Teakettle Mountain (13,819 feet) by Brian Schultz Sunday July 31, 2005
We had quite a run going so far with four hard centennial peaks scheduled on four consecutive days and three already completed. Tim and I wanted Teakettle pretty badly since we were closing in on the high hundred but if weather or technical difficulty prevented us from getting the summit, we'd be back in two weeks to try again. Teakettle would be our second technical climb in a row and even though the guides on Dallas yesterday offered to guide us on this peak also, we wanted to try it on our own. We celebrated our success on Dallas Peak with a meal at the Adobe Inn, our favorite restaurant in Ridgway, and turned in for an early morning wake-up. Sleep didn't come too easy for me, thanks to my still hurting bruised ribs, but the Dallas climb didn't bother them and I didn't expect Teakettle to be any worse.
Tim packed the protective gear and Jason the rope, making me the lucky one with a light pack, but if all went well I'd get my turn next month on Jagged Mountain. We drove up the rough Yankee Boy Basin road and parked at the 4WD trailhead at 11,300 feet.
Clear skies greeted us when we began at 6:15 AM. We pushed up an incredibly steep 2,100+ feet of elevation gain on grass and loose rock to the "Coffeepot", a big rock tower on the ridge only three quarters of a mile from the road. It's a grind but if saving 400 feet of elevation gain is important there is a variation route (check the Roaches' 31.1V in their book). Beware though, we took that rubble-filled scree gully route on the descent and it would be miserable to ascend.
We had a nice view of Teakettle, seemingly far away from the Coffeepot, but looks were deceiving. We descended and traversed on a good trail to reach the described black gully and carefully picked our way up its loose shifting rocks to the left branch at the top. After making a class 3 move to easier terrain above, we continued up sandy gullies to the summit base, arriving around 10:00, and took stock of the situation.
I'd hoped from the beginning to free climb the 40 foot class 5.3 summit pitch, but because it was so steep and since we brought the gear anyway, we hauled it out. I was nervous at our setting protection without anyone overseeing us but Tim's experience in the Garden of the Gods proved its worth. He started up and placed one sling, then set a couple pieces of protection in the crack above the alcove. After an initial awkward move, he stemmed up the crack to gain the summit and was on top at 10:45. Jason went next, also taking a few moments to figure out the stemming move, and then me. Watching the guys helped because I climbed the crack in short order and was on top at 11:00. I'll say this about Teakettle's summit- it's one of the tightest, smallest, and most exposed summits I've ever been on and I could not get comfortable. Gerry Roach says "don't drop your cookies" and it's just as well I left mine in my pack below because I wasn't planning to stay long.
I signed the register, took Tim's photo, and five minutes later readied myself for the descent. Jason and Tim would be rappelling but I wanted to climb down the crack on my own. Although Tim had me on belay, I asked for slack and found the descent to be quick and relatively easy. Of course I had the protection of a rope but I believe I could've done the summit pitch both ways without it as long as the rock wasn't wet. If wet, no way.
Jason and Tim stayed on top enjoying the fine weather and preparing for the rappel while I waited below for them. It's a good thing I kept my helmet on because Jason clunked me in the head with the rope when he threw it down. Jason rappelled first and then Tim. After collecting the rope we moved away from the summit base and took an extended lunch break, all of us extremely pleased with our accomplishment today. We were surrounded by impressive views of the Coffeepot and Potosi, and the handle of Teakettle nicely framed Dallas Peak looking the other way. Jason couldn't resist scrambling over to it so we took a photo of him in it too.
After the long break we descended the black gully and took the variation route, which was tedious at best but saved having to reclimb to the Coffeepot. The rest of the descent went fast and we were back to the truck at 1:40, good timing because the light rain falling turned out to be the onset of the summer monsoon. Teakettle was a terrific finale to my two week climbing trip and I drove home with pleasant thoughts of returning in August to finish the high hundred.
Trailhead to summit- 4 hours 30 minutes
Summit to trailhead- About 2 hours
Start to finish- 7 hours 25 minutes (including all breaks)