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I have $200 to my name but all of the gear and food. (College student redux.) I cannot afford the train (and I'm so over it.) I park my Jeep at Purgatory Flats TH (8,800ft) and strap on my forty-fifty pound backpack. Tent, four days of food, rappel gear with seventy feet of rope and harness and webbing, one book, Jet Boil, and all other essentials.
I hike towards Ruby Basin on the Seventh of August. The trail is a breeze until I pass Pigeon Creek, then I completely lose it in a hunters' meadow. I end up backpacking up the ridge above Water Tank hill to 10,200ft or so to meet the Ruby Trail. What a blast. It is steep, wet slab after slab, between downed trees: a demonic approach. I am beat and dehydrated when I trudge up to Ruby Lake around 5 P.M. I make camp. So begins The Great Marmot War of 2017....
Ruby Lake with Monitor Peak behind. Sunrise on the 8th. Time for Peak Fifteen? Sub-optimal conditions. 8AM Rainstorm. Can't see. 15 is a no-go today. Clearing a little. Going for Monitor and Animas. Ruby Lake from high on Monitor. Threatening but no thunder. Views are holding, too! Monitor: I'm Lovin' It. Class 2+ scramble up Animas Animas Summit. Time to get low. Pigeon and Turret Needles Animas in review Hail and big lightning from the west. Cleared for the magic hour.
Really though, those Marmots are fat and insane. Plus a rabbit hopped into my vestibule. King Marmot chewed through my favorite day pack and two pairs of underwear. I won't go into battle details, but let's just say my shoulder still clicks when I rotate it, and I had visions of a vast marmot pelt industry.
Anyways, it rained at 6am on Wednesday, the 9th, so I decided to rest and hopefully dry out before one more attempt on Fifteen on Thursday. I was feeling pretty demoralized in my tent, having finished Touching the Void for the second time. Then the sun came out and I snapped out of it and realized what a wonderful place this is and how lucky I am to enjoy it. I slept like garbage that night though and had no coffee for Thursday. And I am a caffiend.
August 10th, 6:30am North Eolus / Little Finger Saddle (Sandy access from Ruby to NY Basin) 12.8k Saddle. 7:45am on the 10th. Weather is better. Gully wet. Going for it. Mountain Ghost? (Looking at Turret) Fifteen's South Face 15-16 Notch View to Ruby Basin (North) Looking back down 15-16 Couloir Route (South Aspect) Steepness Sandy Ledge, west of 15-16 notch, 60ft above Near the Top Summit Ridge. Beautiful Day. Summit at 9:20am A downclimb.(Should have climbed up here, in retrospect. Ascended east 100 ft of here.) 60ft Single Line Rappel with Tag Line (Only try this at home) A crack down-climb, west of gully because of small waterfalls there. Threw in a couple chicken wings! Last look up. Search Helicopter over Mt. Eolus Ruby Basin ~11.6k North Faces
I returned to my tent about 12:30pm. I had told my people that I would be out Wednesday or Thursday, so I packed up and marched the twelve + miles back to Purgatory TH, arriving at 7:30pm as darkness began to fall. I felt thrilled and relieved to finally get Fifteen, my final class 5 Bicentennial Peak. Next up, Vestal Basin...
-Rob
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