phillinley - Sep 24, 2004 12:52 am

This was my first time taking a 4x4 trail up with a jeep. Wow, not an experience I'd like to repeat again. The climb was nice. We started late and summited at sunset which offered some great views. Descent to the trailhead gave us an awesome amphitheatre of stars that I wish my camera could capture.

lmiller - Aug 20, 2004 11:41 am

Started at the bottom of the road since our vehicle could not make it up the rough road. This made it a long hike, 15 miles, 5000 feet elevation gain. Weather was perfect with no threatening storms. Left at 6:45 AM, returned by 3 PM. Hike up the road had a couple of slightly difficult water crossings. We took our shoes off for one of them and used a good log for the other one. Trail is good except for one difficult patch around 13800 feet. If you look carefully for the cairned route, it is not too bad, though it is rocky and steep there. On the summit met a friendly chipmunk who tried to hop into my backpack. Nice day, great hike!

jrf - Aug 17, 2004 10:47 am

Drove almost to the 4wd trailhead and camped for the night. Hiked up in the morning in beautiful and reached the summit in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Easy climb on good trail for 95% of the way and the other 5% is easy as well. I had the summit to myself the whole time and didn't meet anyone else until I got down to about 13,000 feet.



I would definitely do this again. Awesome views and an awesome mountain.

Saintgrizzly - Aug 10, 2004 2:55 pm

I've done this mountain twice, both times with Aaron, the first climb I don't remember who else was along, but the second time was with Rosa and Shirley. To me, Uncompahgre is a perfect example of the reason we climb non-difficult/technical mountains. The area is beautiful, the climb is nice, the view from on top is wonderful--it's an incomparably better place to be than our day jobs! This mountain--at least the standard route--doesn't have the interest, thrill, or technical challenge provided by peaks where just "making it" is an accomplishment, but what a wonderful way to spend a day!

First climb was memorable (and after actually being able to look down the precipitous north face on the second ascent, perhaps a bit more dangerous than we realized at the time) because much of the mountain's upper reaches were in the clouds, with limited visibility, wind, and snow. The only way we knew we'd finally made it was when there was no more "up!"

jvoss - Jul 20, 2004 11:20 pm

Summited by 9:30am and the weather was so nice we stayed for an hour. Scramble at the end was fun, but there is a more stable route up the rock if you stay to the right. The trail was fantastic.

Ratballs - Jun 22, 2004 3:41 pm

Highest Naked Man in America:



I headed down Crestone-wards in the evening, but the weather there looked so appalling that I just kept on going, bearing generally towards the southwest. Midnight found me deep in the San Juans, pulling up to the Matterhorn Creek trailhead, where I truck-camped for the night. I backpacked in at 8AM, set up my tent just below the Matterhorn slopes, and then hiked around the shoulder across the open plains of tundra to Uncompahgre, which I climbed up a frustrating scree-filled couloir on the west side.



It felt so damned good to be back up high that I practically skied back down Uncompahgre and ran over to Wetterhorn--beating by twenty minutes, I might add, the summit-to-summit time of Matt Mahoney, the ultra-runner (I know, because he recorded his time in the summit register). It was 4PM, and the latest I'd ever summited. On Wetterhorn, the weather was so clear that I took all my clothes off and wandered naked around the summit for a half-hour or so.



I'm fairly certain that for 30 minutes, then, I was the highest naked man in Colorado, if not the country. Of course, by the time I got back to my tent (fully and appropriately attired), it was still only about 5:30PM, so I backpacked the whole damned thing down again and drove the 380 miles home--I never did camp.

mountainmota - Jun 15, 2004 7:09 pm

Nice easy 14er!

s_tuning@msn.com - Jun 11, 2004 1:20 am

Very enjoyable hike! The views were incredible.

DaveC - May 21, 2004 9:43 pm

sumitted just in time to catch the view before clouds obscured it. i'm getting hooked on the san juans.

bc44caesar - May 16, 2004 2:17 pm

Solo climbed Wetterhorn & Uncompahgre from the Matterhorn TH. Snowshoed up the southernmost couloir which felt pretty steep and descended the same couloir which was nice for glissading! The whole excursion took 15.5 hrs car to car!

sbkelley - May 12, 2004 2:56 pm

This was a unique climb because I used this mountain as a back-drop for my high school senior picture - screw studio photography! :) I was definitely impressed with Uncompahgre's north face, too - what a cliff!

Ryan Kowalski - Apr 19, 2004 5:00 pm

Loved this peak. Its normal route is pretty easy, but still remains a must-hike. Incredible scenery, freindly summit creatures (marmots) and an easy hike. 1.5 to the top on which we sat forever. One of the most gorgeous days in CO I've ever experienced.

RyanS - Apr 9, 2004 6:06 pm

I loved climbing one of Colorado's most distinctive mountains (and arguably the most distinctive 14er). A trip report is available here.

hhsilleck - Jan 9, 2004 7:24 pm

A long but easy trail hike from Matterhorn Creek. Watch for thunderstorms in the summer.

Steven Cross - Sep 29, 2003 3:27 pm

We started at Matterhorn Creek and camped at the base of the mountain at about 12,000 feet.

What anIncreadible mountain! A nearly clear day, we could see the Elks, Sawatch range, Sangres and Mount Peal in Utah. The view was fantastic. Couldn't spend to much time on the summit, had to get back to camp to tear down and head back to the car. We did Wetterhorn, Matterhorn and Uncompahgre Peak, I even got Broken Hill in. We then headed to Redcloud and Sunshine.

Met BIg_G as we were leaving the summit.

My 5th 14er

big_g - Sep 27, 2003 9:47 pm Date Climbed: Sep 24, 2003

Fun and quick climb on a beautiful day. Did not even start hiking until 9:15. I even met a fellow SPer, Steven Cross, there. Got some great pictures of the area.

wayneaflick - Sep 21, 2003 1:49 am

Me, my two sons, Troy and Patrick along with Troy's best good friend Tom Weiss climbed this magnificent mountain today. It was my dog's first climb. Molly (the mountain mutt) did great. We got a late start due to some 4x4 problems but the weather was really good although that wind on the west face was quite strong and the chill factor was rather low. We were dressed for it so it didn't cause any problems. This is my second climb of Uncompahgre and both have been a great experience. It was Tom's, Troy's and Pat's first time up. We didn't get to sign a summit register since none was there. All in all it was a great day.

mtnhiker13 - Sep 10, 2003 8:44 am

I call this mountain the gentle one. What a wonderful hike is all I can say. We had great weather. We even ran into someone I knew from Denver! I would climb this mountain again in a heartbeat. Views are wonderful. The view over the cliffs are incredible.

Matt Mahoney - Jul 27, 2003 10:09 pm

Nice day, climbed Wetterhorn afterwards, starting from Capitol City.

Grant - Jul 18, 2003 11:10 pm

It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, and we needed a good day to get this one in. It was Tina, Lisa, and Amanda’s first fourteener. The road to the trailhead was pretty bumpy and was definitely a 4wd road. We started at 8:00am a little late in my opinion but the weather held out.

Back at the trailhead everyone looked tired and we were all burned from head to toe. Great hike, Great accomplishment on everyone’s part. Thanks for going.