Lone Eagle Peak, Colorado
Are “classic” routes really good just because they lead to
the summit of a neat looking mountain? Lone Eagle Peak in the Indian Peaks Wilderness is just that,
a really cool looking mountain. From the correct viewpoint at Mirror Lake, Lone
Eagle appears to stand alone but from afar it is obviously not alone, nor is it
the highest summit even of the connecting ridge.
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| View of Lone Eagle from a distance |
So, because it looks cool,
Isaac, Laura and I set out to climb this mountain by what we hoped would be a
better route than the standard class 4 scramble.
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| At the base of the route |
The north face of the mountain
climbs low class 5 gullies, ramps and chimneys to a headwall and finishes off
with nice 5.7 and 5.5 pitchs to reach the summit. The area is beautiful and thus
popular with backpackers but we didn’t have time for that. Choosing to make the
20 mile round trip in a day, we set off at 4:30 am and made quick work of the 9
mile hike into the base of our intended route. The conversations went from why
the person in front always seems to be hiking too fast for everyone else to first ascents and if
rapping into a new route to scout it before climbing really counts as a true
first ascent?
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| Pitch one |
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| Bushwhacking up the tree covered ledges |
With few breaks, we reached the base of the route at 8:30 am and
took a nice break while gearing up for the climb. Isaac and I would simuclimb
most of the route while Laura soloed in between us occasionally if she thought
she might need to tie into a bight of rope for a short section of climbing. The
first gulley went quickly and was followed by 500 feet on an easy grassy ramp.
Reaching the top of the ramp, we found my favorite part of the climb, a 5.6
chimney that leads to a stretch of low 5
th class climbing.
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| Ike climbing the chimney trailing his backpack |
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| Simulclimbing on Lone Eagle with great views |
I lead
the chimney as Isaac and Laura tied in and followed without any struggle.
Another 3 pitches of simuclimbing and we were at the base of the headwall
looking up the steep cracks.
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| Simulclimbing some easy terrain |
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| Justin at the top of the crux pitch |
With belay on, I set off on the 150 foot 5.7
pitch. The climbing was great and the rock was relatively stable for the
alpine. I reached the top of the pitch and built a solid anchor as Isaac and
Laura tied in and began climbing. The three of us were soon standing on a
ledge together again and headed for the final section of the climb to the
summit.
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| Ike climbing the crux |
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| Justin belaying Ike up |
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| Summit |
At only 5.4, it should have been easy but with two ropes, something was
getting caught and causing me massive rope drag and making the climbing feel a
bit more challenging. Anyways, we all reached the belay and coiled ropes before
heading to the summit. We knew that we had moved fairly slow as a group of
three so no time was wasted. We celebrated our success but quickly turned our
focus to the complicated descent.
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| Justin and Ike reaching the summit |
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| Justin riding the knife edge |
Route descriptions make it sound incredibly
confusing, but in reality it is quite straight forward. Cross the ridge for a
short way until you can access a class 4 downclimb that lands you on good
ledges. Follow the ledges for 400 yards but don’t go too low and be sure not to
descend the gulley on climbers left.
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| Climbing gulley on descent |
Rather than going down, look ahead to the
gulley leading up to a large notch in the ridge. Keep your helmet on and climb
this loose pile of rubble being careful not to knock huge rocks onto you
partner. Climb thru the notch and head left toward Triangle Lake. Eventually
you’ll wrap around the north face once again and be back where you started.
We
found ourselves back near the start of the route around 4 pm and set a good
hiking pace for the 9 mile trip out. There was little talk on this part of the hike as we
were all tired but we made it back to the cars and were treated by a beautiful
sunset as we walked the banks of Monarch Lake. So to answer my question, should
routes be called “classic” just because the climb a cool looking mountain? In
my opinion the answer is no. Lone Eagle was classic, but the climb was nothing
to write home about. Regardless of routes, it’s always amazing to be in the
mountains with Laura and one of the best friends anywhere. I’ll take that over “classic”
any day!
Note: I carried a set of cams .3 - 3 with 2 #2's and a set of stoppers. I would probably go with a single set and a half set of stoppers next time. Our 55 meter rope was the perfect length for the 5.7 pitch.
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| Descent |
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| Descent |
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| Hike out |
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