Our Centennial Celebration Climb for the CMC 100 year anniversary was a resounding success! Here we are soaking in the sun on the summit of Pigeon Peak (13,972 ft).
Front: Linda (Co-Leader), Clare (Trip Leader), Steve
Back: Nancy, Jeff, Georgia, and Erin (Leader In Training!).
On the Summit of Turret Peak (13,835 ft)
The San Juan mountains are so remote my cell phone was confused and thought we were in the Pacific Time Zone. As a result, my phone did not sound the alarm at 3:30am. We were supposed to leave base camp at 4am and instead Erin and I were dozing in sweet slumber.
Finally, my team decided they had waited long enough and (thankfully) came to wake us up. At 4:10, Erin and I jumped to action. We got dressed and grabbed some food and suddenly we were vertical…and moving forward. Since I was the trip leader, this was a particularly bad way to start summit day.
I apologized profusely to everybody and even showed them my stupid cell phone. I’m happy they woke me up instead of just going for the summit sans leader! I felt even worse because Erin didn’t get to eat breakfast and deprived of food, it really affected her hiking. At 4:15am I can’t eat much of anything except maybe fruit and pretzels, so it wasn’t a huge bother to me, food wise.
We headed up the slope to the saddle between Turret and Pigeon in total pitch black. I was very happy we had scouted out the first hour of the hike. However, somehow we still managed to take a wrong turn!
We turned left into a very steep gully, when we should have turned right, and ended up doing some rather sketchy 3rd class scree climbing. But, lucky for us, this path put us on a high rib of boulders which eventually ended up almost level with the saddle.
I was relieved when we saw the saddle. Everybody had fun crossing the boulder field and watching Pigeon change hue as daylight arrived. It was now 7am and we had been hiking for 2.5 hours.
Pigeon Peak at 7am
Erin making a snarky face in response to me teasing her about breakfast, or the lack thereof.
Nancy and Jeff descending the saddle, on the corkscrew path around to the south side of Pigeon. You want to aim for the light colored rock, where there is a notch in the ridge. Just below where the reddish rock ends. It’s a tricky hike, because you go a couple thousand feet to the saddle and then almost immediately lose all that elevation as you wrap around the South side of Pigeon!
Linda and Erin descending from the notch, after about 3.5 hours of hiking (from camp in Ruby Creek Basin). We still had several hundred feet of elevation to drop before we could start ascending the south slopes of Pigeon.
Looking at the southwest slopes of Pigeon. At 8am, after about 4 hours of hiking.
At 9:30am, looking back down at the grassy slopes we ascended. We came up from the left side of the frame.
Another view of where we came from, taken at 9:30am…looking even more south. You can see the shadow Pigeon Peak is making as the sun is rising!
Looking up from the same spot (at 9:30am). Erin, our Leader In Training, takes a turn at route finding. We head up the boulders and turn right towards the summit from here.
Linda ready to traverse the crux. If it was wet or icy, this little sidewalk might be difficult. But bone dry, it’s a piece of cake.
Jeff assisting Steve and Linda to Pigeon Peak Summit
Summit of Pigeon Peak!!! Woo-hoo!!! After about 6 hours of hiking, we were happy hikers!
Yoga at 13,972 feet!
Trip Leader Clare Being Teased by the Grenadier Mountains in the background. Vestal, Arrow, and Trinity just waiting to be climbed!
Erin Descending Pigeon Peak
Looking Back at the 3rd class scramble to Pigeon Peak Summit. What fun we had going up!!! Erin happy to have bagged a peak.
Hiking Back up to the Pigeon Turret Saddle. It’s 1:25pm, we’ve been hiking for 9 hours. Turret Peak is taunting us. Clouds came and went and we hurried along to the saddle. I hoped the rains would hold off in time for us to bag the peak.
Signing the Turret Peak Register. Yay! We made it…now time to boogie back to camp!
Jeff on the summit of Turret Peak
Nancy Smiling on Turret Peak
Georgia Happy to Knock Turret Off Her Quickly Diminishing List of Centennials
Linda on Top of Turret!
Steve Smiling Big Time on Top of Turret
Pigeon Peak From the Top of Turret Peak
The sun briefly came out and then blackish looking clouds swept over us. It was like one of those crazy sci-fi movies, minus the creepy music. We hauled booty off the top of Turret and just as we were approaching the saddle, the heavens opened up. I pulled out my poncho just in time. We had hail and then driving rain.
About 45 minutes later, the rain let up and the sun came back. Thank goodness! Some of the rocks descending the saddle were a bit wet and slick, but pretty soon we found the trail and conditions became less treacherous.
Here’s Erin with a Snow Dolphin! We couldn’t believe this naturally occurring formation. Neato!
Taking a short snack break before heading the last 1000 ft down to camp.
Can you see the little colored dots in the meadow? If so, those are our tents!
Walking Eastward, back to our tents in the meadow of Ruby Creek Basin.
Pigeon & Turret Team Summiters! Whoop Whoop!
CMC Social Hour in Ruby Creek Basin!
Kent & Doris, Georgia, Erin & Clare in front, Steve, Joe, Linda, Jeff, Nancy, and Tom. Everybody except Tom climbed Pigeon and Turret. Tom had knee issues and thought it was best to be basecamp support. Kent & Doris & Joe also climbed Monitor and Peak 13. They are amazing!
Tags: Centennial Celebration, Centennials, CMC, Pigeon Peak, Turret Peak