PT 13006

RT Length:  7.95 miles

Elevation Gain:  2429’

I drove up from my camping spot to the Independence Lake trailhead that morning, and was on the trail at 5am.  The trailhead has plenty of parking, and even a bathroom, but parking spots fill up fast.  The trailhead is obvious, and starts at the north end of the parking area. 

I quickly came to a junction and headed towards Lost Man Lake

I followed this class 1 trail to Independence Lake, crossing over Roaring Fork River on a nice placing of rocks

Then continued following the trail to the saddle

It was about 2.5 miles to the saddle. From here, I could see PT 13006.  I lost 472’ of elevation as I descended towards (and past) Lost Man Lake. This remained a class 1 trail.

At about 12320 feet of elevation, I left the trail and headed towards the ridge.  This is the overall route I took to the summit of 13006.

First, to gain the ridge.  The willows were avoidable.

Once on the ridge, I turned left, and crossed a few rock slabs.  They were class 2, but now is a good time to put on your helmet.

From here on out, I stayed to the left of the ridge.  My first objective was to make it here.

I rounded the rock formation to the left

This brought me to some large boulders I had to climb.  This was the ‘crux’ of the climb.  The boulders are fairly stable, but far apart.  I rock-hopped up and across them.

The rest of the hike to the base of the summit was class 2 on tundra.  I kept to the left of the ridge, following grassy slopes.

At the base of the summit block, I had about 20 feet of solid class 3 scrambling to do to make it to the summit. 

I summited PT 13006 at 7am

PT 13006:

Here’s looking back at the route from the saddle.  This is Lost Man Lake

This was an out and back hike, so I descended the same way I ascended.  Here are some pictures as I made my way back down the ridge

Then it was back down to the trail

I followed the trail as it skirted Lost Man Lake and climbed it’s way to the saddle

Then continued following it past Independence Lake, all the way back to the trailhead.

I made it back to the trailhead at 9am, making this a 7.95 mile hike with 2429’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.

On to the next trailhead!