Uncompahgre Peak - 14,309 feet
Wetterhorn Peak - 14,015 feet
Combo - 13 miles
Jason and I arrived at the Castle Lake Campground on Thursday at midnight. Thankfully, Josh had arrived earlier and put up the tent for us. We crashed as soon as we arrived and got about 5 hours of sleep.
The trip up Uncompahgre was great. The peak is the 6th highest in the state and the highest in the San Juan range. We had great weather the entire time. The peak itself looks like a fortress on a hill, so it dominates the landscape. The views from the top of Uncompahgre were spectacular. Not only is the surrounding area green, but the rock formations and the sheer drop offs are breathtaking. Josh, Jason, and I took some pictures at the summit and then went our separate ways.
Last spring Jason and Josh had summited Wetterhorn, a nearby 14er. I called my attempt off near the top, so this was my chance at redemption. In order to make this work, Josh had to go back to my truck at the Nellie Creek Trail Head (Uncompahgre) and drive to the Matterhorn Creek Trail Head (Wetterhorn). There, he met up with Jason and me as we completed the 13 mile Uncompahgre-Wetterhorn combo loop.
This was the biggest hike I had attempted to date. King-Sized Snickers at 510 calories a pop and Red Bull helped me get through the 4,500 vertical feet and 13-mile day. We descended the back side of Uncompahgre and walked across the valley floor until we met up with the Wetterhorn trail. In all honesty, by the time we had started climbing Wetterhorn I was shot. Towards the summit, I could feel my body looking for any calories it could find after every step. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat enough to keep up with the demand. In addition, I don't have any "reserves" to draw from. The mountain had won last time, so I was determined to keep moving despite having no energy available. Towards the top we dumped our packs and I didn't even care to bring my camera to the summit. I didn't care at that point and it was one more thing to carry. A short scramble later I was on the top and then back down to my pack to eat another Snickers bar. 4 more long miles down the mountain we met up with Josh.
The next day we attempted to climb Handies, but the rain and thunder turned us back. We called it a weekend due to weather, and I headed home Sunday morning. It was a great trip. If you've never been down to this area of Colorado I'd highly recommend it. If you don't believe me, just look at some of these pictures.
Music by Hawk Nelson (Friend Like That, Things We Go Through)