Note to self: Next time, take the right keys up the mountain so you don't have to throw a rock through the truck's rear side window when getting back to the trailhead.
chicagotransplant - Jun 27, 2011 10:52 am Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2011
East Ridge
A little elevation training with rkymtn and his wife before our Rainier climb in a couple of weeks! It was good to be able to get up above 14k again after all the 13ers I have been working on lately, of course I haven't seen that many people on a mountain since, well the last 14er I did in summer :)
Eleutheros - Jun 26, 2011 7:02 pm Date Climbed: Jun 21, 2011
Great Views, Boring Slog
A poor substitute for the snowbound Ellingwood Ridge on La Plata. Fantastic views on a clear day; however, one of the most boring climbs I've ever done. A typical Sawatch rock slog better done in winter. A visit to the chalk cliffs and the drive up to 12,000' were definitely worth it though...
Most memorable part of the climb: CRAZY SWIFTS (birds) cruising at 60 mph around the summit. WOWzer...
rkymtn - Jun 25, 2011 10:15 pm Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2011
East Ridge
Climbed with my wife and chicagotransplant for some Rainier prep. A great day despite some chilly gusts up high.
vetmike - May 27, 2011 8:43 pm Date Climbed: May 22, 2011
No sleep & 60mph winds. Almost fun.
Climbed with Matt Payne. Camped at the towers. Huge winds. Got no sleep. Left camp at 2am, summited early morning. Crazy winds all the way up. Slush on the way down. Mean day on Princeton, but got some incredible views of sunrise at 13,000ft. Totally worth it!
lorae - Feb 18, 2011 11:10 am Date Climbed: Mar 29, 2010
post-holing despite snowshoes
Too much snow to get through and it took several hours just to walk the switchbacks on the way up to the radio towers. The 4WD road was closed so I had to start at the Jesus camp parking lot. Stopped hiking 400 ft. below 11,000. Going back in better weather.
I took the very steep south Grouse Creek route and camped above treeline. I followed the south ridge and hit snow at about 13,500' but never needed any snow/ice gear. The ridge was slightly sketchy when it turned eastwards but overall it was very enjoyable and I saw no one.
Jeremy Hakes - Jan 16, 2011 2:49 pm Date Climbed: Oct 11, 2003
Grungy.
Another one done.
centrifuge - Jan 12, 2011 10:10 pm Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2007
with Tiger PEak
was fun
thatnissanguy - Dec 18, 2010 10:21 pm Date Climbed: Apr 11, 2010
Tigger and Princeton in a day
Hiked in from the bottom, close to 5000 feet of gain in a day. Hot Springs here I come!
Matt Miller - Dec 11, 2010 1:20 pm Date Climbed: Sep 25, 2008
Nice day
Clear day with good weather.
rockymountaindiva - Oct 11, 2010 12:43 am Date Climbed: Aug 16, 2008
Friends first 14er
Took some friends up here for their 1st 14er. Big mistake - long day in the rain. Lesson learned!
Kapelmuur - Jun 26, 2010 8:34 pm Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2010
First 14er
Been training all winter and spring, chomping at the bit to get into the high mountains. Whatever this mountain lacks in trail convenience or scenery, I didn't notice as I was just fired up to get to the top and it all looked good to me. Perfect Colorado day.
Diggler - Jun 22, 2010 6:08 pm Date Climbed: Jun 19, 2010
long day
I did it by myself. Had done this one with Zathan some years ago, but I remember camping at/above treeline in his Bronco, so I wanted to go back to achieve the magic 3,000' mark.
Left the 8,900' Mt. Princeton trailhead (at the corral) at 8.55, starting out with parents. After 5 - 10 minutes they left me to do it alone, while they enjoyed other activities.
Made good time, although the majority of people on the mountain, presumably camped at the radio towers, were already on their ways down as I approached the summit. Summited at 12.54. Hung out at the top, enjoying tremendous views & beautiful weather. Left top at 13.42. Questionable looking clouds started building on descent, but remained benign. Back at gate at 16.35.
Great physical, aerobic, non-technical day with sublime surroundings, meeting other people just enjoying themselves on a nice day reminded me of earlier times, & also one reason why I love the CO Rockies.
Soaking in hot springs afterwards (Cottonwood) never felt so good.
Senad Rizvanovic - Jun 6, 2010 11:00 pm Date Climbed: Jun 6, 2010
Well...
Well, i did it by myself, was the only person on the mountain this morning.
climbed with my mom and our dog Duchess, a lot of snow.
metal4lyf - Feb 1, 2010 2:01 am Date Climbed: Jan 30, 2010
Finally
Hiked with Dan, Jim, and Jeff (our 3rd-ish attempt). Scott broke trail for us.
