Mt. Sherman Trip Report 06/17/2009

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Mt. Sherman - 14,043 feet
Date Posted	06/17/2009
Date Climbed	05/23/2009
Author	plasticman

Mt Sherman - Into the Clouds via Leavick
The day started off alright- the weather was supposed to hold. Maybe a chance of snow in the afternoon but no electricity. Visibility was OK down low- once we broke 12,000 feet it got pretty milky. We hit the trailhead around 8am, leaving from my place in Fairplay. It took about 20 minutes to get up CO-18 to the Leavick site. This time, we were able to park well past the mine where the snow blocked the road. When I was here in March, we had to walk a good 2 miles or more from where the snow plows stopped to the Leavick site. I really enjoy the start of this trailhead- the mines you can see in the valley are like silent sentinels. I actually built a shelter in one of the mine shacks while waiting for my friend to finish his summit back in March. If I were ever trapped due to weather up there, these mine shacks would be the first place I would head to for cover. It alsmost makes me want to spend a night up there- to feel what those miners would have felt alone in the wilderness (it's not so "wilderness" any more). Here is a picture of the conditions looking up the valley towards Sheridan. I knew today would be a slow hike. I had 2 friends with me. J wasn't a speedy hiker, and E had just come up from sea level 48 hours before. It was his farthest west, his highest elevation- lots of firsts for E. We followed the road up for most of the way to the ridge- my party had no trouble keeping a moderate pace. At one of the last switchbacks I cut off the road and headed directly up to the saddle to attack the summit from west northwest. I knew once we shot the saddle it was only a matter of getting on the ridge and following it up to the summit. I saw 2 other guys (mostly could hear them and crossed their snowshoe tracks a few times) and met up with them in the saddle while waiting for my guys. They picked their own route, but ended up in the same saddle. The other group of 2 I saw was a man and woman duo with full packs. I kept catching up to them while they were resting- we would chat for a minute and they would be off again while I would linger letting my guys catch up. In this photo, I'm in front and J is behind me. When I caught up to the couple, I told them what I was going to lead up to the saddle. They were a little relieved- you couldn't see more than a few hundred feet and they had never been on this peak (and they were carrying a lot of gear). In our chat I asked him if it was his car that was on the side of the road in the mud near the trailhead. I remember asking him if he thought he was going to get out. We had a quick laugh and he said "we'll see". At this point it was all systems go- I charged right up to the saddle non-stop until I got to there. I just tried to pick a direct line that skirted along the edges of the open scree and the snow coverage. Crossing some of the snow drifts put me in past my hips. It was a lot of work, visibility stunk, but it felt great to just rip it up. I got to the saddle and stamped out a flat spot for J and E to rest on for a few minutes. I ended up waiting 45-60 minutes here for them to catch up. I let E know several times that it was OK to turn around- he just had to tell us when he was done. He wanted the summit pretty bad so we kept going. My mistake was not recommending sun screen in the morning before we left. I will never again go outside at high elevation for more than a few minutes without sunscreen. I have transitions lenses- it was very overcast and cloudy but my lenses were completely dark. Right then it should have registered how bad the UV was. All day long, no one who we saw and talked to ever said anything about E not wearing eye protection. I had even offered it to him once and he declined. This didn't end up being a problem until around 6pm that evening. I should have told E to turn around at the saddle- I encouraged J to tell him to do so. E said he was still OK to go, so we kept going. In the hour wait, everyone else had passed us at the saddle and was on their way to the summit. I set out and ended up passing the 2 guys on their way down and overtook the couple. It was a quick promenade around the summit ridge- we did find the summit marker and signed in. It was 1pm by the time E summited and we got some pictures taken. A group of 3 guys arrived and they tossed around a football on the summit while we waited for E. I left my pack and turned back to encourage and check on E to get him to the summit; J followed. I had told everyone at the summit that E had come from PA and this was his first 14er. It was a great moment when he was walking up to the summit marker to applause from the 7 other people up there. I felt happy being able to share a special moment with him. E, J, and the author left to right. I knew E was tired (he was moving slow)- so I encouraged him to start descending immediately. I knew it would take him a long time with the energy drain and hoped the elevation loss would help. J stayed with E for most of the descent down the steep section. I was having trouble moving at their pace so I let them know I would meet up with them at the mine where I made the shelter before (visibilty still stunk). I picked open patches of snow near our route up and was able to descend very quickly. It was too soft to glissade, and I had to be careful when I sank past my knees, which was often. I got down to the mine shack and ended up taking a nap there. I waited about another hour there for them to come down. I let them rest for about 10 minutes and told them I was going to head down again. I was hoping my pace would keep them motivated. The weather was starting to clear as we got lower and the sun actually came out- it got hot quick. At the last rest stop J went with me- it was all flat and a road walk out at this point and E was exhausted. He made it down to the truck just fine but his dogs were barking. He gingerly climbed into the front seat and we stowed his gear and started to head out. As we were driving out I saw the couple and noticed that the car was stuck. J and I got out and in about 60 seconds had the car free- but I totally got blasted with mud all up my front side. I just laughed, for we had a whopping 20 minute drive home and I would be in a shower before long. E snapped this pic out the window while we were pushing our friend out of the mud. E was tired and hungry- we all ate well and got cleaned up. He said his eyes were really itchy- I blamed it on the cats and put him in the spare house next door and got him set up on the bed over there. J wasn't feeling hot, so he decided to lie down for a nap. After about an hour or so, J turned off all the lights and was complaining about intense pain from light. About 5 minutes later, E walked in and he was in miserable pain. In a hot minute on wikipedia I had my answer. I was fairly sure it was snowblindness. I asked E- "For how long today did you not have glasses on?" He replied that he didn't wear any at all that day. J mentioned he had taken his off for the last 90 minutes or so. When wikipedia said "possible permanent vision loss" I got out of my PJ's (it was 10 pm) and got them into the car to drive over Hoosier to the hospital in Frisco. We were the only ones in the hospital and got out in under an hour. They had the eye drops for them there and prescribed Percocet's for the pain. They were told to sleep for about 24 hours if possible through the pain avoiding all exposure to light. They stayed an extra night at my place to heal up (they couldn't see, let alone drive) and left the following morning after breakfast good to go. Both E and J completely recovered. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Mt Sherman - Into the Clouds via Leavick

