Tilden on South Ridge of Mt. Meeker
Clare on the East Summit of Mt. Meeker
On my birthday, Tilden treated me to a planned excursion up the South Ridge of Mt. Meeker. I met him at his place, in Boulder, at 4am. I was excited to be attempting a peak on my birthday, but the 3am wake up time put a bit of a damper on the start of the day. Oh well, such is the life of a *safe* mountaineer!
Our Intended Route
We drove up to Nederland and then headed north. We were both excited to climb Meeker. I had already attempted it once before, but from the Long’s Peak trailhead and in fall.
We were not sure what we would find on the south ridge, in terms of accumulated snow. Would we need the ice ax, crampons, or both? Would we need pickets or ice pro?
The trailhead road was a bit hard to find, but luckily, Tilden had a map which showed us exactly where to go. We drove through a collection of cabins, down a private road to the trailhead. It took about 10 minutes from the main road.
Trail Head, For South Ridge of Mt. Meeker, with space for 2-3 cars
Diminutive RMNP Sign, as seen about 5 minutes into the hike.
As we left the trailhead, we noted brisk temperatures and were grateful. The drifts of snow we soon encountered were easily walked over at that early hour. No post-holing…yet!
The first 2 hours of our hike was spent steeply ascending through the forest. The trail disappeared about 30 minutes into our hike and we were left weaving our way around, over, and through very large drifts of snow.
Here’s Tilden Navigating the Snow Drifts on the way to the ridge
When we reached the Ridge, we were relieved. Another 30 minutes of navigating drifts and we were finally out on the ridge proper. The ridge was almost completely clear of snow.
The hike turned into boulder hopping and I was thrilled. No more snow, yay!
Looking towards Boulder from Meeker’s South Ridge (About 3.5 hours into our hike)
Looking up from the same spot as the previous picture! Tilden progressing up the ridge.
Around 9:30am, we were wondering if the summit was a possibility. It was continually being cloaked in clouds. Winds were fairly calm, with the occasional burst of 20mph gusts. We were very fortunate to have such mild weather on the ridge, as other trip reports mention much worse and my last experience on Meeker was extremely dangerous.
One hour after the last picture, it cleared up! We were both excited, once again, for the summit!
One Happy Birthday Girl
The Indian Peaks Wilderness were not so fortunate with weather! It was completely socked in all morning.
After 5.5 hours of climbing, we are finally approaching the East Summit of Mt. Meeker
Looking Back Down the South Ridge of Meeker, from the same spot as the last picture.
Whereas I was thrilled to be out bouldering on Meeker, Tilden had been looking forward to snow climbing. A few times, he purposely diverted from the ridge, just to have an excuse to use the ax. The snow was compact and firm, enough to warrant crampons and/or an ax.
Tilden carving out some steps with the ax.
At noon, we attained the East Summit of Mt. Meeker. Behind Tilden and to the left is the West, and true, summit of Mt. Meeker. To the right of Tilden, is Long’s Peak in all it’s glory!
Time to Celebrate!
We started going across the ridge to the west summit of Mt. Meeker, but the rock was coated with verglass. I felt it was unsafe, given the lateness of the day and also my lack of experience climbing over icy objects, to progress any further. We decided to descend and savor our success with the East Summit.
View towards the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Finally, it was clearing up over there!
On the way down, the snow softened and was perfect for boot skiing. We decided to leave the ridge much earlier and boot ski down the side.
We dropped 1000 ft of elevation in about 10 minutes. SUPER FUN!
Tilden at the bottom of the boot ski.
Since we left the ridge early, the crux was to traverse the side of ridge and bisect the trail. If we missed the trail, then we’d end up on the road and have to walk down the road and back up to the car. Tilden and I consulted the topo map several time and used expert judgment to ensure we were able to connect with the trail.
Can you believe it, we hit the trail at the most perfect spot! We were both thrilled beyond belief. Had we changed any of our prior decisions, it could have turned into one of those epic forced bivy situations (not ideal on one’s birthday!).
Tilden cruising the trail, about 1.5 hours after our boot ski down the side of Mt. Meeker’s South Ridge.
When we got back to the car, we celebrated with some dark chocolate and had a very nice drive back to Boulder. In Tilden’s new Subaru, those country roads were a breeze!
What a remarkable and fun-filled birthday adventure! Thanks to Tilden for planning the trip and for the camaraderie on the climb.
Tags: Meeker Ridge, Mt. Meeker, RMNP, Rocky Mountains