Apostles Traverse

Apostles Traverse
September 28, 2024

West Apostle 13,597'
Ice Mountain 13,960'
North Apostle 13,869'

Wyatt was hoping to meet Laura and I in the mountains for a day trip so we hatched a plan for the Apostles Traverse. We met at the Missouri Gulch trailhead and carpooled to the upper 4wd trailhead for Huron Peak and The Apostles - Ice Mountain, North Apostle and West Apostle. We made quick work of the rough road and were hiking at 5:45 am. 

Laura in Apostle Basin.  We would traverse these mountains from right to left.

Wandering through the forest on an excellent trail, we reached tree line and ascended a class 3 ridge to reach the summit of West Apostle at 8:45 am. 

Wyatt and Justing scrambling up the ridge on West Apostle

Wyatt on the ridge on West Apostle

Justin scouting out the best route on to the summit of West Apostle

Laura on the ridge on West Apostle

Summit of West Apostle

Laura checking out the route to Ice Mountain while Justin looks at the summit register

The traverse from West Apostle to Ice Mountain was tricky in some spots but we were able to keep the climbing relatively safe and easy at class 4 with a little bit of route finding and down climbing. I summitted a few minutes before Laura and Wyatt as they were caught in good conversation, and I was enjoying the scrambling on the amazing ridgeline. I reached the summit of Ice Mountain at 9:35 am. 

Justin scouting the ridge

Wyatt on the ridge between West Apostle and Ice Mountain

There were a few pretty exposed sections on the traverse

Wyatt and Justin on the summit of Ice Mountain

We relaxed for a few minutes and were quickly downclimbing the most technical section of the route. It looked a lot different than when Laura and I last down climbed the ridge between Ice and North Apostle in wintertime and with snow.  Despite the minimal snow this time, the route was still not easy, but with some careful route finding and a bit of backtracking, we were able to reach the saddle without issue.

Wyatt on the traverse between Ice Moutain and North Apostle

Laura on the ridge somewhere along the Apostles Traverse

Continuing on to North Apostle, we all reached the summit at 10:10 am. We contemplated our option of heading down the standard route, but since it was still early in the day, we opted to explore the ridge that connects North Apostle and Huron Peak. I had read a single account of the traverse; however it was from Huron to Apostle and we would be heading the opposite way. Unknown terrain was ahead and we headed out without knowing what to expect. 

Summit of North Apostle

For the most part, we were able to keep the climbing to 4th class scrambling, but about 1/3 of the way along the ridge we came to a headwall. Rather than having the climbing above us, we would need to down climb here. It appeared that there were no easy options and after some exploration, I estimated the down climb to be about mid fifth class. Up climbing a few moves of 5.5 or 5.6 is not out of our comfort range, but having completely unknown terrain below us, we made a collective decision to head down.

Wyatt navigating an interesting section as we continued along the ridge

The ridge was exposed and had a few technical sections

This is near where we turned back.  With unknown terrain ahead, we didn't want to downclimb this section.

While Laura and I would take a connecting ridgeline back down into the basin below the Apostles, Wyatt chose to head the opposite direction and add a few additional Centennial peaks to his rapidly growing summit list. 

Wyatt heading off toward Emerald, Iowa and Missouri Peaks

Laura and I returned to the car at 2:15 pm and headed home while Wyatt hiked into the night. I received a text from him around 10 pm stating he was safe and back to his vehicle as well. The best days are the ones with the best people and I am happy that we all made the effort to meet in this beautiful alpine playground.

The leaves were beautiful and we took a few pictures on our way back through Winfield

Mt. Democrat North Ridge and "Decalibron"

 September 21, 2024

Mt. Democrat North Ridge, Cameron, Bross, Lincoln

12 miles, 5,100’ elevation gain

Both Laura and I have climbed the four peaks in the past, several times grouping each of the four to complete the so called the Decalibron loop. In 2022, we also climbed Mt. Democrat, in winter, as the first mountain after Laura had returned from a broken ankle.

Ptarmigan in the basin below Democrat

I had mentioned climbing the north ridge in the past and while we discussed the route, we never made an effort to climb it. Today, we were once again looking for a half day trip that was nearby our cabin located in the Placer Valley just above Montgomery Reservoir. Since we wanted something new and did not have a shuttle to exit out to Kite Lake, we decided to start our morning at the Wheeler Lake trailhead located off of county road 4 near Hoosier pass.

Looking at the north ridge of Mount Democrat while approaching from Montgomery Reservoir

We accessed the route by hiking up Wheeler Lake road for about 2.75 miles. The road is easy to follow. About a mile before you reach Wheeler Lake, you cut off the road and hike off trail over easy grassy and rocky terrain to reach Democrats class three north ridge.

View of the Democrat north ridge from the approach

The ridge is about a half mile long and has several sections of class 3 scrambling. At no point is it overly exposed and it is straight forward and quite an enjoyable romp as long as you choose a good path. The ridge leads directly to the generally crowded Mt. Democrat summit.

Justin on the north ridge of Mount Democrat

Justin on the north ridge of Mount Democrat

It took us roughly 2 hours of hiking to reach the ridge. We scrambled along the ridge for only about 30 minutes before reaching the summit. We saw zero other hikers or climbers along our route, but when we reached the summit of Mt. Democrat, there was the usual crowd of hikers who had ascended from Kite Lake.

