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| Flattop Mountain |
In order to avoid the heavy mountain traffic that I70 was
bound to have on a holiday weekend, Cole and I decided we should head up to
Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) for a climb. I have only been to the park
in the summer months, so I was looking forward to seeing the mountains covered
with snow.
There are a few ways to get to RMNP, we chose to take HWY 36
that goes through Boulder into Lyons and Estes Park before coming into the
park’s East Entrance. Pay the $20 park
entry fee or bring your pass. Just after entering the park turn south onto Bear
Lake Road and drive to the end of the road parking at the Bear Lake TH.
We arrived at 7am, and there were only three or four
vehicles parked in the lot. The temperature gauge on my truck was reading -7°F,
so neither of us was really eager to go outside at that point. We faced the music and started gearing up. It
takes a bit longer to get ready when it’s freezing outside, so by the time we
had boots and all of our layers on we were quite frozen, at least in the
fingers and face. I suggested we warm up in the truck so we didn’t start off
frozen. As we heated up in the cab, I
started my Jetboil just outside of the door so I could bring some hot tea up
the trail. The temps were too cold and the gas wasn’t flowing to well so I
brought it in the cab with us and the water boiled fairly quickly in the warm
surroundings. I ate the last of Kristi’s pumpkin bread and then we made our way
out to the trail a little before 8am.
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| Trail Near Bear Lake |
Conditions didn’t change in the last twenty minutes, but at
least now we were moving. We started on the Bear Lake Trail that makes its way
around the east side of the lake. The trail was hard packed snow that has seen
a lot of traffic so we didn’t need our snowshoes yet. The cold air didn’t seem
to affect either of us as we were making what felt like good time on the first
stretch. Within about a half mile of the start there is a trail junction, head
left or west onto the Flattop Mountain Trail. Once on this trail you make your
way onto the Bierstadt Moraine, but you don’t realize it’s a moraine until you
are high above it later in the day. After about thirty minutes or so we both
had to make a layer adjustment. I had a light prima loft jacket on and I wanted
to remove it before I drenched it in sweat that froze into icicles. At this
point I tried to mark a waypoint with my GPS App, but screwed it up, so there
is a random point that is closer to the lake than our actual position.
Fern Lake Trail was the next intersection along the trail.
From here the Flattop Mountain Trail switchbacks to the south west and we could
immediately tell the difference in the boot pack along this section. Fewer
people head up this trail and the snow was starting to get a lot softer. We
managed up the first five or so switchbacks before getting the Dream Lake view
point. This was about an hour in for us. We took a few minutes to put on
sunblock and have a snack, and I chose to put on my snowshoes instead of caring
them on my back.
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| Morning View of Longs Peak |
The snowshoe decision seemed to pay off because after about
50 yards or so the snowshoe track we were following veered off the main trail
in a more direct route through the trees. We followed it because the soft snow
would have been a serious ass kicking even with snowshoes on. After gaining a
little elevation, I noticed the trees were starting to thin out so we were
nearing tree line finally.
As we came out of the trees we could see the large east
slope of the mountain and one snow shoer making his way across the slope. We
took another break here and the vies of Longs Peak were amazing. After a bit of
jerky and some fluids we were off on the trail. We caught up to the snow shoer
we saw as he was making his way down. He said the wind was too much for him, we
hadn’t felt much wind so we continued on. About a hundred yards later and the
trail vanished and the snow covered boulder field opened up for us.
We had to remove the snowshoes through this section. I
brought crampons and chose to leave them off while Cole put his micro spikes
on. I re-laced my boots and froze both hands, and it took quite a bit of time
to get the feeling back. While I was shaking the hell of out my hands we
started slowly making our traverse through the boulders. I had my eye on a
landmark that turned out to be a hitching station for horses. We would cross
what looked like the summer trail here and there but just kept to our line.
There was a mess of cairns all over the place, so don’t count on them as an aid
if you find yourself in our situation.
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| Summit Area |
Once we got near the hitching station we could see tracks
from a goat or a sheep. Cole was curious and followed them as they dropped off
the south face. We were able to get a glimpse of a few sheep that were probably
running from us. We attempted to get a picture and soon gave up and made our
way up the last small incline towards the flat summit.
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| Me and Cole on the Summit |
The cairns were starting to get really big and you could at
least see they were aligned heading towards what we considered the summit.
There was a trail marker where the cairns kind of terminated and we called that
the top. We wanted a better view so we headed to the south edge that gave great
views of Hallett Peak and Longs in the distance. Just before noon we summited
after a gain of almost 3,000 feet.
We had talked about adding Hallett Peak since it would only
add another mile and a half or so. I told Cole I didn’t want to head over
today. My toes were cold and I didn’t want to be completely exhausted. The sun
is also a factor in the winter and the days are short and we would have a long
hike back to the car from Hallett’s summit. I really wish we got there a bit
earlier, but I have no problem saving Hallett for another day.
We were both remarking how perfect the weather was today. I
know we both had our doubts at the TH with car reading negative degrees. The
sun was out, and there were no clouds are barely any wind. I think we got very
lucky with conditions today. I wished I had brought my binoculars that were in
the truck. I knew somebody had to be up on Longs and we both wish we were there
as well. After we had a bite to eat Cole spotted a ewe and two lambs walking
across the flats behind us. They were on their way to Hallett I guess. Soon we
decided it was time to get our gear together and start down.
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| Hallett Peak |
The ridge route looked good to us in order to avoid most of
the boulder field. As we started we could see hordes of people making their way
up. Not like 14ers hoards, but there were maybe 20-30 people all together that
were on the route at some point above tree line. Heading down we found a maze
of trails left by people heading to the summit. Just before tree line we
stopped for a short break. I saw my first bald eagle flying overhead. I tried
to get a picture, but he had his own plans. After that we just hoofed it down
the trail making it back to the car at 2:45pm.
It’s hard to beat a day like this in the mountains.
Sometimes the crux of the climb is opening the door of your truck when you know
it’s going to be damn cold out there. This could be the last climb for me for
some time as school is about to start again. I hope that’s not the case, but at
least I finished 2015 on one of the best days I had in the mountains all year.
Cheers!
Date: December
27, 2015
Bear Lake TH
Elevation: 9,464 feet
Flattop
Mountain Summit: 12,348 feet
Total Ascent:
2,956 feet
Distance: 7.8
miles
Moving Time:
4hrs 12min
Stopped
Time: 2hrs 53min
Total Time:
7hrs 6min
Moving
Speed: 1.8mph
Average
Speed: 1.1mph
Class: 2
Partners: Cole
