|
Taking a break from the counties list now that only one was left, I joined Kurt and Dwight for the first time in about a year to tackle the infamous "Thunder Pyramid". I set out for Aspen via Independence Pass at 1:40 am, arriving at the Maroon Lake Parking area at 5:00. We started out around 5:45 on the trail and made swift progress to the creek crossing, where my shoe had its maiden voyage down the creek before Dwight could rescue it. Someone had tied up a barking white lab to willows while they apparently were attempting South Maroon. After squeezing water out of my shoes and putting on back-up socks, we made headway again. After two tenths of a mile, we headed east following a faint path up a talus ramp along a willow patch (photo on right). The route is well cairned from here to the talus morraine, heading up grass and small gullies filled with somewhat loose talus. We saw that there were two parties ahead of us, one bound for 13,722' up a steep couloir that leads to the Thunder/13,722' saddle and another pair heading up the talus toward the White Couloir of Thunder Pyramid. The going was a lot more stable and easier than we had expected on the talus slope.
|  |
 |
We soon completed the ascending traverse along cliff bands and saw the obvious route above. On the left, Kurt is pondering the significance of the name "Thunder Pyramid" at the base of the eastern ascent line. We came upon the two near the base of the White Couloir, who happened to be Boulder CMC members. At this point, we started to notice rapidly deteriorating weather to the west and northwest. We ascended 300' to 13,300' when the skies opened up with graupel and lightning. This was very odd for 9:30 am, and we descended back to the base of the White Couloir to wait it out and contemplate the weather. I was fairly ambivalent about turning around, and was content to wait to see what would become of this disturbance per Kurt's suggestion. We were pretty well out of harm's way in a small inset gully, observing the rapid drop in temperature. The lightning eventually passed and we decided to give it a go. The re-ascent was not too bothersome and conditions continued to improve, with precipitation transitioning to snow and eventually dissipating.
|
|
I was really surprised at the stability of this couloir given its reputation - no rocks or talus came loose on the entire ascent or our 300' descent. We all agreed this peak's loose reputation is highly overrated. We saw the pair stationed below at 12,500', and while we thought we saw them beginning the ascent again, we did not see them again shortly afterward or for the rest of the day. We exited the White Couloir on fairly good ledges at 13,600', taking a counter-clockwise direction scrambling toward the south ridge. Miraculously, sun began to prevail as the storm moved on to the Sawatch range, which later appeared to have received a lot of snow. The summit was ours and we were treated to nice view of the bells. We headed down and discussed the traverse to 13,722'. I was prepared to bail if things started to look bad again, and followed Kurt and Dwight along on the ridge. While short, the traverse would prove to take some time, and fortunately the weather cooperated. There were a few fourth class downclimbs on decent rock, with exception to one large talus block that Kurt found to be loose and was happy to avoid wrestling with on the ground. Dwight and I descended and traversed around this section. This was a fun traverse with a bit of exposure and a good opportunity to polish my downclimbing skills.
|  |
 |
I was a little concerned about our descent route along the way, but felt better after peering down the saddle at the semi-steep gully. The class 2 ascent of 13,722' was a little tiring for me but went fairly quickly from the saddle. Views back toward "Thunder Pyramid" were striking and seemed less probable than the route actually went (photo below). It was now 1:00 pm, and for that reason we didn't stay too long. The descent gully more accurately matched the nasty descriptions I have come across pertaining to the standard route up Thunder. We still managed to avoid sending rocks at each other with careful foot placement. The rock was definitely not of the quality I would appreciate ascending. When the gully became more or less a drop-off, Kurt implemented a unique approach to getting us down by descending the rib south of the gully and traversing southwest. I wouldn't have ever thought to try this method, thinking we'd soon cliff out.
|
| In effect, we just descended a good bit of the west face of 13,722', looking dubious from below, much like the improbable appearance of North Maroon Peak from the trail. The ledge systems of the peaks in this area never cease to amaze me. The talus was becoming less enjoyable as we made our way down the morraine. My thin running shoes were not protecting the bones of my feet very well. It sprinkled a little before we made it to the creek crossing, and we somehow missed a decent downpour spanning from Crater Lake north. The hike out was a bit monotonous, though unusually devoid of pedestrians - must have been the weather. We relaxed with some much needed beer at the parking lot before heading to the ever-affluent Äspen for good eats at the Cantina.
|  |