| While not an official 14er, I had a hankering to bag a Tenmile range peak over 14,000'. The Moose Creek parking area provided a nice spot to start a hike in March 2002 when I bagged Mount Bross. Clay joined me as we were both itching to get out in the hills. We had a late start at 8:45 a.m. due to alcohol induced excessive nonsensical behavior the previous night. The trail snow conditions were very similar to my experience the previous year, even though this was in May. Thankfully it was very solid. We completed our ascent past treeline in short order and ascended a snowslope into the upper basin. We had been counting on poor weather, and as of this point had seen no signs of it. It was actually quite warm, and jackets were not necessary. At 12,000' it began to get slightly windy and temperatures decreased a little. We enjoyed a long stretch of road (the Quartzville road) without snow.
|
 |
 |
The road ended abruptly and we were back to a slower pace on the snow. Once in the basin, snow covered the majority of available terrain, and in the interest of a less tiring approach to the Bross/Cameron saddle, we did an ascending traverse to scoured screefields. This was somewhat similar to the ascending traverse we did in La Cal Basin when bagging Wheeler Peak in N.M. We still had not seen any threatening clouds, though there were intermittent whisps of snow crystals. The slow elevation gain accomplished in this traverse was not much like my experience here before in March '02 because snow was much less prevalent, and a speedy ascent to the saddle was enabled by that fact. On the left is a view of Cameron on the traverse. It took roughly an hour to reach the saddle and the wind really began to pick up at this point.
|
| We had been planning to traverse over to Lincoln so that Clay could get an official peak out of this ordeal, but we were beginning to wonder with the intense wind. On the right is a view of the slope leading to Cameron's summit. The slope was very straightforward and despite the wind not entirely unpleasant. Avoiding cornices and walking toward the highest visible point was a little more difficult than it needed to be. In fact, on the descent, we managed to get off-route towards Democrat because covering our faces and looking down was about the only way to make forward progress. The flat summit was no repreive from the wind, and judging by the clouds rolling in from the West, it seemed logical to give up on Clay's bid for Mount Lincoln. |
 |
 | The initial descent was very rapid, as getting on the East slope of Cameron was high priority. Unfortunately, the snow quality was such that attempts to glissade were worthless. The snow was in good enough condition to descend rather quickly on foot without plunge-stepping. Three hours up and two hours down made for a welcome contrast to our trials and tribulations on Mount Evans and Wheeler Peak. Despite the weather, I had the first validation that spring arrived.
|