Justin in front of a collapsed mining structure near the summit of Mount Democrat

Spending just a few minutes at the summit, Laura and I took a selfie and quickly headed toward Mt Cameron. As we walked along the heavily traveled standard route of the Decalibron we encountered kids from 8 years old to folks in their mid-70s. We crossed over the bump on Mt Cameron, collecting a handful of cardboard signs along the way, and continued down the well beaten path until we located easy access that dropped us down to meet up with the trail leading to Mt Bross.

Laura and Justin on Mount Cameron

Walking across the trail we reached Mt Bross in just 30 minutes. As the wind picked up, we took cover at the summit behind the makeshift rock shelter for a few minutes to have a snack. We soon were moving again, and making our way back and over to Mt Lincoln. It took us 55 minutes to reach the summit of Mt Lincoln, where once again, I collected another handful of cardboard signs before descending toward the Lincoln amphitheater.

Laura and Justin on the summit of Mount Bross

USGS marker on the summit of Mount Lincoln

Although the amphitheater descent route is not marked and does not have an established trail, it is an easy enough route to find. Simply pick your path to the east down the rock filled amphitheater gully and descend rocky and grassy slopes for several thousand feet, eventually leading to the upper portions of the Lincoln Falls ice climbs that form in the winter time.  From the top of the ice climb cliffs, continue down the beaten path toward Montgomery Reservoir and once again reach your car. It took us 1.5 hours to descend from the summit from Mt Lincoln for a round trip time of 7 hours. In total, the day comes in at just over 12 miles and 5,100' of elevation gain.

Justin walking down into the amphitheater on Mount Lincoln

This is a fantastic alternate route if you have some basic navigation skills and are comfortable in class 3 terrain, and would like to avoid the crowds, if only for the first and last 1/4 of your day.

Justin on the north ridge of Mount Democrat

Justin checking out the views from the top of Mount Democrat

Justin on Mount Bross

Laura at the summit of Mount Lincoln

Mine remnants on Mount Lincoln

More mining waste on Mount Lincoln

View of Magnolia Mill from the east slopes of Mount Lincon

Magnolia Mill

Magnolia Mill

Picture of the GPS route for the day

Colorado River Ruby-Horsetheif Canyon Float Trip

September 13-14, 2024
Colorado River, Ruby-Horsethief Canyon

A few months back while canyoneering in Escalante, Utah, our friend Lin mentioned that he had been a rafting guide years ago. I told him that if he ever wanted to do a rafting trip to let us know and we would jump at the opportunity. A few weeks later, he reached out talking about a family trip with his family and invited Laura, myself and Hazel along. 

Lin had done this particular float trip a few times and suggested an itinerary that he thought would work well for our group. Laura made it a point to obtain the river and camping permits while Lin would supply the raft and experience. 

The group getting ready to launch

Laura, Hazel and I loaded up the Jeep and drove to the rafting put in at Loma, CO on Saturday morning. Hazel and I hung out while Laura drove to our river exit at Westwater, UT and was picked up by Lin's family, the Saxey's. Becky, Brant, Danielle and Matthew, along with Lin's nephew, Jacob. We all met back at the Loma river put in and loaded up two rafts with all of our camping, cooking and rafting gear. Sometime around 2:30 we were off and floating! While the river was flowing very slowly, the scenery was amazing. We had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and good company. Water fights with water guns were had, wild swims in the river when anyone got too hot and great conversations. 

Laura and Hazel enjoying the kayak

The Saxeys on the blue boat and Jacob, Justin, Lin and Avery on the yellow boat

Justin and Hazel took a few swims in the Colorado River

Hazel had so much fun playing and swimming that she wore herself out before we reached camp

The scenery floating down the canyons was amazing

With much paddling, we reached our camp for the first night, Blackrocks 1 at 6:45 pm. Everyone set up camp and tents and Laura and I cooked the group tacos for dinner. The group was hungry and the tacos and fixings were a hit. 

Setting up camp at Blackrocks 1

Our camp on the banks of the Colorado River

The following morning was full of relaxing and looking out over the river, just enjoying being out and away.  Laura and my tacos were outdone by the Saxey's who brought pancakes with homemade jams and butters along with orange juice. I made coffee in the Jetboil to round out the most amazing breakfast.

Hazel playing in the river before breakfast

Hazel enjoying breakfast on the riverbank

Hazel made friends with Dani and they explored the area while we took the tent down

After relaxing a bit and letting our breakfast settle, we once again boarded the boats and headed down river. The only stop we made was at narrower stretch of river through some more black rocks to do some exploring and cliff diving. After an hour or so of goofing off we again headed down river to our exit point at Westwater. Laura and I ran the others back to pick up cars and while we were bummed to have had such a short weekend on the water, we were happy to have had the new experience. Hazel liked it so much that we will be planning another river trip, although over perhaps 3 or 4 days in the next year!

Hazel with her squirt gun

Laura and Hazel on the kayak

The river crew at blackrocks

Lin paddling while Laura and Hazel play

Avery and Hazel plotting to squirt someone when they get within range

The cliff jumping rocks

The cliff jumpers floating down the river after jumping

Hazel and Avery playing in the mud

Hazel peering through a hole in the rock that looks like a giant eyeball

Hazel and Avery playing at the river's edge where we stopped for lunch

Jacob entertaining himself

Back on the river, Hazel got a kick out of playing with Lin

Meanwhile, the Saxeys took a nap while Becky paddled

Although the children didn't speak too much, Hazel followed Avery around and played next to him every chance she got.  She was happy to have another young person along.