Monday, November 28, 2011

Birthday climb up the Sawtooth

For my big 2-9, I browsed a couple of maps of the Indian Peaks and found a very aesthetic peak in a seldom-traveled drainage. Sawtooth Mountain is modest by CO standards, topping out at a mere 12,304ft. After reading the Summitpost Route Description I decided that, given the weather conditions and my lack of experience with technical routes in the winter, I would scramble the East Ridge to the summit. I convinced Ian to join me on this adventure. We are both very close in levels of fitness and technical skill so I felt that anything that would be a stretch for one of us would be a stretch for both.

As it turns out, this peak is the namesake of the delicious Sawtooth Ale by Lefthand Brewing Company in Longmont.


Left-Hand-Sawtooth-Ale


Look closely at the bottom of the bottle design and you'll see the distinct shape of the summit ridge and peak.

We left Boulder around 4:45 AM and arrived at Beaver Reservoir around 6:15AM. There was light snow on the roads and it was cold but the skies were clear, and there was not a breath of wind. As is the standard for long approaches we both were very quiet; we put our heads down and trudged on until the snow on the 4wd road became deep enough for snowshoes.

For the entire approach hike, we saw only occasional rabbit tracks but no hints of any other human presence. Nothing beats cutting fresh tracks.


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Ian breaking trail just after sunrise



We came within view of the objective as the sun was touching the summit and got a breathtaking perspective on the ridge and summit. Any pain I was feeling in my feet from the long approach was immediately forgotten.


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A blurry picture of Sawtooth Mountain on the approach


The route description tells you to hike along the Buchanan Pass trail until the ridge is visible across a clearing and then head up the ridgeline. When we reached a clearing that seemed to match that description, we got a taste of the conditions to come. Shifting, fast-moving clouds were now menacing the summit and it felt like a wind tunnel had been turned on us.

We added layers, balaclavas and goggles and began slogging upwind looking for a way to gain the ridgeline without crossing any snowfields that posed a potential avalanche hazard. It was 10:30AM when we started the climb. After being out in some very harsh conditions last weekend, I felt much more comfortable with how my face was covered and protected from the wind.

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The summit guarded by scary-looking winter clouds


Lacking crampons, we snowshoed our way through slopes of loose rock intermixed with patches of snow. Strong winds had loaded portions of the slope with inconsistent patches of snow. One minute we would post-hole up to our thighs, the next we would be walking on top of a crust of near-ice.

Finally gaining the ridge, the wind picked up again and conditions became that much more serious. Ian's goggles had iced over by this point and we stopped to talk about our options like when or if we might make the decision to turn back. I really didn't want to leave without summitting, but I also wanted to make sure that we were safe; I left the decision up to him. Ian said he would try without the goggles, but if the wind and blowing ice were too much, we would have to bail.

Having adjusted our gear systems, we moved on. We had to climb down to the south side to pass around of the three rock towers on the ridge. "Tower" is a bit of a misnomer for these giant piles of chossy crap; they looked like they only had a few winters left before breaking into pieces and falling down the slope.


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Looking back at the ridgeline from the beginning of the final summit push. You can see the rock "towers" in the lower left corner.


Once we reached the end of the ridgeline, we climbed straight up the final face, staying clear of snowfields to the North and a large cliff to the South. This last push up the face was the steepest portion of the climb so far and the most hazardous. At any given stance it was hard to find a rock to grab onto that didn't come loose in your hand.

On the way up this final slope, I started swearing at the stupid mountain and yelling about the stupid crappy rock, the stupid wind and the stupid effing snow until I stopped and realized how idiotic I sounded. I whipped my head around to make sure that there wasn't anyone around who might hear me...on a mountain...in a windstorm...yeah...Fatigue and psychological stress had made me pissed off at a pile of rocks instead of seeing that all this was in my head. I took a deep breath, laughed at how ridiculous I probably looked and kept climbing. In my opinion, any mountaineering trip that gives you some perspective is a successful one.

We pushed on and, after what seemed like an hour, we made it to the summit! From the base of the ridge to the summit, we had gained about 1,700ft of elevation, though the weather made it seem that much harder.


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My summit shot; I had to take it from inside my coat since I can't operate my cameraphone with gloves on and taking my hand out of my coat would have meant I may have come back with one less hand.


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Ian's summit shot; he is wearing almost all the gear he brought with him.



We didn't linger long; checking our watches, we had summitted at 1:30PM and had a very long hike back. I had told people I would be back in Boulder and getting ready to go out at around 6:00PM and I didn't want to disappoint. We took one last look around, breathed in the thin air and started back down the slope.

There were some patches of snow large enough to butt-slide down, so the descent was made that much quicker. When we did have to walk, the movement was treacherous. The snow was shallow and anytime I would plunge my heel into the snow, my toes would catch on covered rocks. More than once, I was forced to sit down or kneel to keep my ankle from being caught or twisted. It was a very frustrating descent.

We got to the bottom of the ridge in 30 mins flat. The thought of burgers and beer was inspiring enough that we put on our snowshoes and double-timed it back the way we had come. Over the course of the day, the wind had blown away our tracks, leaving us routefinding once again. Luckily, the approach hike had followed a creek drainage nearly all the way to the base of the climb, so there was almost no risk of taking a wrong turn. When we finally found our tracks and entered the woods, we looked back to get one last view of the peak as the sun was beginning to go down behind the peak.


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Sawtooth Mountain with the sun beginning to set.


It wasn't until we were within two miles of the trailhead at Beaver Reservoir that we began to see ski tracks from others who had been out that day. It was nice to have the solitude of the peak, but every sign of civilization we saw meant beer and burgers were that much closer. We double-timed it back towards the car.

We made it to the car at 4:45, as it was beginning to get dark. After a quick stretch, a high five and some gear shedding, we were headed back to Boulder. Total distance: ~14 miles; total elevation gain: ~3000ft. This was a good birthday present.


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Sunset behind Sawtooth