Mt. Princeton, first Colorado 14er climb of 2012

Mount Princeton

El: 14,197

Route:  East Slopes

Trailhead: Mt. Princeton Road, 2wd Parking

Elevation Gain: Aprox. 5,500'

Round Trip mileage: 9 miles 
Start Time/Finish Time: 6:30 AM/ 2:50 PM
Summit Time: 10:55 AM

Me at the summit of Mt. Princeton

I wanted to get this blog underway before the adventures of 2012 got underway.  Now I will use it to write trip reports of each of my most exciting mountain adventures.  May 15 marked my first climb on a Colorado 14er in 2012.  I decided upon Mt. Princeton, an easy peak near Salida, CO, which I felt would be a good way to get warmed up for what I hope will be a very productive climbing season.  By easy I really mean easier, as no 14er is without its challenges.  And very few do you simply "walk up".  And each have the challenge of altitude.

I camped out the night before at the start of the Mount Princeton Road Trailhead.  Do not even attempt driving up the road in a low-clearance vehicle.  I made this mistake and had to turn around which required some difficult maneuvering.  Instead of trying to get a "cheat" start.  I camped lower down at 8,900 feet in a parking lot near a horse stable.  I must say it was a pretty unpleasant base camp, and in many ways I would have preferred camping at 11,300 feet where the road ended at a nicely-built stone hiker's shelter.  It would have made for a very easy summit day.  Alas, there is much more to be said for climbing a mountain.  The peaks of the Collegiate range are impressive in their enormity and there is no better way to appreciate it than on foot.

Once I hiked to the end of the road, I began my climb by crossing over "Tigger", a point on the way to Mt. Princeton, along it's east ridge.  It wasn't long before I got introduced to the nasty choss, or loose rocks, for which many of the Sawatch peaks are known.

At the end of the road, looking up the east ridge to "Tigger", el. 13,300

 Once past the summit of "Tigger" I was constantly trekking through fresh snow, which had fallen during the mother's day storm which plagued Colorado with hail, rain and high wind.  Herein lay the greatest challenge of the climb.  The snow was only deep enough to barely cover many of the rocks and concealed most of the gaps between rocks.  It was difficult to know where to find good footing and the rocks would trap my lower legs occasionally.  While I had to be conscious of each step and the going was slow, I felt every urge to keep going.  It wasn't anything I hadn't encountered many times before on previous trips.

Once I hit the saddle between "Tigger" and Mount Princeton, the remaining ridge to the summit consisted of a slow, uneventful class 2, slog to the summit, dealing with the same rocks and snow challenge.  I returned via the main trail which traversed along the north side of the east ridge and it was a relief to my legs to make it back to the road.  All in all,  Mt. Princeton was a great climb and yielded an A+ view of the Arkansas valley 6,000 feet below!

On the ridge between "Tigger" and Mt. Princeton. View to the south of neighboring 14er, Mount Antero