I did not realize how important it is in choosing who you go with for extended trips into the backcountry, my usual trips are only a few days long. Your climbing partner and yourself must have a level of understanding that is often beyond friendship, everything needs to jive nicely. Anyway, the Cirque is a spectacular place and having been there now I can relate to the generations of alpine climbers who have a soft spot in their hearts for "The Winds"...
It is an amazing range from the approach standpoint. We drove about 350 miles from Fort Collins, Colorado and the last 50 or so were within view of these tantalizing peaks, they just seem to rise above the plains out of nowhere and it was astonishing:
(photo courtesy of Dan Stone)
It was amazingly dry, warm and windy on the high plains and as we headed higher and into the Winds the landscape changed dramatically. We parked at around 9,000 feet and as soon as we got out of Dan's truck we got attacked by the damn skeets (mosquitos) until we went to sleep that night in the shelter of a tent. I mean those little skeets were dive bombing almost continuously as we hiked in the entire time. Aside from that, the approach to the Cirque went pretty darn smooth. I knew it would be a miserable slog in, and it was, so I packed as light as possible.We hiked in as far as we could the first night after arriving in the late evening, racing to utilize the sunlight as it faded. We made it to Big Sandy Lake, 6 miles from the trailhead and about a thousand feet higher in elevation. We awoke to a magnificent view:
After getting up a bit later than I'd hoped we hit the trail to go higher. We paused for a moment to filter some water and admire the increasingly alpinscape we were encroaching into:
We rounded a bend and caught our first view of a Cirque peak, Pingora (it is the rounded summit in the distance)
When we got over Jackass Pass and entered into the Cirque it was quite a surreal landscape:
Just endless possibilities to climb, scramble and wander amongst these giant pilars and spires.
I could hardly contain my excitement to be there!
Not only was the rock of world class quality, but the snow was excellent, we even saw some cool effects as it recedes into the lakes and streams that foster life in a typically barren wasteland.
It really was like a dream come true...
The subtle rugged, beauty of the landscape quickly made me forget many insignificant things, like how heavy my pack was, money, material goods, drama with people and other silly mindsets that waay too often clutter our thoughts. It was so darn refreshing to have my mind corrected by such simple splendor.
Dan and I were both pretty knackered by the time we found our campsite. It was quick work to make a delicious pasta dinner and take in our new surroundings.
That night we were treated to a superb moon rising. I love how nearly everything about mother nature seems to be amplified in alpine arenas.
So I laid our attack plan to climb Pingora Peak the next day as an introduction for Dan to alpine climbing. We awoke mostly refreshed and I rushed Dan to get ready so we could be on and off the mountain quickly, Pingora from our campsite looked so darn sexy in the morning sun:
When we awoke it was quite cold, but after hiking for awhile the sun got quite hot and we paused to take off layers.
It did not take long to eye-ball our route up, but I made sure we didn't start before I got some alpine swagger.
At one point I had such a stunning little belay station, certainly reminded me of climbing in the Austrian Alps with a little alpine garden beside me.
The view from the top was spectacular, I took a quick video to get it all in, don't mind my silly commentary.
Even the view down towards Lonesome Lake was amazing, I felt like I could watch everything thaw out and a proper spring begin!
It wasn't long before we had to come down, even so I just could not wipe the smile from my face!
As I waited for Dan on one rappel, I could not resist a self-portrait with such a backdrop!
The descent provided an excellent view of Wolfs Head and many of its routes. This peak was next on my list to do in the Cirque, unfortunately Dan wasn't up for it, or climbing anything else for that matter. The proposed route was to follow the awesome knife edge ridge line that doiminates the right side of the photo below. Still, a man can dream, I am sincerely glad these mountains aren't going anywhere either because I will be back for Wolfs Head- fo realzies!
That night was a real bummer of a night. Dan said he would not climb anymore, he was simply not prepared. I was pretty bummed about it.Anyway, aside from that, I could not think of a better place I'd rather have been (even if Dan differed). The morning before we left I hauled ass up a snow slope to the beginning of a couloir, mainly because I wanted to get out of the bright sun and into the shade. Yet another sweet view from high up.
I had some fun front-pointing in my crampons up a small rocky outcropping to relax for a minute.
I glissaded a long way down from there, it took about 15 minutes of nearly non-stop sliding!It made really sad to leave the Cirque, I took one last look to try and save it all between my ears.
The next photos were all taken on the hike out, while Dan was being miserable with his heavy pack, I took the time to try and capture as much of the landscape as possible with Kodak moments (-:
I will always remember the "Winds", maybe one day I can live nearby or become a backcountry ranger there- one can only hope...
