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This is my first trip report. I left for Buena Vista on Friday after work. I stopped to eat dinner at Pizza Works in Buena Vista. They have really good pizza. I drove to the Baldwin Gulch TH to car camp. There is a pull out on the right hand side of the road just before the trailhead. The trailhead is easy to miss in the winter when it's dark. I got settled in the back of my car and set the alarm for 2:00 a.m. I didn't sleep that well. At 2:00 a.m. I started the car and got ready. I boiled up a bunch of water for the climb. I took 3 liters of water and a 1 liter thermos of lipton soup. At 3:00 a.m. I started up the #277 road with skiis at an elevation of 9,400 feet. There was a good snowshoe trail all the way to treeline. After 3 miles, I turned left on to #278 road at 10,850 and crossed Baldwin Creek. Snowshoe Trail on #278 Road
I continued on #278 road to treeline. There was a good snowshoe trail all the way. It was cold and I didn't get any sun hit until I was well above treeline. Treeline 12,000
At treeline I left my skiis and my 1 liter thermos of Lipton Soup. Treeline Cache at 12,000
After 12,000 I left the standard route. I followed a Northwest facing slope that was wind blown dry to 13,000 feet. Finally, at 13k I got some sunshine and I took a nice peaceful break. There was light winds and it was starting to warm up. Sun hit at 13,000
Next, I joined back with the standard route and climbed up Point 13,800. Point 13,800
I got to the top of Point 13,800 and took a nice break looking at the summit ridge. Summit Ridge
I put on microspikes and took my whippet. Some may prefer an ice ax and crampons for the summit ridge. Stay on the ridge crest or just to the right for the most part. I think in the very beginning I was just to the left of the ridge. During the crux, stay to the right of the ridge. The summit was very nice. Great weather for a winter ascent Princeton Yale, Harvard, and Columbia Cronin or North Carbonate?
I got to the summit at 12 PM. It took me 9 hours to summit. Now for the descent. It was rather warm out at this point. I had to layer down some. Between 13K and 12K I decided to just lay on the ground for a while. It was tough to make myself get back up. When I reached my cache at 12K I enjoyed a liter of hot soup. The skiing was wild. I had 2 crashes on the way down. Sometimes I would sink clear to the ground with my skiis on. I think that taking my skiis saved me at least 2 hours of hiking. I got back to the car at 4 PM for a rountrip total of 13 hours. At least it was still light and I had enough energy to drive home.
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So there was no snow on the road up to Baldwin Gulch? Just wanted to make sure a standard SUV could make it to that point. Looking to do Cronin this weekend. Thanks and great job!
For some reason the ”click to like” button doesn't always seem to work. Count me as a thumbs up. Nice job!
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The skiing was wild. I had 2 crashes on the way down. Sometimes I would sink clear to the ground with my skiis on. I think that taking my skiis saved me at least 2 hours of hiking. I got back to the car at 4 PM for a rountrip total of 13 hours. At least it was still light and I had enough energy to drive home.
