Mount Yale
August 11, 1988 - Denny Gulch
Having arrived from sea level and climbed Tabeguache and Shavano the day before, Dan and I camped at the Collegiate Peaks campground on the road to Cottonwood Pass to get an early start the next morning in our pursuit of Mount Yale. I realize now that the Denny Gulch route we took has fallen out of favor but at the time, that was the recognized way to get to the top of Yale. We left the campground at first light and climbed steadily up the obvious trail at first and later up endless scree to the saddle separating Yale from its sub peak. The toll exacted by the previous day’s score, however became evident at the saddle when just figuring out which way was up became a bit of a challenge. The fatigue and altitude hit and hit us both hard as we struggled to make the final push to the summit of Yale. Nevertheless, we did it, and sat atop this peak watching an approaching storm quickly head in our direction. There was no time for summit basking and after signing the register; we were headed back down to preclude being caught high by the lightning. The storm hit, we got wet but we were safely down and at the end of the second day, we had three peaks in our pocket. Are you getting the idea that the bozos have morphed into peak baggers?
The plan now called for another camp move, this time to the head of Stevens Gulch to facilitate another two banger, Grays and Torreys. We caught some dinner and went on back over the divide to camp at the head of the gulch. The night began with stars but the morning brought low fog and drizzle, not real good climbing weather. We slept in and still it did not lift, so we called the climb before it even began and headed into Golden to play alumni tourists before flying back to Baltimore the following day.
In hindsight, just four days in Colorado seems like too a fast trip, but such was not the case. Neither of us had climbed a 14’er in five years and it was worth it. To this day, I have Colorado locals ask incredulously if I drove “all the way” down from Cheyenne to climb for the day, and I answer yes. I know that if they compared that extra 90 minutes from Cheyenne to a 1600-mile plane ride (or worse yet a 5 year drought), their appreciation of their backyard bounty would jump up a notch or two.