Posts Tagged ‘Mt. Meeker’

Mountaineering – Mt. Meeker (2nd Attempt via South Ridge)

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

Renewed Hope For Summit
Tilden on South Ridge of Mt. Meeker

Clare on Summit of Meeker (13,860 ft)
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!

Mt. Meeker Ridge Route
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?

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Mountaineering – Mt. Meeker (Attempt)

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Clare Experiencing a Mountain High
Wake Up Time: 3:50am
Meet Up Time: 5am
Start Hiking: 5:15am
Turn Around Time: 9:45am
Finish Time: 1pm
Total Distance: About 8 Miles (See Topo below!)
Mt Meeker Topo and Profile
CMC Group met at the Longs Peak Ranger Station. Leader crossed names off a list, and we waited for one gal who was about 10 minutes late. When she arrived, we took off hiking.

Not knowing about the team capabilities (except mine & Linda’s) prior to our hike made me a little nervous. I had to trust the leader Steve had a rough idea. This trip was completely the opposite of the prior CMC trip I had attended, which was executed with a militaristic degree of efficiency and planning. Steve’s leadership is a laid back and all-inclusive style.

Our group was a hodge podge assortment of personalities. Quotes from my fellow climbers later that day:
“I’ll make it to the top even if I have to crawl on all fours!”
“Oh, don’t mind him, he’s an engineer…I’ve been out with him before and he’s always like this.” (referring to above quote!).
“What am I going to tell the guys when they find out we didn’t summit?”
“I don’t understand why we have to start this early. When I did Quandary, we didn’t start hiking until 10am and we had a wonderful day!”
And, my favorite…
“I haven’t been running for a month. I threw my back out playing with my daughter.”

Pictures as follows: (more…)