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Base Camp
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: June 3, 2006
- Miles Hiked: 11.1
- Elevation Gain: 4,511'
- Hiking Partner(s): Brian Kooienga,
Doug Sheppard, Kevin Smith
- Description:
- I wanted
to climb the Dreamweaver Couloir on Mount Meeker, so after reading a
couple of recent trip reports that indicated the route was in, I asked
Brian and Kevin to join me. Doug was a last minute addition to the team.
Dreamweaver is generally rated AI3/M2+ and is a classic climb next to the
Flying Buttress on Mount Meeker's north face. The approach is from the
Long's Peak Trailhead toward Chasm Lake.
- I was up
at 11:00 pm after a couple of hours of fitful sleep to pick up Brian,
Kevin, and Doug in Denver. No one else got any sleep on Friday night. We
were hiking by 2:30 am and made good time on the approach to the base of
the climb in approximately three hours. The trail was snow free except
for a small section on the south side of Mills Moraine. Previous climbers
had kicked steps in the snow sections of the route making it a fairly easy
climb.
- After
ascending the apron, I climbed through the first narrow section of the
route which was mostly snow covered. After exiting the chimney, I heard a
faint yell above me that was followed by the sound of rock fall. As I
looked up, a basketball sized rock going mach three came crashing down the
couloir heading straight for me. The rock careened off the mountain about
20 feet in front of me and cleared my left side by three feet. I was
relieved, but Brian was climbing the chimney that the rock funneled into
while Doug and Kevin waited below. The rock missed Brian by two feet and
also cleared the climbers below. After the initial adrenaline rush wore
off, my legs felt as though they had been knocked out from underneath me.
It was definitely one of the scariest moments I've had in the mountains.
We all confirmed that everyone was ok and continued on. I guess no matter
how safely you climb there will always be objective hazards that are
unavoidable.
- The
section above the first chimney was snow filled, so no rock climbing was
necessary. The ribbon of snow did narrow again into a second chimney
before turning into scree for approximately 200' before the Flying
Buttress saddle. This melted out section was obviously where a solo
climber above us launched the rock down the couloir. We regrouped at the
saddle of the Flying Buttress where you have the option of going left up a
M3+ chimney or scrambling right. Above the saddle, it was snow filled
again with several hundred feet of snow climbing before the couloir
narrowed significantly to the first crux. Doug went up first as the rest
of us waited below. One by one we made our way up the chimney and
continued on with more snow climbing.
- After
only a short distance, we approached the second crux which was now alpine
ice. Kevin and Brian were going to set some anchors and protection for
practice for their upcoming Rainier climb. I decided to get out of their
way and climbed the ice after telling them I'd wait on the summit.
Although short with fairly thin alpine ice, the second crux was fun to
climb with the tools actually sticking on most swings. Above the ice was
a small section of more snow and then a scramble to the summit.
- The wind
picked up, so after eating, drinking, and organizing my gear, I laid down
out of the wind to wait. After a while, I got up to see if there were any
signs of Doug, Brian, or Kevin when I noticed they were near the east
summit of Meeker. After a quick wave, they changed course and made it
over to the true summit. Everyone ate and drank, but we started down
after a short period of time. It didn't take long to descend to the Loft,
and there are cairns marking the way to the ledges below. We caught a
couple of glissades back towards the ranger cabin below Chasm Lake. We
all stripped off layers, changed back into our approach shoes, and loaded
up for the hike back out.
- For
someone like Doug, it was an ok climb. For someone like me, the climb was
pretty cool. The approach was easy on a trail, the climb was steep, the
cruxes kept you on your toes, and the views of the Diamond, Ships Prow,
Flying Buttress, etc., etc., etc., were amazing. All of us climbed with
two tools and we didn't use protection on the route. (Brian and Kevin
ultimately decided not to practice setting anchors and screws because
there were climbers below them.) It was a nine and a half hour day. We
ended the climb with some Mexican food and beers in Estes Park before
driving home.
- Maps:
-
Click here
to view a
2D
map of the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
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