Peak(s):	Mt. Sneffels - 14,155 feet
Date Posted:	08/17/2015
Date Climbed:	08/04/2015
Author:	jmjr2k

Slip Sliding Away...Standard Route
Seems like we usually have some sort of "incident" with each 14'er trip we undertake. Our routine is to set out all of the Camelbaks & backpacks the night before, fill the bladders with water, gather the Clif bars, make the PB & J sandwiches, and divvy up the GORP so that we're ready to go early the next morning. So, we carried out our routine with predictability, and hit the sack to get some sleep. I had that tentative ride up the mountain to Yankee Boy Basin on my mind; thinking about how the Chevy Suburban would navigate the literal "land-mines" as we made it to the lower trailhead. Nonetheless, I was out like a light dreaming about the summit of Sneffels. We had decided to wake up the next morning around 4:30 a.m. to make sure we had enough drive-time to make our way to Ouray, and then the final trek up to the lower trailhead for Mount Sneffels. We were staying near Durango, so we needed about an hour and thirty minutes up highway 550 to get to CR 361. There would be about an additional 40 minutes of time driving 7 miles to get to our parking spot at the lower trailhead. You can read more about the trailhead conditions with my report on 14'ers.com in that section. Needless to say, that last .8 of a mile is either thrilling, or nerve-wrecking depending upon the vehicle you're driving! Now for the "incident". We arrived at the lower trailhead of Yankee Boy Basin around 7:00 a.m., and looked the Suburban over for any "light" damage in the way of scrapes and bumps from the ride. I was extra tense because it was a rental. Ha! But, I think it made the ride well because I filled it with only about a quarter tank of gas, and had everyone get out of the car while I navigated the last few hundred feet. So, we opened the tailgate to get the gear out when we noticed something dripping. When Brad picked up his Camelbak, it was lighter than usual. After opening it, we saw that there was only about a half cup of water left in the bottom. Apparently, the door had shut down on his mouthpiece and pinched it enough to let the water ooze out during the drive. Great! Some quick thinking led us to empty the remainder of about four bottles of water back into his pack which filled him back up about half-way. He figured that would have to do, and we could share and empty some of the other packs if needed. Before we left, I had brought a can of ant & roach insecticide spray that I used on my tires and underneath the Suburban. I had read about reports of marmots eating through fuel and brake lines, and getting under the engine compartment, so I didn't want to take any chances. After playing mobile exterminator for a few minutes, we started on our way up the trail/road to the upper trailhead around 7:15 a.m. The trail to the upper trailhead is really a rocky, bumpy, road for 4x4's, jeeps, and other high clearance vehicles. If it weren't for the streams of water crossing the road, beautiful sunrise, and wildflowers it would seem like more of drudge than it already is. Along the way, you'll come to an abandoned mine shaft. Proceed further to the upper trailhead. Once there, you can continue along the path towards the initial steep gully where you'll find a couple of cairns leading you to the climb up to the Lavender Couloir. There are really only a couple of ways to tackle this steep sandbox, either head-on through the mix of talus and loose gravel, or off to the left where there is more of concentration of talus. Either way, you'll need to take care with each step to keep from slipping and sliding. After about an hour of climbing this stuff, we came to the saddle, and fueled up with water and Clif bars before ascending the Lavender Couloir. I actually didn't mind climbing in the Couloir. The talus was more defined, larger, and somewhat easier to climb. We finally made it to the top of the Couloir where we came to the V-notch. This short section takes some careful steps, and climbing up and through to get past it. The exposure to your left is a bit chilling, but once you're through, it's just about fifty feet or so to the summit, and you're there! We lingered about 30 minutes at the top taking a few pano's and videos along with the usual summit pose including our traditional sign with our date and signatures. Being able to summit with your family is a great experience, especially with the accomplishment of a 14'er. We opened up the backpacks for lunch while we watched a few others summit that morning as well. It was a beautiful day, and I logged the time at 11:15 a.m. and signed the summit register contained in a sturdy, green, ammo box. This was kind of unique, since several of the registers from the other 14'ers were rolled up in PVC pipes and chained to a rock or log. The summit is not very spacious. In fact, it is about the size of my family room back home. After finishing up the PB & J's, we decided to head back down since we wanted others to be able to enjoy the view from the top. I made a quick Facetime call via Verizon on my iPhone, and then we were off and going. I will say that the San Juan's are absolutely gorgeous. The vegetation, mountain silhouettes that drift off into the distance, and some of the remaining snow, just create a visual experience that is surreal. On the way down, we decided not to crawl back through the V-notch. My youngest daughter just didn't feel comfortable tackling it. So, we opted for an alternate route which turned out to include some class 3 climbing down that met up with the Lav. Couloir just above the saddle. You can pick a route over the larger rock, but stay closer to the Couloir, and make the traverse back down into it. This alternate way was actually a short-cut, and a little faster, since we found ourselves ahead of those who went back through the V-notch. After taking a short break at the saddle, we made our way back down the steep gully. My youngest daughter slipped and fell right next to a protruding rock which gave her a bad bruise and a cut on the hip, but she was able to recover and make it the rest of the way down slowly. We re-traced our steps past the cairns, and back to the upper trailhead where we met some fine folks from Virginia. Another couple took our trailhead picture, and we continued our descent past the abandoned mine and down the rocky and bumpy road towards the parking area. We couldn't help stopping for more pictures since we had a better view of the waterfalls across the valley, and the flowers were showing off in the afternoon sunlight. The ride back down the road from Yankee Boy Basin was slow going. There was quite a bit of traffic heading up the road back to the trailheads at 3:00 in the afternoon. We saw motorcycles, ATV's, numerous jeeps, and trucks making their way back up behind us. I was discouraged at the amount of traffic. Going through the overhanging rock & C-shelf section was cool, and we continued on down to the town of Ouray. There must have been a town festival because it was abuzz with people for this small mountain town. What a beautiful place with the swiss-style architecture, and cobbled streets nestled in the mountains. It was somewhat of a quiet ride back to Durango, but we talked about the day's accomplishments, and re-lived the hike looking at those moments captured forever on our iPhones. (See our pictures below for captions on each segment of the trip!) Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Slip Sliding Away...Standard Route

