Mt Meeker (13,911 ft)  via the South Ridge  by Brian Schultz  Saturday  July 19, 2003

Tim and I were going to climb this centennial thirteener last September but had to postpone it because of snowstorms. This year we started the climbing season with a trip to California and climbed a few fourteeners out there in the best of weather conditions- clear, warm, and sunny days. We wouldn't have that luxury with the monsoon season underway in Colorado so we'd have to resort to our usual strategy of getting up early and reaching the summits before the storms rolled in.

I received good news when I arrived in Denver yesterday. It happened to be the day the Colorado Mountain Club announced the Culebra/Red Mountain lottery winners and I called to see if our names were selected. We were picked! I called Tim to let him know before heading up to Estes Park.

Tim drove in from Colorado Springs this morning. I arrived first and waited for him at the restaurant parking lot next to the National Park. When he pulled in, he asked if I saw the bear rummaging through the dumpster by the restaurant. I didn't but wondered if bears would be a problem because two guys camping in Rocky Mtn National Park were recently mauled by one and our climb today would be inside the Park boundaries.

The sky was clear when we began at 5:30 and light enough to not need flashlights. Meeker's South Ridge route from the Copeland Lake trailhead is described by Gerry and Jennifer Roach as "the easiest route... but seldom done because of its length." For that reason we expected to have the 12.2 mile route to ourselves despite the weekend day. We moved quickly on the excellent trail and arrived at the signed Hunters Creek at 7:00, where the trail then faded but remained good as it followed the creek to Meeker Meadow. It abruptly ended there and we stopped at 7:45 for a 15 minute break. A large flat rock turned out to be an ideal place to sit and eat breakfast and preview the steep slopes we'd soon be hiking.

After our break we began the bushwhack through the meadow and up steep talus to Meeker's ridge. It was a tedious grunt with much elevation gain and I had to stop often to catch my breath. This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. We bypassed some fins to their right and reached the ridge at 10:12. From this vantage point we were happy to see that we took the most expedient route to the ridge, and then turned our attention to the fascinating view of Pagoda Mountain and Longs Peak. We stayed a few minutes to enjoy the scenic panorama in front of us.

The rocky ridge entailed slow boulder hopping but it wasn't as steep as the slope we'd come up and at 10:35 we were at the 13,000 ft notch. We pushed on and finally reached the summit ridge where we had a choice to go east or west. I went to the right (west), Tim went to the left (east). I apparently topped out on the true summit because it had a register even though it looked like Tim was higher than me at the other rock pile. The time was 11:48.

We later hiked back to that other high point, just to make sure it wasn't higher, and deemed that it wasn't (see postscript below). Meanwhile, three fellows joined us from the Loft route, departed after a few minutes, and headed for Longs. As the crow flies, we weren't very far from Longs and we could see people standing on its summit. We watched the three climbers making their way over there while also keeping an eye on the rapidly deteriorating weather. After 30 minutes on the summit, Tim strongly suggested we get moving.

Our original plan was to descend the Meeker Ridge but that would've kept us high for a long time with no protection so we took our same route down. Which was wise because in less than 15 minutes it started hailing. We were in an open area below the summit and hurried to put on our rain gear when suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the sky, followed by an instantaneous crack of thunder. Aware of the imminent danger we were in, we ran down 50 feet to a rocky outcrop, tossed our poles, and crouched down.

As the hail turned to pouring rain, we huddled for 15 minutes, hoping we wouldn't be struck by the lightning bolts blasting around us. When the lightning quit, we headed down again but three minutes later another lightning bolt tore through the sky. We hit the deck. And quickly scrambled to another outcrop and crouched down again, this time leaving considerably more space between each other. Not a pleasant thought but no sense in both of us getting hit from a direct strike. As scary as our situation was, we could've had it worse- there were some climbers on or near the summit during the lightning strikes.

Five minutes later we headed down and ducked briefly when lightning flashed in the distance, but after hearing the lengthy thunder delay we continued on. The climbers above us were okay. Sleet and rain accompanied us for the rest of our descent and we had to slow to a snail's pace on the talus. I slipped anyway later on a tree root in the meadow and fell backwards, but my pack cushioned the fall. The steady rain eventually let up and we got back to our cars at 5:07.

We cut this one a little too close today. I'm glad we made the summit but I prefer to experience lightning from a distance, not up close and personal. Otherwise, this was a great route and I highly recommend it.

PS: Although we felt the western summit was the higher one, Gerry and Jennifer Roach state that the eastern summit is the true summit. I won't argue, but for the record, Tim and I did tag the eastern summit when we went back to check it out.

Trailhead to summit- 6 hours 18 minutes, including breaks

Summit to trailhead- 4 hours 49 minutes, including breaks

Total day- 11 hours 37 minutes, including all breaks

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