The Sawatch Cowpoke

My boot slipped twice and I looked down from the ledge I was currently edging across. It was midmorning, cold, and I could barely hear what Matt was saying slightly above me through the wind, my helmet, and all the layers I was wearing. We were teetering across the knife’s edge of the route now, along a violent ridge that led up to the summit of Mt. Ypsilon. It felt like we had been on a stairclimber of rocks forever. The day began like most of the alpine missions that Matt and I had knocked out through the end of the summer season: wake up early, choke down as much food/water as you could at that hour in the morning, and be on our “merry” way down the trail. Today, although, was a little different. Following the successful climbs of the summer/fall season, Matt and I were becoming increasingly confident in our abilities out in the backcountry. This isn’t to imply that we were becoming cocky or anything in the least (certainly not- *sarcastic laugh*), but we at least had a rough id

I had been to Glacier Gorge several times before, but I had never seen it from this view. The way that the backside of Long’s Peak echoed the massive and open space below was breathtaking. Just another reminder of the absolute majesty that one can find within the remote confines of Rocky Mountain National Park if you’re willing to work hard enough. Hours before we had just started our ascent of one of the Gorge’s central features, The Arrowhead Arete. Rising in stark comparison to Long’s Peak and the Keyboard of the Winds before it, and with the Spearhead (another central feature of the gorge) to it’s side, the Arrowhead Arete rises on the ridge that runs between the entrance to Glacier Gorge itself and McHenrys Peak. As with most peaks along the Continental Divide, the summit and the ridges leading up to them are quite steep and violent, but if one has enough daylight, good weather, and adequate wayfinding skills, the summit of McHenrys can be reached from the top of the Arrowh