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Terri put out the word she was going to try Clark Pk. again. Would we want to go? Oh ya! And by the way it would be on D_Baker's birthday. I could not pass up a bicentennial finisher with friends and a birthday party to boot. Terri was hiking in the day before to camp just below moon lake. The rest of us were waffling between a day trip and an overnighter. Darin was going to miss out on his birthday party because of some thing called work. We finally decided on a day trip, leaving the Snowmass TH at 4:30am.
Terri on her way to a Bicentennial finisher
Terri Horvath has been climbing for close to 30 years. She comes from the "old school days" of climbing and has climbed with plenty of legends, and maintains friendships with Ken Nolan, Jean Aschenbrenner, the Roachs, Charlie Winger, to name a few. She is a former CMC member, where she used to lead trips and teach mountaineering classes. She has climbed 300+ 13ers, and would like to take a shot at all of them. She is a bit of a gridder, when other unclimbed peaks are not in conditon or too far away. Rumor has it that she maintains an elaborate spread sheet and database of all of her ascents. The winter 14er game is played on peaks within her ability. She rock climbs as well as ice climbs occasionally. Terri is self sufficient, often climbing peaks by herself, not afraid of the solo thing.
Kevin sleepwalking through the creek
Mom, how come I am a different color than you? Not now, I got to watch these humans.
Sunrise
First view of Clark Pk. from the meadow
When we got to the meadow we started looking for the elusive route to Moon lake. Terrry graciously put up some flagging to start us off on the right track. There is a steep trail on the southwest side of the meadow away from the creek that we started up. Soon the trail started splintering and we kinda picked a trail and kept walking. The trail basically goes up 200' then slowly contours south above a cliff band, then levels out and you run into the creek again. The trail is easy to follow up on the east side of the creek to the good campsites 1/4 mile below Moon lake. Terri had a sweet spot to camp.
Moon Lake
Clark Peak's west ridge, our ascent route
Our plan was to meet Terri somewhere between Moon lake and the West ridge. She was moving fast and we did not catch her until the ridge proper. It was great to see her smiling face.
Route to the saddle
We went to the left of the blocky area on the way up, and to the right on the way down.
Let the fun begin
This is our first view of the ridge. What a surprise. This is gonna be fun.
Kevin and Sara approaching the ridge
Typical terrain and exposure on the ridge. We had to find a route around the big blocks, but constantly assess the stability of the smaller blocks that made up the ridge and terrain around it. We had to be careful to assess the overall stability of the ridge in places. Yeah, the small blocks would hold our weight, but would the blocks supporting them hold up?, or would the entire ridge shift? We had to backtrack in a few places to stay safe.
Gumdrops lead the way
Giant block that hide us easily
Exposure
Kevin wondering if we are talking about him, or the post feedbagfest.
I have the coolest glasses on this mountain
To borrow a phrase. Wishing I was up here and not down there
Darin taking the easy way to the summit
Summit shot #202
Congratulations on climbing the Bicentennials Terri!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Terri chose to climb 202 peaks to finish the Bicentennials. There are 5 ranked peaks that share the elevation of 13,580', starting at #198.
Rumor has it that Darin will be 40 in 2013.
Pierre Lakes
Capital climbers
Summit shoes or wading shoes?
Snowmass Mountain
Sobering view of the standard route on Capital Peak.
Fun shot on the way down
Everyone did it a different way
Whatever fits your style and comfort level
Terri working her way through the blocks on the way down. The West ridge of Clark Pk. turned out to be a great climb. It was no harder than class 4 in a few spots, with most of it class 3 once on the ridge. It was hard enough that all of us had to keep focused on the climbing in front of us. We had to stop in order to look around and enjoy the incredible views.
Congratulations again to Terri for finishing the Bicentennials. Thankyou for the invite, it was a pleasure to share in your accomplishment.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
We really enjoyed this climb when we did it many, many years ago. So much so, that I have a photo from the summit in my office. Your photos do a good job of showing the fun ridge to the top. Thanks for posting a report on this seldom visited peak. Happy trails!
Fun to relive that day a year on. Except for the part where Kevin and I were trying to keep up with you and Keegan through that boulder field. I think part of my lung is still up there somewhere. Other than that, it was of course an amazing, challenging and very fun day.
Terri is one heck of an accomplished climber and it's always an honor (and a blast) to hike with her.
It's true. But this year I'll be in Colorado for it!
And I hope there will be someone willing to carry me to the summit, because I'm not sure my body is ready for the abuse that it's about to receive!
Thanks for sharing Greg! I'm glad you didn't post a video....
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