Nolan’s 14: Peak 4/14, Day 2
Mt. Princeton 14,200’
The day before Mt. Princeton we summited three 14,000ft peaks in the Sawatch Range with 25 pounds on our backs: Shavano, Tabeguache and Antero. All three peaks I have summited in the winter, decidely more difficult, but this time we were summiting them as a scouting mission for Nolan’s 14, a 100-ish mile nearly vertical connect-the-dots a kind of scavenger hunt of 14ers for those who want to experience nature in its rawest form. Choose the shortest— and fastest routes between the Sawatch’s fourteen 14,000ft peaks and finish in under 60 hours to be one of the few humans to have accomplished this feat. The route is said to have around 44,000ft of climbing and often 1/3 or more off-trail to go the shortest distances between peaks. Short, though, doesn’t always mean faster as we were to learn on Princeton.
The day started off-trail and that was the theme of the adventure. We followed the Nolan’s GPX ‘shortest’ route up and down and as one might expect, we encountered some steep terrain because of it. On the west and very rocky ridge approach to the peak of Princeton, we stayed a bit far east and ended up scrambling and literally climbing: hand holds, foot holds straight up the face of the ridge. I was glad my childhood included climbing anything in sight from barns to sea walls, but it was still terrifying—and exhilarating. Once we realized we were a bit far east of the route, we summited the ridge and realized there was an easier and much less steep way along the very top. We went from class 3 / class 4 to class 2 (and hard class 2). We may have taken the steeper route, but it sure was more interesting.
Off-trail and scrambling is slow and hard especially the first time you do it, but it’s infinitely more beautiful and wild. The descent off the top straight down a large and very steep rock field was treacherous and we spread out to avoid knocking rocks on each other that could easily kill us. The slope was too steep not to be careful. Many times on the descent we almost got our feet/legs wedged under rocks that shifted and moved as we descended. It was a sobering reminder how close one is on these mountains to being mortal. Other times we’d step on rocks bigger than a dining table and they’d shift precariously underneath us. Reminding us that the rocks below— and above us— had our fate in their heavy balance.
The focus it takes to carefully place each foot is both mentally and physically exhausting and we dropped into the meadow gratefully, but knowing we still had a tough 7 miles to our camp spot as the sun was eclipsed by the 14,200’ tall Princeton and the moon took stage.
You can find each peak in Nolan’s 14 that we have scouted day-by-day on instagram here.
Sweetheart: We can't be there physically, but always know you carry our love with you.
-----Mom and Dad