Mt. Lindsey Trip Report 08/03/2010

Peak(s):	Mt. Lindsey - 14,055 feet
Date Posted:	08/03/2010
Date Climbed:	07/27/2010
Author:	djrunner

Blinding Lindsey
As with any mountain, I followed the early start rule and headed out from the trailhead at 3:45 AM. Also, I had a rendezvous with a few more hikers at the Lake Como Road trailhead at 2 PM. This trailhead is 2 hours away, so I started really early. The trail was difficult to find in the dark, and my batteries were running low. I wanted to use up as much juice as I could. I never saw the sign for the lake going up or down. I was looking for it, but never spotted it. As the sun came up it was a little easier to spot the trail. At one point, the trail faded away and disappeared. By this point it was light and based on the route descriptions and pictures I was able to figure out where I was. I was on the other side of the gulley. I could see Lindsey from where I was, so I just started heading into the gulley. Shortly afterwards I picked the trail back up. My advice: Bring pictures from the route description. When the sun began coming up it made for some great pictures. The clouds were circling around up and down throughout the mountains. It was beautiful! I reached the saddle with no problems. Then I was able to see the gulley. Since I was traveling solo and I told my wife I was taking the gulley, I figured it was safer to stick with the gulley. It looks steep. The route description says it is not as steep as it looks. I beg to differ. It was just as steep and really loose. Be careful traveling up this gulley if there are other people in it. I was the only one up this early, so I did not have to worry about sending rocks down to other hikers. I still used caution. I found good solid rock on the right side of the gulley. I just stuck to the solid rock as much as possible. This was easier to climb anyways. As I reached the top of the gulley, the cloud had made its way to Mt. Lindsey. My visibility vanished. I reached the top of the gulley and couldn't see further than 10 feet in front of me. I was con fused of where to go next. I thought it should be right. However, there was a good trail leading left. I was so confused. Finally, the clouds thinned out just enough for me to make out Mt. Lindsey. I didn't know if I was there until I opened the canister on top and looked at the registry which said, "Mt. Lindsey." Thank God! I took my picture with the self timer of me holding my Which Which bag. Here is a good example of my visibility level. I found my way down the mountain and took some picturesque photos. Another look at the "Gulley." Hikers can barely be spotted Okay, you can see the good trail in this picture. I decided I would follow it back. Somehow this is the trail I got off of on the way up. However, as I followed it down, it also slowly faded and disappeared! I kept hiking until I saw a person hiking on the trail above me about 20 feet. I then climbed up to the trail. So, either I am terrible at navigating the trail, or the trail throughout this part is not distinct enough to be able to tell which direction to go. Either way, I made it. Here is the major river crossing. I got wet in the dark on the way up. This was a difficult crossing in the dark with a headlamp that needed new batteries. The way back was much easier. Finally, in the meadow was one lonely tree. I decided to take his picture. It was a nice mountain. Too bad I did not have a view on top. Oh well, there is always next time. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Blinding Lindsey

As with any mountain, I followed the early start rule and headed out from the trailhead at 3:45 AM. Also, I had a rendezvous with a few more hikers at the Lake Como Road trailhead at 2 PM. This trailhead is 2 hours away, so I started really early. The trail was difficult to find in the dark, and my batteries were running low. I wanted to use up as much juice as I could. I never saw the sign for the lake going up or down. I was looking for it, but never spotted it. As the sun came up it was a little easier to spot the trail. At one point, the trail faded away and disappeared. By this point it was light and based on the route descriptions and pictures I was able to figure out where I was. I was on the other side of the gulley. I could see Lindsey from where I was, so I just started heading into the gulley. Shortly afterwards I picked the trail back up. My advice: Bring pictures from the route description.

When the sun began coming up it made for some great pictures. The clouds were circling around up and down throughout the mountains. It was beautiful!

I reached the saddle with no problems. Then I was able to see the gulley. Since I was traveling solo and I told my wife I was taking the gulley, I figured it was safer to stick with the gulley. It looks steep. The route description says it is not as steep as it looks. I beg to differ. It was just as steep and really loose. Be careful traveling up this gulley if there are other people in it. I was the only one up this early, so I did not have to worry about sending rocks down to other hikers. I still used caution.

I found good solid rock on the right side of the gulley. I just stuck to the solid rock as much as possible. This was easier to climb anyways.

As I reached the top of the gulley, the cloud had made its way to Mt. Lindsey. My visibility vanished. I reached the top of the gulley and couldn't see further than 10 feet in front of me. I was con fused of where to go next. I thought it should be right. However, there was a good trail leading left. I was so confused.

Finally, the clouds thinned out just enough for me to make out Mt. Lindsey. I didn't know if I was there until I opened the canister on top and looked at the registry which said, "Mt. Lindsey." Thank God! I took my picture with the self timer of me holding my Which Which bag. Here is a good example of my visibility level.

I found my way down the mountain and took some picturesque photos.

Another look at the "Gulley." Hikers can barely be spotted

Okay, you can see the good trail in this picture. I decided I would follow it back. Somehow this is the trail I got off of on the way up. However, as I followed it down, it also slowly faded and disappeared! I kept hiking until I saw a person hiking on the trail above me about 20 feet. I then climbed up to the trail. So, either I am terrible at navigating the trail, or the trail throughout this part is not distinct enough to be able to tell which direction to go. Either way, I made it.

Here is the major river crossing. I got wet in the dark on the way up. This was a difficult crossing in the dark with a headlamp that needed new batteries. The way back was much easier.

Finally, in the meadow was one lonely tree. I decided to take his picture.

It was a nice mountain. Too bad I did not have a view on top. Oh well, there is always next time.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Doctor No	Nice! 8/3/2010 10:57pm I wonder which trail you were on headed down from Lindsey - I'm in the bottom quartile of route-finding ability on this site, and I didn't have any problems finding the trail down from the saddle and across the basin. Was photo #14 taken from the steep section just beneath the saddle?
djrunner	Route Finding 8/3/2010 11:43pm Yeah, I don't know what happened. I was never lost, just not always on the standard trail. This pic is just below the saddle. I believe it is still above the steep part.
emcee smith	”Lost” too 8/4/2010 1:33pm I also got lost on the way down. The trail I was on wanted to head down the drainage instead of up and left of the drainage. The trail ended in the rocks about the same time as I remembered that I needed to be up on top of the little cliffy area to the left.
djrunner	Same Place 8/4/2010 5:47pm It sounds like you and I ended up in the same place.
huffy13	Wow. 8/22/2010 11:28pm Great report. Too bad the clouds socked you in on the summit and robbed you of some great views. Looks like you'll just have to do it again. I agree it is easy to get off trail in several places if you aren't paying very close attention, especially around the river crossings. We got off-route at the top of the gulley and ended up doing some slightly more difficult scrambling than we would have faced had we stayed on the standard trail. Anyway, enjoyed your report.

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