Mt. Jasper - Trip Report

June 8, 1997

Jack Dennis

12,923'     9 miles     3000 ft. elev. gain

Mt. Jasper sits on the Continental Divide, one mile south of Mt. Neva. Roach calls it "Jasper Peak"; Ormes calls it "Mt. Jasper"; USGS's EAST PORTAL quad doesn't even give it a name, so take your pick!

This was a scheduled climb of the Boulder BMS/CMC. However, when told that heavy snow in the Indian Peaks Wilderness made it doubtful we would summit, all but four persons backed out. So it became the Graduation Climb for our Spring, '97, BMS class.

We planned to climb Jasper via the Snow Lion route, following the Diamond Lake approach. Roach calls Snow Lion , which ascends Jasper's southeast face, "the best snow mountaineering route on Jasper, but, like an elusive wild animal, it is rarely available." Too early, snow may be unstable (in fact, on June 12, 1996, I counted 17 sluffs, some too big to tangle with, from the base of Snow Lion); and by mid to late June the route starts to melt out. By July, it's gone.

From the Fourth of July Campground TH to the sturdy Forest Service bridge that crosses the North Fork of Middle Boulder Creek, post-holes of earlier hikers made the trail obvious, but it still had up to six feet of snow, lots of mud, and numerous impromptu run-off "creeks".

A mile north of the TH, the trail is obliterated by a recent ( it ran in Feb.) avalanche. It appears never to have run previously in this century. Hundreds of trees, up to 24 inch diameter, are strewn like jackstraws the length, 1/3 mile, and width, 100 yds, of the avalanche path. A few trees were uprooted and dragged down the hill, but most were broken off at the 4 to 8 foot level, leaving hundreds of mutilated stumps still standing, looking like some giant's asparagus patch. The slide continued until it reached Middle Boulder Creek. At least 500 newly limbed logs are strewn every which way at the bottom, like an Oregon logging yard where the logs had been "stacked" by a drunken crane operator. The day we passed through, two locals were trying to clear, with chain saws, a trail to their cabin. They said they had been at it for three weeks. Didn't look like they had made much of a dent. They requested, very politely, that we respect their private land and stay on the Arapaho Pass Trail.

Creek crossings, except at the Forest Service bridge, would be difficult. Middle Boulder Creek is raging, fast, and has lots of white water. The nearest other bridge, privately owned and posted, is a mile and a half to the south. From the absence of footprints and ski tracks, I assume we were the first party to hike south of the creek this year. A "Hillary step" greeted us on the far end of the bridge; well, maybe not QUITE that tall, but there was a six foot vertical snow wall, carved by the wind, at the end of the bridge. The bridge itself, two split logs with a single solid railing, surprisingly was clear of snow.

The Diamond Lake trail, through the forest, between the creek and Lower Diamond Lake is hopeless to follow. One is tempted by a single initial orange flagging, but the flagging thereafter ranges from sporadic, to none at all. 4 to 10 feet of snow covered the trail. Elephant-pit-size moats surrounded the big, Ponderosas. I've heard of snow moats big enough to capture a man. Now I've seen them.

Our recent BMS grads applied their not-yet-forgotten map and compass skills. They took a bearing (170º ) from the bridge to the desired forest exit point. With two of us on compasses, and one leading, we were elated to emerge from the forest within 100 feet of our target. Snow was mostly firm in the forest, but it was a cool, 50º day.

There was still a lot of snow. We carried snow shoes, but seldom used them. Bush tops poking out were obvious soft spots we tried to avoid. When we couldn't, we crawled on all fours, using the axe as a floating front fifth leg. The nastiest spots were voids adjacent to buried boulders and logs. They were invisible, and therefore unpredictable. Step in the wrong spot and ZAP, you're 4 feet down. Lucky if you didn't bruise a hip. Athena's , "You know, when I punch through, and my feet don't touch the ground, it's SPOOKY," won the prize for BEST QUOTE OF THE DAY.

TAKE 'EM OR LEAVE 'EM ?- THE SNOWSHOE DILEMMA: 99 % of the time we didn't need them. And when we did, we were already up to our armpits. You can't put snowshoes on when your feet are buried. And worst of all, even snowshoes punch through occasionally. (My worse ever snowshoe experience: May 27, 1984. Coming down off Mt. Huron, we encountered 300 yds. of wet, soft snow, three feet deep. Snow shoes wouldn't stay up, they punched through. Lifting 20 lbs of wet snow on each step was excruciating... quads burned...and, 300 yards!), OTOH, POST HOLING IS HELL, TOO!

We made it to the base of Snow Lion, 700 ft from the summit, when a white-out engulfed us. It seemed prudent not to continue until it lifted. It was a playful white-out; teasing us by partially uncovering the mountain, fueling our hopes that it would soon lift. Once we even caught a glimpse of Snow Lion. Then it would slam-dunk our hopes, and come swirling back with 20 foot visibility. Before the clouds descended, we had seen, dimly, recent sluffs. Based upon last year, I expected there were more. Last year, while most of them were small, point-originated, wet snow slides, a couple did have sizable debris fields.

We hung out for 45 minutes at the base of Snow Lion. The weather no longer teased; it got downright nasty. We "circled the wagons" with our bodies, packs, snowshoes and one dog. First rain, then rain and hail, pelted our faces. The final indignity was a 30 knot wind, which amused itself by accelerating dangling, rain-parka-hood-ties to supersonic speeds, then scourged our cheeks with them. Meanwhile, the white-out persisted.

We were persuaded to back off.

About the Author

I started climbing in Colorado 41 years ago (Mt. Princeton) while stationed with the Army at Fort Carson. I joined the Colorado Mountain Club in 1982, and have been an Instructor in the Boulder Mountaineering School 14 years. My favorite peaks are Mt. Sneffels, Missouri Mtn. (for spring snow climbs), Mt. Eva, Wolverine Peak and Matanuska Peak. The latter two are walk-up/scrambles in Alaska's Chugach range. My favorite rock climbs are obscure and seldom climbed flatirons: The Fatiron, Primal Rib, Fi Fun, Yodeling Moves, Central Shanahan Crag, Onoclea, and the Matron.

I am a retired Aeronautical Engineer who thrives on retirement. I live with Alfie, a Queensland Blue Heeler, and Susan, a male black cat, in north Golden, beneath the Access Fund's Golden Cliffs.

This article first appeared on the colomtn list processor.

Other Information

• Located in Arapahoe National Forest
• USGS Maps - East Portal and Monarch Lake 7.5' quads
• Trails Illustrated Map #102 Indian Peaks, Gold Hill
• Guide Books:
  • Guide to the Colorado Mountains
• What to Bring on a Hike
• Safety And Survival
• There's Weather Out There
• Learning Safety Through the Experience of Others
• The Leave No Trace: Skills & Ethics: Rocky Mountains A must read for every backcountry user!