I met MatthewVH to do Grandeur Peak this morning at 6:30 am via the West Ridge route. It wasn't as cold as it has been the last few weeks, so I didn't bring a jacket. The route was entirely covered in snow and it was actually a bit slick, so after a few minutes on the trail Matt ran back to my car to borrow an extra set of trekking poles that I have.
We had a really fun time making our way up the ridge. We joked and laughed and it actually slowed us down a lot, but we didn't care. The trail was slippery and some micro-spikes would have really helped. about half way up it started to snow on us, but it didn't last long.
Up on the summit ridge the snow was really deep, and Matt got stuck a few times. We made it to the top in a slow 1:55 where we hung out for about 20 minutes talking and enjoying the views. 3 guys came up from the other side of the mountain and we chatted with them for a few minutes. One of the guys is an ultra runner with several 100 milers under his belt.
We went a lot faster on the way down and the poles really helped. When we were about .5 from the trailhead we ran into some friends from the Wasatch Mountain club that we both knew, so we chatted for a few minutes and then ran back to the car. What a fun morning. I'll post up some pics a bit later (Peak jumping picture fail). We gave up after Matt missed me 7 times.
Total elevation gain 3,000+ |