Our Hike of Mt. Princeton - Altitude 14,197 Feet
Photos and Video of Our Ascent Via The Standard Route; 5-Month-Old Baby Zach's First 14er - August 29, 2009
Mt. Princeton! Considering I have a web site dedicated to photographing this mountain daily,
www.mtprinceton.org,
another climb was probably in order after
ascending this mountain five years ago.
Now if you are seeking a Colorado Rocky Mountain experience in relative solitude, hiking a popular 14er
like Mt. Princeton on a summer weekend is not the best idea.
The mountain was packed with people throughout the trail and summit, and I estimate we saw about
100 people on this day.
This year, I have become spoiled from my hikes of
little known 13ers and
12ers in the area. Usually I
had entire mountain summits to myself and it was rare to see anyone during my excursions.
Ah but the big deal about today's adventure was
this was Baby Zach's first Colorado 14er. My dear friends Derek and Anna carried
their 5-month-old, 17-pound baby in a backpack. What a feat to carry all that
weight on a rigorous 14er like Mt. Princeton! The entire
middle section includes various photos of the proud parents with Zach,
along with Grandpa Harvey, Chief the dog and yours truly. :)
Basic Information / How To Get there: Visit 14ers.com for specific directions & trail information.
We hiked the standard route to reach Mt. Princeton. We drove past the radio towers on Mt. Princeton Road
in a 4-wheel-drive high clearance vehicle and parked 0.5 miles up the road and past the meeting point of the trail and road.
Be advised there are not many
places past the radio towers to do a 3-point turn for turning around -
you may have to drive all the way to the end of the road to make a safe
turn around in the area sometimes referred to as Bristlecone Park. Again, Harvey parked and was able to do a
five-point turn approximately 0.5 miles "uproad" from the trailhead.
Thanks for checking out my photos and video below!
All the best, Steve
Contact:
Twitter: @stevegarufi
Facebook Fan Page: ColoradoGuy.com Fan Page
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The Hike Along The Way
The view of the narrow road at the trailhead.
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Before the hike began, I captured numerous photos of cute baby Zach! :) |
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At the beginning of our ascent, I continued to capture photos
of Mt. Princeton as we walked ever so slowly toward the summit. You gotta love the views!
Notice the colorful foliage in the middle picture. The colors are definitely changing in earnest at altitudes over 12,000 feet.
Do you see the hikers in the bottom photo on the left? |
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Once on the trail, the stunning view of the upper Arkansas River Valley,
including Buena Vista, Johnson Village and
Nathrop, are always just a turn back away.
The gentleman in red was a friendly man we met who lives in the Netherlands. :)
Now doesn't it look like Dad was struggling with carrying his son in the right photo? Well ... |
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... Mom took over lugging their 17-pound baby for awhile. Very nice photo! |
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Up to the ridge we traveled and rested. From there, we had nice views of
Chalk Creek Canyon and
all the mountains to the south.
Mt. Antero is the largest and pointed peak on the right. |
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Again Derek took over the job of carrying Zach. Now let me tell you,
I have a lot of respect for Derek and Anna. Zach weighs 17 pounds and the backpack was 3.7 pounds.
That means Derek and Anna, who took turns carrying Zach, had an extra 20+ POUNDS on their back as
they ascended this huge mountain! Near the end of our hike at the very bottom, I carried Zach
and was shocked at how heavy he was - my back slumped for the 1/2 mile I walked with Zach.
There is no way I could have carried him all the way to the summit!
I say all this to say... Yes, Derek looks very tired and exasperated in the adjacent photo, but cut this man some slack! :p) |
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Three photos of Mt. Princeton as we walked slowly toward the summit.
Notice the people in each photo to help provide a scale of the size of this mountain. :) |
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Another photo looking on the other side of the ridge.
Occasionally hikers foolishly opt to walk down into this gulch, intending to reach the base of Chalk Creek Canyon
in the vicinity of Agnes Vaille Falls, the
Mt. Princeton Campground and the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. Don't do it!
