Maroon Peak

I responded to a last minute request for hiking partners to climb Maroon Peak on Labor Day. Joe's partners for climbing Snowmass Mountain on Sunday cancelled on him, so we were able to meet early on Monday. At 3:45 am his wife picked me up in Aspen and dropped us off at the trailhead so we didn't need a parking pass. Shortly after 4:00 am we were hiking past Maroon Lake somewhere to our left, invisible in the darkness of the new moon.

It took about 90 minutes to hike the first 3 1/2 miles up the valley to the turnoff to Maroon Peak. We started ascending the ridge and broke out of the trees to find enough light to turn off the headlamps. I was happy to note that I was breathing fine and not struggling with the climb unlike a week ago. Slow and steady was the mantra of the day. The next 1 1/2 miles took 2.5 hours, but we finally gained the ridge at 13,000'. We continued up this ridge to where it joins the main ridge at a saddle. From the saddle you can finally see the summit . Less than a mile away, it's "only" 900' of climb — and a minimum of 2 hours to get there.

Just a little way along the ridge there is an imposing cliff face. Hidden until reaching the base of the cliff is a narrow chimney to climb up to get above the cliff . Then another traverse descending along the cliff bands to a gully to climb.

After we had ascended the gully, we rested while trying to identify where the trail went next. An experienced mountain guide seemed to take pity on us and came over to where we were resting. The mountain goat then turned around and went behind the rock blocking our view and started across the cliff, showing us the trail . About half way across he stopped and looked back, checking to see if we were following. We hopped up and started following our guide. He led us for quite a while, along the cliff bands and across several ribs, constantly looking back to check on us, until we started up the next gully. He then turned off and headed back.

We continued up the gully without our guide, but found the proper exit. We worked our way along another descending traverse, up another gully, and a switchback through some cliff bands to finally reach the ridge again. From there it was just a short finish up the ridge to the summit. It took us 2 1/2 hours to climb the last mile, making our total time 7 1/2 hours since we left the trailhead six miles ago.

Surprisingly for a holiday weekend, we were alone on the summit the whole time we were there. We had only seen three other climbers who had passed us early on. We could see them now working their way across the traverse to North Maroon Peak. Less than half a mile away, the traverse is highly dangerous and technical. We watched for a while, positive several times that there was no way for them to go forward.

Descending Maroon Peak can be even more dangerous than the climb. It's easier to slip on the loose rock or get off trail and find yourself blocked by a cliff. We stopped many times to verify we were returning the same way we climbed up. Using landmarks like the robot-shaped rock, where we met our guide, and the notch and chimney, we safely made it back to the saddle. Little did we know that was the easy part.

From the saddle back to the valley drops 3000' in a little over a mile. While there is no exposure, it's just continuous loose rock on a trail so steep that every step risked slipping. Not to mention the jarring on the knees. We did run into our guide again, enjoying some leafy tundra grasses. I think I'll name him Billy.

Once back in the valley the hiking was easier, but I had hit the wall. I just wanted to lay down and sleep. But our ride was waiting back at the trailhead. So I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, finally making it back 15 hours after we started.

Pictures

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