PEAK 15
(13,700')ANIMAS MOUNTAIN
(13,786')
August 20-22, 2009
By Tim Briese
Aug. 20, backpack to Ruby Basin: 4.9 miles, 3500' elevation gain, 6:55 time
Aug. 21, Peak 15 climb: 3.5 miles, 2900' elevation gain, 11:35 time
Aug. 22, Animas Mt. climb: 1.6 miles, 2300' elevation gain, 5:05 time
Aug. 22, backpack out: 4.9 miles, ~0 elevation gain, 4:25 time
Total: 14.9 miles, 8700' elevation gain
Peak 15 was the major climbing challenge of the year for Brian and I. Remote and difficult, it was likely the hardest one remaining on our list of Bicentennial thirteeners. The weather forecast this week promised perfect weather, just what we were hoping for. With a great sense of enthusiasm and anticipation I drove to Durango to meet Brian the night before we embarked on this adventure.
We rode the train from Durango to Needleton the next morning and got off with a large throng of other hikers, almost all of whom were bound for Chicago Basin. After crossing the nice new foot bridge across the Animas River we left the main trail and headed left to pick up the rugged Ruby Creek Trail. We passed a solo female backpacker named Diane from Durango who was sitting by a creek filtering water. We were impressed when this plucky woman told us she was headed alone up to Ruby Lake and planned to continue on a remote loop around into the Noname drainage. She hiked with us for a little while and when we reached the upper meadow along the Animas she expressed some reservation about finding the start of the Ruby Creek Trail as it climbs steeply out of the valley. I asserted that we had been here twice before and could easily find it but was embarrassed a few moments later when we didn=t. After thrashing about for a few minutes and bushwhacking steeply up through the woods we picked up the trail we sought and were on our way.
Brian and I pulled away from Diane and methodically tramped up the brutally steep trail in the hot afternoon sunshine and finally stopped for water at the North Pigeon Creek crossing. She caught up to us here briefly but that was the last we saw of her today. We continued up the grueling and horrendously steep trail until the grade finally eased when we got closer to Ruby Lake. A great number of downed trees impeded our progress in the vicinity of the lake and made the trail difficult to follow. It was a great relief to reach the lake at 4 p.m., after climbing 2600 feet in 3.3 miles from Needleton.
After a lengthy break we hiked past the lake and continued up the rugged drainage. Although we were familiar with the trail from our visit here last year, we still got off route several times because of all the windfall that obscured the route and bogged us down. We eventually made our way up the headwall east of the lake and got on a solid trail through the willows in the basin above. At 6:50 we finally reached the idyllic flat meadow at 11,700 feet directly below Peak 15 that was our goal today. I was a little surprised that it took us almost seven hours to hike the five miles to get here from Needleton, even though the route is extremely steep and rugged, a true backpacker=s nightmare. Two forest service rangers were camped in the meadow a short distance away and we spoke with them briefly before setting up our own camp.
What a spectacular place to camp this was! We were in a gorgeous meadow surrounded by incredibly rugged peaks. Peak 15 towered impressively above to the south, and we could preview our route up to the saddle to the left of Little Finger from here. The golden rays of the setting sun cast a fiery glow on the rugged pinnacles of Animas Mountain which soared above to the north.
When I awoke at 5 a.m. the next morning I heard a goat scratching the ground outside the tent less than ten feet away. When we crawled out of the tent a little bit later it was walking around on the frosty grass nearby, unfazed by the light of our headlamps. We left camp at 6 a.m. and set forth in the early twilight using our headlamps for a few minutes and made our way over to the base of the Little Finger gully. We climbed up loose scree and talus at first and soon made our way up into more steep and difficult terrain in the gully. A large patch of very steep and icy snow lay in the gully, but having no ice axes with us we found it necessary to sneak past the left side of it on some dicey Class 3 rock. Above this the going got easier, in spite of very loose footing, and we reached the 12,800 foot saddle at 7:25.
