| #6: Inundated After Uncompahgre Trip Report |
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| #6: Inundated After Uncompahgre   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Colorado, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 38.07170°N / 107.4614°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Aug 1, 1985 | Page By: Aaron Johnson Created/Edited: Aug 7, 2003 / Aug 14, 2008 Object ID: 169024 Hits: 1133 Loading... Page Score: 0% - 0 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
After a successful climb of the mountain in fog a year or two prior, MA and I decided to climb Uncompahgre again and take in the view this time around. MA assured me high pressure was moving in over the San Juans and that the monsoon would not interfere with our week long outing.
We camped at the end of the Nellie Creek road and enjoyed a beautiful San Juan evening below the mountain. We awoke the next morning and climbed Uncompahgre without incident, aware that very ugly weather was moving in over the entire range. Our summit time was brief and our descent was speedy.
We folded camp quickly and packed up the jeep. Convinced that the weather was going to be great, I had brought only the bikini top for the jeep. With angry thunder rumbling above the mountain, we donned our rain gear and prepared for a very wet ride. No sooner than we got into the jeep, the floodgates released a soaking shower like I hadn’t seen since 1981, when I lived in Ouray and we had a horrible monsoon season.
Water poured from the bikini top in great splashes as we made our way down Nellie Creek road. Were it not for our rain gear, we would have been soaked to the bone. The road became an instant river of mud and rock. I was fortunate to have been sufficiently experienced in four wheeling the San Juans in all kinds of weather, but this day was a gem. The road more or less slid us down the mountain. Brakes made little difference as the mud was so greasy, the jeep just slid into the ruts, filled with running water, and slid down the mountain. Stream crossings had water coming up through the drain holes in the floorboards.
It poured the rest of the day. We took to Silverton and camped near town, buying some supplies for the next day’s outing. It rained the rest of the day.
I woke up to a puddle of water hovering above me, sagging Mark’s tent to less than an inch from my nose. We awoke to trees still dripping from the prior day’s flood. The entire area was nothing but mud. We saw that the sky was still ugly as ever. I looked to MA and asked, “so where’s this high pressure you saw on the weather report?” Befuddled as much as me, MA shrugged his shoulders as we packed up camp, unsure of what we were going to do. Proceed or bail? Driving in to Silverton, walls of rain could be seen obscuring the nearby mountains. Lightning and thunder were already raging at 9AM. Arriving in town, rain was falling steadily.
We went to the Chamber of Commerce building to see what the weather report was. Our intent was to hike up to Silver Lake, northeast of town, since MA had not seen it before. If it was going to happen, we doubted it would be that day. Inside the building, looking like two climbers badly in need of snorkels, we sauntered up to the information desk. Greeted by a friendly, elderly lady, we asked her what the weather was supposed to do. “Oh, my,” she replied,” I’ve heard it’s going to rain steadily for the next four or five days.” I looked to MA, who had this fearful look on his face. I said “high pressure my ass. I’m going to kill your favorite forecaster!” (She was cute, but that was about it).
On the wall was a montage of pictures from around the Silverton area. “You wanna see Silver Lake?” I asked MA. “Yeah,” he said. I pointed at a picture of Silver Lake. “There it is. Now, let’s go.” MA followed me out of the building toward the jeep. “Go where?” he asked. “Anywhere but here,” I replied, ”preferably home.”
We drove hastily over Red Mountain pass. A wall of rain literally chased us over the mountain into Ouray. We stopped for gas in Ouray and it began to rain. We high tailed it out of there to Montrose, stopping for burgers at MacDonalds. By the time we were done eating, it was raining. We stopped for a potty break in Gunnison. The rain arrived minutes later. The rain chased us right over Monarch Pass, where a spectacular lightning storm proceeded to unleash its fury. By the time we reached Pueblo, where MA lives, the sun was out and it was warm. We spent the rest of our vacation in Pueblo, socializing and happily staying dry.
We spent two full days time in our rain gear on this trip. We never took it off except to crawl in our sleeping bags. I never did learn what happened to that mysterious high pressure system MA swore by…
For the 5th most ferocious storm event in my 37 years of climbing, go to Sunlight Peak for more soggy San Juan action! Images
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San Juan Range
