13,060 suggested route

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13,060 suggested route

Postby ClimbingCooneys » Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:54 am

Looking for info from any of the brave few that have climbed UN13,060 near Clark Peak in the Elks - approach, etc. A while back, read something in an interview on another site where someone who had climbed it referred to having to get by/through "The Wings of God" to get to the true summit.
Beaten paths are for beaten men.
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Re: 13,060 suggested route

Postby TeresaGergen » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:33 pm

The Wings of God part is a blast. It's getting there that is -- memorable. Crossing Snowmass Creek could be interesting this year. The Bear Creek drainage has a trail up the W and N side, but it gets lost in thick avy debris (2005). Go high in the SE gully, then left to end up on the SE ridge, then head left on a catwalk and pass through the Wings to the higher western summit.

And, of course, you'll want to run up Copper Creek to do 12903 while you're on that side of Snowmass Creek. Yes, you will.
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Re: 13,060 suggested route

Postby ClimbingCooneys » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:44 pm

Appreciate the response. We're trying not to get caught up in any more "lists" or "goals" after finishing the 13ers, but yeah, there's always the possibility that some day you'll look back and wish you had gone ahead and done it. I take it you don't need any equipment to navigate the Wings other than some guts?
Beaten paths are for beaten men.
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Re: 13,060 suggested route

Postby TeresaGergen » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:57 pm

No gear. Just pass through some solid but exposed slabs of rock. Class 3 or maybe 3+ should be the hardest you find on the route.

It's always fun to see how long someone can continue to say they don't intend to start any more lists. :-D
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Re: 13,060 suggested route

Postby ClimbingCooneys » Wed Jun 22, 2011 1:10 pm

Yeah - right. I know - it's an addiction. My problem is that I'll be 60 in a few more months and I'm starting to feel like it's time to slow it down a little. Gettin a little beat up by all these peaks & feel like time is getting short. But on the other hand, I & my wife have too many things left on our bucket list and we don't do just peaks. (Biking, canyoneering, etc)
Looks like on that 12,903, you could come in from the Daly-Capitol saddle and cross the basin over to it - but I guess that would be as long a day trip as doing Capitol in a day. Anything special about it?
Beaten paths are for beaten men.
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Re: 13,060 suggested route

Postby Mike Garratt » Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:50 pm

The tourist route is to use the trail up West Snowmass Ck.
There is a good trail - not on any map - which leads to the lake at 11800 N of Clark peak.
From tree line at 11200 you can go S and around the E side or over 12903.
Cross the boulder field basin, go up the N couloir to the saddle just E of 13060 and finish on E ridge.
This route avoids all the bushwacking on the E side.
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Re: 13,060 suggested route

Postby ClimbingCooneys » Thu Jun 23, 2011 8:22 am

Thanks Mike. Sounds like a fairly reasonable route and we could tag 12,903 on the way, thus beginning another list! (We were trying not to get ourselves sucked into doing the 12ers.) Teresa's note about crossing Snowmass Creek this time of year brings back a fond memory of trying to do so several years back (1993 I think - a high snow year). It was a rushing torrent then and we were trying to gain the Bear Creek access into Pierre Lakes for Clark. Sent one guy across belayed with a short rope we had who fixed it on the other side so the rest of the group could hold on to it. But I guess we'd still have to cross it somewhere no matter which route.
Hope to run into you some day - we've had at least a couple of close calls where we climbed some peak and you had signed the register the same day - but some time before us.
Beaten paths are for beaten men.
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