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Base Camp
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: August 25, 2007
- Miles Hiked: 8.4
- Elevation Gain: 3,850'
- Hiking Partner(s): Layne Bracy
- Description:
- Layne Bracy wrote this trip report. I was in this area a couple
of years ago to climb Skywalker Couloir in the Spring. It was nice
to be back in the area and see the terrain in a different season.
- James and I met on Highway 119 south of Nederland (CO) at the turn
off to Eldora. We drove 4.7 miles, dropping my car at the junction
to the Hessie trailhead, then he drove us to the 4th of July trailhead.
We started hiking at 6:00 am up the pleasant trail. James was kind
enough to not only set up the shuttle, but also to hike "Quarter to 5
Peak" with me. At about 11,500', we left the trail, heading up
800' in 1/4 mile to the summit. We saw 5 ptarmigan in their summer
clothing on the slope and arrived atop the first peak at 7:40 am.
We headed down the bumpy ridge to Arapaho Pass and connected with Kevin,
from Rollinsville, who was also planning to do Neva's north ridge too.
Kevin and I were going by Roach's description, James by Cooper's, and we
all managed fine. From the first major notch we traversed east of
the ridge. From the second, I traversed on the west side while the
other two stayed higher on the ridge. At the third notch we
traversed up on the east side on class 3 terrain to reach the gully
below the crux. At the gully we saw three possible routes, on the
east side, west side, and top of the gully. There also seemed to
be a way to drop low on the west and bypass the crux altogether. After
reviewing the descriptions, James led us up the route on the east side.
I used a couple "knee on the ledge" moves and thought it was solid class
4 and not something I would enjoy down-climbing. From the crux, we
continued along the ridge, reaching Neva's summit at 9:50 am.
After a break, Kevin sped ahead to Jasper and a music festival, while
James and I took a more leisurely pace, reaching Jasper's west summit at
11:00 am. We scrambled over to the east summit, deciding the west
was higher. With James heading home to meet other obligations, I
continued alone along the Continental Divide, reaching 12660 at 12:00
pm. The stretch to Skyscraper is gentle but long, and the Divide
winds were pushing hard. I was happy to reach the last summit at
1:35 pm, finding myself three days later than Stevo, Jerry S., and
Jennifer Roach. From the summit, I walked along the east ridge
then descended south to Skyscraper Reservoir with minimal bushwhacking
at 2:50 pm. Everything about Skyscraper Peak seemed very pleasant.
From the reservoir I caught the trail, which varies from smooth to
rocky, narrow to 4WD road, reached the Hessie trailhead and continued to
my vehicle at 4:40 pm. A great day in the IPW!
- After Layne went south on the divide, I dropped off the northeast
slopes of Jasper to an unnamed lake. I came across the debris of
an old plane crash that didn't appear to be that old. I later
found out that the pilot was a 29 year old commercial flight instructor
flying from Denver to Steamboat Springs. He crashed on December 14, 1971
in bad weather. Anyway, the bushwhack back to the Diamond Lake
Trail wasn't too bad, but somewhat interesting.
- Maps:
- Click here to view a
2D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
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