Mount Meeker - Iron Gates

Nick Sangetta hikes Mount Meeker via the Iron Gates in the Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado on July 31, 2018. Wildlife: Elk, Marmot, Butterfly. This hike is dedicated to Brian Perri.
MUSIC:
Controlled Collapse - Change the World (Coldnoise Remix)
Broke for Free - Wash Out
Nihilore - Where there is No Darkness
Dexter Britain - Forced Through Time
Borrtex - Parents Love
Broke for Free - Things to Come
Join me on Patreon to help support the channel! / nicksangetta33

[@jgillotti]

NIck, I am Brian Perri's aunt from Pennsylvania. Thank you for this beautiful tribute to Brian! Our family is so grateful to everyone who searched and prayed for him. This mountain is so beautiful, yet so treacherous and vast. Thank you for caring and sharing your journey to the summit and back! This video has given us such an appreciation for his friends, the rangers and volunteers, who searched tirelessly in such a dangerous situation for almost a month. Cindy Gillotti

[@nicksangetta8874]

jgillotti I'm glad I was able to show the mountain in detail to those that aren't from the area and dont know just how much of a beast it is. 2nd tallest mountain in all of northern Colorado. I agree the effort put forth to find Brian was remarkable by everyone involved, even strangers who were out there looking just on their own.. that's why I am so glad he was found. For everyone's sake.

[@modernenergy682]

Nick Sangetta Mount Meeker is not the 2nd tallest mountain in Colorado. It is the second highest in Rocky Mountain National Park.

[@nicksangetta8874]

Julia LaBrake I meant to say northern colorado.

[@Robin.ThePlantPath]

Thanks for sharing your incredible journey to the Summit of Mount Meeker to pay tribute to Brian Perri 💜💟☮️ R.I.P. Brian. Thank you Nick. You are a true inspiration. Keep on... keeping on. 💟☮️PEACE!

[@Robin.ThePlantPath]

Certainly breathed a sigh of relief when you hit the trail on the way back down.. such an emotion filled tribute ☮️💟

[@787joelle]

Please keep posting your trips. I love it. Thank you for Nick.

[@allenfritschel1859]

That was one hell of a climb, and with camera equipment.. Great views of RMNP

[@karenfischer7703]

Nick, Thank you again for this beautiful dedication. I have written a book titled Search Beyond Lies that was inspired by the search for Brian (I am J.C.'s mom writing as K.V. Fischer). It is a suspense thriller and has a happy ending. You are acknowledged in it. I have started a blog series and in next week's article scheduled to post on Tuesday, Aug 23, I have a link to this incredible dedication.

[@nicksangetta8874]

Thank you Karen! JC put in a superhuman effort to search that mountain for Brian. The heart he showed was truly incredible.. I will add the book to my wish list so I can own a copy! 🙂

[@yawninggreyhound]

I like how you got to the other summit (compared to your last summit, I believe) and avoided that "knife edge"; you got my hands sweating at 22:00 and they didn't stop til after the rock river you came down. I have new respect for you, those peaks, and Brian Perri. Your surefootedness is impressive, I would be 4 points of contact most of the way...and here you are, confidently placing your feet WHILE FILMING. A beautiful tribute, Nick. Bravo.

[@nicksangetta8874]

yawninggreyhound Thank you! I appreciate the kind words! I have done the East peak now from Meeker Ridge and Iron Gates.. I've done the west peak once from the Loft Couloir route. Personally, I'd say the loft route to the west summit is the easiest and by far the most fun. The way Brian went was in my opinion the hardest. He came up the south west slope via Sandbeach Lake. It's like 5 miles just to get to Sandbeach Lake, then you split off and bushwack through a ton of trees for a mile before getting to base of Meeker. Then you go up it somehow.. I'm still not sure where a class 2 ascent route is over there. Looks like a wall of rock to me. I'm sure coming down was even more challenging trying to stay on that narrow class 2 band of rock. If he got off track he could have found himself in some bad spots with lots of exposure.

