Phil was with Sean during his very short foray into mountain biking that many of you know led to a broken neck, a halo brace and a great girlfriend. Phil helped Sean get to the hospital and spent a long few hours in the waiting room before the doctors told him anything about Sean’s condition. So, while they roomed together in mice-infested Geneva Hall during their sophomore year and lived in the same house for their junior and senior years, it is an understatement to refer to Phil as ‘Sean’s college roommate’ but ‘the guy who saved Sean’s life’ does seem a little dramatic.
Friday was Sean’s birthday and we met a crew at the Irish Snug, a great Irish bar close to our apartment. It was a great night with lots of love for the birthday boy!
On Saturday we had an unusually late start (blame the Irish Snug/birthday celebration after effects) but we still got in a full weekend at the mountains. We drove up with Phil and Chad to the Quandry Peak trailhead in the Ten Mile-Mosquito Range where we met up with Phil’s cousin, Nate, and his girlfriend, Casey.
Casey and Nate just climbed Mt. Rainier a few weeks ago. I climbed it about 8 years ago, but I was with an incredible Rainier Guide and rope team leader. They did the ascent without a guide… so they are definitely seasoned climbers. We all car camped(!) which should not be confused with camping near running water, port-o-pottys or any comparable luxury. We did, however, seriously enjoy having our cars and all of the heavy food/equipment that just doesn’t fit in a pack for a backpacking excursion. Like meats! And cheeses! And beer! Another big perk of car camping is that campfires are totally acceptable.
We woke up at 5:00 am Sunday morning to attempt Atlantic Peak (13,841) The hike was (as usual) stunning! It was all quintessential Colorado with meadows of wildflowers, alpine lakes and multiple peaks over 13,000 feet. It was a sunny and between 75 and 80 degrees, so pretty ideal hiking conditions.
We followed the McCullough Gulch trailhead for 2.6 miles and hit a scree/talus field about half of a mile from the summit. It was painful and tricky hopping from rock to rock- but we had no choice! After a serious effort to make it to the top we had to turn around just a few vertical feet shy of our goal. We tried to avoid the snowfield standing between us and the summit, but it was not possible. Had we brought all of our equipment with us (or had we known the conditions before we started the hike) we would have easily been able to make that last little bit. As it was, however, the loose rock and wet snow made Atlantic an impossible climb for a group of six.
We headed down around 11:00 and got stuck in classic Denver reverse traffic- it took us 3 hours to drive what would normally take 75 minutes because it was Sunday and all of us Denver folk were heading east from the mountains. Really, there is rarely traffic during the work week…but there is always traffic on 70 east.
Another Strong peak experience! Perfect weather to top it off!
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