Mummy Kill, RMNP (partial)

Trip Date:  Sept 02, 2017

Mt. Ypsilon

The route this outing is based on has many names depending on which books you read.  Gerry Roach calls it "Mummy Mania!", Lisa Foster calls it "Mummy Kill" and Richard Rossiter calls it "Curse of the Mummy".  Here's a map I made when planning for this outing:  https://caltopo.com/m/KQN0
It has several variants with different escape points depending on conditions.  The actual route I took was different than all of these...

Looking towards Chiquita from Chapin.

Looking southwest from Chiquita

Looking southwest from Chiquita. Another version.

Looking across the ridge connecting Ypsilon and Fairchild (taken from start of the ridge)

Looking across the ridge connecting Ypsilon and Fairchild (taken about midway across the ridge)

You want to stay on the east side of the ridge where the slope is much more gentle.

Desolation Peak from Ypsilon/Fairchild Ridge (looking west).

Looking back towards Ypsilon after traversing the Ypsilon/Fairchild Ridge.

Got spooked by clouds rapidly forming around me once I reached Fairchild.  It looked fairly reasonable to descend the talus field to reach the valley below.  This turned out to be much more sketchy than having stayed on the mountain (it never did rain).  

The valley I dropped into turned out to be one of my new favorite locations in the park.  The steep granite walls on the side of Ypsilon and the vibrant green tundra were beautiful.  The pictures below do not do it justice (I am blaming the clouds and low light).

Cute family of mushrooms

Fay Lake

Bushwacking through the forest and following game trails to get back to the official RMNP trail might have been the best part of the day.  

On the map it looked like I'd be able to hop across.  I should probably use USGS 7.5' quads.  

Another good all day adventure.  

The Mummy Range is the last row of mountains in the back (right side of the valley). From left to right: Chapin, Chiquita and Ypsilon.