In winter you can't really see how ugly the summit is, and the views were just spectacular.
Great hike!
Scott - Jan 31, 2010 11:19 pm Date Climbed: Jan 30, 2010
Princeton
Since I am working on climbing them all in the winter, I posted for partners on Summitpost and 14ers.com (I had also attempted the mountain on February 1-2 2008 with another group, but we turned back in bad weather and conditions). Knowing that it would be very difficult to climb the peak in a single push without the trail broken, I was hoping a few of us could make the trip into an overnighter and break trail to near timberline the previous day.
January 29
Joel, Kenneth and I met in Buena Vista at 10 am and drove to the trailhead and packed up. After meeting we discussed whether or not to take the tents. There is a stone cabin high on the slopes of Mount Princeton, but on the drive in it looked like the route to the cabin crossed an avalanche slope. We decided to play it safe and forget about the cabin and pack the tents with us. We also met a group of three other snowshoers that were headed for the radio towers partway up the mountain and this was good news since we wouldn’t have to break trail the entire way ourselves.
The hike up to the towers was relatively uneventful and we took our time. After the radio towers (the snow was all virgin beyond this point), we decided to push on to the base of the steep ridge before camping at 10,980 feet. The moon was incredibly bright at night and the whole mountain was lit up. It was almost tempting to leave and climb the peak on the very well lit and calm night.
January 30
It was a warm night (for the altitude) at 14F/-10C, but I didn’t sleep that well. Since the other two brought stoves, I left mine in the vehicle and since they kindly did the cooking of breakfast, I offered to leave a little earlier and to start breaking trail up the mountain. The standard summer route would have been much easier, but we plowed a more direct route up the thickly forested ridge to timberline since it avoided an avalanche slope.
Breaking trail was quite difficult and very strenuous. I made maybe 200 feet vertical before the others caught up with me. After that we took turns breaking trail, but everyone had it equally tough. It was by far the most difficult part of the climb. After ascending 400 feet, we met Steve and some others whom started up the mountain at 6 am. The worst of the trail breaking was done, but we were thankful to have some more people to push the route up to timberline.
When we re-crossed the summer route, Steve continued straight up the mountain and the rest of us decided to try and follow the summer route a ways. We found that the summer route crossed a potential avalanche slope so we backtracked and followed Steve’s broken trail up the mountain. We all took a rest at the ridgeline above 12,000 feet and above timberline. Others climbers joined us along the way. We all ditched our snowshoes.
We discussed climbing the ridge directly over Tigger Peak, but it appeared that the north facing traverse below Tigger Peak might be in OK condition and would cut off some elevation gain. The traverse along the north facing slope was very slow and tedious and Steve pushed the rest of the route. The route was relatively safe and in condition on this day, but if any more snow falls on it, in one section, it could definitely slide after a fresh snowstorm. After the traverse we climbed directly up to the notch at 13,200 feet. There was lots of loose scree coated with powder snow (since the slope I north facing it hadn’t seen any melting so the scree was not frozen in place). It was a battle between hard (but slippery) rock and soft snow. More people joined us along the way and after the notch it was a strenuous but straightforward climb another 1000 feet to the summit.
By the time we were on the summit, there were 12 people in our group (all members of SP and 14ers.com), but one person had turned back early. It was late afternoon and it was obvious that we would not be back by dark, so we headed back down the mountain.
After reaching our snowshoes again we all headed off the mountain and the group was scattered into many small groups by then. Joel, Kenneth and I basically stayed together and stopped at camp to pack up. Joel decided that he might as well camp another night instead of spending the night in a hotel (he had flown in from Kentucky, so was far away from home), so I gave him the last of my leftover food and headed down with Kenneth. We shook hands with Joel and Kenneth and I hurried down the mountain in the dark (I packed my light away, but had plenty of light between Kenneth’s headlamp and the bright moon) and did the rest of the descent in an almost jogging pace and very quickly without ever stopping. I had hoped to catch up with some of the others to say goodbyes, but since we stopped to pack up camp, we just missed them. We got to the parking lot right when the other vehicles were leaving.
It was a good climb (for a choss pile at least) and we definitely earned the summit. The drive home was a long one.
