May 19, 2012, Buell and Barrier Pks, MRNP

Second trip up Cayuse Pass area in two weekends and I seemed more in a peak bagging mode.  I had never climbed Barrier Pk before, but seen it now from Shriner, Double, Tamanos, and others.  It has a beautiful dome appearance from the east, but then drops steeply from the 6521' summit to the 4700' meadow below.  Gaining the saddle of the SE ridge to Barrier put me very close to Buell (third pic, from summit of Barrier), so I decided to have lunch on a dry south facing rock and take a ride down the south glades before skinning and booting the ridge to the top of Barrier.  The ride off the top of the east face was exhilerating, the cliff bands spicy, and the rest the usual mix of corn, debrise, and finally a little sticky to the meadow.  The incoming clouds ruined the shot I wanted of my turns coming off the summit, but it did make for a liitle cooler hike out  8).  It was fun to add two more summits in the Park to my list.