Distance: ~16 miles (round-trip)
Elevation Gain: 5,250 feet
Class 5.4
July 6 – 8, 2021
Day 1 – Train, and Approach to Vestal Basin.
The weather was perfect today. Becca dropped Brian and me off at the Durango-Silverton Railroad at 7:30, and we had an enjoyable train ride to Elk Park, where we disembarked at 11:20. The Colorado Trail was very scenic, following above Vestal Creek, with fleeting views of Vestal and Arrow as we approached the beaver ponds. We took a long break at the main pond, to eat lunch and enjoy the scenery.
Turning beyond this, the climber’s trail leading across the creek and up the opposite slope was much rougher, as expected. But it was a trail, and it did a good job of getting us higher in elevation quickly. Brian started feeling it around 10,000 feet, and the altitude really slowed him down the rest of the day. Still, we arrived and set up camp at the end of the long meadow in front of Wham Ridge, after 6.6 miles (by my GPS), and a little after 6pm. After some rest, he was feeling much better, and I was feeling great as well. We set up our tents next to the flowing water at 11,400 feet, and had an awesome evening at camp in paradise.
We enjoyed our Mountain House meals, talked about life and strategized for tomorrow’s climb as we watched the last of the evening alpenglow fade atop Wham.
It was a glorious day. Clouds built around us, but never amounted to anything, and we were able to fully focus on the climbing—and the awesome scenery.
Then there was the false summit…
… and the final scramble to the top.
The summit view was fantastic.
We arrived at 12:10 and stayed only a short time, because we knew we still had a lot of work ahead of us.
We found Vestal Peak’s routes to be exactly as described by those who have done it before us. Wham Ridge was a blast, and consisted of sustained class 3, 4 and 5 climbing—and the descent of the southeast couloir was as AWFUL as Wham Ridge was AWESOME. No one we’ve heard from has anything good to say about this nasty loose descent—and neither do we.
Still, we made tedious but good time down the mountain, arriving back at camp around 3:30 this afternoon.
We had a nice relaxing evening at camp, continuing to admire the scenery, rest, and reorganize gear for tomorrow’s hike back to the train.
What a spectacular day!
My wife often accuses me of being a “destination hiker,” because I always seem to be in a hurry to get to where I am going. In Colorado, that is usually for a reason—I am rushing to beat thunderstorms, trying to get a summit, or on a deadline to get out of the mountain. Today was so not that. We took our time in everything we did, and still had plenty of time to relax and just enjoy the wilderness all day. It was fantastic.
We took long breaks on the hike out, including a half hour sit at the beaver ponds. It was room temperature, the birds chirping, not a breath of wind, and a beautiful clear sky above the majestic Vestal and Arrow Peaks, which were reflected in the calm water. This is where I want to retire.
The remainder of the hike was simply the Colorado Trail back to Elk Park, where we ended up at 10:30—over three hours ahead of our scheduled pickup. We took off our packs and hiking boots and sat under the shade of the spruces next to the Animas River, admiring the cliffs on the opposite bank and debating about crossing the river to go exploring. I did venture into the water a couple times, but no further.
Gear Notes: 50 meter rope was perfect. Took liberal amount of gear and used most of it: full set of cams + doubles of .5 and .75, full set of nuts. Used all cams from .3 through 3–especially .5 and .75. Used nuts: 3, 5, 6, 7, 10–especially 5 and 6. Also: 12 alpine draws, 2 single length slings, 4 double length slings and 2 cordalettes.