Tom Grundy's Maroon Bells Page

Conveniently we didn't have to drive that night - we just stayed in the parking lot. It even had a bathroom. The lot up by Maroon Lake filled up while we were cooking dinner so "our" lot got packed full for a bit before sunset. Then we had it almost to ourselves.

One of the reasons I like to climb iconic peaks is because you see often see photos of them and the Maroon Bells definitely fall into that category. I was a bit nervous about this day because I knew it would be a long one and also one of the more difficult technically. If the weather turned on us in the middle of the traverse we wouldn't have any good options. I had also heard horror stories about crumbling rock and impossible route finding.

the Maroon Bells sure are scenic - I took this pic the next morning

Sam and Raquel had learned that real food helped them, so they got up a tiny bit earlier than I did in the morning for coffee and breakfast and we were underway about 5. We hiked up past the turnoff for Pyramid and then past some campsites before turning off of the main trail and heading up towards Maroon Peak. There were lots of nice wildflowers on the steep meadow but it also seemed to go up forever. As we got near the ridge we semi-lost the trail in a sea of talus and mini cliffs. On the ridge it was very windy. We retreated back into shelter to put on more layers. The climbing up to Maroon Peak wasn't very hard but the route finding wasn't always obvious - there were multiple ways you could go - many of them cairned. I think they all would have gone, but maybe finding the absolutely easiest way wasn't so easy. One guy passed us coming down - he had already traversed over from N Maroon. On the summit we took our usual pics and prepared for descending to the saddle on the way to N Maroon - it wasn't very far away, but the going would not be easy. Fortunately the wind which had been screaming over the ridge was decreasing to a more reasonable flow.

Sam poses crossing a log on the approach

Raquel and Sam hiking up the flank of Maroon Pk

on the summit standing in front of the traverse and N Maroon

I was already off the summit section when a mountain goat came up behind Sam and Raquel. I was bummed to have missed the experience and photo op, but it followed and led us much of the rest of the day so there was plenty of time to see and photograph it. In fact having a mountain goat traversing behind and above you wasn't so much fun after all since they often kick down rocks or startle you. The descent to the saddle wasn't too bad except at the end where we probably should have dropped off the top of the ridge earlier. The rocks were all sloping down the way we were going and when there was gravel on top of them it wasn't very secure. Raquel didn't like the last little scramble and I think there might have been some tears here.

almost to the lowest point of the traverse just after a downclimb - note the supervising goat

Past the low point we had to climb up to N Maroon. Mostly this wasn't bad but there were a few steps that were 5th class - some with serious exposure. I busted out the cordelettes a few times to belay Raquel up and Sam was happy to have a belay for one section too. There might have been a few more tears. In general the rock was more solid (where you had to climb it) than I had been led to expect but the climbing was a bit tougher and more exposed - still in the lower 5th class range (under 5.5?). I did it all wearing my DSLR camera on the Cotton Carrier on my chest and Evolv Maximus boots (which worked great for this kind of thing).

Sam and Raquel stall below one of the climbing sections of the traverse

looking down from the top of a climbing bit - the fisheye makes it all look steeper

Finally we had only some talus to climb to the summit of N Maroon (another * 14er because the saddle between Maroon and N Maroon isn't deep enough). There was also our mountain goat guarding the summit. Eventually he yielded and we topped out.

Sam in a standoff with the goat for the summit of N Maroon

the day was a rollercoaster for Raquel
here she discovers she won a trip to Nepal

Then we had to figure out how to get down. Since we hadn't come up this way it took a bit of searching and puzzling to find the path. It wasn't bad, but figuring out the best place to downclimb the small cliffs and avoid other nasty bits took more time and effort than I wanted to expend just then. From far above we saw something swimming in the lake. We thought it might be a bear - but later people asked if we saw the moose swimming in the lake. Finally we were back onto a genuine path and only had to keep moving down down down. As usual the final bit along the road felt much longer than it did in the morning. When we got back to the parking lot around 8 Nalumon was there. We were lucky that the weather didn't turn nasty on us - although we would have hurried or turned back if it looked like it might. Sam and Raquel packed and ate and then departed for their early morning flight east.

on the descent, this is the area in 14ers.com for the N Maroon ascent as the entrance to the second gully
you can just barely make out the goat following us in the middle right

zoomed in on the same pic you can see the goat, Sam, and Raquel

fisheye summit selfie on N Maroon peak (you can see Pyramid off in the upper left and the traverse in the upper right)

Summary of July 4th, two 14ers (although one is a *), one set of tears, one altitude headache, rain and lightning (although not near us), 14.5 miles, 4,850 feet of elevation gain, and some tired slackers.

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