[@alquinn8576]

@@nicksangetta8874 I have done the hike to west peak twice via the Sandbeach trail route. The first time I hiked all the way to Sandbeach and then did the bushwhack north, which is fairly unpleasant (lots of rock and boulder piles cutting through the landscape and easy to get disoriented). It's a lot easier if you leave the Sandbeach trail at Hunter's Creek (where there is a faint trail) which takes you right above treeline just south of the Dragon's Egg. From there, head up the south face along grassy tundra towards the Dragon's Egg (where things get _very_ steep and rocky but still normal-ish class 2) and gradually angle west towards the southwest ridge (I probably intersected it at 13000-13200'). The climb up the ridge is class 2+ at worst (definitely no credible class 3) and I think part of the path of least resistance crosses over onto the southwest face just a bit. It looked to me there were many class 2 variations that could be taken, but also many class 3-4 sections if you wandered off a good route. The total elevation gain/loss is perhaps 5800' but the mileage isn't that bad via Hunter's Creek (12-13 miles r/t?).

[@nicksangetta8874]

@@alquinn8576 The Hunters Creek route is one of the last ones up Meeker that I have not tried yet. Honestly, it just looks brutal going that way. I did see the faint social trail that starts at Hunters Creek from the trail and figured that would be the way to go if I ever tried it. Thanks for the good info man! I appreciate it!

[@linac5804]

Brian Perri was parked at the wild basin lot, took the sand beach lake trailhead until it intersected hunters creek. He then bush whacked and followed hunters creek to the base of dragons egg rock where you essentially hike the backbone of dragons egg until he reached the west summit (true summit, 13911’). For an unknown reason, instead of heading back the way he came (which is the proper way down) he went north west along the loft, and attempted to descend the steepest section (fingers) where he eventually fell 20-40 feet to an instant death. His body was found at 40.24700 - 105.61620 at approximately 12,000ft. He was an avid 14er, having done all but a few in colorado, a former paratrooper, SERE graduate, survival expert, and an all around great guy. He would’ve been embarrassed by all the effort, not from his friends, but from the dozens of strangers like Nick that helped aid the search. I was injured and wanted to quit every day. I told myself that I couldn’t leave my best friend on the mountain. He wouldn’t have left me, nor any of you. The volunteers were all more skilled than myself, so what I lacked in skill I had to make up for in sheer will power. I never thought about the next mile I had to hike, I only thought about the next step I had to take. The last day I hiked was July 28th. The friends with me that day had to half carry me the last couple miles. I knew it was the last day I could walk. I passed by and spoke to a few SAR people who said they were responding to an unrelated event. I made a post that evening I wouldn’t be able to continue hiking. I found out at midnight from his sister that they had found his body. The last day my body had left to search that mountain was the last day needed to find him. There were several days between July 5th (when we discovered he was missing) and July 28th that the weather was too unsafe to be on the mountain. I had not hiked a single mountain in colorado for the 15 years I had lived there; my gps put me at approximately 220 miles over the course of 18 days. Several volunteers that aided the search likely did double that over half as many days. Many thanks to all involved, both on the mountain and those that called their state government to encourage SAR to continue. From the bottom of my heart, you all are the Hero’s of this tragic tale. -JC

[@linac5804]

My biggest fear was that I had neither the skill or stamina to bring my best friend home. That I would be alone and no one would care. The dozens of individual volunteers, SAR, and thousands of people that followed this story and contributed their time and effort are the reason why *we* brought Brian Perri home.

[@ozarklife9996]

You are an amazing individual...on the inside and the outside!....

[@rawveganfoodforthought2333]

Thank you Nick. I helped search too. Never met Brian but felt inexplicably connected to him. Hell of a summit.

[@nicksangetta8874]

Raw Vegan Food For Thought Thanks for helping look. Did you go with the group or go solo? We saw lots of people just out on their own out looking. One guy we met went all the way to summit, did knife edge and searched all the way back down. Amazing effort put forth by folks like yourself! I know Brian's friends were very appreciative

[@rawveganfoodforthought2333]

I did both. So, I was able to meet JC and his girlfriend. I can't tell you how much his missing, his essence, and his loss impacted me. I feel like I knew him, very familiar, but I'd never met him (that I know of.) I feel him now whenever I look at Meeker, and when I hike in the area. I am planning on doing some type of closure for myself, as you did here.

