A paleo-riffic Fremont day

A paleo-riffic Fremont day

Fremont peak looks impressive from the distance and less experienced visitors may be deterred by its appearance and/or the exposure along the rock ridge. I found the route straightforward and not particularly technical. The effort and level of difficulty was comparable to many of the 14ers in Colorado.

I did wake up before sunrise at 4:30 am to have breakfast and get an early start from Island lake at 6. Follow the Indian Pass trail which has a fork from the route to Titcomb basin at N43.09311 W109.63022 at 10537’. I found a network of social trails at this junction and ultimately you would like to be on the climber’s left side as you get higher up along the drainage below Indian basin. The Indian Pass trail goes east of most lakes in the Indian basin, and then crosses over to go west of the highest big lake. Depart from the trail near N43.10933 W109.61102 at 11040', following the obvious drainage to the NW. This drainage is the official route for Fremont, but is often only marked sparsely or even evident in many places from the rock cairns. Follow the drainage to the saddle in the summit ridge at N43.11917 W109.62291 at 12219’. I cached my poles at N43.12014 W109.62220 at 12380'. It took a couple class 4 moves just above the cache point to get onto the rock ridge. The entry onto the ridge featured the most technical moves of the entire route - above that it is possible to continue using no more than class 3 travel. On the rock ridge, i found a network of parallel social trails, following up the ridge. Some groups used the east edge of the ridge like a guide rail, following within its sight but some distance to the climber’s left of the highest most irregular and sections. I did however pass to the right of some rock spires along the way. Depending on the traction and your comfort level for rock climbing, you may choose to navigate between and around the sections of rock slab which become more prominent after about 1/2 way up. I meandered around the slabs and along the ridge up to N43.12405 W109.61761 at 13682'. From here, you need to cut hard left, proceeding NW through a rock 'gate' and passing under the summit. The established route cuts back briefly to the right to reach the large flat rock stage of the summit at N43.12477° W109.61829° at 13751'.

I found the larger rocks along the route to remain in place on the way up. Descending faster and following more of an established trail down, many more of the rocks wobbled a bit. I will put some pictures from the rock ridge to give a sense of what it is like. It is advisable to bring a rock helmet if you go with a group or suspect a busy day. I returned to camp at Island lake at 4:23 pm. I did explore a bit off route and I take a lot of pictures.