I had not imagined I'd ever want to climb Mount Sneffels. After scrambling around on San Juan scree fields during Primal Quest 2002, my impression was that this whole area is full of loose slab.
On the other hand, we've had some additional experience in the mountains since then. Perhaps my memory is colored by the fact that we were complete noobs the first time we had to figure out off-trail ridgelines, in the dark no less.
After Softrock, we decided to hang around to watch the Hardrock race, and with a couple play days available it seemed to make sense (?) to at least go check out Sneffels and see if my fear avoidance was justified or not. Plus it was a chance to drive our Rivian up another dirt road in Colorado.
For the first time, we didn't need to park at the 2WD trailhead, yay! It's nice to have more options. We drove up to the next parking area and saved a bit of hiking.
We did hike up the last section of road, pausing at the signs to get the lay of the land:
Another beautiful day in the hills!
I zoomed in on the horizon to get a closer look at Virginius Pass from the Hardrock course - we think it's the low spot in the left half of the picture:
The climb up Sneffels went really well. I suspect that so many people have been up and down the slope that many of the rocks are lodged in place. The middle of the slope is rather bare but there are plenty of rocks along the sides. And it's not too slabby/slidey like nearby Teakettle. Still a lot of work up a steep climb, while wondering what we would find further up.
From the saddle, the couloir wasn't terrible either. Again, quite steep. Loose dirt, fewer choices of solid rocks, but at least there are places to hang onto along either side. People going up and down at various speeds, hello everyone.
The crux is near the top where a large boulder is lodged into a opening that would have been an easy passage to the final scramble to the summit. John of course had no issues squeezing through, and he dropped a rope to me. Another successful belay operation and soon we were at the summit.
Hey, that's cool, I didn't realize we'd climb a new 14er this summer!
Scenery to the southwest - I see more places we should explore sometime:
Hi from the top of Sneffels!
John's summit pose plank:
Look ma, no hands (at the moment):
One last look around:
John approves:
Another quick belay down through the crack. John followed, without a bit of concern about the exposure, because he's a mountain goat:
Once past that, descending also wasn't too bad. Just a second, I'll be right there!
The run down to the truck was easy, and then we managed to get a flat tire from one of the sharper rocks in the road. Another adventure - happily the fix-a-flat worked, the onboard compressor was super helpful for adding air, and that repair job held until we could get a replacement tire in Durango.
Gotta love southwest Colorado!
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