Mt. Bancroft

Mt. Bancroft 13,250'

East Ridge

July 24, 2020

There was an 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms by noon but since Laura and I had the day off of work and Hazel was hanging out with her Aunt Jennifer, we decided to go for a fun ridge scramble that we thought we could get done in a reasonable amount of time. Bancroft fit the bill. It was only a 2 hour drive and since we bailed last winter, we figured we'd better go back. We dropped Hazel off in Monument at 7 am and drove north, arriving at the 4 wheel drive road below Loch Lomond at 9 am. We drove to a good pullout and parked. Hiking up the road toward the lake, the clouds hung in the valley but occasionally gave us a view of our planned route.

The clouds all around us seemed nonthreatening and seemingly stable, so we steadily pushed on. By 10:30 we had accessed the east ridge and scrambled our way to the notch where a rappel is supposedly mandatory. Both Laura and I rappelled but when we pulled the rope it became stuck in a crack high on the notch. I decided to climb up and free the rope and then down climb rather than rappel and risk getting the rope stuck again. In summer conditions, it is my opinion that if you can down climb 5.2, there is no reason to carry a rope on this route. I coiled the rope as Laura climbed ahead then I started up a nice low 5th class crack system to get out of the notch. We continued scrambling along the left or south side of the ridge eventually passing most of the class 4 - low class 5 difficulties. We really enjoyed the scrambling and were both very happy to be out on some fun terrain moving quickly again. All along, we kept an eye on the surrounding clouds and as they built to the north and south, we enjoyed mostly sunny skies above us. 

At 11:45 we were on the summit. We relaxed and contemplated heading over to James Peak but since we could see a storm headed our way from just across the valley, we decided we had better descend to the south and back to the car. We reached the car just after 1 pm and as we took off our shoes and grabbed a snack, the sprinkles began to fall. Whew, we made it in perfect time! Mt. Bancroft is a great scramble for anyone looking for a fun day out in the summer and would be a very fun winter climb as well. I bet we will be back sooner than we think!

      

Mt. Hope 13,933’, Hazel’s first camping trip and D4

  

July 11, 2020

It’s been far too long since Laura and I have been in the mountains together so this weekend we planned a trip to Buena Vista. It would be Hazel’s first camping trip – she’s just 6 weeks old – and thus we drug Laura’s mother along to babysit. Both Laura and I have climbed the Colorado 14ers and now have decided that we would like to climb the highest 100 peaks in the state. We like this idea because many of them are just hikes and next year we should be able to carry Hazel on a few of them enjoying the mountains as a family.

Saturday morning we loaded up and headed west, reaching the Sheep Gulch trailhead around 10 am. Setting off on Hope Pass, it was familiar to both of us as it is a portion of the Leadville 100 trail run that Laura has competed in several times and I have paced in. Hiking up the pass we moved well considering how out of shape we felt. We reached the top of Hope pass in about 2 hours. Turning west onto the ridge toward Mt. Hope, 13,933', the off trail hiking and rock hopping began. As we ascended, a large rock came loose and careened down the hillside hitting Laura’s leg and giving her a big gash on her shin. Tough as she is, she walked it off and when the blood dried, we continued on. The scramble was enjoyable with easy route finding. We summited at 1:20 pm and hung out while Laura pumped milk for the baby waiting for us back at the trailhead with her grandmother. A quick scramble down and we were once again on the excellent trail heading down Hope pass. As Laura ran ahead I followed along and we reached the car by 3 pm. We stopped at the reservoir on the way out and soaked in the cold water before heading over to meet our friends Joe and Mareshah in Buena Vista. Driving along the forest roads, we found a great place to camp near the base of Davis Face that we would climb the next day and we set up camp. We all relaxed and had dinner and beers before retiring to the tents around 10 pm. Laura and I fed Hazel, bundled her up and finally crashed a few hours later. 

     

Sunday morning we relaxed before heading over to climb D4 on Davis Face. Mareshah would come along and climb with us today which was a treat since she always has a fun outlook on everything. It’s always better when everyone has great attitudes during days on the rock! I lead the 6 pitch route at 5.9+ and belayed as Laura and Mareshah climbed a few feet apart on twin ropes. It has been a while since either of them had climbed but they both did excellent and climbed the route without any problems at all. We were up and down in time to relax at camp and eat lunch before heading back home, souls fulfilled from an excellent weekend outside.