From the saddle we dropped down about 250 feet on the south side and then contoured west on varied terrain to the base of the steep gully that goes up to the saddle between Peak 15 and Peak 16. Identifying this gully was not too difficult because it was the first significant one we came to. Other climbers have reported rappelling into this gully but we were down low enough that this was not necessary. We proceeded to climb up the steep gully on mostly solid rock. Quite a bit of scrambling was necessary, and there were a couple of short low fifth class pitches. I belayed Brian up the second one of these. I thought the climb up the gully was a lot of fun for the most part. It was helpful that it was completely dry and free of snow. When we neared the saddle at the top of the gully it became very narrow and steep so we climbed up to the left on easier terrain and worked our way around up to the 13,150' saddle. We took a short break at this spectacular perch to look at the nice view of Animas and Monitor across the valley and to peer down the sheer north face from this dizzying height.
From the saddle we retraced a few steps and dropped back down a bit and then traversed southwest about 75 yards on a sketchy up and down ledge system until we could reasonably go no further on the ledges. The ledges were very narrow in places and generally covered with so-called kitty litter, or fine gravel, so caution was warranted. When the ledges gave out we stopped and studied the steeply sloping slabs above, the next challenge of the climb. I carefully climbed about 20 feet up to a tiny intermediate ledge and waited while Brian put on his climbing shoes below. While I was waiting I admired a nice view of Peak 16 back over by the saddle. Brian climbed up to join me and we roped up for the rest of the climb up the steep slabs. Since he had his climbing shoes, which we had dubbed his ASpiderman@ shoes on previous climbs, and I had only my hiking boots, we decided he should lead the climb up the slabs from this point. I consider the 75 foot Class 5.2 climb up these slabs the crux of the whole climb. Many climbers might scamper up these slabs without hesitation, but it was certainly the part of the climb that was most nerve-wracking to me, because I am more of a crack climber than a slab climber when it comes to technical climbing. Brian nimbly climbed to the top of the slabs without needing to set any protection along the way and then belayed me up. From there we went to the right on a wide grassy and gravelly ledge and then went left up a 50 foot, 4th class crack that was marked by a cairn at its bottom. At the top of the crack we went right on a wide ledge then back to the left on a narrow one, exercising caution because of the loose gravel everywhere. After a short Class 3 scramble up through the rocks we stepped on the summit, arriving there at 11:20.
How exhilarating it was to get to the top of this one! It was quite a reward after such a difficult and challenging climb. Thank goodness we had perfect weather today because this climb could be dangerous if done in a hurried manner or if the rock were wet. The views were spectacular from this airy perch. Animas and Monitor stood across the valley, and Pigeon and Turret loomed nearby. We could see figures of climbers on Mt. Eolus about a mile away.
We left the top at 12:15 and began our descent. We used the rope liberally on the way down, primarily for safety but partly for the sheer fun of using it. We belayed down the crack and again at the slabs. Thus far we had gotten by with a 30 meter rope but at the slabs we found it necessary to tie two 30 meter ropes together because of the length of the pitch. We had elected to each carry a 30 meter mountaineering rope, weighing less than three pounds each, rather than lug a much heavier 60 or 70 meter climbing rope into this remote place. The only climbing hardware we needed to secure the rope today were slings. We did another short belay to get onto the ledges and soon were back in the gully. We carefully went back down the gully and did two short belays in the Class 5 sections in the lower part of the gully. Once out of the gully we traversed back over toward the Little Finger saddle. The climb back up to the saddle seemed particularly grueling at this point after all we had done today. The descent back into Ruby Basin was fast and easy and we stopped at the first opportunity to filter water and replenish our depleted supply. We tramped back into camp at 5:35, well over 11 hours after we had left. I was extremely tired. We set no speed records today but we were graced with good weather that allowed us to take our time and safely accomplish our objective. It felt great to gaze up at Peak 15 towering above and realize that we had climbed it!
An elk scampered across the meadow that evening and then ran impressively up the slopes toward Pigeon Peak. I walked over to the stream nearby to wash up and on the way back studied the route up to Animas that we would attempt in the morning.
