A Long Time Coming with McCoy in the Mountains

For years now Joe McCoy and I have conjured up ideas about the kind of adventures we could happen upon in the mountains. Ever since discovering that we shared similar passions for the outdoors, the mountains and adventuring, we hooped it was only a matter of time before we could finally get away and bring those ideas to life. Well, we were finally able to capitalize on all those years of scheming and dreaming and what a whirlwind of adventure we were able to embark upon.

From Denver to Buena Vista, then up into the "hills"

Late Thursday evening (the 26th) I picked McCoy up from Denver International Airport on the far east side of Denver. We had a solid three hour drive ahead of us and after a quick bite to eat at a Qudoba on the west side, we jumped on HWY 285 and headed south and west towards Buena Vista. It had been 6 months since we had last seen each other and over a year since we had last really had time to talk for an extended amount of time, so we spent the better part of three hours catching up.

Once we arrived in Buena Vista we navigated our way west of the town and into the mountains. The trailhead we were aiming for was the N. Cottonwood trailhead. The road accessing the trail was dirt/gravel, but it wasn't that rough and we made good time. We pulled into the parking lot a little after 11:00 PM and quickly went about finding a place to pitch the tent for the night. It didn't take long to get the tent up, get our pads and bags in the tent and lay down for the night. Even with our pent up excitement, we were out pretty quickly.

We were in no rush in the morning since our destination for the day was only 4 miles away. This was my first time using my new pack, the Aether 70, so I held up our departure a little bit in trying to figure out, on the fly, the best way to pack all of my stuff into it. As I was packing, McCoy noticed a prickly critter wandering away from the car. It was a rocky mountain porcupine, and a good sized one at that! By the time I got my camera out he was lumbering away and I was only able to get a picture from the back. We finally packed up and got organized around 8:30 and were ready to hit the trail.

We hiked along at a quick, but comfortable, pace, often stopping to take in the scenery along the creek. It was a cool morning and made for great hiking weather. We finally ran into some unavoidable snow around 11,000 ft. Although unavoidable and soft, it really posed no problem and we continued to trek towards the lake. We knew we were getting close as the topography began to flatten out and the ground began to become almost marsh-like. Right around two hours since leaving the trailhead we were treated with the lake and the beautiful cirque surrounding it.

First view of the mountains which lay in wait

Kroenke Lake and the surrounding cirque greet us

There was one other group (a couple and their dog) already at the lake and contemplating making a push for the summit of Yale, but with the clouds rolling in a little bit they decided against that course of action. They were, at the time, occupying a campsite at the head of the lake and so we began circumnavigating the lake looking for another good spot. We wanted to give them some space and we wanted some space to ourselves as well. The snow around the lake was evidence for how much snow had been laying there during the height of the snow-pack. There were areas, in the shade, which still held over 5 feet of snow! After circling the lake entirely, we settled on a nice campsite at the southwest corner. We promptly set up camp and took a nice little nap.

After our nap we set about exploring the area. We wanted to scout out our route for the next morning and our attempt to gain the summit of Mt. Yale. We soon discovered that the trail we thought would take us to the base of the ridge we wanted to ascend was often blocked by substantial snow fields. Thus, we decided just to make our own route up in hopes of staying as dry as possible. During our reconnaissance mission, we found ourselves on the cliffs above the lake and that afforded us a spectacular view down into the cirque.

High above Kroenke Lake

Our next order of business was gathering some firewood. We had decided that it was a necessity to jump into Kroenke Lake, and since the lake was cold (very cold!), the ambient air temperature was cool, and the winds were fairly stiff, having a fire ready was also a necessity. Looking back at the video (see below), a few things are evident:

Are we really going to do this?

1. Both excitement and nerves came into play 
2. This little foray proves that we are still boys at heart: this is evidenced by my stupid comment right before we jump, "...this is what men do..." Really, men? More like dumb boys!
3. McCoy's leap/ dive into the water is MUCH more graceful than mine!

The process of warming up was helped immensely by the space blankets McCoy had and the nice fire we had built. Once we were sufficiently warm, we set about preparing dinner and then winding down for the night. It was quite windy and that made any attempt to sit around the fire and enjoy the evening somewhat futile. Plus, we knew we were facing an early start to the morning and a pretty tough, off-trail, hike to the summit of Yale. We doused the fire and were in bed by 9:00. 

Some examples of the snow fields we crossed (lower right)

We were up and at 'em a little after 4. We prepared our day-packs and were heading towards Mt. Yale around 4:50 AM. We made quick work of the route in the beginning. Much to our hiking pleasure, the snow fields had frozen during the night and this made our path to the base of the ridge much more direct. Both of us felt much stronger in the early morning hours than we anticipated. Our only source of consternation was the wind and clouds Fortunately, the clouds were not of the thunderstorm variety but they were shrouding the peak and obstructing our view. Even with these low hanging clouds, the rising of the sun was a great thing to behold. We stopped about halfway up the ascent of the steep slopes to gain the ridge so we could snap some pics.

