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July 28, 2007 Other Trips
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A month earlier, Emily and I had planned to summit Chiefs Head from the Wild Basin trailhead, but stopped at Lion Lake 2. I decided to make a super short trip back to the park to conquer my objective, and Emily grudgingly approved. This time, I would be going with my younger brother Andrew and his friend, Nick, and we would be taking a different route - a long loop I devised beginning at Sandbeach Lake trailhead, summiting Chiefs Head via Mt. Orton, and then descending via Hourglass Ridge through the Lion Lakes and returning to Wild Basin trailhead.
We drove out from Wichita on Friday after work. I was filled with a slight sense of foreboding and disappointment on the drive out – I had been planning this trip for weeks, I was driving over 1000 miles for one objective, and the weather forecast was not looking good. In fact, the forecast looked terrible.
We made good time until Limon, when we hit the first T-storms at about 9:00 p.m. The highway was inundated with water, slowing us to a crawl. All I could think was, “is this what’s in store for us tomorrow?” We finally passed through the worst of the storms and reached Olive Ridge campground just outside the Wild Basin entrance at about 12:30 a.m. We had no reservation but found an empty site and pitched our tents in a light drizzle. We wouldn’t be staying very long, but needed a place to lay flat for a few hours. I fell asleep almost immediately.
We arose at 4:00 a.m., tossed out wet tents and gear into the car, and drove a couple of miles to the Sandbeach Lake TH. The rain had stopped, but no stars were visible. Donning headlamps, we hit the trail at about 4:45 a.m. The first mile of the trail to Sandbeach was fairly open, not very well developed, and was a bit hard to follow in the dark. Fortunately, the sky lightened enough to proceed without headlamps by about 5:30. We made good time and reached Sandbeach Lake by 6:40.
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Sandbeach was very pretty and it was turning out to be a beautiful morning. The clouds were clearing and the sun was shining. I became more hopeful about our chances. After resting for a few minutes, it was time to ascend to Mt. Orton. We passed the inlet stream and began searching for a rough trail. Finding none, we probably passed a bit too far around the west side of the lake before launching into the trees. We would have spent less time in the trees if we had made a bee-line directly for the summit from the outlet stream.
The first 1000 feet or so to Orton was STEEP. Very similar, if not a bit worse, than the ascent to Shelf & Solitude.
We crossed through the best display of wildflowers I have ever seen in the park – dense and varied. There were also a pair of deer nearby who seemed surprised to have visitors in this remote area of the park.
We reached Mt. Orton at 8:00 a.m., rested for a few minutes, and continued on. From Mt. Orton, a broad ridge descends slightly before ascending to the Chiefs Head summit. Chiefs Head is decidedly unspectacular from this angle, but the view of Pagoda, Keyboard, Longs, and Meeker to the north is fantastic. The weather was holding, but clouds were starting to drift over the mountains.
From the saddle between Mt. Orton and Chiefs Head, the route gets much steeper. Not as steep as the initial climb to Mt. Orton, but tougher because of the higher elevation and rock-hopping involved. Definitely class-3. I was surprised by how difficult the climb was. I had to take frequent breaks. My heart was beating so hard I could actually hear it throbbing in my ears! I had no such difficulty last year on Longs, which is about 750 feet higher. I think I am in about the same shape, so I have to conclude that it was the lack of acclimatization. I had been at 1500 feet less than 24 hours ago, and here I was trudging along towards 13,580!
Finally, we reached the summit at 10:45 a.m. The summit is quite dramatic. It is a narrow ridge roughly 20 feet wide. The drops to the north and south are very sheer, but more gradual descents to the east and west.
Unfortunately, the weather didn’t last. About an hour before we reached the summit, a soupy white fog had enveloped the mountain. Nothing to be concerned about lightning-wise, but it definitely ruined out views from the summit. The clouds dissipated ever so briefly to give us a glimpse of Longs, the Keyhole, and some cool views of the Spearhead and Frozen Lake, but my million-dollar view of Glacier Gorge was not to be. Honestly, I wasn’t too disappointed. I was just happy the weather had held long enough that I could reach the summit.
After eating some lunch and signing the registry, we descended towards Hourglass Ridge. The rock-hopping continued and it was slow-going. Near the “pass” in the ridge, we detoured to look down the west side of the divide to Lake Powell. It is heart-shaped from above. We reached Hourglass at noon and made a steep descent down a colour of loose rock. Not fun, but thankfully short. It began to rain as we descended, which increased the difficulty.
The stretch between Hourglass and Snowbank Lake would probably be quite pretty. Today it just seemed long and wet. The rain continued and the clouds were still impairing visibility. We reached Snowbank at 1:00 p.m. An interesting lake with good wildflower displays. We continued on Lion Lake 2, which is the most barren of the three lakes in the region.
Thankfully, the clouds parted and the sun began to shine as we descended to my favorite area of the park – Lion Lake 1. Trio Falls was roaring and was fully visible now, unlike my previous visit. The wildflowers were teeming.
We took a long break at a favorite rock of mine which forms a small “beach” by the stream just before it empties into Lion Lake 1.
We descended at about 2:45 and reached the Wild Basin TH at about 5:00 p.m. Luckily, we found a nice woman who offered me a ride back to Sandbeach Lake TH to pick up our car, saving us a last 2-mile stretch.
Not a perfect day - I missed my beautiful panorama from the summit - but overall I have to be thankful that the weather didn’t turn out to be as bad as forecast. I’ll have to do this trip again, next time when I am better acclimated.
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