Cathedral20090905

Cathedral Peak (13,943 feet)
Via the Cathedral Trailhead
September 5, 2009

TRIP REPORT - [ Goto ALL PICTURES - Goto SLIDESHOW - Goto TIMES and MILES ]

Cathedral would be my first Colorado climb for this summer 2009 trip. I wanted to focus on the Elks, and I only had three more fourteeners left (Snowmass and the Bells),

The steep but short switchbacks.

so I decided to tryout some of the Elk centennials (top 100 peaks). Cathedral was supposed to be my easy first day. Alas, this was not the case. First off, none of the Elks are easy. The Elks are notoriously loose and steep. Secondly I chose to create my own route up the technical section. This was well within my capabilities, but it was mentally draining.

The first view of Malamute Peak.

I started up the Cathedral Trail at 5:30 am in the morning. For the first hour I was hiking by headlamp. The trail up to the lake is all class 1, easy hiking. The trail follows along the north side of Pine Creek for most of the way. You can hear the Pine Creek flowing. The trail was medium steep. There are several intersections along the way. In general, I took right turns, and just focused on staying on the North side of Pine Creek. I’m sure that any of the trails that went left – towards Pine Creek – were just access points for the creek. Ultimately you do cross the creek, just before reaching the lake.

First shot of the route crux. The crux is the gully just to the right of the right most tower in the middle of the picture.

I made it to the lake in just over an hour. The lake was beautiful, and crystal clear. Once I got to the lake, the remaining part of my route was visible. I followed

Mountain goats playing on the slopes on the other side of Cathedral Lake.

the perimeter of the lake, and made an easy crossing of the creek. Then, I started up into the boulder field. At this point the trail wasn’t clear. I knew where I needed to go directionally, but I was pretty much just making my own trail. I climbed up into the boulder field, and then continued west towards the gulley that I would be taking to the south ridge. The boulder field hiking was exhausting and long. At points I did stumble across a hikers trail. But, it wasn’t a very well marked trail.

View up the crux gully from the base, in the boulder field.

I finally made it to the bottom of the gully which was noted as the crux of the route. In May, June and July this gully is filled with snow, and a mild snow climb. In August and September it is clear of snow, and a nasty, steep and loose scree climb. I had already decided that I was willing to take a more technical route, rather than climb 500 feet of loose and frustrating scree. So, once I started up the gully, I started to look for other options. I found that option almost immediately.

View up the first class 4/5 chimney option that I took.

Reading other trip reports, I knew that there was some reasonable class 4 climbing to the right of the gully. This is the direction that I took. As I started right, I quickly spotted a tempting chimney climb up to the left. So, rather than continue right, I started up the chimney. It looked like class 4 from below. But, once I got into the chimney, it quickly offered up a sampling of class 5 moves. I was also quickly reminded that the Elks are loose, and that Elk rock hand holds are sometimes just that, “something that you hold in your hand.” So, needless to say, I double and triple checked every one of my major holds. At least a half dozen times I did pull on a rock that surprised me and came loose. Luckily I had solid hold on other stuff at those times.

View down at Cathedral Lake from about half way up my class 4/5 climb.

The final section of the technical climb route.

I cleared the chimney climb. This chimney was definitely 5.0-5.2 climbing. After the chimney the rest of the way up was just a long, loose scramble. I did underestimate how long this scramble would be, but I just kept on going up. Eventually I spotted the top of the main gully route. I was slightly above it. From above, it just looked like such a frustrating loose scree climb. I was glad that I chose an alternate route up for the gully, but the technical stuff had certainly taken its toll on me. I was a bit tired.

I climbed to just above the gully, and took a right up the final ridge climb to the top. I was actually a bit surprised at how frustrating this final ridge climb was. Again, I had a lot of

The point where the technical route meets up with with loose gully scree climb.

problems finding the proper route. So, I kind of had to make it up as I went along. I stayed mostly to the left of the ridge (the west side). It was loose, but not nearly as steep as that gully. So, it was just annoying, not significantly dangerous. Ultimately I climbed back up onto the ridge, and made the summit. I made it to the top in about 3 hours 20 minutes. I was happy to be on top, but I had already decided that I would take the normal gully route down. I wasn’t looking forward to that.

Rob self-portrait on the summit of Cathedral Peak.

I spent some time enjoying the summit. I was entertained by the fact that the last person to sign the summit register was almost a week ago (August 29). I also noticed several familiar names on the summit register. One of the advantages of climbing a 13er – rather than a more popular 14er – is that you get a chance to experience something that not many people experience. That is also the reason why the trail was so unclear. I should also mention the obvious. I did not see another soul up on the Cathedral Peak route that day. I did see a bunch of people making the day hike to the lake, but nobody chose to torture themselves like I did.

Castle and Conundrum from the summit of Cathedral Peak.

I started back down, and found the marked trail a bit easier to follow. Although, I will mention that the marked trail is definitely solid class 3 at this point; not class 2 or 2+. The marked route pretty much followed the ridge proper til about half way to the gully. Then, it went around the west side. Once it left the ridge proper, the trail was much easer – class 2. I got to the top of the gully, and took a deep

Interesting HUGE boulder in one of the gullies to the right about half way down the bould field.

breath. I wasn’t looking forward to this. I pretty much knew that I’d be falling on my butt, and sliding a bunch on the way down. And, I was correct. I tried to stay to the sides of the gully, using the solid rock along the sides to keep me from falling on my butt. It worked mostly, but made for slower travel. Finally I made it back to the bottom of the gully. At the bottom, as if the gully were saying goodbye to me, I fell on my butt. That was when I noticed something next to my right hand. It was a wallet, and it wasn’t

View of Cathedral Lake from the boulder field.

mine. I opened it up. It was one of those super thick wallets that had way too many cards stuffed into it. It also contained a driver’s license, and $40 cash. Once I get home, I’ll stick it in the mail – complete. From what I could tell, it looked like the wallet had been up there for a year. I bet the guy that lost it will be shocked to get it in the mail – including the cash.

Interesting ferret looking creature with a bat-like face.

I continued across the boulder field. I really didn’t remember that boulder field walk taking so long. It seemed like it took for ever to get back down to the lake. Just before I got back to the lake I spotted an unusual animal; one that I’d never seen in Colorado before. This critter looked like a mini ferret, with a “bat like” face. It was very curious about me, and I got a few good pictures and some videos of the critter. It was probably some sort of weasel.

Pic of the wallet that I found at the bottom of the scree gully.

I continued past the lake, and down the trail. My feet were plenty sore on the walk out. Other than that, I was feeling pretty good. For the first time in my Colorado hiking trips, I did NOT have a headache on the first day of climbing. I made sure to drink plenty of water during the climb. That was the trick.

I ultimately made it back to the car at around 11:50 am. I should mention that the weather was beautiful all day. For the first half of the day, there were zero clouds in the sky. During my hike out, the clouds started to build up, but nothing looked threatening. I have to say that this was a tough one. A big part of the difficulty was route finding. And, that was due to the lack of visitors to this peak. I guess we have to take the bad with the good in this case.

THE NUMBERS	TIME (hh:mm)	DISTANCE (miles)
TH to the Lake	1:24	3.0
Lake to the base of the Crux	0:55	1.0
Bottom of the Crux to the top of the Crux	0:39	0.3
Top of the Crux to the Summit	0:22	0.4
On the Summit	0:22	-
Summit down o the top of the Crux	0:21	0.4
Top of the Crux to the Base	0:17	0.3
Base of the Crux to the Lake	1:00	1.0
Lake to the TH	0:58	3.0
TOTAL	6:18	9.4

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