Mt Emma (13,581) by Brian Schultz Friday August 22, 2008
Distance: 5 miles
Total elevation gain: 2,500 feet
Tim and I took advantage of the excellent weather forecast to squeeze in a climb before our scheduled backpack. The Trinity peaks were our objective for the backpack and if all went according to plan, we'd be climbing Mt Emma today and the Trinities tomorrow, an ambitious plan but also quite doable.
We left Ridgway in the dark of the morning for Ouray and the Yankee Boy Basin. I parked my car along the road and four-wheeled with Tim to the turnoff for Governor Basin. The coarse 4x4 road up to Governor Basin was steep and we parked at 11,400 ft, just below a rough section that we preferred not to drive over. We started from there, our designated trailhead, at 6:45 AM under sunny and clear skies.
We had Ryan Schilling's detailed trip report with and planned on following the route he and Erin used when they climbed Emma three years ago. As we started up the road we quickly realized we could've driven further, the road was quite smooth after the rough spot, but we didn't mind the extra hiking on what would be a short day on Emma anyway. Before the road dropped down toward the Mountain Top mine, we stopped briefly to admire the scenic basin ahead and its impressive panorama of the St Sophia Ridge and Mt Emma. Just past the turn-off for the mine, we cut up the slopes, still brimming with wildflowers even in the late summer, and found a faint trail that steered us to the open area below Emma's scree slopes.
From the base of the slopes it was tough scree slogging. Grabbing the rock on the left side made for somewhat easier going and we kept at it until topping out at the saddle at 9:05, where a notch revealed a cool view of Telluride below. We began the traverse to the summit towers, weaving up and over to the back side of the towers until arriving at the crux of the climb- some difficult looking 5th class cracks. We were exactly on Ryan's described route and took a few minutes to decide how to proceed.
We decided the crack/chimney with the distinctive chockstone was the way to go and I waited as Tim finished the short exposed climb. I found the stemming moves to my liking and made it up with little difficulty. Tim rated it hard class 4, I thought it might be lower class 5.
(To reach the summit by an easier route instead of the crux, simply turn left at the small saddle before the crux and descend the gully to a crack. Turn right and follow it up to the summit ridge. This was the route Ryan found from above while looking for an easier way for Erin to get to the summit).
The summit ridge required one more semi-tricky move after topping out of the chimney, a short but awkward downclimb of a rock face to a notch. With little to hold onto, we faced in and mostly slid down. From there it was just a short walk to the summit and we arrived at 9:40, both agreeing it was a fun finish to the top. The weather was holding beautifully.
We enjoyed the summit for a half hour before descending the easier route. We went back to the notch and descended the 50 foot steep class 3 crack, which was full of loose rocks and sand. I waited until Tim turned the corner, out of harm's way from any rocks I might loosen, before I descended. Once I was safely down we turned left up the gully to rejoin the route.
The return to the scree slopes went quickly and we enjoyed boot-skiing the lower scree where it wasn't quite as steep. The grassy slopes to the road were easy on the feet and other than stopping for a few photos, we arrived back at the truck at 12:15. Skies were still clear in the afternoon, which was great for us, as we headed straight to the Molas trailhead for our backpack up Elk Creek.
Starting point (11,400') to summit- 2 hours 55 minutes
Summit back to starting point- 2 hours 5 minutes
Start to finish- 5 hours 30 minutes