Most of the time hikers are unable to get down because of the intense steepness
below and a search and rescue is called. In such cases, hikers, if they want to
get out alive, will be required to hike all the way back up to this ridge and then descend
via the Mt. Princeton Trail and Mt. Princeton Road. There ... you've been warned! |
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Looking back at some of the trail. That tall peak is the "left hump" among
the three humps of Mt. Princeton typically seen from Buena Vista and elsewhere. Some of my maps
name that mountain "Tigger Peak" - altitude ~13,300 feet.
Such a beautiful mountain, but because it doesn't reach the
major number of 14,000+ feet,
it is largely ignored by the climbing community. |
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Trudging up, the beautiful view to the east was a good excuse to briefly rest and take a picture. :) |
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One final grunt to the top!
Like I said above, if you are seeking peace and quiet, you can forget about it! Don't climb a 14er on a summer weekend. Instead pick
a relatively unknown 13er or 12er that doesn't have a trail or name.
Now if you're a major "people person," well then, that's a different story. ;)
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Scenery on Mt. Princeton's Summit
The view to the southwest. The rocky and gray peak on the right is Unnamed Point 13,451 feet.
Beyond that peak is a gulch / watershed known as Grouse Canyon.
Upon researching it, I've learned there is another reasonable way to ascend Mt. Princeton via this canyon.
The climb begins somewhere at the base of Chalk Creek Canyon,
above Cascade Falls and below Alpine, and travels
up through Grouse Canyon. Once one reaches the ridge,
it is a rocky but doable walk along the western ridge of Mt. Princeton as seen in this photo. If I ever climb this mountain again,
I intend to utilize this alternative route!
Also... the St. Elmo Ghost Town can be seen
in the canyon on the left. See where the two canyons meet and there's a break in the trees? That's
St. Elmo! :) |
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Facing south.
TOP: The Mt. Princeton Campground, the dirt parking lot of Agnes Vaille Falls and the
old railroad grade can be clearly seen way down below.
BOTTOM: This topic came up among climbers at the summit. Which mountain is which? I have the answers:
1) Mt. Ouray alt. 13,971'
2) Mt. Shavano alt. 14,229'
3) Mt. Antero alt. 14,269'
4) Tabeguache Peak alt. 14,155'
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Facing southeast looking toward
Salida, CO and the northern edge of the
Sangre De Cristo Mountains. |
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I love this shot! To the southeast-east, one can see much of the trail way down there! |
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Two photos looking east.
TOP: I zoomed-in as much as possible to capture
Pikes Peak distinctly showing it western face. That's about 80 to 90 miles in distance!
BOTTOM: A close-up view of
Johnson Village, Highways 24 & 285 leading to
Trout Creek Pass and much of the
topography of the South Park region of Park County. |
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Facing northeast, the view of the town center of Buena Vista, CO is on the right in the top photo.
The Buffalo Peaks are in center of each photo
with other peaks comprising of the Mosquito Range beyond.
Since there is space here, below are some decent 14ers I've climbed recently:
South Elbert
Mt. Sneffels
La Plata Peak
Huron Peak
Mt. Elbert
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To the north, a plethora of peaks with
Mt. Yale the most prominent and closest in the foreground. |
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Two photos facing the northwest. I must comment at length about these peaks.
These mountains located west of Mt. Princeton, on or near the
Continental Divide and between
Cottonwood Pass and
Tincup Pass are my sentimental favorites. This is "my backyard" so to speak.
None of these beautiful 13ers get the respect they deserve because they don't reach that oh so magic number of 14,000 feet. But
that's okay, because I can enjoy them more for myself! ;)
The peaks (all of which I've climbed) and sites are:
1) Emma Burr Mountain (alt. 13,544')
2) Mt. Kreutzer (alt. 13,095')
3) Jones Mountain (alt. 13,221')
4) Cottonwood Pass (alt. 12,095') is just out of sight behind those hills.
5) Turner Peak (alt. 13,232')
BOTTOM: A zoom-in that includes a better view of Emma Burr Mountain front center.
See the trail closer up? That is the trail on the east side of the ridge
which leads to Poplar Gulch.
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I signed the guest log. I don't know why I do this sometimes, but I like showing off the log in a photo.
Plenty of people from
Denver and the Front Range on the mountain today. :)
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