Approaching Dawn Above Maroon Lake. Colorado, 2015
“This time-honored test piece is the standard route on North Maroon. The route is complicated, loose, exposed, dangerous, and has often rendered a fatal experience…Put on your cat feet for this one and climb with a light touch.”
–Gerry Roach, Colorado’s Fourteeners
Trepidation. Anxiety. In the end, though, it wasn’t that scary. And to that I credit the slow approach I have taken with these mountains–that is, start with the easy ones and gradually work into the harder ones. When you get to the harder ones, you’ll be ready.
Also, Pyramid Peak (last month) was a good introduction to the loose rock and the sometimes elusive nature of the route-finding that is typical of this area of the Elks Range. In some ways I even felt like Pyramid was a tad bit more challenging, perhaps because it was the first peak for me in the area…or, perhaps, because we didn’t always find the easiest way up while higher on that mountain.
On this trip, and once the sun rounded the Earth’s horizontal corner, the sky was uncharacteristically hazy for a Colorado summer day. The reason? Massive fires burning away the forests in California, Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Colorado seems to have escaped that fate so far this season (knock on woody surface), but the smoke from parts north and west had the state wrapped in a dull, grey, funky blanket. The flawless, high-resolution, ultra long-distance, blue-sky views you typically would see up at altitude just weren’t there.
But, the climb? The Peak? Spectacular and attention-getting! It was nice to come back to Mother Nature’s structures after two weeks in the Big Apple surrounded by the man and woman-made type.
A full report and pictures follow…
Trip Report: North Maroon Peak (14,014′)
Route:
The Class 4 Northeast Ridge starting from the Maroon Lake Trailhead which is at 9,600′ just above Aspen. This route is 7.2 to 9.5 miles round trip, depending on which source you believe, and 4500′ vertical.
Timeline:
I left Boulder the day prior, driving through Leadville and over Independence Pass, and into a bicycle-crazed Aspen–a stage of the Pro Challenge had finished there earlier in the day and another stage would leave from there the next day. In my previous life as a fanatical cyclist I would have paid much more attention to the goings-on (I am at least watching the daily results, mind you!)…but I now have mountains on my mind.
I made it up to Maroon Lake after sunset, but with time to photograph a lovely crescent Moon hanging like a fingernail in the fading light just above the next day’s objective, North Maroon Peak. Weirdly, I was the only photographer at the famous lake!
I eventually parked in the Overflow Lot and slept in the back of the truck with no issues or hassle. (Both the Day Use Lot and the Overnight Lot had signs saying “no sleeping in your vehicle”.) This was a Thursday night, though–not sure if a busy Friday or Saturday night would be similar.
At about 3:30a.m. I reparked in the upper Day Use Lot closest to Maroon Lake, ate breakfast, and I even remembered to hang my annual Parks pass on the rear-view mirror.
Around 4a.m., another vehicle arrived with two guys headed to South Maroon Peak, so I joined up with them for the first part of the hike up the valley in the darkness. At the junction, 1.75 miles up the trail, we went our separate ways. I had hoped to find someone for company up North Maroon, but it was not to be.
I was across Minnehaha Creek by first light and watched sunrise from somewhere in the middle of the “rock glacier”, starting up the first gully around 7:15a.m. In retrospect, I would have left maybe 30 minutes earlier so as to arrive at the rock glacier at first light rather than sunrise–it might have made for better pictures and a little light there is a good thing to help find the way across…and, of course, the higher up I am at sunrise, the better I like it!
At 9:45a.m. I was on the summit, alone, where I spent 35 minutes or so admiring the view, watching the human ants on South Maroon Peak, photographing, and just digesting the moment.
I started down at 10:20a.m. and I and my sore feet were back at the trailhead at 1:45p.m.
Total time: 9+45, which includes the many and various photo-op stops on top and along the way. En route time up was 5+45, and 3+25 down. With no photographic activity on my part, I might have been at least an hour faster. Interestingly, though, I am finding myself to be less and less concerned about time with each peak–I’ll often just stop and soak in the moment at random intervals.
Weather Conditions:
I left Boulder with a forecast of “mostly sunny” and a 10% chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon–about as good as you can get for a summer 14er hike.
All day the skies were clear, but heavy hazy with forest fire smoke. A few small and nonthreatening cumulus clouds did pop up here and there later in the day. The wind was very light.
The temps were a bit lower than the previous few days–low 40s at the start in the morning and low 60s upon my return to the trailhead. This helped lower my water consumption for the trip. A hot day and later start could have doubled what I needed given the southern exposure of much of the route.
Trail Conditions:
The paved road to the trailhead from Aspen can actually be a bit problematic. From 8a.m. to 5p.m., during the summer months, you will have to take a shuttle bus–unless you fall in to one of the “exception” categories. Best to review the Visit Maroon Bells website for specifics, then call to confirm if you have unusual camping plans. Twice now I have chosen to drive in after hours on a weekday and I have been able to sleep in the back of my truck in the Overnight or Overflow Lots–although I’m not sure how this would work on a busy weekend. Be sure to display or hang your Federal lands pass.
