Capitol Peaks - September 1999
(Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness)
Brian, Ted, and Brian's friend Shinhan (who also makes an appearance in next years hiking trip) were the participant's in this years trip. Bob didn't make it because of constraints at work and regrets not coming to this day. The road to the trailhead from Snowmass Village was rather uneventful for the first few miles, but got increasingly more tough the closer to the trailhead. Brian got sick and/or did not acclimatize well, which made him pretty wiped on the first night at basecamp. There was beautiful crisp fall weather with the aspens changing to their fall colors, yellow and orange. Snow dusted the ground at higher elevations. Brian's condition plus the light slippery snow conditions stopped the effort to reach Capitol Peak summit at K2. Ted came back at a later date to get this one.
An ominous beginning (tj)
Our intrepid hikers at Basecamp Spud (Brian, Ted) (tj)
Our intrepid hikers at basecamp the evening of the ascent (Ted, Brian, Shinhan)
Capitol Lake (tj)
At the beginning of the ascent of Capitol Peak (tj)
On the route out (tj)