Right Dovetail with Derek

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I'm on a quest to get my 100th ascent of Longs Peak next year when I have a decadal birthday. To that end, I had a subgoal of getting to 97 by the end of this year (2021) or six ascents this year. I got off to a late start, but then got four pretty quickly. This late in the year ascents are tougher, but Derek and I want to do more alpine/mixed climbing this season in an effort to boost our skills and experience a bit. To start that work, we chose the Right Dovetail. I'd done it twice before and knew it would be reasonable for us and a good route to see where we were at, fitness and skill-wise. 

We took this route a bit too casually and got a late start. After dropping Sheri at the bus stop at 6 a.m. we headed for the trailhead. In Lyons, we found out about the South St. Vrain highway closure and diverted to Estes Park. Driving around that town in the dark, I almost hit a bull elk, coming within a couple of feet. A heavy mist was hugging the ground and I didn't see him until it was too late to do anything. He stood completely still and I passed by without any damage to either of us.

Above the clouds at treeline

We weren't hiking until 7:30 a.m. and took it pretty slow. We carried a small rack of single cams to #2, some stoppers, two ice screws, and even two pitons (just to see if we could figure out how to place them). We started in the mist but climbed above the clouds and at treeline were greeted with sunny skies and no wind. It was surreal, especially at this time of year. It wouldn't last.

As we approached the route, it appeared to be in great condition, with solid ice in the first 150-200 feet. Most of this ice is low-angle and appropriate for my meager ice skills. We were in the shade gearing up and that, coupled with not moving, quickly chilled us. By the time we put on our crampons, harnesses, and helmets and geared up, we were cold. So, we both climbed in our shells and down jackets. It made movements a bit more cumbersome, but the warmth was worth it.

I had planned to use my smaller gloves for this route, but my hands were too cold (I have very wimpy hands when it comes to winter temperatures), so I used my BD Absolute Mitts. These babies are pretty awesome. They have a 3-finger inner glove that is waterproof and provides dexterity and a down overmitt with a leather palm. They are much more durable than a pure down mitten. I climbed with both on as much as I could and when I got into the mixed climbing or needed to place gear, I pulled off the outer mitts and had them dangle from my wrists.

We climbed with two tools and used a spinner leash to attach them to our harnesses. This leash, coupled with the rack, my dangling mittens, and the rope, made for some challenging movement at times. I was awkward and clumsy. I need more practice. Twice I climbed above my tools and then got them stuck below me. Doh. 

I placed two screws on the first pitch. The first screws I've placed in years, which is why I needed to get out training. We brought just a 40-meter rope and planned to simul-climb a bit. This was a stupid mistake, especially for a Gumby mixed climber like myself. When ice climbing and mixed-choss climbing, there tends to be loose stuff and things tumble down. I had to be super attentive so that I didn't bomb Derek with any projectiles. Never again will I try this. In retrospect, this was dumber than I thought I could be at this point in my climbing life. I mentioned this to Derek at the first belay and he was thinking the same thing. I was glad he didn't chastise me further, I was doing fine myself.

Derek topping out our first pitch

Derek led the next pitch, which started with some easy snow, then a tiny patch of ice, before pure rock climbing. Derek was having fun using his tools on the rock. I did less of that and on the upper part of this pitch and the next pitches, I didn't use my tools at all.

Derek did a great job on his pitch and set up a belay on a sloping ledge. He wasn't excited about the stance, so I moved off quickly on the third pitch in search of a better ledge. Derek was hoping that was going to be just ten feet higher, but each ledge that I came across either sloped or didn't have sufficient gear. After maybe a hundred feet I got to a good ledge and even sat down to belay Derek up.

Derek at the crux of our second pitch

After a brief break to drink and eat, Derek led the last easy pitch to the notch in the Keyhole Ridge. Once through this notch, the wind hit us. It was steady, but not ridiculous. We were so well dressed that we remained warm. We stripped and stowed everything but harnesses here and scrambled to the summit. From here to the top, with no reason to pause, we really felt the effects of the altitude. We hadn't been to altitude in a while and it showed. I had to stop and rest numerous times before arriving at the summit. It took us 7.5 hours to make the top.

On the summit after 7.5 hours

We rested on top for less than 5 minutes before fast-approaching dark clouds prompted us to move. Minutes into our descent it started to snow and then turned to graupel. With our crampons stowed (the right choice), we carefully made our way down slippery talus to the North Face rappels. I found the upper eye-bolt this time. I should find it every time, but in the summer, it is not needed and in the winter, it is buried in the snow/ice. We simul-rapped (because I only brought a Grigri, which was another mistake) from this eye-bolt to just above the usual first belay. We carefully downclimbed to the next rappel anchor. 

We simul-rapped, but came up short of the next anchor. I stopped higher up and lowered Derek down to the next anchor. He clipped in and put his end of the rope on belay. I tied into this rope and then pulled down the rest of the rope. Belayed by Derek, I carefully downclimbed the small inset using chimney technique. I had to descend twenty feet and I made it fine.

Making our third rappel on our now-fixed line

The storm was raging now and I knew I'd have trickier downclimbing below. We had the Escaper with us, but I didn't want to mess with it in these conditions. The rope we were using was old and had some sheath damage. Earlier in the day, we had already decided to retire the rope, so I did something I've never done before. I tied the rope to the eye-bolt and, after rapping its full length, left it behind. Nice booty for the next party on the Cables route.

Descending from the last rappel down to the Boulder Field Camp was tiring, slippery, and dangerous. All the rocks were coated in ice and snow. The snow patches were evil traps that plunged between shin-bashing stones. It took a lot of mental and physical effort to get down to the trail. It should have been easy going from here on out and it mostly was, but we were fading. Our feet hurt and the winds whipped at any exposed skin. Our goggles were essential. We were hot in all our clothes, yet didn't want to stop to shed a layer as that process would have us being cold again. 

The descent was long and tedious but then we came to a revelation: we had less than an hour of daylight left. Our casual attitude had extended to us not bringing headlamps. Mistake number three? Four? Too many. With all the weight we carried the addition of a headlamp would have been unnoticeable. We picked up the pace and went as fast as we could. I'm not saying that was a fast pace, but it was a lot quicker than what I had been doing. 

Hiking out in the wind and snow

Once back below treeline, the wind and blowing snow was no longer an issue, though the snow continued to fall. We had fresh tracks, mostly, to the car and arrived just before we needed to use our phones as a light. The snow cover reflected the meager light remaining just enough for us to see. The roundtrip was just under 11 hours. More than two hours longer than I expected.

In the parking lot, we met another party just finishing up an ascent of Alexander's Chimney. They told us conditions were thin there -- mostly rock climbing. Two guys visiting from New York were in the parking lot as well. They were in a rental car and very low on gas. They also didn't know how to use their defroster. We guided them down into Estes Park, right to a Shell station. They were very thankful and it gave us a nice glow to end our adventure. 

This was my 96th ascent of Longs Peak. My third time up the Right Dovetail (with three different partners). My 87th trip over the North Face (most of these are descents). And at least my fifth October ascent. I've now climbed Longs Peak on at least (I don't have an exact date, just the month, for ten of my climbs) 73 unique calendar days (on 13 days of the calendar, I've climbed Longs twice). The month with the least number of ascents (3) is April. The month with the most ascents (21) is August.