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Note 44.476 MOUNT-L 476 of 517 CUPIDO::STRITAR "Andrej Stritar, IJS,(61)-1885-450" 105 lines 22-DEC-1994 08:24
CUPIDO::STRITAR "Andrej Stritar, IJS,(61)-1885-450" 105 lines 22-DEC-1994 08:24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: Mt Arkansas
Date: 21-Dec-1994
Posted-date: 21-Dec-1994


Trip Report - Mt Arkansas, 13,795', Mt Tweto, 13,672', Dec 18, 1994
(Mosquito Pass near Alma, CO

Why do it? Why go back to a mountain that you have failed to reach the
summit twice before? The pressure would be enormous if you failed on the
3rd time due to weather, snow conditions, etc? Why? Well this time because
Denise Snow invited Tom Vervaeke and I along again on a Sunday walk she had
planned with Marlyn. She had been with me on two previous attempts, on Apr
2, 1994 and Oct 22, 1994 and Tom had been on the October trip. In April we
had been snowed off in white out conditions half way up the ridge and in Oct
we successfully summited the wrong summit. Oh sure, we could see the real
summit of Mt Arkansas just a ways down that knife edge ridge a 1/2 mile
away, but we were not there!
So I am not sure how she and Marlyn picked Mt Arkansas for last Sunday
but I suspect it had something to do with the previous paragraph -- she
wanted that summit! I must admit it did not take Tom and I long to change
our plans and join them once we heard it was Mt Arkansas again! So as not
to give you the impression we don't learn from our mistakes, Marlyn and
Denise decided on a different approach via the eastern side of Mosquito Pass
from Alma, CO. We had climbed twice before on the Climax Mine route from
the Leadville side so we were in new territory as we wound our way up the
Mosquito Pass Road, the highest pass road in Colorado at 13,186'. Snow
drifts stopped Denise's Subaru midway, so we piled into Tom's Mazda 4X4 and
actually made it to the point on the map we determined we needed to start
the climb at about 11,540' Our plan called for hiking up the valley to Mt
Tweto, then across the backbone of the ridge past two false summits, to Mt
Arkansas. About a 7 mile round trip with about 3,000 feet of climbing
enroute. Last Sunday when Tom and I headed up Northstar Mountain against 45
mph+ winds it was slightly unpleasant, but today the sky was clear blue, and
practically windless as we left the truck.
Donning our snowshoes we headed up a faint 4WD road then decided on a
tactic credited to Denise - always go up the most direct approach. We left
the road and bushwacked up the draws and ravines as we slowly gained
altitude. Marlyn was to lead most of the day and he took the brunt of the
trail breaking in seemingly good spirits. Maryln had dug a hasty snow pit
at the start to access conditions and we all kept up a running dialogue
about avalanche conditions throughout the day. Finally out of the deep
snow, we were at last on the rocky wind blown slopes of Mt Tweto. 900' or
so later we were standing on the summit where Denise and Marlyn found a
register. The last entry was a couple of months before. At this point, I
was in slight distress due to stomach problems associated with dinner the
night before, but everyone else was climbing strong.
On top of Mt Tweto we could clearly see Mt Arkansas' summit, an
impressive snow covered point with overhanging cornices to the east. But
the 3/4 of a mile ridge that connected it to us looked more like 2 miles!
There was also a 500' descent off Tweto to contemplate as well as two very
false summits enroute. Off we went with Tom leading this section. I was
moving slowly was steadily keeping up with the rest as best as possible with
Maryln bring up the six. We followed closely along the ridge line and came
across some tracks of an animal that are best guess was a coyote or like
animal. What he/she was doing above tree line was an equal mystery, and
although the tracks were fresh we saw hide nor hair of the creature. There
was a steady breeze n the ridge but only about 15-20 mph and with the warm
temperatures, it was pleasant. Around the last false summit, the final 500
yards up to summit across the final ridge, looked very encouraging up to the
summit block. Finally, Tom and Denise reached the top and Maryln and I
arrived a few minutes later. What a view! We could see 360 degrees through
crystal clear skies. We could even see "the summit" we had obtained in Oct!
We were on the top of the world with no higher perches on other mountains
close by and since the summit was only about 10'X 15', you really had the
feeling of being on top. Looking the register we determined no one had been
on the summit since 10/6/94. Tom replaced the register high in the snow to
give it a chance not to be covered for awhile. We all ate some food and
enjoyed the view until we started to get chilled. We had made the summit in
4.5 hours so it was about 1:30pm and we knew we had to keep moving with
sunset at 4:30pm. Maryln figured 3.5 hours for the descent since we would
traverse the ridge lower down, avoid reclimbing Mt Tweto and head for the
saddle for our eastern return. Hey, it seemed like a good plan!. The
traverse was like a ..... a traverse, and Tom and I hate traverses. Looking
back on it also seemed to violate Denise's rule of either going up or down
at all times. But we did it, and paid for it by banged up legs from snow
covered rocks. We crossed about three snow slopes that we all agreed we
should not have crossed. The snow was slab prone, but we made it across
safely one at a time with about 100' separation in between each person. Why
four experienced people take these risks is beyond me.... maybe it was not
as bad as a few of us thought, but....
Once the traverse was complete, we were about 400' below Mt Tweto and we
struck off on another traverse to the saddle across the southwest face. The
shadows were starting to deepen as we reached the saddle and removed our ice
axes for a possible glissade east out of the saddle toward Tom's truck.
Maryln was the only one who could slide as his pants were slicker than the
rest. The angle and the snow consistency were not right and Denise, Tom and
I were forced to plunge step down the bowl with occasional half hearted
attempts at a glissade. Down, we went, walking on the hard snow when we
could. As we started to consistently sink in up to our knees, we put on our
snowshoes and shuffled down our tracks from the morning that were now nicely
frozen. We also found a snowmobile track to follow and Denise and Tom led
us back to the car right at 3 hours after leaving the summit of Mt Arkansas.
We reached the truck as the sun set over Mosquito Pass depositing a chill
in the air as we stripped off our gear and loaded into the truck for the
ride (ramming speed) down to Denise's Subaru. The third time was the charm
for Denise and I while Tom claimed credit for only two attempts. Maryln was
the real winner as he summited on his first try at Mt Arkansas. A nice
little hike as he described the day!

Beta:
7 miles, with approx 3,000' elevation gain
7.5 hours RT, eastern approach over Mt Tweto (formerly USLM Divide, but
recently named for geologist Odgen Tweto) as described in "Colorado's High
Thirteeners", by Mike Garratt and Bob Martin.



 
 



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