|
Base Camp
Up
| |
- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: June 25,
2007
- Miles Hiked: 8.0
- Elevation Gain: 4,850'
- Hiking Partner(s):
Jared Workman
- Description:
- Jared and I climbed the Bell Cord Couloir, ascended Maroon Peak,
traversed to North Maroon Peak, and then descended the northeast ridge.
The snow conditions in the Bell Cord were good for the entire route.
The snow was firm and perfect for crampons. The traverse between
the Bells and the descent off of North Maroon were completely dry.
- Trailhead - Top of Bell Cord Couloir (3:00 - 8:00) 5 Hours
- Top of Bell Cord Couloir - S. Maroon (8:00 - 8:30) .5 Hour
- S. Maroon - N. Maroon (8:30 - 10:30) 2 Hours
- N. Maroon - Trailhead (10:30 - 2:30) 4 Hours
- Round Trip Time: 11.5 Hours
- We initially made fair time on
the approach. We left the trail at around 10,300' south of Crater
Lake and worked our way up a talus slope/moraine to a large snowfield on
the right. Once above the snowfield, we traversed left to the
apron of the Bell Cord. After putting on our helmets and crampons,
the fun began. With over 2,000' of snow climbing, we were
fortunate to have such good conditions. We simple put it in 4WD
Low and cranked out the vertical. I thought the grade of the couloir was very consistent with nothing too steep. Once in the
Bell Cord itself, you are generally forced to climb in the runnel
because the couloir is so narrow. Although there is always the
possibility of rockfall, we were on the climb early enough and as I
said, there aren't a lot of options. In addition, the runnel
provided the easiest climbing. Since your feet are lower, when
using the low dagger position with your ice axe it basically felt like I
was using hand rails to climb. It was a little odd to find
a crampon about half way up the climb on top the snow. Whoever
lost it might have had an interesting finish.
- At the top of the Bell Cord, we switched over to approach shoes and
scrambled over to Maroon Peak. We both felt a little drained at
this point, so we took a break to enjoy the day and refuel. Back
at the notch we loaded up our packs and began our climb to North Maroon.
We stayed on the ridge for the most part and free climbed the three low
fifth class cruxes rather than traverse lower. The weather was
outstanding and all we had to do now was descend. The initial
section of the down climb wasn't bad and even the ridge's class 4 crux
chimney wasn't too difficult. However, after we left the ridge
crest and dropped into the south gully things got sketchy.
- I had climbed the northeast ridge route two years ago and didn't think it
was that bad. Going down this route proved more difficult (at
least mentally) for me than climbing it. The loose rock and
exposure took it's toll on my nerves and the thought of pitching head
over heals over cliffs was constantly on my mind. Jared and I
simply took our time, remained focused on our footing, and slowly worked
our way down. Once we got to the point where you cross over to the north
gully things got much easier. We finished the descent, crossed the
large talus field on the north side of the peak, and Jared took an
unintentional dip in Minnehaha Creek. We had both run out of water
about half way down North Maroon so we were parched. When we
hit the main trail at Crater Lake I bummed a few ounces off of a day
hiker for
each of us. Walking back to our vehicle, I couldn't help but think
how disappointed Brian Kooienga would have been of me. Neither my
helmet or crampons were visible to the tourists as I was carrying them
inside my backpack. After drinking some water, we both had a beer
to celebrate our climb and were on the road back to Denver.
- Maps:
-
Click here to view a
2D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
| |
www.
just
hiking
.com
|
