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Mile High Club (and Redlining attempt) 2020

We left the car at 5:10 AM in the dark. Partway up, we saw some headlamps up in the valley, but they were oddly spaced apart and there was only one car at the trailhead… later we saw more “lights”, turns out it was just moonlight reflecting off the wet rocks! We got to the…

October 6, 2020 By andrewleader

Itinerary

  • 3:30 AM – Leave home (1:45 hr drive)
  • 5:15 AM – Trailhead
  • 5:30 AM – Hiking (2.5 miles, 2,788 ft gain, ~2.5 hrs)
  • 8:00 AM – At base (50 degrees and warming Tuesday, sunrise was 7:15 AM, sun won’t hit till around 1pm though)
  • 8:15 AM – Climbing (11 sustained sport pitches, ~35 min/pitch, ~6:30 hrs)
  • 2:45 PM – Summit
  • 3:15 PM – Descend (~10 rappels, ~20 min/rappel, ~3:20 hrs)
  • 5:35 PM – Base
  • 5:50 PM – Hike back (2.5 miles, ~2 hrs, sunset at 6:36 PM)
  • 7:50 PM – Car
  • 9:40 PM – Home

Gear

  • Clothing
    • Weather
      • While hiking in, ~50 degrees
      • While climbing, starting at 50 degrees and warming to 59, in the shade almost all of the time
    • Orange jacket
    • Rain jacket
    • Pants
    • Long sleeve shirt

Weather forecast

Sunrise: 7:15am, sunset: 6:36pm. Weather for about the base of the climb…

Today: Sunny, with a high near 55. Northeast wind 6 to 8 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 49. North wind 6 to 8 mph becoming east northeast in the evening.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 59. East northeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming west northwest in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50. North wind around 6 mph becoming east southeast after midnight.

SaturdaySundayTuesday
8am53, 7mph, 11% cover48, 3mph, 44% cover50, 6mph, 17% cover
9am56, 7mph, 12% cover47, 3mph, 44% cover53, 6mph, 17% cover
10am57, 6mph, 7% cover47, 3mph, 44% cover55, 6mph, 17% cover
11am58, 6mph, 9% cover48, 6mph, 56% cover56, 5mph, 14% cover
12pm61, 6mph, 8% cover51, 6mph, 56% cover58, 5mph, 14% cover
1pm61, 6mph, 7% cover55, 6mph, 56% cover58, 5mph, 14% cover
2pm61, 7mph, 8% cover57, 7mph, 48% cover59, 6mph, 11% cover
3pm60, 7mph, 8% cover57, 7mph, 48% cover58, 6mph, 11% cover
4pm59, 7mph, 9% cover55, 7mph, 48% cover58, 6mph, 11% cover
5pm58, 5mph, 8% cover52, 7mph, 47% cover58, 6mph, 13% cover
6pm57, 5mph, 8% cover50, 7mph, 47% cover57, 6mph, 13% cover
7pm55, 5mph, 8% cover48, 7mph, 47% cover54, 6mph, 13% cover
8pm53, 3mph, 13% cover48, 7mph, 47% cover54, 6mph, 11% cover

Smoke forecast

Forecast Discussion: For Oct. 2-7: Air quality is MODERATE due to a thermal inversion and low wind keeping ground-level pollution from clearing out. These conditions should continue through Saturday, but on Sunday, shifting winds should bring us back to GOOD. There is still smoke from California wildfires at higher altitudes, but little of this is reaching the ground. The upper-level smoke should clear on Sunday, but may return next week, bringing more MODERATE conditions. We are also seeing fog in the mornings, which should not be confused with either the upper-level smoke or ground level air pollution.