Mt. Princeton

google map (106.25, 38.75)

Compleated: Feb 25, 2007
14,179 ft.

Hello everybody, so far so good, this last Sunday Buck and I set out to bag another 14ter Mt. Princeton, but the journey began on Friday night when we rolled out of golden at around 7:00pm. Getting into camp at about 10:00pm. We set up camp and then discussed on the issue of what we were going to do on Saturday, in which was some much needed reconnaissance of the north and south sawatch mountains. So the next morning came and Buck and I headed into Buena Vista to get some Breakfast, which was only about 5 miles away at a place called Evergreen café. Evergreen café is a small town breakfast joint with great service and excellent food which sits just on the north end of town in Buena Vista, so if your ever passing through on an empty stomach you’ll have to stop in it’s a great place to eat! Heading down the road on a full stomach, our first stop is La Plata Peak which is just south of Mt Elbert and is on highway 82 which was closed about 15 miles up, but you can still access La Plata Peaks trail head. By the time we got there La Plata Peaks summit was already in cloud cover. There were about four other vehicles there at the trailhead, one with an unloaded trailer of snowmobiles (man I wish we had one). Coming back on highway 82 we stopped to get something to drink at the general Twin lakes store, where we met sore owner June and local of the area Tom. After talking with them for a bit we became more familiar with the surrounding area and mountains, which was a big help in knowing where everything was. Next stop on our way to Leadville to meet up with our good friend and web designer Matt to talk about the website at the local coffee shop in Leadville. On the way back to camp we took lots of pictures of all of the 14ters that were along the way Mt oxford, Mt Harvard, Mt Columbia and Mt Yale. So at about 6:00pm we had decided to call it quits due to the fact that it began to get dark. We then headed down to Cottonwood Hot springs to discuss the day’s events. For all those people who are interested, the cost for a relaxing sit in the hot springs is only 15 dollars per person. After spending about 4 hours soaking in the hot springs we made a dash to the tent to call it a night. The morning came early, as we accidentally slept in until 5:15 instead of waking up at 4. Arriving at the Frontier Ranch Trail Head (which is 8,900 feet) we quickly got our stuff together and we’re on the trail by 7. We set up the trail starting at a pretty good pace. About a quarter of the way up, the temperature rose a few degrees so we stopped so Chris could shed some layers. Taking in the views and enjoying our time to ourselves, we passed the radio towers and met up with Dave Williams who came up from behind. At this point the clouds started to roll in and the temperature started to drop a few degrees and visibility was not at its best. Dave was hiking solo so we all decided to ascend the mountain together. After winding up the switch backs and talking about the trail, we stopped at 13,000 feet while Buck observed that there was no clear line to snowboard down from the summit. After realizing he couldn’t snowboard from the top, due to the heavy backpack he had on, he decided to stay put while Dave Williams and I made our way to the top. As the hour progressed, the weather dropped to around 0 degrees with wind speeds at 15 miles per hour. Nearing the top, after what seemed to be forever, Dave and I summitted at around 2:30. Tired and getting colder by the minute, we made our summit short and sweet. We took a few snap shots and headed back down to join Buck for the decent. With only taking a few water breaks, we made good time back to the truck. With a couple blisters on Buck and my feet and Dave’s leg cramping up, we arrived in good shape. When we got to the truck, we said our goodbyes to Dave and headed back to camp, but when we passed Mt Princeton and saw that there were hot springs there as well, Buck and I couldn’t resist. The fee to the springs was ten dollars, arrived and that’s where we met WeMuss the local medicine man of BV. He was definitely a character he had a lot of good things to say about the area and some really cool stories to tell. We listened to him for an hour before having to go, as we were leaving he suggested that he show us a few campgrounds that were in the area closer to the mountains, Buck and I looked at each other and both said sure. So WeMuss showed us a lot of other places that we will definitely camp in the future, Thanks WeMuss. So all of you travelers keep your eye out for the local medicine man. Getting late we went our separate ways to set up camp and head to bed. Waking up at around 9 we cooked a tasty breakfast of eggs and bacon. Before heading out, we decided to go to Mount Princeton’s hot springs one more time to let our feet soak. We met Katie Yakco, an aspiring artist, while we were there and she had some great artwork to display. Ready to go home we hit the road to go home and rest for the next mountain.