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Hallett PeakMay 26, 2007 - Tyndall Glacier - Snow
We planned to take a shot at Hallett Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, via a series of couloirs on its north face. I had spotted this route, christened the Krishna Cutoff by the writer of a portion of the Summitpost.org page for Hallett Peak and thought that since we had experienced such a good snow year, it would be in shape. The route promised steep snow, exposure, and a longish approach to help get the legs in shape.
We took a break at the top of the ridge and then climbed to the summit of Hallett Peak, a summit I had reached perhaps 4 or 5 years before but one that he had not yet accomplished. We looked around and then decided to retrace out route to the top of the glacier, skirt the edge of the snowfield and then cut across the reverse slope of Flattop to climb Ptarmigan Point. this short climb would give us a view into the valley forming the north flank of Flattop and the couloirs associated with that mountain and Notchtop Mountain as well. Perhaps 45 minutes to an hour later we reached the top of Ptarmigan Point and then set off again toward the rounded back of Flattop and down its eastern slope. The trail was exposed where the wind could clear it but much of the route down to tree line was still covered. We reached tree line and battled our way down through the trees until we reached clear trail just 1/2 mile from Bear Lake. The snow in the trees was rutted, cut up, cratered, but still strong enough to support our weight without snowshoes, which we brought along in case of soft snow. We lunched at Ed's Cantina in Estes Park, which was flush with tourists as this was Memorial Day weekend. Hunger satisfied, we were back to Cheyenne a mere 14 hours after we left. |