[@dustinholtz7700]

Nick that was a great video that was really nice that you did that for Brian. Very touching

[@JanieChandler]

I grew up at the foot at Meeker (in Allenspark), always looking up at it in awe, imagining the brave (and slightly nutty) people who'd be compelled to climb it. Thanks for taking me on the journey so I could live vicariously through you. (And could you pleeeeeze get a GoPro? If anyone needs one I think it's you!)

[@pattiedifraia9385]

I think the summitt marmot is your spirit animal- awesome climb to commemorate the life of a fellow hiker.

[@nicksangetta8874]

I agree about the marmots! I see those critters almost every time. Thanks for watching!

[@lincland3867]

I did this route many years ago, but we descended the Apron between Longs and Meeker. Then ascended Meeker via Apron with my dad a few years later. I highly recommend that route over this one.

[@eckhal2]

Nick, great video and tribute. Looked tougher than Longs Peak with all of that rock scrambling and no marked trail. Thanks again and be safe.

[@nicksangetta8874]

I'd say this was more technical than Longs and that made it harder in a way.. not to mention the remoteness if something goes wrong. But Longs is just Long.. you need to bring lots of gas in the tank to get it done.

[@johnmyers8588]

Nick....enjoy your videos. You're a kind spirit.

[@papz5049]

It was a long trip and a nice trip and a long trip and a special trip and it was a long trip and thank you for taking the long trip for us to see 👍👍👍👍👍❤️

[@nicksangetta8874]

Papz it was a little long. Lol Typing this from the summit of Quandary Peak. 14,265 feet. Just me and about 150 other people up here. 🤔

[@angerm088]

I did this route last late Sept and boy those loose rocks were no joke! It was also windy and cold that day and we ended up went down Meeker park about 150 ft short of the summit since I had the worst headache that day. Id love to do Meeker again via Iron gates or through the Loft.

[@nicksangetta8874]

I hate those headaches up there. I get them sometimes at elevation.. my stomach gets all weird. But yeah, the Iron Gates route was rough. I much prefer going up the Couloir to the Loft. That way is the easiest and super fun actually, climbing up the water fall and looking for the ramp. Plus the loft Couloir gets you on the west summit without dealing with the knife edge. I highly recommend it when the snow has melted.

[@angerm088]

@@nicksangetta8874 Like others said- Longs was good the 2nd time around I did it however I can't figure out Meeker the 2 times I tried. I'm thinking about going up Loft, do the knife edge and head down the Iron gates or Meeker ridge. Will try between Late July-Sept so I know weather will be better for me.

[@nicksangetta8874]

@@angerm088 Sounds like a good plan! That knife edge is wicked.. too much for me. I was thinking about doing meeker via the loft, then doubling back around the north side of longs, summit longs then head down the keyhole route.

[@angerm088]

@@nicksangetta8874 I might do it that way if I don't summit Longs again for a sunrise. I guess it will depend on who wants to do what. I am comfortable with soloing Longs now that I've done it but i'm not going to solo the knife edge for sure.

[@PaintingDenver]

Awesome footage of hike & tribute to Brian, Nick! Know he really appreciated it. Thanks putting this together, showing the Iron Gate path. Enjoyed watching, Thanks again! Liked/Subed

[@nicksangetta8874]

Thanks Calvin! I appreciate it, brother.

[@saakibmohammed1216]

Dude I'm in NZ.much respect hopefully some day God will give me strength and courage to do that.thanx

[@lukegaming86]

Now ive seen your video, very nice job

[@nicksangetta8874]

Thanks man. I couldn't get across the knife edge like you did though!

[@scottbell7275]

I found myself leaning to the left on your way up the ridge and to the right on the way down!

[@mackattack5188]

Thanks for the awesome videos!

[@Jaleeshan283]

Good job Gog and Magog iron gate

[@watertakken]

You got the Heart of Courage to climb that.