The next morning we awoke at 4:45 and left camp at 5:20 and began climbing in the dark up the steep grassy slopes above the meadow on our way up to Animas. We wanted to get back down to Needleton to catch the train that afternoon if possible and thus the early start. We don=t usually attempt to bushwhack in the dark but this worked out pretty well as we followed a minor drainage upward and managed to stay mostly on grass and weave around rock outcroppings with the light from our headlamps. We arrived in an upper basin at 12,600 feet at first light and looked for the correct gully to penetrate the wall of cliffs that guard Animas. This was a little tricky because we were climbing Animas by its standard descent route and had little guidance about where to go. Most people climb Monitor and Animas together, first ascending Monitor and then descending from Animas, but we had already climbed Monitor on our trip here last year. We chose a large gully to the left that appeared to have harbored some foot traffic in the past and began climbing. After going up some distance we turned to the right and traversed up and over into the next gully and then into another one. By this time the first rays of the sun were beginning to glow on Peak 15 across the valley. We tried to get into the big gully that comes down from the saddle between Animas and Peak 13 and climb in it but we caught it too low and were stymied by cliffs so we crossed it and began climbing on the right side of it. This worked out quite well, actually, as we climbed 600 feet on grass and solid rock almost all the way up to the ridge before traversing a short distance left to the saddle. We took a short break here to fuel up and admire the enchanting early morning views of Peak 15, Pigeon Peak, and the Grenadiers.
From the 13,500 foot saddle we headed up the ridge toward Animas on a distinct climbers trail. We crossed over a minor ridge on the right into a gully and climbed up to a rocky area that harbored the crux of the route, a Class 5.0 chimney. We climbed the 20 foot chimney in short order and finished with a short Class 3 scramble to the summit, where we arrived at 8:30.
We were pleased with our ascent time of just over three hours from camp. We proceeded to enjoy the fine views of the surrounding rugged peaks in the early morning light. Monitor Peak looked particularly rough from this vantage point, and the Grenadiers jutted into the sky like fangs. Pigeon and Turret were very impressive as well. Amazingly, the summit register was placed in 1978, a testament to how lightly climbed this peak is.
At 9:15 we left the top and began our descent. We decided to rope up for the descent of the crux chimney for peace of mind, and in short order were back at the saddle. We quickly scooted down the gully on loose sand, gravel, and sharp rocks, which made me glad we had ascended on the solid grassy slopes nearby. When the gully steepened we exited it on the right and descended a short distance to intercept our ascent route and began traversing back across the other gullies. We did not go all the way back to the first one we had climbed on the ascent but found a nice way down another one that neatly deposited us at the base of the cliff band. This gully was marked by a good cairn at its bottom. We rapidly made our way back down the steep grassy slopes to camp at 10:30 and packed up as quickly as possible. While packing up I couldn=t help glancing up several times at the dramatic view of Peak 15 towering above. This was one of the most spectacular places I had ever camped. Mountain climbing has taken me to many incredibly beautiful places, deep in the remote nooks of the mountains, and at times of day when scenery and lighting are at their grandest!
We left camp a few minutes before 11 and hustled down the trail. We soon met two friendly women coming up the trail, one of whom exclaimed upon seeing us, AWe=re not the only people on the planet!@ They seemed bent on conversation but we were eager to catch our train so we politely excused ourselves and moved on. We made it to Ruby Lake an hour and fifteen minutes after leaving camp and continued down the rough trail through all the windfall, briefly getting off-route for a few minutes. The pristine weather we had enjoyed on this outing came to an end today as it clouded up and began raining at about 2 p.m. We made it back to Needleton at 3:20, about half an hour before the train arrived. Minutes before it came Diane came running across the bridge after completing her loop hike adventure, cutting it even closer than we did.
It felt very satisfying to complete these difficult and remote peaks. We celebrated in style by enjoying a wonderful dinner at the Ore House in Durango that evening.
