Mummy Mania
6 Sep 2000 - by Bill Strand
- Peaks: Chapin, Chiquita, Ypsilon, Fairchild, Hauges, Mummy
(sorted/filed as Chapin, Chiquita, Ypsilon, Fairchild, Hauges, Mummy)
- Place: Colorado
Another great weekend in RMNP. Steve and I completed Mummy Mania described
in the back of Roach's RMNP guidebook on Sunday Sept. 3rd. Our long time
climbing partner Jim was sidelined with an untimely bout of food poisoning
encountered at the Rockies game on Saturday. Steve and I began our climb at
Chapin Pass on Old Fall River Road at 4:45 am and reached the Lawn Lake
Trail head at 5pm. On the way we summitted Chapin, Chaquita, Ypsilon,
Fairchild, Hauges, and Mummy. The last five are over 13,000 feet, including
the 4th and 5th highest peaks in RMNP. This is a great tour of the northern
portion of the park. Views encountered on the way of the Never Summer range
are spectacular. The crux of the climb is supposed to be between Ypsilon and
Fairchild (Class 3), we actually found the southeast ridge on Hagues to be
more difficult (Class 3). The difficulty between Ypsilon and Fairchild is
encountered on the climb up the southwest ridge on Fairchild. We found the
easiest passage between the ridge and a rib east of the ridge where we
traversed to the north through a notch and contoured into a gully (50 ft of
Class 3 traversing). It looked like climbing the southeast face of Fairchild
might be less technically challenging but would provide some unpleasant
climbing on large loose talus. Roach describes climbing on the south side of
the southwest ridge on Hagues. This works great until about 200 ft below the
summit. From this point I think the trail traverses north onto the southeast
face and up to the summit (Class 2?). We chose to continue up the ridge
(Class 3) to the summit. From Hagues to Mummy we dropped of to the north
from the summit and traversed to the western saddle and crossed to the south
side of the connecting ridge and then followed the ridge to the summit of
Mummy. This is a long high ridge run that is sure to provide an escape from
humanity. And as always the best part of climbing in the park is that there
are no obnoxious dogs, or should I say no obnoxious dog owners. Enjoy!
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