Our First Winter Summit

Raina came up to stay with me for a few days, which was a BLAST. It’s hard to describe how beautiful Spring Canyon, so I was really glad she got to visit and experience it herself. She came up on Monday. I had the afternoon to work on a project, so we met up down in Bunea Vista at The Roastery, which was miraculously open for indoor seating! I had Tuesday off. We didn’t think there would be enough snow to cross country ski. Additionally, I discovered that day passes at Monarch, where Raina has reciprocity, were a hundred bucks. Not wasting that on a bad snow day. So instead, we decided to gander up the Denny Creek Trail, the farthest we can go up the pass now that it’s closed for winter.

We looked up the conditions on Yale and saw a couple people had done it in the past few days without traction. We figured we’d give it a shot and turn around if necessary. The weather looked good, and since it’s the winter, we didn’t have to bother with an early start.

The latest in the season I’ve ever done a 14er is September. Usually it hasn’t snowed by then, but the afternoon thunderstorms are less common, so it’s actually a great time to go. Conner and I hiked Yale this September soon after an unexpected foot and a half snow storm. While there was some snow and ice at the top, it was pretty manageable. We submitted in two and a half hours.

Rains and I had a harder time because we wore thicker shoes (she, boots, me, waterproof tennis shoes) and snowpants. They were both totally worth it, though, because there was a fair amount of snow. It was too slick to hike down without slipping, so we had a jolly old time sitting and sliding down the steeper hills.

We saw three other groups, but we had the summit to ourselves. I’ve never had another 14er summit to myself, but now it’s happened twice with Yale. I think it may be my favorite 14er, partially because of the empty summits. I also think it’s a nice hike. Gets super steep in parts but then flat for bits. It’s a little over five miles to the summit, so totally doable, with only about 4000ft of vert. Treeline splits the hike almost exactly in half, which is pleasant. The bottom half follows a nice stream. I also think the view from Yale is something else. It’s not the most striking view (Handies was pretty cool in that department, surrounded by super pointy peaks). But it definitely has amazing variety. You can see all the way across South Park to Pikes Peak. Democrat, Bross, and Lincoln are visible, as well as all the Collegiate Peaks, Mt. Elbert, and the others in the looming Sawatch range. To the west, the Maroon Bells, Pyramid and Castle Peaks, and that whole range are visible. Plus, in the foreground, Ice Mountain and the Three Apostles, which are striking. To the south you can see the San Juans and Raina’s personal favorite, Uncompahgre. We want to hike that this summer…maybe. Then, directly to the south, is Princeton, which I’m also fond of. From the summit, I can trace the Princeton ridge down to the Hook and then down a steep slope into the canyon where I live. I see Sheep Mountain which edges Spring Canyon’s property. I can trace the road down to BV and see the ponds and the little criss crossing roads.

It’s just about my favorite to stand on Yale and see so many mountains I’ve climbed before because they bring back amazing memories. Democrat with my dad when I was six. Lincoln with Ellie. Handies with Holly. Pikes Peak with Rains. Countless drives through South Park to Breck. The Maroon Bell loop with Daddy and Raina. Gosh, I’m lucky to live here!

It was so fun to have Raina with me for a few days. She’s a real gem. I’m luck in the sibling department too 🙂

xoxo

Ceci