Over or around?...ok, around...oops!

Once we reached the ridge, we had to make a decision. We could either follow the ridge direct, which would take us to about 13,500 feet in elevation but then back down a few hundred feet, or we could skirt the point ahead and attempt to stay at a level elevation of 13,200, which would hopefully connect us back up to the ridge proper. We decided on the latter option. I won't say that it was a mistake, but it ended up being the tougher of the two options. All in all, however, we continued to make good time. The clouds continued to come in and out around us. Fortunately when things would clear we were able to get some good pictures to the south. 

 A nice scramble over the hump

As we continued to make steady progress up the ridge and towards the summit, there were a few other times we had to make a similar decision as before: up and over, or around? There was one spot in particular which looked like a nice little scramble so we decided to go up and over. This is when we realized that the low hanging clouds and the low temperatures were yielding slightly icy conditions. Fortunately there is very little exposure on Mt. Yale and we felt very comfortable pressing on. We soon had the summit in our sights and although we had met one other person who had come up from the other side of the ridge, we had yet to see anyone else and when we gained the summit, we had it to ourselves. Over the past 19 years I have experienced a range of weather conditions on 14er summits, and while this definitely wasn't the most miserable I had ever felt (that prize goes to Mt. Elbert, 1999. Right, dad?) I am pretty sure it was the coldest. The watch read 30 degrees and if I were a betting man I would say the winds were a sustained 30-40 MPH with 50 MPH gusts. According to NOAA, that creates a balmy wind chill of 15 degrees! 

Throwback to my most miserable 14er summit.

My coldest 14er summit to date, and 40 MPH winds to boot!

The clouds had the summit socked in pretty solid so after a few obligatory summit shots and a little snack, we began heading down. We had the summit to ourselves until the very end, at which time the fellow we had seen earlier made it up and was kind enough to snap a picture of us together. 

McCoy atop his first 14er

"The Shirt" continues it's journey

We made a great team

On the way down we encountered one other group on their way up. I guess the weather was enough to keep most people away. Only seeing four other people on a collegiate peak summit on a Saturday in late June is pretty remarkable in my opinion. We took a much different route on the way down and while the wind seemed to be intensifying, there were more breaks in the clouds and we were able to get a few more great shots of the peaks all around us. The slope we descended to get back to the lake was much steeper than that which we ascended, but it cut off a pretty good chunk of distance. It was a combination of loose scree, snow (which we mainly avoided) and steep grassy areas.

"Screw it, i'm just sliding down." --McCoy

Our route down from the ridge. Middle right, between the snow and the rock outcrop

After picking our way through the last few snow fields, patches of dense vegetation in the form of willows, and some marsh land, we made it back to camp. It was just a few minutes shy of 10 AM and we were ready for a nap! After our nap we decided to pack up camp and head back to the car. Our initial plan was to stay at the lake another night, but we figured variety is the spice of life, so why not look for something else? After a Pizza at Pizza Works in Buena Vista, we headed back up into the hills, using our Collegiate Peaks wilderness TOPO map as a road map. Well, that worked out about as well as forcing a square peg through a round hole. After much disappointment while attempting to access "roads" which apparently only existed on the map, we settled on making the slow, yet sure, trek to Frenchman Creek TH. My 4runner performed remarkably well on the steep, rutted, and rocky road. We settled in for a relaxing evening with a nice fire, a campsite right by the creek, and couple of creek-cooled beverages. What a way to wind down a couple action packed days in the mountains.

Winding down after a hard day's work

Sunday morning brought packing for the final time of this trip. Seeing as how we were pretty grimy and McCoy had a two hour plane ride back to SanFran, we decided to take a bath in Frenchman Creek. And we thought the lake was cold...Yikes! The creek was FRIGID. It was, however, very refreshing. Sorry, no video footage. We headed back down the short jaunt to the 4runner and back into Buena Vista. After getting a quick bite to eat at Coyote Cantina, the nearly three hour journey back to DIA commenced. We jammed to some country music most of the way, made a quick pit-stop at REI in Denver, and before I knew it McCoy was headed through security. It was an incredibly successful adventurefest in the mountains and I can't wait to do it again. Not that I expected anything less, but Joe and I work very well together in the mountains. When it comes to decision making about where to set up camp, what route to take, or how to maximize our fun, our collaboration was spot on. Thanks for being a great partner in the mountains, McCoy!

Special thanks to McCoy's future wife, Chelsea Kilway, for allowing him some mountain man time! You ROCK, Chelsea!