Crater Lake was closed due to bear activity, and there were signs at the Day Use Lot and the Overnight Lot that expressly forbade sleeping in your vehicle. There were no such signs at the Overflow Lot, however.
The entire foot trail trail up and back was in full up summer conditions.
I would divide the route like this:
—A Freeway-like Trail – This takes you past Maroon Lake and up to a junction just short of Crater Lake for 1.75 miles–easy to follow even at night by headlamp. At the far end of Maroon Lake, though, just be sure you take the right fork–don’t follow the left fork which will take you around the perimeter of the lake.
–The Buckskin Pass Trail – This splits off at the very obvious and well-signed junction before Crater Lake–you will go right here. Crater Lake and South Maroon Peak pilgrims will continue straight. Follow the Buckskin Pass Trail for 3/4 of a mile up to another split where you will go left. This second split has a small cairn and is reasonably obvious but, with no sign, it could be missed if you are walking by headlamp on a moonless night and not paying attention.
—Minnehaha Creek, The First Talus Slope, Second Talus Slope, and the Rock Glacier – This is the beautiful and varied “Sound of Music terrain” you will negotiate before you get to…
—The First Gully – There was a fairly obvious trail to follow up this and the angle was not too severe, so I continued to use my hiking poles. The traverse over to the start of the Second Gully was fairly obvious and there was a big cairn on the skyline to aim for.
—The Second Gully – Steeper, especially at the top, so the poles went in the pack so I could use my hands. In fact, in retrospect, the top of this gully might have been the route-finding and “cat feet crux” of the route. Aim for just left of the “notch” and then use a series of ledges to gain the ridge up higher. Be careful where you step, what you lean on, and what you grab as there is plenty of loose rock–large loose rocks, in fact. (For proof, see the excellent 14er.com trip report by somewhatofaprick about an accident just a couple of weeks ago, in this very spot, that could have happened to anyone. The accident details come at the end of the report and are sobering. Luckily the victim made it out under his own power, but very injured.)
—The Chimney – Yes, this short, 15 to 20-foot section does have the hardest climbing moves of the route (Class 4), but it is ledgy enough to not feel terrible exposed and the rock is pretty solid. Also, they call it a chimney, but that doesn’t really describes the climbing moves required to climb it. I found some stemming moves to be more helpful. On the way up the chimney I wore my bulky pack, but I took it off and pulled it down ledge-by-ledge on the way down. I didn’t bother looking for the Class 3 variation (off to climber’s right as you look up) either up or down as the chimney was pretty straight-forward. Again, this is where a good training plan pays off. If you have been doing some unroped scrambling and roped Class 5 climbing at your local crag, the chimney will seem quite easy.
—The Precipice – Flat and side-walk-like on beautiful rock. It is about the only flat part of the whole route, and it only lasts a hundred yards or so. A great place for a photo op. Have someone wait there, posing on the edge, while the photographer climbs a bit higher for a spectacular angle looking down toward Maroon Lake.
—The Final “Pitch” – Here is where I made a minor route-finding error. In the last section, maybe 100 vertical feet from the summit, I kept traversing up and left for too long on a dirt and loose scree trail. It looked like others had done the same. I soon found myself looking up at some scary-loose Class 4 rock with queasy exposure below and South Maroon Peak at my back. I backtracked and, within 50 yards or so, found a right angling slot that allowed Class 2 passage to the last few feet to the summit. There was also another cairned option to the right and below this slot involving Class 3+ scampering on reasonably good, not-too-exposed rock.
Generally, the entire route up the upper part of the Peak (from the two gullies on up) is not hard to follow–just look for cairns, bits of trail, and rock worn by the passage of many boots.
Photography Issues:
–I left the 24-70 f/2.8 at home (2 pounds) and just carried the D800 with the 14-24 f/2.8 and the 70-200 f/4. Why? It seemed like I was quite often wanting either extreme wide angle shots, or tight telephoto shots. I didn’t miss the in-between range terribly and I lightened my load a bit. Maybe I should just thrown in the 50mm f/1.8 fixed lens for this–it is small, very light, and of good quality.
–I didn’t carry my big tripod, which probably pushes close to four pounds, further lightening my load. Instead, I carried my 1970s vintage metal “Handipod”, essentially a 5-inch long tube, with extendable legs, that screws into the base of the camera body. Not very stable, but it worked for a few self-portraits once I found a suitable boulder as a platform. I also simply bumped up the ISO as high as 1600 for a faster shutter and shot handheld when the light was low.
–The smoke in the sky and lack of interesting clouds meant I often framed as little sky as possible in my images. Or, I used the hazy conditions to my advantage by photographing the unusual light at dawn as it filtered through the grey gunk. You work with whatever conditions you have.
