Uncompahgre Pk – East Slopes

Date: July 20, 2005
Elevation: 14,309′
Rank: 6th
Route: East Slopes, Grade I, Class 2, 7.8 miles, 2870ft vert.
GPS: N 38° 04.333′ W 107° 27.767′
Team: Matt Esser (Toid), Rick Esser (Dad)

Pre-climb: My parents had rented a cabin in Lake City for the week and invited Colleen and myself down to join them. How could I pass that up!? On top of that, my dad wanted to climb Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn since they were so close and not too intimidating. So while Denver would be having record heat, Colleen and I were enjoying the cool mountain air of the San Juans…

Climb: The drive to Lake City was pretty uneventful. Colleen and I left Denver at 6:30pm (while it still was 101° F) and by midnight we were too tired to drive anymore and so we stopped in Gunnison at a hotel for a quick nap. Our 5am wakeup call came way too quickly and we were off to the cabin to pick up my dad and head for Nellie Creek.

The worst part of the 4×4 road up Nellie Creek is right at the beginning off of Engineer Pass. It’s a really beautiful drive that included a waterfall or two, a couple river crossings and not too bad of a road. My dad and I arrived at the trailhead around 7:30am. Fifteen minutes later we were geared up and my dad was climbing his first 14er!

We were blessed with amazingly blue skies, cool weather and a faint wind. Soon after starting, the trees give way to a small hill that’s a little rocky but easy to navigate through. Once on top and past Nellie Creek one is greeted by what lies ahead: Uncompahgre Peak in full view. What an interesting mountain!

From the beginning of the basin to the ridge, the hike is very pleasant and gains elevation surprisingly quickly for how gentle it is in steepness. Soon enough we were on the ridge and decided to take a short break and eat some snacks. We were taking the hike pretty slowly since my dad just arrived from Oklahoma and I hadn’t had much sleep, but both of us were feeling great and in fact I was probably holding my dad back! It’s fantastic to have such great weather so as not to have to worry about anything other than enjoying yourself, and remembering why you get out and climb.

After gaining the ridge, there are a couple switchbacks up a rocky area that are a little steeper than the previous miles, but it’s not bad at all. We made our way around to the crux (getting up the cliffs at around 13,900′) and worked our way up the solid rock to the final hike up the enormous summit.

Once on top we found a group of people who were really excited about being on top and high fives were exchanged all around. The views are amazing and it’s so hard to tell what’s a fourteener with so many high peaks around. It took us 3.5 hours, and that was hiking at a very slow pace. We signed the summit register and then took some time to lean over the incredible drop off on the north face and then wondered around the giant summit looking at all the wind shelters and even the cement blocks. How that got there is probably only known by the marmots. Or “whistle pigs” as my dad calls them.

My dad then met somebody on the summit that went to high school in Oklahoma and was only one year apart which reminds us how small the world can be sometimes. However, we didn’t want to take any chances with the building clouds in monsoon season so we headed back down.

On our way down it amazed me how many people were still hiking up. The clouds were getting dark, and now it was noon and it’s amusing because you can tell what shape the hiker is in based on the question they ask. For instance, if as I’m descending and they are ascending, they ask me, “How’s the crux?” Chances are they know the mountain and wanted the important first-hand beta. On the other side of things, hikers that aren’t doing as good usually say something like, “How much further?” or my favorite…”Do you have any water?” Haha…still ascending and already out of water…that’s not very good planning! We saw a lot of the latter group as we worked back down the trail.

By the time we arrived in the basin, it started to sprinkle a bit and we ran into a group of hikers that were planning to camp overnight. After a quick water break we then made quick work of the final mile and were back to the car in 2.5 hours.

Uncompahgre would make a great first 14er and IMHO one of the easiest. Not to mention it’s in the breathtaking San Juans.

Drive: 6.25h
Ascent: 3.75h
Summit: 30 min
Descent: 2.5h
Drive: 45 min
Total: 6.75h