Jim's Excellent Adventures

Mt. Yale was the first 14er Mike and I summited together. We drove up to Buena Vista on a Friday night in the summer of 1997, and then on up Cottonwood Pass road until we reached the Denny Creek (not to be confused with Denny Gulch) trailhead at 9,900'. We then parked the car and backpacked up the trail a mile or so, camping in a nice open area near 10,800'.

On Saturday morning we were up and off for the summit. It wasn't that far, perhaps two to two and a half miles, but with a 3,400' elevation gain in that distance, it was a workout. Mike was going fairly slow, because he had just fought off his second bout with cancer, and after the chemo only weighed something ridiculous like 135 pounds (on a 5'11" frame!). Once we had summited he told me the thing that kept him going was a pretty girl on the trail just ahead of him - he followed her best "asset" all the way up! Ha!

Since this was summer in Colorado, it started to rain while we were on the summit, and being too stupid to get off (we were too inexperienced to be lightning leery yet), we just sat up there for a bit with some other stupid people and got wet. Then it was a soggy hike back down to camp. We were very tired, and Mike slept for a while that afternoon. We then cooked dinner and were crawling exhausted into our sleeping bags for the evening when Mike discovered that thanks to his discount tent, his sleeping bag had gotten wet in the latest rainstorm. So the decision was made to bail out, and we packed up camp and hiked down the trail in the rain with only one flashlight between us, going very fast and getting back to the car in about 45 minutes (without a twisted ankle!). That was fun!

The amazing thing about this trip, looking back on it, was how little we knew at the time about various outdoor things, how out of shape we were, and how much we've learned and changed since then. Also, the importance of good gear was brought home to us that day, and we both spent the next few years "gearing up". Now we both have gear rooms that look like outdoor outfitting stores! Ha! We also always remember to each have a flashlight. :-) Photos follow.

Photos

Mt. Yale

Mt. Yale from Rainbow Lake off Cottonwood Pass road. Shot during an earlier trip in 1991.
(Photo by Jim Lehmer)

Buena Vista

The Arkansas River valley with Buena Vista just beyond the hill in center. Note rain!
(Photo by Jim Lehmer)

Mt. Princeton

Looking southeast toward Mt. Princeton (14,197' - in the middle left) and the rest of the Sawatch range stretching away to the south.
(Photo by Jim Lehmer)

Denny Creek

Looking down the ridge we came up at the Denny Creek drainage to the right of it. Cottonwood Pass road is clearly visible at the bottom of the valley. Ptarmigan Creek drainage is on the other side, with Big Grassy and and Gladstone Ridge rising from it and running along the left center of photo. Mt. Kreutzer (13,120') on the Continental Divide is just beyond the drainage in the far background in center.
(Photo by Jim Lehmer)

Zog and Dog

Mike and me on the summit. What goofs!
(Photographer unknown)

Mount Yale

Description

Trip Report(s)

Photos