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Base Camp
Up
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: November 11,
2009
- Miles Hiked: 5.3
- Elevation Gain: 2,500'
- Hiking Partner(s): Brian
Kooienga & Jeff Shafer
- Routes: WI3
- Description:
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As a disabled veteran, Brian invited me to join him
for an outing on Veterans Day. After scouring the Internet for
information on backcountry ice, we decided to check out the Rocky
Mountain National Park classic All Mixed Up on the northeast face of
Thatchtop Mountain. Jeff got the day off at the last minute and
decided to join us. Since I hadn't been out with the tools yet
this season, I wasn't sure what to expect or how I'd perform. When
we departed the trailhead at 6:20 am, my vehicle was the only one in the
Glacier Gorge parking lot. It took 55 minutes to reach Mills Lake
and a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to the base of the climb.
I had been fighting a cold the past few days, but Brian and Jeff held a
moderate pace so I could keep up. Conditions on the approach are
probably the easiest you can find for this route. There was not a
significant amount of snow, and we were able to follow a shallow track
up the mountain anyway.
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Jeff took the sharp end of the rope for the first
pitch. The ice was thin and he was required to run out the first
section of the pitch due to lack of pro. He opted to stay climbers
left on the rock and climb mixed terrain until the ice thickened near
the top of the pitch. Jeff did a great job leading his first ice
of the season on a thin and run-out pitch. He utilized an existing
piton and fixed chord/webbing for his anchor and brought Brian and I to
his belay station.
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Brian kindly offered the second lead to me.
When we first took a look at the route from below, this pitch looked a
bit anemic and questionable. I think I remember Brian saying
something like "Let's not all fight over that one." I ended up
doing a fairly even combination of mixed and ice climbing. The
pitch was moderately spicy and definitely kept me on my toes. I
took the easiest line possible which ended up zigzagging and creating
quite a bit of rope drag by the time I got to the top of the pitch.
I used a combination of rock pro, screws, and a couple of existing
pitons for protection. I took my time leading and built a rock
gear anchor to belay Jeff and Brian up on.
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The third pitch is just a snow climb with no pro.
Wait, I forgot that Brian did get one piece in. (See photo below.)
It was Brian's turn to lead since the third pitch didn't really count,
so he got the "money" pitch. I would say this pitch is the most
sustained, but the ice was thick for placements and it took screws
relatively well. Brian chose to make the final pitch more
difficult than it had to be by staying on the more vertical sections ice
rather than following the more low-angled gully. He did a great
job finishing the climb for us, and we topped out around 1:00 pm.
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From the top of the climb, we traversed south to
the top of the descent and shared a summer sausage sandwich and a
Mountain Dew. The walk off was pretty straight forward and before
we knew it we were back at the base of the route gearing down and
preparing for the hike out. My cold and the day was catching up to
me so I slowed down some, but we ended completing the climb car-to-car
in 9 hours. I enjoyed the route a lot and hope to do it again with
the same approach and preferably more ice.
- Maps:
- Click here
to view a
map of the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
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