[@thomasdickey9197]

Otherwise great video. DON'T be the guy who kills a climber below by throwing rocks! There are rock routes going up that wall below, and climbers could be below that you easily could kill with that rock.

[@Fathirminer77]

Great! But why there are no any creature inside?

[@ianholl9100]

Great Video!

[@ianholl9100]

Hey man, seems like you've hike Meeker every way. Which way would you recommend?

[@ianholl9100]

I figured it out. This seems to be the easiest way up. Thanks for the video

[@mylifein75sqft87]

Hey Nick. Great hike. I did it from near Mt Meeker campsite. It was very windy when we did it. I like how you did it, through the iron gates. Wish I knew about the mountain before I did it. The only thing I knew about it was it's name. Go figure. What camera are you using? The image stability is really good. I subscribed. Take care.

[@nicksangetta8874]

Thanks for watching and subscribing! I am shooting with a Nikon B700 in 4k. The Iron Gates are a good way up, but my favorite is through the Couloir. That was really fun scrambling up the rocks with a pretty exposed ledge system. It takes you straight to the west summit (true summit). It's the most enjoyable and easiest way up in my opinion. I highly recommend it.

[@jeffwhisenhunt2028]

WOW!!!!

[@freaker126]

i can see the probability of people getting their shoes stuck or broken with the kind of rocks there. People can easily fall and hit their head or something and that'll be it. I guess it's the kind of risk that people are attracted to try and conquer. Anyway, it's a beautiful place and would love to camp in such an open space and seeing the stars. Not sure if it's allowed?

[@nicksangetta8874]

There are designated camp spots in the Boulderfield and also Goblins Forest, but I dont think you can camp just anywhere. And yeah, those rocks are crazy up there! This isnt the route Brian took. He did Hunters Creek (on the other side of mtn) and came down the wrong way behind Longs. Its even more dangerous back there. Ive seen the area he tried to come down and it looks impossible.

[@jasonthomas16]

Was looking for a good way up meeker. This video makes it look pretty straight forward as far as route finding goes. How much trouble do you think it would be to take this route to the main summit? I’ve done Longs twice but Meeker has always been a mystery to me as far as a good route up. The Loft was the way I was going to attempt the summit prior to this video. Safe hiking

[@nicksangetta8874]

I much prefer the Loft Couloir to the Iron Gates. Soooo much more fun in my opinion. I actually rank the loft to Meeker as one of my most favorite hikes ever. You dont have to go up an ocean of loose rock. It's more stable as you work your way up the couloir. Then it has some really fun ledges at the top. Plus the couloir gets you to the west summit. Like you said, iron gates only gets you to the east. The knife edge looks WICKED that separate the two. I will never attempt it. If you are a good climber I guess it's not that bad, but my god.. I cant hang on to a knife edge with my fingers like that and edge myself over. The book says the knife edge is 300 yards, but I think they meant 300 feet. In my opinion if you want to get meeker, the Loft Couloir is the easiest and most fun way up to the real summit! I highly recommend it.

[@jasonthomas16]

Nick Sangetta would love to hike that route soon just don’t want to hike the loft alone. I’m cool with doing the keyhole alone but that route is marked well and I’m comfortable with the exposer on it. I’m sure I would be ok with the moves on the loft just want a good partner.

[@nicksangetta8874]

@@jasonthomas16 I dont know about going up there anytime soon. There is a ramp you have to find and then go up a set of very narrow ledges. I would only attempt those sections when its dry. I wouldn't do it in rain and definitely not in snow. If you want to go up in the winter (which I havent done) the iron gates may be the way. Especially if the snows blankets the loose rock section and you can glide over it instead of slipping and sliding and scree surfing. The iron gates doesn't have the mandatory exposed sections like the loft does. You can avoid them. But man, if you go up there in the winter be careful! It's no joke. Already 2 missing guys on Longs that they wont find until July.

