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Uncompahgre PeakJuly 20, 2000 - South Ridge Hike Trail
Wetterhorn down, Uncompahgre to go. I caught a decent dinner the night before at a steak joint in Lake City and then headed back to Chateau Mosquito for the night. I wanted to be up early because I knew I had 4 miles of Nellie Creek road to cover to get to the Uncompahgre trailhead. I did not know much about this road but I could see from the map that there was a Forest Service shitter at the terminus, so it could not be too bad. I hit the road at dawn and with the exception of a rutted out hairpin about 2 1/2 miles up, the road was not bad. There were a slew of folks camped at the trailhead and sure enough a well maintained shitter which once again speaks for the ability or willingness of the USFS to drive the track to service the facility. The trail to Uncompahgre was obvious and headed on up the valley toward the South Ridge of the peak. At the head of the valley it climbed onto the shoulder of the peak and then switchbacked up to meander onto the back or west side of the mountain. The route took a couloir through the cliff band and requires a short scramble to surmount the cliffs before wandering across some gently sloped terrain to reach the summit. I was not alone on top but met three other climbers, one of whom was standing atop his first 14’er. Uncompahgre was not a hard peak for me by any means but more of one of those steady walks that put me on top and back to the base with lots of time to spare in the afternoon.
(See also a snow climb of the West Side Couloir route in May of 2009)
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