Unusual Events/Comments:
–In the dark part of the hike, across the valley, I could see lights like fireflies working their way up the Pyramid Peak Trail. Then there were the two guys I initially met who were headed to South Maroon Peak. No one, to my knowledge was on the North Maroon trail when I started out–I was solo all the way to the summit. Only on the way down did I finally run into a total of three people on their way up–a party of two and a solo hiker. It was nice to have such a legendary mountain all to myself for so long (well, shared with the goats, marmots, eagles, wind, sun, etc.).
–I carried about two liters of water and ran out low down on the descent–and this was a cool day and I started early. If you were to start later and if it were a hot day, you could easily go through twice that, given the general southern exposure of the route.
–The entrance to each respective gully are two good decision points from which to turn back if the weather is at all threatening. You wouldn’t want to be caught high on the peak in bad weather.
–Wildlife seen: a curious goat, marmots, pikas, chipmunks, and eagle(?), but no bears, alas. When the eagle and its shadow cruised over, all the marmots in the whole gully erupted in sort of a choir of warning shrieks.
–I talked with a number of folks headed out on the 3-4 day Maroon Bells backpacking loop. I’ll have to add that to the always growing, never shrinking, bucket list.
–Nearing Maroon Lake, I ran in to a large Colorado Fourteeners Initiative trail maintenance group on their way up. They were loaded down with picks, shovels, and whatever else, as well as their own gear. A big thanks to these volunteers for what they do! After they passed, I realized I should have snapped a picture for this report, and I even had my camera in my hand. Sometimes I wonder about myself.
–This was the week of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge bike race. Luckily, I came and went through Aspen at appropriate times so as to miss any major delays. One of these years I’ll make it a point just to come out and watch a stage or two.
—Call to check on the current status of camping at Crater Lake if that’s your plan. Currently it is closed for camping there due to bear activity. Bear canisters are currently required for overnight backpacking in the whole area.
—Colorado 14er Senior Challenge summit count: 36 of the basic list of 58 (p. xxiii in Gerry Roach’s 14er “Bible”, Colorado Fourteeners, 3rd Ed.); 42 of the long list of 73 (pp. 347-348, with South Wilson added, also in Roach’s “Bible”.
Selected Images:
The evening before…
Crescent Moon Over the Maroons. Colorado, 2015
On the trail the next day (a handheld shot at higher ISO)…
Approaching Dawn Above Maroon Lake. Colorado, 2015
Last month’s adventure, towering over the valley…
Pyramid Peak, Pre-Dawn. Colorado, 2015
I called this the “Sound of Music” section–just a gorgeous hike through a verdant hanging valley laden with wildflowers…
Maroon Lake View. Colorado, 2015
Another example of what I mean. If you camp at Crater Lake, just a day hike up to these views would be worth it…
A Sound of Music Trail. North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
“Here comes the Sun, little darlin’…it’s alright…” I watched the event from somewhere in the middle of the rock glacier area. The heavy smoke from the forest fires is obvious…
Sunrise Over Maroon Lake. Colorado, 2015
A strange morning light with all the smoke in the air…
Maroon Morning Light. From North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
The first large mammal sighting, in the First Gully. He is awaiting some indication that I am leaving salty urine on a rock somewhere for him to lap up (ooh, gross)…
Hey Mister, When Ya Gunna Pee. North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
The cairn on the skyline is the goal…
Traverse to Second Gully. North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
Looking up at the second gully. From here, things got a little steeper. In the foreground, you can see the shadow from my camera and the little Handipod…
Pondering the Second Gully. North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
Looking back down on the same spot as the previous image. Mr. Goat is checking out the area to see if I peed anywhere…
The Goat and Pyramid Peak. From North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
First views of two future objectives, from the ridge high on North Maroon…
Snowmass and Capitol in the Smoky Haze. From North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
The light and sky colors change as the Sun rises higher in the sky…
Blue Horizons and Pyramid Peak. From North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
A spectacular perch and photo op spot on your way to the summit…
The Precipice and North Maroon Summit. North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
A self-portrait on the edge of The Precipice…
On the Promenade. North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
With Maroon Lake off in the abyss below, imagine photographing your climbing partner on this ledge…
The Precipice From Above. North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
And the top! But it’s not over–the most dangerous part of any climb is the descent, as they say…
North Maroon Peak Hero Shot. Colorado, 2015
Looking across at the other, taller Maroon Peak. It looks like a crowd is forming over there…
South Maroon Peak. From North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
Another, slightly different, view of the same…
South Maroon Peak, #2. From North Maroon Peak, Colorado, 2015
Back down to where the air is thicker, this is some of the trailside beauty you’ll find on the approach to North Maroon Peak…
Aspen Colony. Maroon Bells, Colorado, 2015
Some warning signs. Read and heed!…
Habituated Bears. Near Crater Lake, Colorado, 2015
Bear Alert. Maroon Lake, Colorado, 2015
No Sleeping In Your Car. Maroon Lake, Colorado, 2015
Adios to the Maroon Bells…until next time…
Pyramid Peak and the Maroon Peaks, Mid-day Light. Colorado, 2015
On the drive home, some apropos pro cycling graffiti on Independence Pass…
Pro Challenge Graffiti, Independence Pass. Colorado, 2015
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