dhgold completes Douglas county

[John Kirk]

Dave completed Douglas county 11/18 with the infamous 7100/6965 duo. Glad I got to save the best one for last instead of these two
Congrats Dave!

[lukePlumley]

Congratulations Dave! For a short list, Douglas sure presents some challenges!

lp

[Steve Knapp]

Nice work Dave, great to see another person complete the list. Your last two peaks are only ten miles from my house. Now you know why I've only climbed them once. And quite the contrast to Big Rock. Did you do the traverse between the two?

[dhgold]

Steve:

I took a route up 7100 very similar to the one you described in your TR and encountered enough clothes and skin rending scrub oak to question whether I was really up for 6965 immediately afterward. On the way down 7100 I noticed, looking into the sun, that the north ridge of 6965 seemed to host a lot of fir trees which seemed to promise less scrub oak. So I descended 7100 pretty much the way I came up (scrub oak is almost always better on the way down when gravity helps one blast through it), rode my bike another .2 mile up-canyon and hesitantly investigated the north ridge. The bushwhacking on this was far less onerous than on the previous peak and I made good progress until I hit a band of cliffs and boulders which slowed me down considerably. At about 6800' and .4 miles from the summit this section ended and some scrub oak was encountered but it wasn't as bad as that on 7100. From 6965's summit I reversed my route for about .2 mile then turned west and plunged down a steep gully which was mostly free of scrub. I popped out on the road about half a mile up-canyon from where I'd relocated my bike to. Overall my route on 6965 was less obnoxious than the one I took on 7100.

I second the notion that these two peaks should only appeal to the list obsessed and masochists.