Seems like we usually have some sort of "incident" with each 14'er trip we undertake. Our routine is to set out all of the Camelbaks & backpacks the night before, fill the bladders with water, gather the Clif bars, make the PB & J sandwiches, and divvy up the GORP so that we're ready to go early the next morning. So, we carried out our routine with predictability, and hit the sack to get some sleep. I had that tentative ride up the mountain to Yankee Boy Basin on my mind; thinking about how the Chevy Suburban would navigate the literal "land-mines" as we made it to the lower trailhead. Nonetheless, I was out like a light dreaming about the summit of Sneffels.

We had decided to wake up the next morning around 4:30 a.m. to make sure we had enough drive-time to make our way to Ouray, and then the final trek up to the lower trailhead for Mount Sneffels. We were staying near Durango, so we needed about an hour and thirty minutes up highway 550 to get to CR 361. There would be about an additional 40 minutes of time driving 7 miles to get to our parking spot at the lower trailhead. You can read more about the trailhead conditions with my report on 14'ers.com in that section. Needless to say, that last .8 of a mile is either thrilling, or nerve-wrecking depending upon the vehicle you're driving!

Now for the "incident". We arrived at the lower trailhead of Yankee Boy Basin around 7:00 a.m., and looked the Suburban over for any "light" damage in the way of scrapes and bumps from the ride. I was extra tense because it was a rental. Ha! But, I think it made the ride well because I filled it with only about a quarter tank of gas, and had everyone get out of the car while I navigated the last few hundred feet. So, we opened the tailgate to get the gear out when we noticed something dripping. When Brad picked up his Camelbak, it was lighter than usual. After opening it, we saw that there was only about a half cup of water left in the bottom. Apparently, the door had shut down on his mouthpiece and pinched it enough to let the water ooze out during the drive. Great! Some quick thinking led us to empty the remainder of about four bottles of water back into his pack which filled him back up about half-way. He figured that would have to do, and we could share and empty some of the other packs if needed. Before we left, I had brought a can of ant & roach insecticide spray that I used on my tires and underneath the Suburban. I had read about reports of marmots eating through fuel and brake lines, and getting under the engine compartment, so I didn't want to take any chances. After playing mobile exterminator for a few minutes, we started on our way up the trail/road to the upper trailhead around 7:15 a.m.

