 |
| Quandary and Pacific Tarn |
The Tenmile
Range near Breckenridge hosts many 13ers that are worth exploring. Over the
past few years I have been slowly ticking peaks off my list from the range. This
area is close to Denver, and unlike Quandary the local 14er, solitude can be
found on many of the surrounding peaks. Last year I came across the East Ridge
Route description for Pacific Peak on the 14ers.com website and decided this
would be a fun option for this weekend.
The McCullough Gulch North TH is
accessed off of HWY 9 near the Quandary Peak TH. From Breckenridge travel south
on HWY 9, turning west onto Blue Lakes Road 850. After the main parking lot for
Quandary take the first right onto McCullough Gulch (851) Road. Drive over a
mile and a half reaching a junction, stay to the right and follow this road
till it ends at just over 11,000 feet. High clearance would be desired for this
road, but it is not a full 4WD road. There is limited parking near the TH, and
I almost drove into a bunch of people camping there, so proceed with caution if
arriving in the dark.
 |
| Early Morning Solitude |
I had another early morning
departure from Denver and arrived at the TH around 4:30am. I wasn’t necessarily
planning on a sunrise climb, but since this is an east facing route the
opportunity is there to catch the morning sunrise anywhere along the ridgeline.
The morning air was a bit chilly, but I was good to start in shorts and a
t-shirt. I knew the initial climb through the aspens would be brutal and I
would quickly have my heart rate up, so starting a tad chilly was a good way to
do it today.
There wasn’t a true trail, but
through the trees in the dark I could spot signs of climber/animal trails that
helped me through the trees. The gain was really steep, so when in doubt just
go straight up and within 5-10 minutes you will clear the trees. I would
recommend loading a gpx track if you do this in the dark as the ridgelines are
not clearly evident. I just kept trying to follow the southern edge of the
ridge, but the ridge is quite wide so a few times I would check my gps to make
sure I was on the right track. After the initial gain in the first half hour,
the main East Ridge becomes more evident, so just start making your way towards
the rocks.
 |
| Sunrise |
In the first hour I gained 1,850
feet and at this point I was beginning the rocky ridge. I was feeling pretty
good, and keeping an above average pace. I took a short break after my first
hour since I had already burned my morning fuel supply. The sun would rise in
about half hour so I wanted to step it up a notch to get a better view of the
sunrise higher on the ridge. I kicked it into high gear as I started up the
boulders.
The ridge narrows pretty quickly
and the roller coaster of ups and down soon commences. This first section is
mostly class 2, but the more you stay true to the ridge the more difficult it
gets. If you stay on the ridgeline it soon turns into solid class 3 terrain,
but easier routes can be found to the southern side off the crest. I wanted to
have some fun so I stayed true to the ridge and soon was packing away my
trekking poles and putting on my scrambling gloves.
 |
| Pacific Peak |
The scrambling is pretty
sustained for about a mile, maybe a bit further. There is a midpoint along the
ridge that is the unranked point 13,238. My goal was to reach that point for
sunrise. There are a few really fun sections to scramble up gaining the point.
I nearly made it to the top of the point as the sun was cresting the horizon. I
took a seat on a rock and enjoy the moment with a handful of gummy bears.
After taking a few pictures I
was off again continuing up the ridge. By staying true to the ridge I had to
back track a few times as the notches between rock towers drop off dramatically
as you progress up the ridgeline. If you stay off the ridge by about thirty or
forty feet you won’t have to worry about it, but the view down there isn’t as
good. Soon you will get to a point where you need to be on the ridge crest as couloirs
come in on the northern side. Just past this area is where the standard route
ascends from the Mohawk Lakes area.
A few weeks prior I tried
ascending from the Mohawk Lakes, but I didn’t have the right gear that day so
it became a day of basin and lakes exploration. I think that route would be
more efficient if you wanted to get up to Pacific quickly, but there wouldn’t
be that much scrambling involved, so where’s the fun in that? I started making
my way off the ridge, dropping into the flat area near the Pacific Tarn. From
here I took a break to lather on some sun block and gobble some crackers.
 |
| Me on the summit of Pacific |
My goal was to summit Pacific within
a half hour from my last break. I was feeling good even for being above 13,600
feet, I just kept trucking up the pyramid block and was on the summit 20
minutes later. The vertical gain didn’t seem too bad along this route because
you start out with a huge gain then it mellows into a roller coaster scramble. It
was a fun route, and I would recommend it if you want to up your game into
class 3 terrain. After taking a break for a few minutes on the summit I was off
to Atlantic Peak.
There was no reason not to make
a twofer out of the day since it was only 7:30am. From Pacific to Atlantic the
terrain stays class 2 the entire way. There are climber’s routes through the
boulders so the going was pretty quick. About a half hour or so after being on
Pacific, I was already on the summit of Atlantic. It would have been nice to be
able to continue on the ridge towards Fletcher, but that ridgeline quickly turns
to jagged rock spires and is not climbable….at least for me.
 |
| Pacific from Atlantic |
At about 8:30am I was starting
back. I chose to descend the same ridge, a lot of people will drop into
McCullough Gulch and hike the trail out, but I was up for some more scrambling
since I had a great day for it. I reconnected to the main East Ridge next to
Pacific Tarn. I should mention that Pacific Tarn is the highest lake in the
U.S., I guess I can check that off on a list somewhere as well.
On the descent I took my time
along the ridge. I tried to avoid a lot of the major ups and downs by
traversing further down on the ridge on the south side. There were lots of fun
options, so the playground was in great shape today. I spent about three hours
on the descent, steadily moving for the most part. Once clearing the rocks I
took a final break before the drop down the ridge to the car. It was
interesting to see how steep the terrain was I came up in the dark. I would try
and stay more south on the ridge early on as opposed to my route that loops to
the north. But other than that, I enjoyed the route and would definitely do it
again.
I had one stop on my schedule…Broken
Compass Brewing. This would be my last climb in Colorado before heading to
Washington. This Saturday I’m climbing Mount Adams, then mid next week I make
my second summit attempt on Mount Rainier. I will try and put together some
trip reports for those when I get back home. In the meantime, I hope you guys
are finding some time in the mountains. Get after it! Cheers!
Date: July
30, 2016
TH Elevation:
11,060 feet
Pacific Peak
Summit: 13,950 feet
Atlantic
Peak Summit: 13,841 feet
Total
Ascent: 3,872 feet
Total
Distance: 8.3 miles
Class: 3
Moving Time:
5 hours 9 minutes
Stopped
Time: 2 hour 13 minutes
No comments:
Post a Comment