Bear Creek Peak and East Bear Creek Peak

Playground Walk with Mom and Ollie

Mt Crest Crags via Manitou Incline

Afternoon Walk

Vollmer Water Tanks

Finally got a six pack! One of my favorite days in the mountains. It was slightly smoky which put a damper on things at first. But as the day went on, I enjoyed the views and scrambling more and more.

13220 was sketchy! I'm still glad I did it, being one of the least climbed 13ers. The class 3 section was super crumbly, and a lot of the holds I tested weren't really holds. The short class 4 wall was solid though.

I'm glad I stayed on the ridge going to 13350 next. Though I should have gone around that huge spire-like feature... On reaching the top, saw it definitely didn't go and had to retrace my steps/bypass. The diving-board summit was pretty cool. Moved some loose rock out of the way, then gingerly stepped on and off really quickly, though it seemed pretty solid.

El Punto was really cool, probably my second favorite summit of the day. If it jutted up even more and had the same scrambling, that would be great. I reached the summit block going up a short class 4 section without even thinking. Going down, I saw the uber-exposed class 3 ledge. I tried it out, but would definitely use the class 4 section in the future. The summit is really small! I really liked it.

Heisshorn was my favorite of the day. The first part of the ridge was pretty big (and mostly solid) class 2+ talus. It had me wondering if the peak was actually class 3. Then the ridge narrowed, the exposure increased, and the climbing difficulty became more fun. Super cool ridge. And the top had incredible views. Definitely the highlight of the trip. Going back down, I took the "garbage chute" gully. Glad the walls and bedrock was solid class 2/3 for my hands. I basically lowered myself down and let me feet slide on all the loose rock.

13350 was fun as well. I hit the ridge a bit beyond the saddle, and it had some fun class 2/low 3. The views were really great here, too. Wetterhorn became the main focus, as well as Coxcomb getting closer. I enjoyed the different views of Coxcomb's aspects as I traversed the loop.

Relatively mellow traverse over to 13215, though one part of the ridge didn't go and had to reverse and go around. 13215 has great views of Wetterhorn and Coxcomb. Wetterhorn is an imposing-looking 14er from the north!

Opted to follow BoggyB's tracks to connect to the Coxcomb social trail (despite having to do a steep scree side hill for maybe 1/4 mi), and then jogged most of the way back to the car. It was a beautiful descent back into the valley. Coxcomb looked like a steep spire as I traversed directly below. Glad I did Precipice the day before - it looks really cool! And is very recognizable from afar.

What a day!

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Ben Loftin

Heisshorn 13er Six Pack

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Bear Creek Peak and East Bear Creek Peak

Playground Walk with Mom and Ollie

Mt Crest Crags via Manitou Incline

Afternoon Walk

Vollmer Water Tanks

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