Mayflower Hill (12,420), Crystal Peak (13,852), Pacific Peak (13,950), Atlantic Peak (13,841) by Brian Schultz Saturday July 10, 2004
It was raining lightly when I arrived at the Mayflower Gulch trailhead. Another hiker who'd carcamped was putting on a raincoat and we chatted briefly before he left for Drift Peak. He mentioned having climbed in the San Juans recently and how he turned back on the summit ridge of Half Peak because of the exposure. I found that interesting because Half Peak was on my list to climb in a few days and that's the first I'd heard of anyone having trouble on it.
He headed for Drift while I finished loading up my pack. At 5:40 I started up the road and was slightly dismayed to find I could've driven further because it had only one minor rough section and my car could've handled it. I was in a good mood though. Today I was supposed to be climbing Quandary Peak with a friend who backed out and I now had the opportunity to pick up three centennial peaks.
Gerry and Jennnifer Roach write that climbing these peaks from the the west side is not as popular as the east and it's probably why I didn't see a trail when I left the road. After a bushwhack through the willows I headed up the slopes on the left, where a moderately steep grunt put me on Mayflower Hill, elevation 12,420 feet (marked incorrectly at 10,420 feet on Roach's map). I hadn't intended to climb Mayflower but it was just as well because I could identify Crystal and Pacific Peaks from the top and clearly see the routes to each. After descending from the handy vantage point I met a hiker and his dog planning to tackle Pacific's 3rd class west ridge, which interested me too but not on wet rock.
They started up Pacific while I headed toward Crystal. The entire route to the Crystal- Pacific saddle is on talus and boulders and it's somewhat lengthy. I was not feeling strong today and didn't reach the saddle until 8:25 but plodded along and at 9:05 finally stood atop of my first peak of the summer. The rain had quit and for that I was grateful but my lack of energy was a concern. I sat for fifteen minutes trying to enjoy the windy summit before heading back down.
I labored to reach Pacific Peak, a pointy peak that looks difficult to climb from both near and far but has a surprisingly easy trail that weaves the rocky ridge to the top. I had to stop often to catch my breath and didn't reach the summit until 10:50 but by then the weather was improving, and so was the likelihood of continuing on to Atlantic Peak. The hiker who climbed the west ridge with his dog had long since departed and I had the summit to myself.
Fifteen minutes later I began the final leg to Atlantic, a very easy traverse from Pacific terrainwise, but not so easy with a tired body. I struggled to the summit at 12:00 noon and was certain the worst was behind me as I unstrapped my pack and sat down for a much needed thirty minute break. Then I took a closer look at Atlantic's west ridge, saw the amount of snow remaining on the steep ridge, and got a little worried because I didn't have my ice axe with.
On the descent I nervously stepped over steep snow patches and around several cornices, and when the ridge narrowed to the semblance of a knife-ridge, I walked the tightrope to avoid the snow. Relieved to reach the bottom of the ridge without slipping, I honestly didn't mind tackling the willows after the long day of rock hopping. It took some extra effort to bust through them because they were more dense in the upper part of the basin but otherwise the hike out was easy and I got back to my car at 2:50.
I drove to Carbondale to meet Tim and we ate dinner at a good Mexican restaurant called Mi Casita before driving to Lead King Basin for Hagerman Peak.
Trailhead to Crystal- 3 hours 25 minutes
Crystal to Pacific- 1 hour 30 minutes
Pacific to Atlantic- 55 minutes
Atlantic back to trailhead- 2 hours 20 minutes
Start to finish- 9 hours 10 minutes