PapaBanucci - Jul 31, 2011 6:17 pm Date Climbed: Jul 31, 2011
MemorableNote to self: Next time, take the right keys up the mountain so you don't have to throw a rock through the truck's rear side window when getting back to the trailhead.
chicagotransplant - Jun 27, 2011 10:52 am Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2011
East RidgeA little elevation training with rkymtn and his wife before our Rainier climb in a couple of weeks! It was good to be able to get up above 14k again after all the 13ers I have been working on lately, of course I haven't seen that many people on a mountain since, well the last 14er I did in summer :)
Eleutheros - Jun 26, 2011 7:02 pm Date Climbed: Jun 21, 2011
Great Views, Boring SlogA poor substitute for the snowbound Ellingwood Ridge on La Plata. Fantastic views on a clear day; however, one of the most boring climbs I've ever done. A typical Sawatch rock slog better done in winter. A visit to the chalk cliffs and the drive up to 12,000' were definitely worth it though...
Most memorable part of the climb: CRAZY SWIFTS (birds) cruising at 60 mph around the summit. WOWzer...
rkymtn - Jun 25, 2011 10:15 pm Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2011
East RidgeClimbed with my wife and chicagotransplant for some Rainier prep. A great day despite some chilly gusts up high.
REM - Jun 24, 2011 10:47 pm
AMSClimbed with my son.
vetmike - May 27, 2011 8:43 pm Date Climbed: May 22, 2011
No sleep & 60mph winds. Almost fun.Climbed with Matt Payne. Camped at the towers. Huge winds. Got no sleep. Left camp at 2am, summited early morning. Crazy winds all the way up. Slush on the way down. Mean day on Princeton, but got some incredible views of sunrise at 13,000ft. Totally worth it!
lorae - Feb 18, 2011 11:10 am Date Climbed: Mar 29, 2010
post-holing despite snowshoesToo much snow to get through and it took several hours just to walk the switchbacks on the way up to the radio towers. The 4WD road was closed so I had to start at the Jesus camp parking lot. Stopped hiking 400 ft. below 11,000. Going back in better weather.
CastillejaMiniata - Jan 28, 2011 1:42 am Date Climbed: May 30, 2009
Cloudy DayI took the very steep south Grouse Creek route and camped above treeline. I followed the south ridge and hit snow at about 13,500' but never needed any snow/ice gear. The ridge was slightly sketchy when it turned eastwards but overall it was very enjoyable and I saw no one.
Jeremy Hakes - Jan 16, 2011 2:49 pm Date Climbed: Oct 11, 2003
Grungy.Another one done.
centrifuge - Jan 12, 2011 10:10 pm Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2007
with Tiger PEakwas fun
thatnissanguy - Dec 18, 2010 10:21 pm Date Climbed: Apr 11, 2010
Tigger and Princeton in a dayHiked in from the bottom, close to 5000 feet of gain in a day. Hot Springs here I come!
Matt Miller - Dec 11, 2010 1:20 pm Date Climbed: Sep 25, 2008
Nice dayClear day with good weather.
rockymountaindiva - Oct 11, 2010 12:43 am Date Climbed: Aug 16, 2008
Friends first 14erTook some friends up here for their 1st 14er. Big mistake - long day in the rain. Lesson learned!
Kapelmuur - Jun 26, 2010 8:34 pm Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2010
First 14erBeen training all winter and spring, chomping at the bit to get into the high mountains. Whatever this mountain lacks in trail convenience or scenery, I didn't notice as I was just fired up to get to the top and it all looked good to me. Perfect Colorado day.
Diggler - Jun 22, 2010 6:08 pm Date Climbed: Jun 19, 2010
long dayI did it by myself. Had done this one with Zathan some years ago, but I remember camping at/above treeline in his Bronco, so I wanted to go back to achieve the magic 3,000' mark.
Left the 8,900' Mt. Princeton trailhead (at the corral) at 8.55, starting out with parents. After 5 - 10 minutes they left me to do it alone, while they enjoyed other activities.
Made good time, although the majority of people on the mountain, presumably camped at the radio towers, were already on their ways down as I approached the summit. Summited at 12.54. Hung out at the top, enjoying tremendous views & beautiful weather. Left top at 13.42. Questionable looking clouds started building on descent, but remained benign. Back at gate at 16.35.
Great physical, aerobic, non-technical day with sublime surroundings, meeting other people just enjoying themselves on a nice day reminded me of earlier times, & also one reason why I love the CO Rockies.
Soaking in hot springs afterwards (Cottonwood) never felt so good.
Senad Rizvanovic - Jun 6, 2010 11:00 pm Date Climbed: Jun 6, 2010
Well...Well, i did it by myself, was the only person on the mountain this morning.
theREALCarpeDM - Apr 8, 2010 6:07 pm Date Climbed: Sep 3, 2007
Radio TowersYuck! My least favorite 14er.