[@jasonthomas16]

Nick Sangetta definitely not it doing it in winter. I only hike Longs or in this case meeker in the summer. Usually late July-August. Only hike I do in on the Longs Peak trail in winter is chasm lake

[@nicksangetta8874]

@@jasonthomas16 Right on! Yeah July to August is prime picking for the big boys. I've done Mt Lady Washington a few times in October but it just gets wicked up there. That wind coming over tundra smashes ya. Such an amazing area though.. I cant wait until 2019! Think I want to try to get meeker via couloir then go around behind the notch, hit clarks arrow and go up longs then descend the keyhole route. That might be my big one for next year. But it gets sketchy on the backside of longs. That's where they found Brian Perry. Under the loft on south side.

[@jasonthomas16]

Are the gates hard to find heading back? I’m going to do this route over the summer

[@nicksangetta8874]

Yeah, finding that little opening on the way down is the hardest route finding of the day. That's why I was staying up high on the ridge so I didn't miss it.. if you were down below the ridge you could easily miss it. But once you hike up, you will have a better sense of where it is on the way down.

[@jasonthomas16]

Nick Sangetta amazing info. Incredibly helpful. Can’t wait to attempt the route this summer.

[@jasonthomas16]

Another thing I was curious about was it looks like there are 2 entrances to the iron gates. Is that the case or am I just looking at something else? This video is probably definitely helps a lot

[@nicksangetta8874]

@@jasonthomas16 It does look like there are two sets of Iron Gates.. but the once you get up there you will see that although they look similar from far away that the bigger one is unpassable. I honestly did not really know which one it was until I got up there.. but once you do you'll see the smaller gates are really the only way up.

[@kccoop8063]

whats your opinion on the brands of canned oxygen? in situations like you encountered where you were dizzy, i wonder if it would help? ive heard mixed reviews and was wondering if you had any input or have tried it

[@nicksangetta8874]

Glad you asked! I really like the stuff. I originally bought a can for my dad but before I could give it to him I did Grays and Torreys and took it with me. I thought I'd try it just for fun because I always thought they were a tourist scam.. but wow. I personally think I can feel a difference. Its oxygenated everything and I feel like it puts energy back into my muscles along with helping with breathing. I have asthma and I've totally stopped using my inhaler this year and instead keep cans of boost oxygen around. They are awesome. I also think going up Meeker is hard because you are looking down so you dont trip, then up at where you need to go, then back down, up, down, up.. that makes me dizzy too. But for my review of the oxygen im saying 2 thumbs up.

[@kccoop8063]

@@nicksangetta8874 thank you! i enjoy your videos. im a new hiker and your videos give me a chance to see what im getting into. keep it up

[@nicksangetta8874]

@@kccoop8063 Thanks! Hope to see you out on the trail someday!

[@inthewildwildwest]

Jeezus man, don't throw rocks off the top! Decent video until that point but that sh*t will kill someone. I had to stop right there and write this. There are lots of technical climbing routes on the walls below the ridge and if you can't see ALL the way down, you don't know if someone is below you.

[@jacobi.5234]

Did you close to the edge for effect or is that the “safest”route?

[@nicksangetta8874]

I stayed up on the ridge because I didnt want to miss the spot where I cut back through the gates to go back down. If I was below the ridge it would be easy to miss that little gap and go down the wrong way.

[@jacobi.5234]

Nick Sangetta Thanks, I’d like to summit that first (Eastern) summit next time I’m in CO. Walking that close to the edge is a bit scary. But good to know I can find some distance 15+ feet from it when I attempt. That knifes edge seems too intense to try for the true summit my first go. Thanks again. Jake from Ohio

[@nicksangetta8874]

@@jacobi.5234 Yeah, I'm not messing with the knife edge. Nope. I think the best way to go is up the Loft Couloir (when it's free of snow). Its the shortest, easiest and most fun way and it goes directly to the west summit. Super fun scramble up to the ramp and not as much of the loose crap.

[@muhammadakmal4957]

Hi nick, I'm Akmal. Can we discuss about this wall? Need your response thank you

[@nicksangetta8874]

The wall?

[@donflack3778]

Please don’t do that again! It was had to watch, but beautiful! 😉