4/28/03 – Grizzly Peak & UN 13,117 (a.k.a. "Cupid") – Northwest Ridges

5.4 miles, 3130 feet


This was Erin's and my first time with an official FourteenerWorld outing. The participants (for all or part of the climb) were Steve Hoffmeyer, Terri Horvath, Brian Emerson, Josh Lorton, Joe Glass, Ken Nolan, Kurt Traskos, Mark Fisher, Erin Burr, and myself.

Kurt, Erin, and I were late, arriving right at 7:00 a.m., and the three of us hastily threw on our gear, as the rest stood around and chatted. Terri advised us to leave the snowshoes behind unless we were planning on ascending Torreys. This surprised me (Loveland Ski Area reported receiving 39" of snow during the previous five days), but I gladly left my shoes behind.

I'm hoping we hit the trail by 7:30, but I really wasn't keeping track. Though I'm not too experienced with such large groups, I thought we made great time up the initial 1000' climb to UR 12,915 (I use UR (short for unranked) to denote summits that show up on quads with a precise elevation, despite being unranked). We had bright blue skies above, though the wind was bitter at times (at least to me!), seemingly unlike the conditions Rob experienced across the Blue River Valley that day on Quandary Peak. Quandary was in view from the Divide the whole day as were many Tenmile-Mosquitos, the Gores, Longs, Pikes, The Citadel and various other Front Range representatives, and of course Torreys and Grays. Also impressive was the ridge from Grizzly to Lenawee Mountain, which will probably lure me back for a third class ridge adventure someday.

From here, one can turn north to head to Skiktau, but our intinerary took us southeast and to the rounded mass of UN 13,117. I think Gerry Roach may have dubbed this ranked thirteener "Cupid" because it sort of resembles a heart, but I admit I'm only guessing. We took a break near "Cupid's" summit. I brought up that it was a ranked thirteener, but I think the thought got lost in the myriad conversations going on during this break, as the whole group bypassed "Cupid" on the way to Grizzly, myself excepted.

I caught back up with the rest as we made the descent to the first of two saddles that remained between us and Grizzly Peak. The drops to these saddles afforded some tiny glissades (if you can even call them that!), which were enjoyable nonetheless. Near the first saddle we noticed a well-built base camp, complete with ice blocks for shelter from the wind. It looked a bit excessive, especially for something so close to Loveland Pass, but we were to find out the reason behind the camp shortly.

We came over the top of UR 12,936, and noticed a party ahead of us already making their way up Grizzly. Kurt and I led the way up the final 600 feet to Grizzly, reaching the other climbing party in quick time. A group of teenagers and one leader comprised the party. The teens were visibly tired and taking a break. The leader and sole elder among the group told us they were members of a junior alpine program, and he was training the teens for a July climb of Mount Rainier, hence the base camp.

We summitted Grizzly after 2 3/4 hours, including several extended social breaks. We took another break on the summit, continuing good conversation and enjoying our food. The Rainier group summitted as we were preparing to leave. Just then Mark Fisher arrived -- he had gotten a late start and worked hard to catch up to us. He, Josh, and Joe geared up to continue over to Torreys. They had around 8 miles, 1600' of gain, and some 5200' of descent ahead of them before they reached the Bakerville exit and their car shuttle.

The rest of us began the ridge walk back to Loveland Pass. We were about halfway down the initial descent off Grizzly, when Terri said, "Where's Kurt?" Kurt had indeed slipped off, unbeknownst to anyone. When he appeared above us, we all assumed he had answered nature's call, and most of us took off. But Kurt called to us, saying we should wait. Once he got to us, we found out that Kurt had busted his pants, which had long been on their last leg (haha). I dashed off to see if Terri or Steve, who were ahead of the rest of us, had any duct tape. Terri didn't, but she amazingly had a spare pair of pants, which fit Kurt nicely. This little stop gave Joe Glass the chance to catch back up with us. He had changed his mind about going on to Torreys.

As Kurt was changing his pants, I ran ahead to Steve, who was atop UR 12,936 and surely bewildered at the group's lack of progress, to tell him about Kurt. He had spotted Ken Nolan descending Grizzly during his wait. Ken, a superhuman, and all-around nice guy had *started* at the Bakerville exit, ascended Torreys, and was making his way along the Divide to join us. Steve had promised him a ride back down from Loveland Pass. Among many achievements, Ken is founder of the Nolan's 14, the famed multi-day, non-stop Sawatch 14er traverse. Ken also has fewer ranked 12ers left on his list than I do 14ers! Unbelievable!

But Ken had yet to make the first saddle, so our group summitted "Cupid" and waited for him there. As we waited, I pulled out thebinoculars and saw that Mark and Josh were a few hundred feet above the Grizzly-Torreys saddle and making good progress. Ken arrived and reported a laborious ascent through Steven's Gulch. The last set of tracks he had seen ended at around 10,800', leaving him to break trail the rest of the way. Hopefully, Josh and Mark were take of advantage of Ken's efforts.

We left "Cupid" and made our way back to the pass. It was good to get moving because some clouds had rolled in, and the wind had picked up. Snowboarders and skiers had taken over the bowls near Loveland Pass, and the pass itself was a zoo upon our return.

Last on the agenda was food and drink at Tommyknockers in Idaho Springs. Ken joined us for a beverage, and he was able help Joe make some plans for Monday. Joe was in Colorado for a long weekend away from his home in New Mexico and was hoping to bag a fourteener the next day. Joe was good enough to join us in Idaho Springs even though he was staying in Breckenridge.

There were many laughs to be had, as Tommyknockers filled our bellies with good food.

I was glad to meet all these folks from the forum. It's always great to match some faces with some names, and I enjoyed talking with everyone.

It lifted my spirits to spend a day in the mountains again. I can tell I'm in full-on summer mode. Two weeks between trips felt like an eternity after spending Easter weekend in Denver!

Many thanks to Steve and Terri for organizing this hike!