Capitol Peak Trip Report 08/21/2008

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Capitol Peak - 14,138 feet
Date Posted	08/21/2008
Date Climbed	08/22/2007
Author	CliminDave

A long Day Climbing Capitol Peak
Capitol Peak Ouch! This one hurt! Scott, Mark, and I left Coal Creek Canyon enroute to Scott's final 14,000 foot peak at 4:30 PM on Aug 22, 2007. Scott had been anticipating this one for ten years and me for as long as I knew that I wanted to hike all of the Colorado 14ers. Mark joined in on the fun as he apparently did not get enough on Mount Rainier back in July. After dinner in Glenwood Springs, we drove to the trailhead and set up the tent to get some rest. The alarm rang at 3:30 marking the start of our very long day. Alpine starts such as this make me appreciate the times when I get to sleep in until 6:00 AM. At 4:08 we were able to leave the trailhead and move up the valley towards Capitol Lake arriving at 7:00. At some point along the way, a bird flew into the side of my head, although I remember nothing else about it at this point. After briefly passing the trail up to Daly Pass, we turned around and began the long climb. Once negotiating Daly Pass, there is a rather long talus climb leading up to the K2 standing at 13,664. This is where the fun begins! I summited the K2 as Scott and Mark were well behind. There were some pretty steep sections near the K2 which we tried to avoid. In hind sight, they were probably easier taking them right up the gut. Next was the false knife edge which seemed reasonable considering all of the hype of the true knife edge. Soon we arrived at the infamous 'knife edge'. I went first and followed a crack with my feet while handholding the top of the rock. This seemed to work well. Scott and Mark followed with variations of straddling which looked most uncomfortable. After taking a few pictures, I moved on once the two were out of danger. The rest of the climb was challenging and all of our energy levels were dropping. We achieved the summit at 12:45, some eight and one half hours after our start. Roach indicates this is a 17 mile round trip from the trailhead, we were halfway. At 1:10, the descent began. Negotiating the down-climb safely was our top priority. I suggested that we take our time and live to tell of our successful summit. Down-climbing always seems to be tougher mentally while up-climbing tends to be more physically taxing. In an attempt to avoid the 1000 + acre talus field, we tried to maintain our altitude by traversing along the side of a very steep ridge. This proved to be a bad idea as we bailed out and moved down slope back to the talus field and onto Daly Pass. We gathered at the saddle to fuel thanking God for his mercy on our bad choice. Scott and I moved ahead of Mark down towards Capitol Creek but later came back to him in order to clarify the creek crossing location. We tried to communicate the crossing via the radio but it became easier to meet face to face. Sometime around 8:30, Scott and I arrived back at the car completing a 16.5 hour hike, my longest single day hike to date. Mark arrived back at 9:15 and we hit the road. Wendy's provided dinner and prepared for adverse conditions later on. I drove until I could not keep my open then Scott took over for the rest of the way. The weather was very stormy with thunderstorms, heavy rain and hail. At one point, I woke up to a hail covered highway and very slow progress. I can't say what time we got home, but, it was around the time when the drunks are leaving the bars. I went to sleep and woke up for work a few hours later. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

A long Day Climbing Capitol Peak

Capitol Peak

Ouch! This one hurt! Scott, Mark, and I left Coal Creek Canyon enroute to Scott's final 14,000 foot peak at 4:30 PM on Aug 22, 2007. Scott had been anticipating this one for ten years and me for as long as I knew that I wanted to hike all of the Colorado 14ers. Mark joined in on the fun as he apparently did not get enough on Mount Rainier back in July.

After dinner in Glenwood Springs, we drove to the trailhead and set up the tent to get some rest. The alarm rang at 3:30 marking the start of our very long day. Alpine starts such as this make me appreciate the times when I get to sleep in until 6:00 AM. At 4:08 we were able to leave the trailhead and move up the valley towards Capitol Lake arriving at 7:00. At some point along the way, a bird flew into the side of my head, although I remember nothing else about it at this point. After briefly passing the trail up to Daly Pass, we turned around and began the long climb.

Once negotiating Daly Pass, there is a rather long talus climb leading up to the K2 standing at 13,664. This is where the fun begins! I summited the K2 as Scott and Mark were well behind. There were some pretty steep sections near the K2 which we tried to avoid. In hind sight, they were probably easier taking them right up the gut. Next was the false knife edge which seemed reasonable considering all of the hype of the true knife edge. Soon we arrived at the infamous 'knife edge'.

I went first and followed a crack with my feet while handholding the top of the rock. This seemed to work well. Scott and Mark followed with variations of straddling which looked most uncomfortable. After taking a few pictures, I moved on once the two were out of danger. The rest of the climb was challenging and all of our energy levels were dropping. We achieved the summit at 12:45, some eight and one half hours after our start. Roach indicates this is a 17 mile round trip from the trailhead, we were halfway.

At 1:10, the descent began. Negotiating the down-climb safely was our top priority. I suggested that we take our time and live to tell of our successful summit. Down-climbing always seems to be tougher mentally while up-climbing tends to be more physically taxing. In an attempt to avoid the 1000 + acre talus field, we tried to maintain our altitude by traversing along the side of a very steep ridge. This proved to be a bad idea as we bailed out and moved down slope back to the talus field and onto Daly Pass. We gathered at the saddle to fuel thanking God for his mercy on our bad choice. Scott and I moved ahead of Mark down towards Capitol Creek but later came back to him in order to clarify the creek crossing location. We tried to communicate the crossing via the radio but it became easier to meet face to face.

Sometime around 8:30, Scott and I arrived back at the car completing a 16.5 hour hike, my longest single day hike to date. Mark arrived back at 9:15 and we hit the road. Wendy's provided dinner and prepared for adverse conditions later on. I drove until I could not keep my open then Scott took over for the rest of the way. The weather was very stormy with thunderstorms, heavy rain and hail. At one point, I woke up to a hail covered highway and very slow progress. I can't say what time we got home, but, it was around the time when the drunks are leaving the bars. I went to sleep and woke up for work a few hours later.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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