North Star Mountain (13,614.) by Brian Schultz Saturday July 28, 2012
Roundtrip mileage: 8.5 miles from Hoosier Pass
Elevation gain: 2,500'
Start to finish: 6 hours
Participants: Dave Chamberlin, Mark Silas, Tim Briese, Brian Schultz
After backpacking out of the San Juans yesterday, Tim and I drove to Salida. It was a great feeling to get a shower, a good meal, and a comfortable bed after three nights in the backcountry. Our successful adventure in the San Juans culminated with Tim finishing up his bicentennial peaks and if all went well today, North Star Mountain would be my final bicentennial. I've lived in Minnesota my whole life and wanted to finish on North Star because of its namesake connection. Minnesota's nickname is the North Star State, it's the name of our light rail line, the name of our first NHL hockey team, and so on.
It meant a lot to me when Mark said he'd join me on my final peak, even though he's done it already, and I was thrilled to have Dave Chamberlin with as well. Dave was a fellow climber on my first attempt of Aconcagua in 2007, we climbed Mt Elbrus together in 2008, and we've kept in regular contact over the years. But of course, having my closest climbing friend Tim with tied it all up in the best way because of the many peaks we've chased together over the years.
The four of us arrived at Hoosier Pass within minutes of each other. We'd driven through fog all the way up to the pass and it was still foggy when we began hiking the road west of the pass at 7:05. Morning temps were cool but the fog burned off as the sun rose. The road cut up the slopes and we could've driven the road quite a ways, someone else had already done so and parked at a turnout, but it was an easy and pleasant stroll all the way to a mine. We found a trail that led up to the ridge and saw two climbers up there heading toward the summit, likely the occupants of the parked vehicle.
The long summit ridge traveled slowly with all the ups and downs. There's even a bit of exposure. Along the way, a friendly goat posed for pictures and we soon crossed paths with the two climbers we'd seen earlier. We arrived on the summit at 10:00 and just like that the quest was over. No overwhelming feeling for me, just a good feeling to get it done.
We stayed twenty minutes on top. On the descent we departed the ridge early- Mark and Dave set a bearing straight toward the mine while Tim and I angled back toward the ridge. After meeting up at the mine we all hiked out together and arrived at the parking lot at 1:05. It was nice to wrap up this list after working on it for the last seven years but as far as future lists go, who knows? I'll still be climbing, that much is for sure.