WEST TRINITY PEAK
(13,765')TRINITY PEAK
(13,805')EAST TRINITY PEAK
(13,745')August 22-24, 2008
By Tim Briese
Aug. 22, Backpack to Elk Creek camp: 7 miles, 1200' elevation gain, 4:15 time
Aug. 23, Climb of peaks from camp: 9 miles, 4900' elevation gain, 15:15 roundtrip time
Aug. 24, Pack out to Molas trailhead: 7 miles, 1800' elevation gain, 4:40 time
Total: 23 miles, 7900' elevation gain
Brian and I had put the Trinity peaks on our climbing agenda for the past two or three years but had found it necessary to postpone climbing them for one reason or another until now. We had seen them up close in 2003 when we backpacked to Vestal Basin and climbed neighboring Arrow and Vestal Peaks. I looked forward to returning to this spectacular place.
After climbing Mt. Emma on the morning of August 22nd we drove to the Molas trailhead south of Silverton and loaded up our packs for the backpack up Elk Creek. There were about 15 vehicles parked at this popular trailhead and several other hikers milling about who were returning or preparing to leave. We left at 2:50 and headed down the trail toward the Animas River canyon, with the Trinities visible a considerable distance away. Along the trail we met two fellows from Durango who were out to climb Vestal Peak the next day. After gradually descending across rolling meadows for a couple of miles, we dropped sharply into the canyon on innumerable switchbacks and eventually crossed the Animas River on an excellent footbridge. After this the trail began climbing as we headed up the Elk Creek drainage. An hour or so later we reached a washed out place in the trail where a solo female backpacker was working her pack across a rocky crack above the creek. We offered to help but she asserted she had everything under control. About 7 p.m. we reached the landmark beaver ponds along the Elk Creek Trail and paused to admire the fine view of Arrow and Vestal Peaks to the south. We left the trail at this point and skirted around the eastern end of the ponds on large rocks and worked our way around numerous downed trees to reach Elk Creek in a wooded gorge a short distance to the south. We found a tolerable camping spot on the south side of the creek and hastily set up camp as darkness approached.
We had considered doing this climb earlier in the summer but were concerned about excessive snow from a long winter remaining in Vestal Basin and also about getting across the raging waters of Elk Creek near the peak of the runoff season. The creek was reduced to a comparative trickle now.
Most climbers of the peaks above Vestal Basin probably backpack up the steep, rugged route from Elk Creek to a high camp in the basin as we had done in 2003. Our plan this time, though, was to camp lower near Elk Creek to avoid the brutal haul of our backpacks up that rough route. We didn=t mind an early start and planned to scamper up that section in the dark with our much lighter daypacks. By doing so we could start the off-trail part of the climb above the basin at first light, at essentially the same time we would have otherwise had we been camped up there.
We rose early the next morning and headed up the steep trail to Vestal Basin in the dark with our headlamps. Although this trail has grown a little better with use over the past few years, it is nevertheless unmaintained and is quite steep and rough in many places with a few dozen fallen trees to crawl over along the way. The trail gains about 1400 feet of elevation in a mile and a half from Elk Creek up to the basin. We reached the frosty lower meadow in the basin at first light and strolled past several backpackers= tents scattered about in the neighboring woods. At 6:45 we reached the upper meadow in the basin, at about 11,700 feet, and took a break to eat breakfast and filter water. At 7:15 we left the trail and crossed to the south side of Vestal Creek and began climbing slopes covered with willows and grass. Although the preferred route probably goes to the southeast up around a cliff band, we yielded to the temptation to follow a faint climber=s trail to the southwest up around the cliffs and soon found ourselves on the rocky shore of Vestal Lake, with Vestal Peak towering above. We made our way along the rugged eastern side of the lake and climbed a rocky slope to the southeast and reached a vast gentle area above. Our next goal, a saddle between West Trinity and Vestal, was now clearly in sight a half mile away. We speedily made our way over to the base of the scree slope below the saddle and proceeded to climb up the loose slope to the 12,860 foot saddle. We arrived there at 8:50, and paused to admire a dramatic view of Vestal Peak.
The traverse across the three Trinity peaks is well described by Gerry Roach and Dave Cooper in their guidebooks as well as by other climbers in their trip reports. I had studied these sources thoroughly, I thought, and was well prepared for a fun and exciting climb. As it turned out, the traverse was indeed fun and exciting but it was also quite a bit more difficult than I expected and certainly took us longer than others had reported. Perhaps the advance familiarity lulled me into a sort of complacency about this climb.
We left the saddle and headed up the ridge toward West Trinity. Initially the climbing was Class 2+ but the terrain soon required quite a bit of Class 3 scrambling. The upper ridge was exposed and rugged, and when it became too difficult we retreated off the top of the ridge to somewhat easier terrain to the south. Loose rock was definitely a concern so we proceeded carefully. We made an ascending traverse to the upper south face below the summit and then made a Class 3 climb about 200 feet directly north to the top. We arrived there at 10:30. Fortunately the weather was holding beautifully, for the traverse was already appearing to require a lot more time than we thought it would. The view of Trinity Peak from West Trinity is both startling and awe-inspiring.