The day started off alright- the weather was supposed to hold. Maybe a chance of snow in the afternoon but no electricity. Visibility was OK down low- once we broke 12,000 feet it got pretty milky.

We hit the trailhead around 8am, leaving from my place in Fairplay. It took about 20 minutes to get up CO-18 to the Leavick site. This time, we were able to park well past the mine where the snow blocked the road. When I was here in March, we had to walk a good 2 miles or more from where the snow plows stopped to the Leavick site. I really enjoy the start of this trailhead- the mines you can see in the valley are like silent sentinels. I actually built a shelter in one of the mine shacks while waiting for my friend to finish his summit back in March. If I were ever trapped due to weather up there, these mine shacks would be the first place I would head to for cover. It alsmost makes me want to spend a night up there- to feel what those miners would have felt alone in the wilderness (it's not so "wilderness" any more). Here is a picture of the conditions looking up the valley towards Sheridan.

I knew today would be a slow hike. I had 2 friends with me. J wasn't a speedy hiker, and E had just come up from sea level 48 hours before. It was his farthest west, his highest elevation- lots of firsts for E.

We followed the road up for most of the way to the ridge- my party had no trouble keeping a moderate pace. At one of the last switchbacks I cut off the road and headed directly up to the saddle to attack the summit from west northwest. I knew once we shot the saddle it was only a matter of getting on the ridge and following it up to the summit. I saw 2 other guys (mostly could hear them and crossed their snowshoe tracks a few times) and met up with them in the saddle while waiting for my guys. They picked their own route, but ended up in the same saddle. The other group of 2 I saw was a man and woman duo with full packs. I kept catching up to them while they were resting- we would chat for a minute and they would be off again while I would linger letting my guys catch up. In this photo, I'm in front and J is behind me.

When I caught up to the couple, I told them what I was going to lead up to the saddle. They were a little relieved- you couldn't see more than a few hundred feet and they had never been on this peak (and they were carrying a lot of gear). In our chat I asked him if it was his car that was on the side of the road in the mud near the trailhead. I remember asking him if he thought he was going to get out. We had a quick laugh and he said "we'll see".

