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After finding a decent camping spot on the west side of the Nellie Creek
Road about 300 vertical feet below the trailhead (allowing a 3,000' ascent), we
settled in for a good night's sleep to take on Uncompahgre in the morning. We set out
on the trail at 7:30 am and regained the point we reached the night before in about the
same time. The trail on this route is magnificent compared to most climbs I have
completed, being very gentle and low incline all the way to the cliffs of the summit
block. There is some considerable distance covered to the east of Uncompahgre on a
huge switchback, which we eliminated on the descent via snowfields. Our legs were
holding up pretty well given our busy day Saturday. |
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The weather was holding up quite well also, and we reached the end of the switchbacks around 10:00 am. Up to this point, we hadn’t seen anyone on the trail with
exception of a guy from Gunnison practicing the route for a date planned the next week
(nice date idea). The view of Wetterhorn from this vantage-point is spectacular. Looking down into the Matterhorn Basin, it didn’t look quite as pleasant to approach this peak from the Matterhorn Creek Trailhead, which we were grateful for. The trail winds around the cliffs to the west on some pretty stable ground and leads to a couple different options. There is a gully heading to the right and a path heading straight.
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Not seeing the route covered by a snowfield that continued on semi-level ground, we ascended a gully (class 2+) for a short spell up to some more scree and another gully with mini-switchbacks. The first gully is the photo on the left. Eventually, the route leveled off a little bit and began to track the huge plateau summit of Uncompahgre (photo on right). After a good hike we began to approach the summit. The top of Uncompahgre is expansive and kind of like a big playground. The North Face is dramatic to say the least. We spent a good amount time on the summit exploring and relaxing. The weather was 50 degrees and no wind, making for an excellent stay at 14,309’.
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On the descent, a lengthy glissade saved a lot of time. In fact, Chris and I were down to
12,500’ in less than 45 minutes. There were a few spots of post-holing due to the high
temperature, and a lot of mud made for a slippery return. The hike out was pleasant, and we packed up to begin the drive to Blank Gulch to take on Shavano Sunday morning.
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