2015-08-15 - Gothic & Del Campo Peaks
Above 4800ft, the terrain becomes magical. The scramble up to Del Campo was easier than expected, although a bit exposed at points. Thankfully the weather cleared in time for us to enjoy the view. Surprisingly, the down climb off Del Campo was even easier than the scramble up. The route down from Del Campo to Foggy Pass provided the only route finding challenge as we didn't want to waste time navigating cliffs out as some folks reported on previous trips. Up the obvious ridge to approach Gothic Peak was straightforward as expected.
16 mi, 5600ft elevation gain, 326 hours sleep
Gearing up for the start.
The first mile / mile and a half is a nice flat walk along a roadway.
Heading up to Foggy Lake from the lower ponds in Gothic Basin.
Forecast for Saturday: Partly cloudy clearing by the early afternoon. Picture taken Saturday at 6pm. Note the clear improvement in weather.
Day 2: 79 degrees and sunny.
65 and sunny?
The weekend was full of quotes from Meru. "There was some confusion when we were gearing to go up ..."
An easy approach from the lake leads to a stable talus field and the gully. The gully is above the prominent rock formation low in the field - essentially where the scree field points is the obvious gully. It's the only one that looks right.
Happy to see the weather clearing, Adam takes in the peek-a-boo views of the environs.
At the top; time to take some bearings! Kurt had this super cool print out of the viewshed, including bearings and distances to nearby peaks.
Adam, you're the best.
Nice view of our route down to foggy pass from del campo. We explored several gulleys that ended up going. The easiest seemed to be the obvious grass right in the middle - there were two large down steps where a veggie belay was sufficient.
Mixed clouds over the infinity pool.