At this point it was all systems go- I charged right up to the saddle non-stop until I got to there. I just tried to pick a direct line that skirted along the edges of the open scree and the snow coverage. Crossing some of the snow drifts put me in past my hips. It was a lot of work, visibility stunk, but it felt great to just rip it up. I got to the saddle and stamped out a flat spot for J and E to rest on for a few minutes. I ended up waiting 45-60 minutes here for them to catch up. I let E know several times that it was OK to turn around- he just had to tell us when he was done. He wanted the summit pretty bad so we kept going.

My mistake was not recommending sun screen in the morning before we left. I will never again go outside at high elevation for more than a few minutes without sunscreen. I have transitions lenses- it was very overcast and cloudy but my lenses were completely dark. Right then it should have registered how bad the UV was. All day long, no one who we saw and talked to ever said anything about E not wearing eye protection. I had even offered it to him once and he declined. This didn't end up being a problem until around 6pm that evening.

I should have told E to turn around at the saddle- I encouraged J to tell him to do so. E said he was still OK to go, so we kept going. In the hour wait, everyone else had passed us at the saddle and was on their way to the summit. I set out and ended up passing the 2 guys on their way down and overtook the couple. It was a quick promenade around the summit ridge- we did find the summit marker and signed in. It was 1pm by the time E summited and we got some pictures taken. A group of 3 guys arrived and they tossed around a football on the summit while we waited for E. I left my pack and turned back to encourage and check on E to get him to the summit; J followed. I had told everyone at the summit that E had come from PA and this was his first 14er. It was a great moment when he was walking up to the summit marker to applause from the 7 other people up there. I felt happy being able to share a special moment with him. E, J, and the author left to right.

I knew E was tired (he was moving slow)- so I encouraged him to start descending immediately. I knew it would take him a long time with the energy drain and hoped the elevation loss would help. J stayed with E for most of the descent down the steep section. I was having trouble moving at their pace so I let them know I would meet up with them at the mine where I made the shelter before (visibilty still stunk). I picked open patches of snow near our route up and was able to descend very quickly. It was too soft to glissade, and I had to be careful when I sank past my knees, which was often.

I got down to the mine shack and ended up taking a nap there. I waited about another hour there for them to come down. I let them rest for about 10 minutes and told them I was going to head down again. I was hoping my pace would keep them motivated. The weather was starting to clear as we got lower and the sun actually came out- it got hot quick. At the last rest stop J went with me- it was all flat and a road walk out at this point and E was exhausted.

He made it down to the truck just fine but his dogs were barking. He gingerly climbed into the front seat and we stowed his gear and started to head out. As we were driving out I saw the couple and noticed that the car was stuck. J and I got out and in about 60 seconds had the car free- but I totally got blasted with mud all up my front side. I just laughed, for we had a whopping 20 minute drive home and I would be in a shower before long. E snapped this pic out the window while we were pushing our friend out of the mud.

E was tired and hungry- we all ate well and got cleaned up. He said his eyes were really itchy- I blamed it on the cats and put him in the spare house next door and got him set up on the bed over there. J wasn't feeling hot, so he decided to lie down for a nap. After about an hour or so, J turned off all the lights and was complaining about intense pain from light. About 5 minutes later, E walked in and he was in miserable pain. In a hot minute on wikipedia I had my answer. I was fairly sure it was snowblindness.

I asked E- "For how long today did you not have glasses on?" He replied that he didn't wear any at all that day. J mentioned he had taken his off for the last 90 minutes or so. When wikipedia said "possible permanent vision loss" I got out of my PJ's (it was 10 pm) and got them into the car to drive over Hoosier to the hospital in Frisco.

We were the only ones in the hospital and got out in under an hour. They had the eye drops for them there and prescribed Percocet's for the pain. They were told to sleep for about 24 hours if possible through the pain avoiding all exposure to light. They stayed an extra night at my place to heal up (they couldn't see, let alone drive) and left the following morning after breakfast good to go. Both E and J completely recovered.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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