Join me on the full journey to the top of this rugged, difficult and dangerous but spectacular and captivating class 4 Elk Range 14er on September 1, 2022. While many consider this to be Colorado's hardest fourteener to climb, one thing I can say is that it is definitely one of the hardest, and also probably the hardest mountain climb I have done. The trip up this amazing peak is a long one, taking me initially through the gentler woods and meadows alongside the Capitol Ditch Trail and the Capitol Creek Trail, then to idyllic Capitol Lake, just beneath the precipitous and monolithic granite wall that constitutes the mountain's north face, up a grueling slope, across a sea of talus, and finally to the northeast ridge - the route's culmination and moment of reckoning. The challenges here are numerous and considerable: negotiating connected 13er K2, traversing across the infamous "knife edge," a 100-foot-long double-exposed section of ridge near 13,600', and the steep, route-finding-intensive, often loose rock on the upper reaches of the peak's northeast ridge. Capitol is the northernmost 14er in the state's Elk Range - a range as a whole known for its steep, dangerous, and difficult mountains. In this video I discuss a bit about the naming and climbing history and the route's statistics. As always, provided are maps, route description, and, of course, plenty of charming, as well as awe-inspiring and sublime (and in this case, perhaps scary!) scenery. And last but not least, a word of caution: no one should attempt to climb this mountain without the appropriate conditioning, ability, experience, and knowledge derived from multiple sources in regard to the route. People have perished here, an unfortunate reality that has become more pronounced in recent years. BEWARE!!! That being said, here is the table of contents for this video:
0:00 Different views of the mountain, and its history
1:59 TH directions, and route overview and statistics
4:11 Driving to the TH via Capitol Creek road, and starting on foot
5:05 Lower approach: Capitol Ditch Trail and creek crossing, ~9,450' to ~9,950'
12:56 Upper approach: upper Capitol Creek Trail, from Ditch trail junction to Capitol Lake, ~9,950' to ~11,600'
20:21 From Capitol Lake to the Capitol/Mt. Daly saddle, ~11,600' to ~12,500'
25:15 From the Capitol/Daly saddle to K2, ~12,500' to ~13,600'
35:20 The Northeast Ridge, phase #1: negotiating K2 and reaching the knife edge
42:29 The Northeast Ridge, phase #2: negotiating the knife edge and the remaining stretch of narrow ridge
54:30 The Northeast Ridge, phase #3: climbing the upper ridge to the top, 14,138'
1:14:31 Views at the summit
1:18:07 Some clips of the upper descent
1:21:21 Final thoughts, reflections and images
For all the complete high mtn. climbs on this channel, including CO. 14ers:
• Mountain Hikes and Climbs
Music selections:
1) "William Tell Overture" - Gioachino Rossini (RU-vid audio library)
2) "Royal Mountain Breakdown" - The Mini Vandals (RU-vid audio library)
3) "Vinyasa" - Chris Haugen (RU-vid audio library)
4) "Tratak" - Jesse Gallagher (RU-vid audio library)
5) "Traversing" - Godmode (RU-vid audio library)
Additional sources:
1) For maps: U.S. Geological Survey - USGS
2) "A Climbing Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners" by Walter R. Borneman and Lyndon J. Lampert. Pruett Publishing, 2nd edition, 1988.
3) "Colorado's Fourteeners - From Hikes to Climbs" by Gerry Roach. Fulcrum Publishing, 3rd edition, 2011.
4) 14ers.com: Capitol Peak/routes
5) For signs: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture - USDA
6) "Colorado's Highest - The History of Naming the 14,000-Foot Peaks" by Jeri L. Norgren. John Fielder Publishing, 2020.
9 июл 2024