The trail to the upper trailhead is really a rocky, bumpy, road for 4x4's, jeeps, and other high clearance vehicles. If it weren't for the streams of water crossing the road, beautiful sunrise, and wildflowers it would seem like more of drudge than it already is. Along the way, you'll come to an abandoned mine shaft. Proceed further to the upper trailhead. Once there, you can continue along the path towards the initial steep gully where you'll find a couple of cairns leading you to the climb up to the Lavender Couloir. There are really only a couple of ways to tackle this steep sandbox, either head-on through the mix of talus and loose gravel, or off to the left where there is more of concentration of talus. Either way, you'll need to take care with each step to keep from slipping and sliding. After about an hour of climbing this stuff, we came to the saddle, and fueled up with water and Clif bars before ascending the Lavender Couloir.

I actually didn't mind climbing in the Couloir. The talus was more defined, larger, and somewhat easier to climb. We finally made it to the top of the Couloir where we came to the V-notch. This short section takes some careful steps, and climbing up and through to get past it. The exposure to your left is a bit chilling, but once you're through, it's just about fifty feet or so to the summit, and you're there!

We lingered about 30 minutes at the top taking a few pano's and videos along with the usual summit pose including our traditional sign with our date and signatures. Being able to summit with your family is a great experience, especially with the accomplishment of a 14'er. We opened up the backpacks for lunch while we watched a few others summit that morning as well. It was a beautiful day, and I logged the time at 11:15 a.m. and signed the summit register contained in a sturdy, green, ammo box. This was kind of unique, since several of the registers from the other 14'ers were rolled up in PVC pipes and chained to a rock or log.

The summit is not very spacious. In fact, it is about the size of my family room back home. After finishing up the PB & J's, we decided to head back down since we wanted others to be able to enjoy the view from the top. I made a quick Facetime call via Verizon on my iPhone, and then we were off and going. I will say that the San Juan's are absolutely gorgeous. The vegetation, mountain silhouettes that drift off into the distance, and some of the remaining snow, just create a visual experience that is surreal.

On the way down, we decided not to crawl back through the V-notch. My youngest daughter just didn't feel comfortable tackling it. So, we opted for an alternate route which turned out to include some class 3 climbing down that met up with the Lav. Couloir just above the saddle. You can pick a route over the larger rock, but stay closer to the Couloir, and make the traverse back down into it. This alternate way was actually a short-cut, and a little faster, since we found ourselves ahead of those who went back through the V-notch.

After taking a short break at the saddle, we made our way back down the steep gully. My youngest daughter slipped and fell right next to a protruding rock which gave her a bad bruise and a cut on the hip, but she was able to recover and make it the rest of the way down slowly. We re-traced our steps past the cairns, and back to the upper trailhead where we met some fine folks from Virginia. Another couple took our trailhead picture, and we continued our descent past the abandoned mine and down the rocky and bumpy road towards the parking area. We couldn't help stopping for more pictures since we had a better view of the waterfalls across the valley, and the flowers were showing off in the afternoon sunlight.

The ride back down the road from Yankee Boy Basin was slow going. There was quite a bit of traffic heading up the road back to the trailheads at 3:00 in the afternoon. We saw motorcycles, ATV's, numerous jeeps, and trucks making their way back up behind us. I was discouraged at the amount of traffic. Going through the overhanging rock & C-shelf section was cool, and we continued on down to the town of Ouray. There must have been a town festival because it was abuzz with people for this small mountain town. What a beautiful place with the swiss-style architecture, and cobbled streets nestled in the mountains.

It was somewhat of a quiet ride back to Durango, but we talked about the day's accomplishments, and re-lived the hike looking at those moments captured forever on our iPhones.

(See our pictures below for captions on each segment of the trip!)

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Gene913	Props to KC based climbers 8/20/2015 5:52am From one flatlander to another - nice work! Having shared summits at various times with my wife, daughter, son, father, and brother, I can relate to your family experience. Too bad the mountains are not a little closer. Sneffels is one of my favorites. The San Juan range is my favorite range. The Sangres are a close second.
jmjr2k	Flatlander @Gene913 8/20/2015 7:28am Thanks for the post! Yep, it’s a great experience, and we’ve enjoyed the ups and downs of climbing the mountains together as a family. When heading home for the low–lands of Missouri @ 875’ El. after a great week in the mountains, we always find ourselves looking back along I–70 to try and catch a glimpse of a peak one last time. Good luck on the last of your 4 remaining 14’ers. Excellent work!

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