(6/29/96) Yale - 14,196 feet
Four weeks after the excitement of being able to bag Tabeguache the first week in June, finally the weather was good on a Saturday again.
More than ever I wonder if Roach could have screwed up the numbers for Tabeguache. The Tabeguache Southwest Ridge route (6.0 miles, 3700 feet) took me 11 hours, yet the Yale Southwest slopes route (7.0 miles, 4300 feet) took me 8 1/2. Both routes are described as "II class 2" and I don't feel there has been much conditioning benefit with four weeks downtime.
Anyway, this was another attempt to find a relatively easy peak to get in condition for the harder ones to come. This route up Yale seemed about equal to Belford's West Slopes route with some minor rock climbing at the end. Belford is a smooth, rounded, grassy slope almost all the way up and Yale is similar. In either case you get a deceptive impression of an easy climb.
This route up Yale starts with a rather long, pleasant meander through the woods, with a steady altitude gain. Bear right at the fork in the path. It looks like there was once a sign but only the pole remains. Someone has helpfully drawn arrows on the pole with a pen: left to "LAKE", right to "YALE".
Breaking out of the tree line I faced a slope similar to that of Beirstadt, Quandary or Belford. You can see everything up to the summit once out of the trees and it is a simple matter of a long hard climb up mostly easy, well defined trails. There were a few inconsequential patches of snow.
This is a steep hard climb and I regretted my poor condition all day.
The trail was just choked with large numbers of people (and dogs). I guess it's because the trailhead is so convenient (you can drive to the parking lot on paved roads all the way and hike up the trail) and because at 140 miles (one way) it's "close" to Denver.
I started hiking at 08:15, reached the summit at 13:50, left the summit at 14:15 and returned to the trailhead at 17:45. Elapsed time: 8 1/2 hours.
Looking east from the summit, I could see Buena Vista, the now-unimpressive southern tail of what further north becomes the Tenmile-Mosquito range, the broad plain I had just crossed on US 285, and off in the distance partly obscured by clouds, the Evans massif. Princeton and Antero were visible directly to the south.
The weather was perfect-sunny in the morning, then partial overcast coming in in the afternoon. No precipitation or thunder. --
Larry Mulcahy GCS d H s !g p1 au-- a w+++ v--- C++ U+ P++ L++ 3 E+ N++ K W--- M-- V-- po--- Y+ t 5++ j- R G? tv b++ D++ B--- e+++ u h+ f? r* n--- !y The Failed Clinton Presidency: day 1259, 203 days to go