RT Length: 1.84 miles
Elevation Gain: 839’
Imogene Pass road is a difficult 4WD road (26A). Be prepared for large rock slabs and narrow shelf roads. I parked below Imogene Pass at around 12500’ at a pull off and was on the trail at 6:40am, as soon as I could see well enough to hike without a flashlight. I started by following the 4WD dirt road towards Imogene Pass. While it had recently snowed in the area, all the snow was sticking to the north slopes, so there wasn’t any snow on my route today. I’ve been in the area a few days, and I’d thought the snow would have melted out by now, but it seems to be lingering on.
At 12590’ there’s a dispersed campsite with an old fire ring. This is potentially another place to park. Here I left the road and started hiking on tundra southeast towards an obvious saddle.
This was a quick and easy hike, all class 2. Here’s my overall route to T7.
I started by heading southeast towards the saddle, staying to the left and high of the drainage.
Once I made it to the saddle I turned left and followed the ridge east. As you can see in the pictures, this hike was entirely done on tundra.
At the top of the ridge, I could see the summit to the east just a few yards away.
I summited T7 at 7:05am
T7:
This was a quick sunrise summit for me before work, so I turned and headed back the way I came, towards the ridge. I could see my vehicle below for most of this hike.
I then followed the ridge down to the saddle
Once at the saddle I turned right, and headed northwest back to the road (26A)
Once on the road, I followed it the short distance back to my truck
I made it back to my truck at 7:30am, making this a 1.84 mile hike with 839’ of elevation gain in 50 minutes.
Also, there’s an old mine to check out while you’re there close to where I parked, and several other old relics in the area. A lot of abandoned mines, equipment, poles, old trolley carts, and other artifacts. If you take the time to drive all the way up here, you might as well enjoy some Colorado history as well, and maybe get in a few other peaks? There are several 13ers and more to choose from.
On to the next trailhead!
Wild Wanderer 