bag tightly sealed in the log itself, which is nicely attached to the rocks.

It was such a still and quiet, peaceful day. Pretty much no wind. The sun was warm. The skies were clear. You could see all the Elks - the snow mass on Snowmass. Capitol in all its ominous glory. Lots of little ants on top of Huron. The entire SE ridge and gully going up to La Plata. Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Antero. It was just marvelous up there.

Soon the anxiety set in, though, that we had to down-climb everything. And frankly, I prefer climbing UP rather than DOWN. So after a few more photos and a sip of water, off we went. Me tailing behind, per usual.

Trevor decided to down climb on the other side of the crux - opposite of the 'staircase' and snow. As I watched him descend I realized I did not want to go that way. While shorter, it looked ickier from my vantage point. And that was confirmed when he said there was a somewhat sketchy move that I wouldn't be able to do with my shorter limbs. I appreciate the honesty!

It seemed like people had suggested facing inward for the down climb. I decided to be a rebel and face out. I like knowing where I'm going, and if I can make it work I will. And I did. Maybe not always gracefully with some butt-scootchin' and crab-walking almost at times, but it worked, and I got down safely. It went quite well actually. Then I had to cross back over the dirt part of the gully, which is when the rock I mentioned earlier went flying. "ROCK!" Luckily that was the end of it.

There was some more descent to go - I place my feet perpendicular at times and used the wall for hand balance at other points, but overall it was fairly uneventful. We had great views of N. Apostle the whole way. We also had great views of the clouds. At one point we discussed if we'd have time to actually traverse over to N. Apostle. We decided that we would summit it if we dropped our packs and were able to find the energy to "run" up it. So, we continued down Ice back to the saddle with summit #2 on our minds.

It was uneventful to the saddle. We dropped our packs, took our helmets off, and hoped no marmots would make our packs their lunch (we were lucky - none did). We kept up a pretty solid pace heading up N. Apostle, but the clouds were in our favor. There were some that could easily turn into thunderheads but they all moved around us. We were in a nice little nook in the Sawatch it seemed, and the universe was on our side with having this be a nice, calm, dry day for the two summits.

Looking over at Ice from the summit of North Apostle really shows how dramatic of a peak she is. She seems different than the rest of the Sawatch. Typical rocks and bouldering to be had, but she's a bit more ominous and rugged than the others. Definitely a good climb and glad we did that one first and left N. Apostle for the second summit of the day.

After some quick photos, we made our way back down. Realizing neither of us had really eaten much throughout the day up to that point we grabbed some snacks, apologized to our joints for the beating they were about to get going down the rock basin, and off we went.

We did go around the other side of the rock outcroppings around 13k and down the gully/dirt side. Yes, it was loose and scree-y. But it was better and felt a tad more stable than the rocks on the other side of it. It suited our purposes with hopefully not too much strain on the mountain. After one more look back at the day's accomplishments, we continued on our way.

The farther down we got the more flowers and grass there was. We saw a few pikas and marmots too! They're so fun to watch. I think they weren't sure what to think of the weird two-legged creatures heading up their mountain, though.

We followed the GPS track back through to treeline, the willows, and the creek. Honestly I never though I'd find myself saying "where are the willows" (and I'm still a tad ashamed to have said it), but my knees were starting to scream at me after all those loose rocks and impact of going down them. They won't stop me, I love these mountains, but I was quite happy to be on softer ground.

I always like turning around to see where I just came from and the hike or climb I did. It's very satisfying with quite a sense of accomplishment. For years I would enjoy lakes and basins and admire the mountains that surrounded them but never thought of climbing them. I think keeping that perspective in mind will ensure I don't take for granted these peaks in our backyard.

It was a tough climb, and it took significantly longer than either of us anticipated. And I still cannot figure out why Gaia showed 5,000' of gain when the site says 3500-3900'. We didn't go of route... And mathematically that makes sense too (the lower gain). It was a committing day, and after making it to the upper basin above the rock glacier, I am so happy we turned around 2 years ago in the rain when we did. The rocks and class 3 climb would have been even more challenging with rain water slickness.

I'm not sure if I'm dying to do this one again, but I would recommend it! Keep your eyes open by the rock outcropping to see what way could be better for you - up and around to the right then zig-zag over it? Go all the way to the right? Go to the left of it?. And maybe it really was the snow patch that was our ideal, but covered, spot. Or the fact that I zigged and zigged some more. The entire way up from the saddle to the summit of Ice is committing. Be sure you are mentally set to do this and ready for it. It really is a great route!

I was glad to reach the trail on the other side of the creek in the willows. You can mostly turn your mind off and just put one foot in front of the other without needing to do any route finding. Per usual, the hike out is longer than you think, but the forest dirt was soft on the feet and flat. It gave me time to think about where I may stop for a treat on the way home... Milkshake perhaps. Just put your head down and keep walking back to the car.