July 3, 2003

This was my second trip up Matterhorn Peak, the first ascent for me was back in '95 or so, so I was overdue for a return visit to this fine-looking peak. I told Scotty that I was planning an after-work ascent, and he told me to count him in, as this was a new peak to him, and he didn't want to miss out. On the appointed evening, Scotty met me at the Texaco station in Bridgeport, and we headed up Twin Lakes Road.

We departed the Horse Creek Canyon trailhead at about 5:40 pm, and made good time up the trail, encountering few tourists. The trail ran out at the head of the canyon, and we continued cross-country to the toe of the right-side (glacier's right) lateral moraine of the Matterhorn Glacier. We followed the moraine to the point where it disappeared into the glacier, and cut right to cross the glacier to a rock outcrop, and then went straight up the glacier to gain a spit of rock protruding from the East Couloir.

There was snow in the couloir, but we were able to avoid almost all of it by climbing on the sides of the couloir on a series of ledges. We exited the couloir to be met by a gusty wind, and continued up the East Ridge to the summit.

Our ascent took 3:10 for the 5,200' of vertical gain and 6-7 miles lateral travel, and we arrived on the summit just before dark. We signed the register, took a few photos, and headed down to the couloir. We made it about half-way down the couloir before darkness caught us totally, and we made the rest of the descent by headlamp. I used my little Petzl Tikka, and Scotty had some halogen-bulb thing that was bright, but ate up the batteries. He changed batteries once on the descent, and changed the halogen bulb for an incandescent bulb. I have not changed the batteries on my Tikka since I got it new in December 2001, and I have used it for hundreds of hours.

Our descent took nearly as long as the ascent due to the darkness, but we finally made it back to the car for the 2-hour drive to Reno.

Note: Since the above ascent, I have been to the top of Matterhorn Peak twice more, once on a day that we climbed Blacksmith Peak, The Doodad, and then the West Face of Matterhorn, and once on the way back to the East Couloir from The Dragtooth.

For Scotty's take on this peak, click here.