June 15, 2019
Pikes Peak Y Couloir
It's 4 am and Laura and I are at the Barr Trail parking area with a plan to climb Pikes Peak starting from the east and ending on the northwest. Barr trail is a beautiful hike and we enjoyed it in the dark, looking out over the lights of Colorado Springs. As we made steady progress and the night turned to day, we noticed that clouds were already building in the sky. We would have to watch carefully and make good decisions throughout the day.
Reaching Barr Camp just before 7 am, we went inside and took a look at the weather forecast. It showed a strong chance for snow late in the afternoon so we figured we would continue on and see what happened. Just a mile past Barr Camp, the trail breaks off toward the bottomless pit.
We took the trail cutoff and worked our way through several patches of snow, eventually wrapping around to the mountains north face and the beautiful cirque.
The Y Couloir finally came into view as we stopped for a lunch break around 9 am as as we refueled for the final 2,000 feet of climbing to the summit. First on rock and then to snow, we ascended the Y Couloir steadily.
It was in stable and good snow condition and we enjoyed the climb up. About half way up the couloir we noticed the clouds had moved in quickly and that it was likely snowing or raining on the summit. We make a final push to the top and ended in a cloud of fog and several inches of new snow.
At the summit, we went into the summit house to learn that the road had been closed to all vehicles. Our plan to run down the mountain would not be safe now as the thunder rolled and snow fell. We relaxed in the summit house for a few hours and as they reopened the road, we were fortunate to be offered a ride down by a stranger. Within a few hours we were back in town and thankful that we had a great day out climbing and had met some very nice people willing to help us out with a ride!
We took the trail cutoff and worked our way through several patches of snow, eventually wrapping around to the mountains north face and the beautiful cirque.
The Y Couloir finally came into view as we stopped for a lunch break around 9 am as as we refueled for the final 2,000 feet of climbing to the summit. First on rock and then to snow, we ascended the Y Couloir steadily.
At the summit, we went into the summit house to learn that the road had been closed to all vehicles. Our plan to run down the mountain would not be safe now as the thunder rolled and snow fell. We relaxed in the summit house for a few hours and as they reopened the road, we were fortunate to be offered a ride down by a stranger. Within a few hours we were back in town and thankful that we had a great day out climbing and had met some very nice people willing to help us out with a ride!
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