Ramsay Peak, Sugarloaf Mountain and Skull Point 9/13
4000' EVG 16.5mi RT(approximately)
As a group hike organized by Joe, Mike O., Brian, Andy and I climbed several of the Pingree Park peaks as a large loop hike, similar to what I'd done in 2010. The main goal of the day was to climb up the cirque wall and visit Ramsay Peak, which none of us had ever climbed, before heading up to the summit of Sugarloaf and over to Skull, before cutting to the Mummy Pass trail and back. We met at 5:30 and drove to the Stormy Peaks TH, went around the gate to CSU's rope course and followed the trail to a long clearing underneath the powerlines, where a side trail leads to the Stormy Peaks trail(saving a few tenths of a mile). On the trail we made good time to the national park boundary while discussing mountain related things.
After the boundary the trail climbed to the Stormy Peaks backcountry campsite which had a brand new sign and what looked to be a very recent and faint trail to the arrowhead in a new location. At treeline we were able to scope out some interesting possibilities to climb to the top of the cirque, and we saw a group of three students who were going to Rowe Glacier. We descended around the side of the cirque and reached the tiny pool held by the shelf and began climbing the grassy hillside of the cirque. Brian and I took a grassy ramp system on the north side of the couloir; Joe, Mike and Andy took the grassy slopes to the south. Both routes worked and I doubt either exceeded a few harder class 3 moves. At the saddle with Sugarloaf we turned and climbed the rockpile summit of Ramsay, which had nice views of the Pingree Park and Comanche Peak area.
After a break we began the climb up Sugarloaf which wasn't too difficult, besides some wind. The summit is just a granite boulder sticking up around some smaller rocks, nothing spectacular but the views of the Rowes and No Names were impressive. Afterwards we took the gentle slope over to Skull Point, which I've now climbed 3 times. Mike and Brian wanted to climb Little No Name so they took off while we slowly made our way to Icefield Pass and enjoyed the view of the lakes below. After a while we took off towards Mummy Pass as agreed, meaning a route across the sea of willows also for my third time. The first two times were difficult and soggy following where the animal trails push deeper and deeper into the willows, staying to the east and avoiding the willows until necessary to cut over to the rounded ridge that separates the basin. Mike and Brian reunited with us after a break and we set off for the faint Mummy Pass trail.
The Mummy Pass trail was much clearer to see this time around, since my other time across it was during runoff and the tall grasses concealed the path, which isn't much larger than any animal paths we had been following up to that point. We climbed up some hills and past a pond to return to the wilderness boundary, followed by a long 5 mile walk back down the much more established trails back to Pingree Park.
See Joe's photos and a more accurate track at joeandfrede.com.
As a group hike organized by Joe, Mike O., Brian, Andy and I climbed several of the Pingree Park peaks as a large loop hike, similar to what I'd done in 2010. The main goal of the day was to climb up the cirque wall and visit Ramsay Peak, which none of us had ever climbed, before heading up to the summit of Sugarloaf and over to Skull, before cutting to the Mummy Pass trail and back. We met at 5:30 and drove to the Stormy Peaks TH, went around the gate to CSU's rope course and followed the trail to a long clearing underneath the powerlines, where a side trail leads to the Stormy Peaks trail(saving a few tenths of a mile). On the trail we made good time to the national park boundary while discussing mountain related things.
After the boundary the trail climbed to the Stormy Peaks backcountry campsite which had a brand new sign and what looked to be a very recent and faint trail to the arrowhead in a new location. At treeline we were able to scope out some interesting possibilities to climb to the top of the cirque, and we saw a group of three students who were going to Rowe Glacier. We descended around the side of the cirque and reached the tiny pool held by the shelf and began climbing the grassy hillside of the cirque. Brian and I took a grassy ramp system on the north side of the couloir; Joe, Mike and Andy took the grassy slopes to the south. Both routes worked and I doubt either exceeded a few harder class 3 moves. At the saddle with Sugarloaf we turned and climbed the rockpile summit of Ramsay, which had nice views of the Pingree Park and Comanche Peak area.
After a break we began the climb up Sugarloaf which wasn't too difficult, besides some wind. The summit is just a granite boulder sticking up around some smaller rocks, nothing spectacular but the views of the Rowes and No Names were impressive. Afterwards we took the gentle slope over to Skull Point, which I've now climbed 3 times. Mike and Brian wanted to climb Little No Name so they took off while we slowly made our way to Icefield Pass and enjoyed the view of the lakes below. After a while we took off towards Mummy Pass as agreed, meaning a route across the sea of willows also for my third time. The first two times were difficult and soggy following where the animal trails push deeper and deeper into the willows, staying to the east and avoiding the willows until necessary to cut over to the rounded ridge that separates the basin. Mike and Brian reunited with us after a break and we set off for the faint Mummy Pass trail.
The Mummy Pass trail was much clearer to see this time around, since my other time across it was during runoff and the tall grasses concealed the path, which isn't much larger than any animal paths we had been following up to that point. We climbed up some hills and past a pond to return to the wilderness boundary, followed by a long 5 mile walk back down the much more established trails back to Pingree Park.
See Joe's photos and a more accurate track at joeandfrede.com.