Misa - Mar 6, 2010 7:25 pm
a lot of snowclimbed with my mom and our dog Duchess, a lot of snow.
metal4lyf - Feb 1, 2010 2:01 am Date Climbed: Jan 30, 2010
FinallyHiked with Dan, Jim, and Jeff (our 3rd-ish attempt). Scott broke trail for us.
In winter you can't really see how ugly the summit is, and the views were just spectacular.
Great hike!
Scott - Jan 31, 2010 11:19 pm Date Climbed: Jan 30, 2010
PrincetonSince I am working on climbing them all in the winter, I posted for partners on Summitpost and 14ers.com (I had also attempted the mountain on February 1-2 2008 with another group, but we turned back in bad weather and conditions). Knowing that it would be very difficult to climb the peak in a single push without the trail broken, I was hoping a few of us could make the trip into an overnighter and break trail to near timberline the previous day.
January 29
Joel, Kenneth and I met in Buena Vista at 10 am and drove to the trailhead and packed up. After meeting we discussed whether or not to take the tents. There is a stone cabin high on the slopes of Mount Princeton, but on the drive in it looked like the route to the cabin crossed an avalanche slope. We decided to play it safe and forget about the cabin and pack the tents with us. We also met a group of three other snowshoers that were headed for the radio towers partway up the mountain and this was good news since we wouldn’t have to break trail the entire way ourselves.
The hike up to the towers was relatively uneventful and we took our time. After the radio towers (the snow was all virgin beyond this point), we decided to push on to the base of the steep ridge before camping at 10,980 feet. The moon was incredibly bright at night and the whole mountain was lit up. It was almost tempting to leave and climb the peak on the very well lit and calm night.
January 30
It was a warm night (for the altitude) at 14F/-10C, but I didn’t sleep that well. Since the other two brought stoves, I left mine in the vehicle and since they kindly did the cooking of breakfast, I offered to leave a little earlier and to start breaking trail up the mountain. The standard summer route would have been much easier, but we plowed a more direct route up the thickly forested ridge to timberline since it avoided an avalanche slope.
Breaking trail was quite difficult and very strenuous. I made maybe 200 feet vertical before the others caught up with me. After that we took turns breaking trail, but everyone had it equally tough. It was by far the most difficult part of the climb. After ascending 400 feet, we met Steve and some others whom started up the mountain at 6 am. The worst of the trail breaking was done, but we were thankful to have some more people to push the route up to timberline.
When we re-crossed the summer route, Steve continued straight up the mountain and the rest of us decided to try and follow the summer route a ways. We found that the summer route crossed a potential avalanche slope so we backtracked and followed Steve’s broken trail up the mountain. We all took a rest at the ridgeline above 12,000 feet and above timberline. Others climbers joined us along the way. We all ditched our snowshoes.
We discussed climbing the ridge directly over Tigger Peak, but it appeared that the north facing traverse below Tigger Peak might be in OK condition and would cut off some elevation gain. The traverse along the north facing slope was very slow and tedious and Steve pushed the rest of the route. The route was relatively safe and in condition on this day, but if any more snow falls on it, in one section, it could definitely slide after a fresh snowstorm. After the traverse we climbed directly up to the notch at 13,200 feet. There was lots of loose scree coated with powder snow (since the slope I north facing it hadn’t seen any melting so the scree was not frozen in place). It was a battle between hard (but slippery) rock and soft snow. More people joined us along the way and after the notch it was a strenuous but straightforward climb another 1000 feet to the summit.
By the time we were on the summit, there were 12 people in our group (all members of SP and 14ers.com), but one person had turned back early. It was late afternoon and it was obvious that we would not be back by dark, so we headed back down the mountain.
After reaching our snowshoes again we all headed off the mountain and the group was scattered into many small groups by then. Joel, Kenneth and I basically stayed together and stopped at camp to pack up. Joel decided that he might as well camp another night instead of spending the night in a hotel (he had flown in from Kentucky, so was far away from home), so I gave him the last of my leftover food and headed down with Kenneth. We shook hands with Joel and Kenneth and I hurried down the mountain in the dark (I packed my light away, but had plenty of light between Kenneth’s headlamp and the bright moon) and did the rest of the descent in an almost jogging pace and very quickly without ever stopping. I had hoped to catch up with some of the others to say goodbyes, but since we stopped to pack up camp, we just missed them. We got to the parking lot right when the other vehicles were leaving.
It was a good climb (for a choss pile at least) and we definitely earned the summit. The drive home was a long one.