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The forecasts looked good for the Bells over other areas, and I had been planning North Maroon for a while, so I headed out toward Aspen at 4:00 a.m. I arrived at the parking lot at 7:45 and started on the trail at 8:00. The weather was looking great and I focused on getting to the trail junction near Crater Lake as quickly as possible. I followed the trail West to a point marked on my GPS indicating the turn based on the line crossing the elevation contour in Roach's book. Recent discussion about the Northeast Ridge route indicated that the "old" route that traverses below the 50' wall had come back into favor. I wonder if the elevation contour Roach indicates was "old" as well and not updated in the book, because I ended up bushwhacking below cliffbands for the better part of an hour 300' lower than the current climber's trail, accumulating several scrapes and cuts vying for an exit to the talus field. I should have known to follow my intuition rather than rely on a GPS since I had been here before down from the traverse last year. With a lot of wasted time and energy, I wasn't feeling too confident about my chances, and cloud cover was another factor to add to the mix now (photo on right).
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I found an easier grade through the cliffbands eventually and arrived on the talus morraine, where I knew the rest of the route. The only tracks I saw in the snow were those of a mountain goat, which indicated it had descended down toward the talus judging by the direction. I made my way across the trail to the entrance of the first gully (which seems like the only option) and began the short but long ascent to the next gully (short in milage, long in time because of vertical gain required). There was not much to think about other than to keep ascending, and then I bumped into the only other person I saw on the peak that day, who had just completed the traverse. The weather wasn't cooperating, but I just kept plodding along. I arrived at a bergschrund and decided to go down in it to traverse under the snow rather than hike above it, which was an interesting variation from the relentless ledge hopping. I now began the ascent of the second gully (photo on left). I stayed in the runout portion of the gully most of the way up (seen as the demarcation between outcrop and sloping ledges). Snow was starting to fall, though very slight in nature.
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At the top of the second gully, things started to take a wrong turn weather-wise. The snow was picking up in intensity, and I was starting to second-guess continuing. I paused for a minute as the rock started to wet, contemplating the possible treacherous remainder of the climb if things did not improve. At 13,300' I went through several iterations of pros/cons arguments for what I should do. I decided to risk it, and went up another 200 vertical feet, and turned around back down again as the thickness of the snow was intensifying. I knew I had to turn back and bow out. But what about the drive to the trailhead again, another wasted day, $50 in gas, and revisting the same old crap for a third time? I couldn't go up, and yet couldn't make myself retire. Back at 13,300', I stood motionless, no brain activity, nothingness.
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Then the sun started to peer out near Maroon Lake. I watched in amazement as Pyramid Peak became visible, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I was to continue on. I made it back to the highest point I had been to for the day, and once again made forward progress. The day was to become a series of additional trials, however, regardless of ambient activity. Above the steep section of ridge that concludes the exit of the second gully, the flat plates of rock lead to the first of several snow traverses (photo on left). Call me an idiot - I did not have an ice axe. Then again, the other fellow I saw on the peak had running shoes and no helmet and completed the traverse from South to North. I used my hands to dig in the snow and kicked steps - I was lucky the snow was soft enough for this to be effective - one slip in some sections would land a person on the morraine at 11,600'. I made my way up slowly and carefully above all snow trying to keep a good spur of rock between me and the floor of the basin.
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The terrain began to look familiar as I was on rock again. I had to make a few interesting moves because of snow on the ridge crest, and I ended up off-route where I should have crossed over to the right side of the ridge, but ended up doing an overhanging low 5th class move to get above a cleft. Then I was on the more expansive upper reaches of the peak, and came upon the crux. On the left, the break in the cliffs is what we used to descend last year. The snow that fell in addition to old snow made this rock extremely wet, and it might as well have been covered with butter. I looked around and found an alternative (photo on right) that would be easier with or without a wetness factor. The tough move was to get on top of the first break in the cliff - still definitely class 4. The rest went smoothly, and I soon arrived at the next chimney, which was very familiar, and ascended with a little bit of trouble, because snow filled a good part of it, and post-holing 3' deep at a steep angle made it difficult to get to the rock to begin the "climb" out of the chimney. It went by quickly at least.
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| The rest was easier, and I found myself on top, just before it started to snow again. I was surprised that the descent wasn't that much more difficult on wet rock. Step by step, the descent gradually improved all the way down to the talus morraine, and I felt secure about getting back to the truck again. It was a good feeling to have finished the Elks. |
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