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  • Mt. Bierstadt Group Summit - Front Range, Colorado
  • A rest before the summit push on Dallas Peak - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Broken Ankle + 6 Miles = Tired
  • The classic San Juan approach - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Overlooking Noname Basin from Twin Thumbs Pass - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Upper Noname Basin - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Nearing Noname Cabin - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Twin Thumbs Twins - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Nearing the summit of Pt. 13,736 - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Blustery day on Iowa Peak - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Morning snow at 15k, Cerro Ramada - Cordillera Ramada
  • Artesonraju from the summit of Nevado Pisco - Cordillera Blanca, Peru
  • February crowds on Gray's Peak - Front Range, Colorado
  • Kicking steps on Cerro Lliani - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
  • Final traverse to the summit of Wheeler Mountain - Ten Mile Range, Colorado
  • The long walk to Pachanta - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
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    Afternoon at 17k on Cerro Ramada - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
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    The final ridge on Iowa Peak - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Summer summit on Longs Peak - Front Range, Colorado
  • A rest day at the Pachanta Hot Springs - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
  • Mind over matter on Mt. Parnassas - Front Range, Colorado
  • Rest stop on Cerro Lliani - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
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    Post nap surprise on Cerro Ramada - Cordiller Ramada, Argentina
  • Summit on Cerro Lliani - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
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    Ridge walking on Grizzly Peak - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Enroute the summit via the West Ridge on Pacific Peak - Ten Mile Range, Colorado
  • Mule train bound for Chilca - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
  • Taking in the view from Fletcher Peak - Ten Mile Range, Colorado
  • Hiking on Silverheels - Mosquito Range, Colorado
  • Traversing! Gladstone Peak - San Juan Range, Colorado
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    The best of times at Willow Lake - Sangre de Christo Range, Colorado
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    High Altitude Cerebral Edema? - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
  • Bound for Chilca - Vilcanota Range, Peru
  • Going alpine light, Holy Cross Ridge - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Cumbre! Campa I - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
  • Roadside lunch with the best of company - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
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    Long ridge walk to the summit of California Peak - Sangre de Christo Range, Colorado
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    Crossing el Rio Colorado . . . in the afternoon - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
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    Dealing with Fall snows high on Casco Peak - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Moonrise over Mercedario - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
  • Still climbing at 20,900 on Cerro Ramada - Cordiller Ramada, Argentina
  • Talus on Halo Ridge, Mt. of the Holy Cross - Sawatch Range, Colorado
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    Deteriorating conditions on Mt. Arkansas - Ten Mile Range, Colorado
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    After the climb - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
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    Taking in the view from the summit of Crystal Peak - Tenmile Range, Colorado
  • Topping out on Mt. Arkansas' North Couloir - Mosquito Range, Colorado
  • Glissade on Mt. Arkansas - Mosquito Range, Colorado
  • Hard snow morning on Teakettle Mountain - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Spring snow announces the start of the climb on Dallas Peak - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Crossing the Eolus Catwalk - San Juan Range, Colorado

Mount Princeton

May 23, 2000 - Mount Princeton from Merriam Creek

 

After climbing Huron and getting some dinner in Buena Vista, I headed up the road to the antenna array on the flank of Mount Princeton.   The road up was not bad and was suitable for an AWD vehicle.  The route leaves the scout camp and winds its way steadily up the flank of the mountain and after a couple of hard switchbacks and sections of rutted road, one gets to the array at 10,820 feet.  True to guidebook philosophy, there was no point in going beyond this point as a large snowdrift blocked the road about ½ mile beyond the obvious parking areas.  Rather than drive the road again in the morning, I picked a flat suitable for car camping and set up the tent for the night.  I was the only one camped there that night but it was early in the season and there were certainly signs of later high season popularity.

I hit the trail before dawn in the interest of crossing the little remaining snow while it was still frozen.  My drive up from Buena Vista the night before had indicated that the only snow would be in three snowfields remaining on the north-facing flank of the peak after leaving the road but before reaching the final saddle before the summit climb.  I headed up the road, crossing snow drifts blocking the switch backed turns, and cut off the road where the trail was indicated both on the map and by an obvious cairn on the side of the route.  Up and over a small saddle and then I traversed along the north flank, hiking well traveled trail to and between the snowfield crossings.  The snow was hard for the morning crossings and I was certainly not the first to cross as older frozen tracks were left from previous day’s climbers. 

The summit cone rises from the point where the trail intersects the saddle connecting the summit and the adjacent 13,286 point.  I was feeling the second day climbing “tireds” but with a steady slog, I made the summit on a sunny Sawatch day.  A bite to eat and I headed down, crossing snowfields that were now semi postholing country but not quite “squeezing water” unsafe.  With three fields behind me, I just took the tourist trail home and arrived back at the car about 7 hours after leaving, not having seen another climber all day.