Stoned Again, Naturally…

Newly legalized Cannabis laws notwithstanding, there's more than one way to get "stoned" in the Rocky Mountain state. Come along and get an alternative high with Mark and Bobbie. Yep, Colorado rocks!

 
Take a minute and study the lead photo of Mount Sneffels steepled southwest ridge—like a beautiful woman, so tempting, yet so intimidating. 

There are several routes to climb Lovely Ouray's backyard 14'er, Mount Sneffels (14,150 feet, to be exact), and most of them require Crampons and and ice axe's this time of year. It may be summer and flowered where you are, but we've got a couple more weeks to go in Colorado's alpine country. Then, look out baby, "flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere."

With temps climbing into the 80's and Lovely Ouray all abuzz with ice cream licking tourists, Bobbie and I have been escaping to higher, quieter venues. For this day's hike we motored up to Yankee Boy Basin. It's well known for proliferous wildflowers, but since they aren't up yet it was still pretty quiet. 

Coors Falls

We parked at Yankee Boy's lower basin and began our hike to Wright's Lake and the upper basin. With any luck, we hoped to make it on to Blue Lakes Pass (in the partially hidden gap between the two mountains pictured below).

No snow here!!!

It's greening up, water running in every crevice. Soothing sights and sounds for irritated souls.

We took the Wright's Lake exit… 

Encountered more and more patches of snow…

Then BOOM, the upper basin was ours.

Wright's Lake still has some thawing to do…

That's mighty Mount Sneffels above, hemmed in deep snow.

Blue Lakes Pass is the saddle right of center in the photo below. Looks pretty snowed in, but we move in for a closer look. 

The Needled ridge comes into view. We need to skirt around  its left side to reach Blue Lakes Pass.

Thinking we were all alone, I decided to take a leak. I was enjoying the view when voices began echoing down from on high. Lord, is that you? Finally I spied six tiny ants making their way up the standard approach to Mount Sneffels. You might not be able to make them out in the above photo. I zoomed in and took another shot below. That's a steep route. The climbers were moving extremely slow, and they must have had crampons.
  

We kept at it—hopscotching patchy snow, occasionally breaking through up to knees and thighs—till we reached a vast moraine of giant moss-rock boulders that spilled out from the "standard approach" couloir. A good place for lunch, and to watch interludes of light and shadow play on the Needles.

The "ants" voices echoed out with hoops and hollers as they finally gained the hard-won saddle. There was still another snow filled couloir to negotiate… steeper, with underlying boulders big as houses teetering. Just waiting on gravity and a little nudge from the unwary. It's a dangerous section, so I wished them well.
  

The alternate Needle rout to Mount Sneffels...

Not three hundred yards from Blue Lakes Pass, we were turned back by deep snow. Tail between legs we stumbled and slid off the mountain, vowing to both live and return to fight another day.

Panorama below…. scroll →