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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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