Eight of us meet at Bongo Billy’s in Buena Vista for lunch and last minute planning for our imminent climb of Mount Yale. After calculating the division of tents, stoves and shovels we drove to the Avalanche Gulch trailhead to implement the last minute packing.
We followed the Colorado Trail north and up a sunny “headwall”. With several weeks of warm, sunny conditions and a current temperature around 45F we felt hot and overburdened with snowshoes and heavy boots.
Eventually we reached the trees and the temperature moderated. With the shade came increasing patches of snow until the trail was covered. We decided to climb above the trail in hopes of finding drier, sunnier aspects above.
This tactic worked for a little while as we followed a few game trails running through the woods. We still encountered increasing snow patches and deeper sections of wet, rotten snow.
We were probably close to breaking out the snowshoes when we reached a suitable knob for camping. The snowshoes finally came out to help stomp down level spots for our tents.
Around 11,900 feet our campsite was still in the trees and thus protected from the forecasted winds. Five tents quickly went up and the process of melting snow began.
A 9th member of our party was planning a later start and hoped to find our campsite. Since our tracks went in and out of the snow, Kurt and Jan hiked all the way back to where they could view the trailhead looking for Jim. They didn’t find him and arrived back in camp near dark.
It may have barely reached freezing overnight and the rotten snow still wasn’t supporting weight outside of the walkways we’d tramped down. In the trees above we could hear the wind but things were quite pleasant in camp. After boiling snow for coffee, tea, water and additional breakfast Kurt’s and mine fuel ran out and I had to forgo a warm thermos to take up high.
Leonard decided today wasn’t his day and packed up his camp to head back out. His boots had been soaked yesterday and hadn’t dried out overnight. The remaining seven of us were soon packed and off at 7:20 am.
We took turns breaking trail through the soft snow, sinking in to our calves even with snowshoes in many spots. We crossed some fresh tracks we suspected belonged to Jim.
Finally, the snow toughened up as we reached the saddle with Mount Yale rising to our west. About a thousand feet above our camp the temperatures must have been just cold enough to freeze the snow. The trees also thinned out here and would soon vanish as we climbed higher.
Looking ahead it appeared we could take the time to remove our snowshoes and continue on windswept rocks.
We continued on mostly dry ground, with just occasional pockets of wind-hardened snow, around a small bump and then upwards towards point 13,420.
Occasionally, we found small rock outcropping to skirt or climb directly.
A stretch of hard snow then covered the ridge’s crest and we followed fresh tracks direct up this obstacle.
From here we had excellent views of the unofficially named “Mascot Peak” which sits just south of Mount Yale. We’d thought about adding Mascot into our day, but the descent options looked really steep for heading directly back to our camp. Additionally, we felt we were moving too slow to do the out and back hike along the ridge.
As we rounded the south side of point 13,420 we could see just how much further we had to go to even get to Mount Yale.
After picking our way through the boulders on this side of 13,420, we crossed a flat-ish tundra area where the wind really picked up. I hurried ahead to a slight rise that I hoped would offer some protection and then began bundling up.
The first five of us gathered up here and agreed that Mascot was no longer on our agenda. So we took the snowshoes off our packs and anchored them with rocks before resuming our upwards march.
We soon encountered the crux of the climb – a steep section of hard snow. Kurt lead up slope while I followed trying to enlarge the footprints he left for everyone else. Noreen admitted to being nervous here, understandable since this was the steepest snow slope she’d ascended.
After picking our way through more rocks and snow patches I spotted Jim descending. Kurt and I talked to him briefly and made plans to meet him back at our campsite.
Roughly quarter to noon Kurt and I reached the top of Yale and began enjoying the great views all around.
Simple math was beyond us however, as we tried several times to work out how long our climb took from our camp. Soon the others gathered and we lounged around enjoying the nearly wind-free summit and fueling up for the descent. My left achilles tendon had started to bother me on the last few hundred feet to the summit, so I popped a couple ibuprofen.
Beth and Rich soon arrived to complete our group, but didn’t seem to interested in being included in the group photo.
With much travel still ahead of us we shortly began our descent.
When we got to the steep snow Noreen was interested in finding an easier route down, but nothing was too evident. I traversed a bit to a slightly easier and shorter slope then downclimbed the snow while kicking solid foot platforms. Noreen was able to follow this staircase with much more confidence.
We collected our snowshoes and then started across the tundra area near point 13.420. The wind didn’t seem as bad this time around, but it was mostly to our backs. Then we turned the corner and started to rapidly loose elevation again.
We took several short breaks to keep everyone together as we worked through bands of boulders and the snow rib.
The windiest spot ended up being just after the snow rib where gusts threatened to knock us over. I had to shorten my stride and think carefully about each step hoping the wind wouldn’t push me out of balance while one foot was off the ground.
Once back at the saddle we put on our snowshoes for the soft snow slog back to camp. Jan and I got temporarily turned around while following Jim’s earlier tracks but soon arrived back at camp to find Jim napping away.
While Jim slept the rest of us packed up our camp and got ready to depart. Thoughts of a post-climb fest were stirring us forward.
We kept on our snowshoes for the initial hike out of camp, but soon hit bare ground and the game trails. The wind was shaking some dead trees above us that were already tilted over and leaning onto others. Jim and I had several experiences of traversing under these hanging dangers when a gust past through and the tree squeaked loudly in warning. We took to quickly running underneath such hazards.
Soon we were back on dry trail and removing extra layers and gaiters for the final hike back to the trailhead.
Once back at the cars we could see the sky had rapidly clouded over and the evening’s forecasted storm appeared to be coming true. After a dinner in Buena Vista we were happy to reach home without encountering any fresh rain or snow.
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Congrats on the Ivy League summit