Fletcher Mountain (13,951 feet) by Brian Schultz Sunday July 24, 2005
I met my pals Art & Mark from Minnesota last night in Frisco along with another Minnesota friend, Bob, who'd be joining us for his first ever Colorado climb. Still dark when we departed Frisco in the early morning, we drove to the Blue Lake trailhead for Fletcher's Southeast Ridge route and parked at a pullout below the dam. The gated road makes a long switchback up to the dam but instead of walking the road, we took a shortcut up the embankment and began our hike at 5:50. The skies were heavily overcast as we started up the trail and we wasted no time gaining elevation up the steep slopes while weaving through annoying willows.
We had to grab onto branches at times to help pull ourselves up, which Art, Mark, and I didn't mind, but Bob wasn't prepared for the steepness, the altitude, or the willows, and after a short while decided it wasn't for him. We were only about two hundred vertical feet above the dam when he turned around, assuring me he'd be fine descending on his own. I felt bad for his abbreviated day, but fortunately Bob came to Colorado with other interests to keep himself busy with. I hurried to catch Art and Mark, and as we continued up we in turn were passed by a climber heading to Quandary Peak. I hadn't seen a cut-off trail for Fletcher trail anywhere and figured we must've missed it below so we began a bushwhack to the west hoping to run into it. Art and Mark probably would've enjoyed adding a new fourteener to their list had we kept ascending Quandary's slopes.
After clearing the willows, we traversed talus fields and indeed caught up with the trail, an excellent path that cuts through the talus farther below and in much easier fashion, as we found out later on the return. Noticing two hikers coming up the trail, one of them lugging a tripod, we waited to see if they were also climbing Fletcher. The two women were out to photograph some mines in McCullough Gulch and after realizing their destination was on the other side of the Fletcher/Quandary ridge, they turned around. I could empathize with their taking the wrong road down by the highway because I almost did the same when I climbed Quandary ten years ago from McCullough Gulch.
As we continued up the hanging valley the scenery improved, as did the weather, but much snow remained up high and we'd have to choose our route carefully to avoid it. From a distance, a rock rib appeared to offer a handy means through the high snow. When the trail ended, we headed left up the steep slope and then up a steep gully to the right, and were awarded a reprieve from the elevation gain as the terrain flattened and a small lake came into view at 13,000 feet. But the respite was brief. We hiked to the left side of the lake and rock hopped up boulders to the rib, where much to our surprise we found a cairned route. From there, easy and fun climbing led us to the flat area just below Fletcher's southeast ridge.
Art and Mark were holding up well, apparently not bothered by the altitude having just driven in from Minnesota, and after a short break we started up the talus of the southeast ridge. I pushed ahead with enough room on the upper part of the ridge to avoid a large snow patch extending to the summit and stepped on top at 9:05. The guys joined shortly afterward. Cloudy skies held no threat and we settled in for a relaxing stay but plans to climb Drift were shelved because its steep couloirs were full of snow. The soft ranked peak would have to wait for another day.
The class 4 west ridge of Quandary Peak kept drawing my eye and I knew I'd have to come back some day and climb it as well. At 9:50 we left the summit and made our way down to the small lakes at 13,000 feet but this time we did a more direct approach instead of climbing around the west side. We took a long break at one of the lakes because the sun was finally shining and the setting was so peaceful.
After a quick descent of the gully and slope we were back on the trail and encountered three people hiking where the trail parallels a stream. One of their dogs kept jumping in and out of the stream and spraying everyone with a cold shower, having the time of his life, while his less adventurous companion only took the occasional plunge. We saw lots more hikers on the trail, especially near the dam, and finished at 12:50, moments before a brief shower rained down. This was a nice hike and a good warm-up for Holy Cross Ridge tomorrow.
Trailhead to summit- 3 hours 15 minutes
Summit to trailhead- 3 hours
Start to finish- 7 hours including breaks