After a 15 minute stay on West Trinity we left and made our way down the peak=s east ridge on scree and talus to the West Trinity/Trinity saddle. From the saddle we followed a cairned climber=s trail to the east on a nice ramp that runs below the ridge on its south side. We passed below a large tower on the ridge and began to look for a route up to the left to the crux chimney. I mistakenly led us too far on the ramp, perhaps because the terrain above looked so unlikely to harbor a viable route. Someone else noted in their trip report that they had done the same thing, and I ruefully realized I had repeated their mistake. We backtracked about 50 yards along the ramp to the last cairn we had seen and looked more carefully at the ledgy terrain above and this time spotted more cairns heading up that way. We scrambled up to the base of the 30 foot high crux chimney and Brian proceeded to climb it first. I stood just off to the side at its base in case of rockfall and sure enough one soon came flying down and grazed my left arm, drawing a little stream of blood. Brian scooted right up the lower part of the chimney but then took considerably more time crawling to the right out of its upper end. I soon found out why when I followed him up because there was a large slightly overhanging rock that one had to awkwardly crawl up around to get out of the chimney. This chimney has been described as Class 4, which may well be accurate, but I believe this rating understates the difficulty and exposure of the move out of its upper end. I would probably choose to use a rope if I were to downclimb it.
From the top of the chimney we climbed to the northeast on a system of ledges. We came to an extremely exposed one foot wide ledge that Brian proceeded to inch his way along. It looked quite dangerous to me so I backtracked a few feet and climbed up and found a considerably easier route above. After going 50 feet or so I called out to Brian that I had found a reasonable route. When I heard no response my heart sank. After waiting a moment I started going back to look for him, fearing the worst. I was very relieved to meet him coming up after he had backed off on the tiny ledge. At this point I was feeling a little shellshocked by the events of the last 15 minutes!
We continued on an ascending traverse on relatively easy rubbled ledges to a point directly south of the summit, and then made a straightforward Class 3 scramble 150 feet north to the top, where we arrived at 1:05. While taking a 15 minute break on the summit we enjoyed the fine views of the peaks all around, including the jagged Needle Mountains off to the south and the dramatic profile of neighboring East Trinity, our next goal. Some clouds were appearing in the sky now but posed no threat. It was a good thing we had remarkably nice weather today, for we might have been in trouble had this been a typical day with thunderstorms forming by early afternoon. I originally thought we would be off of the third summit shortly after noon!
From Trinity=s summit we went down a Class 2+ gully on the peak=s east side, proceeding slowly with great care to avoid knocking rocks loose. East Trinity=s west face looked quite imposing from here. When we reached the Trinity/East Trinity saddle we were confronted with a ten foot high rock step that required a Class 3 climb to surmount. From the saddle we climbed up a Class 3 gully on reasonable terrain to the peak=s southwest ridge. Following a short scramble along the east side of this ridge we made our way to the slopes just south of the summit and scrambled north to the top, finishing the climb in very similar fashion to the two previous peaks.
We arrived on the summit at 2:40 and spent a leisurely 35 minutes resting on this one. It felt very rewarding to achieve the final summit of the trio, as I looked back at Trinity Peak. Our long climbing day was now beginning to wear on me a little, though. After the summit break we headed down to the northeast on a slope that offered the easiest terrain we had seen on the entire traverse. At about 13,300 feet we turned to the north and headed down a steeper slope on loose shale-like material toward the Trinity Notch. A couple of places on this part of the descent were at least Class 2+ in difficulty, providing a final little challenge to finish up the traverse. When we got down to the notch we followed a climber=s trail down into the upper end of the Vestal drainage, where we stopped at 4:20 for a nice break on the shore of a placid lake directly below the towering ramparts of Trinity Peak. It felt very refreshing to take off my boots and douse my feet in the water while sitting in the warm afternoon sunshine. After the break we bushwhacked down the grassy valley under the watchful gaze of Vestal and Arrow and the Trinity Peaks. We found a trail further down and soon returned to the upper meadow where we had left the trail in the morning. I noted that it took us about ten hours roundtrip to do the traverse from this point, far longer than many other climbers have reported. Why did it take us so much longer? We moved slowly in many places, taking great care to emphasize safety, and the splendid weather allowed us the leisure of numerous breaks. Besides, we are not as young as we used to be, either! A reality check like this can prove useful for planning future climbs.
Further down the trail we stopped for a moment and chatted with three backpackers at their camp who had climbed Vestal that day. Soon we left the basin and began the steep descent down the Vestal Creek drainage. It seemed like a long haul back down the rough trail to our camp at Elk Creek, but we rejoiced in the fact that we had not carried full packs up and down that rugged route over all the downed trees. We staggered back into camp at 7:40, over fifteen hours after we had left in the morning. We had previously entertained the notion of packing back out to Molas that evening had we returned to camp earlier, but that idea seemed ludicrous now!
We broke camp the next morning and left at 7:10, pausing for a moment at the beaver ponds to admire the early sunshine on Arrow and Vestal Peaks. The downhill hike to the Animas River was easy in the cool morning air but the ensuing 1800 foot climb back up to the Molas Trailhead in the late morning heat was another story. We arrived back at the trailhead at 11:50 and promptly drove into Silverton where we ravenously enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Handlebars. That afternoon we drove to Durango in preparation for a ride on the train to Needleton and a backpack to Ruby Lake the next day.
