Laura M Clark

Mt Soso – 13,417

RT Length: 7.04 miles (From Rock Lake)

Elevation Gain: 2793’ (From Rock Lake)

This trip report starts at Rock Lake. For instructions on the approach to Rock Lake, as well as the drive to Beartown from Silverton, click here.

Since I was already at Rock Lake, at around 11850’, I made it a late start and was on the trail at 6am. I was in the camping area directly in front of the lake, and from there I headed south towards the pass.

There is a trail that picks up on the east side of the lake, that will take you all the way to the pass on a class 1 trail

It’s rocky, but there is a well-defined trail here with cairns

At the top of the pass I headed southwest, following the cairns as they descended a bit. The trail goes on to Half Moon Lake, but I didn’t want to go there, so after descending down a small gully I changed directions, and gained the ridge to the west.

I spent a lot of time putting cairns in this area to help with navigation, but as long as you gain the ridge, the next part of the route will be obvious.

From the top of the ridge, this was my route up to the ridge of Mt Soso.

It looks straightforward, but I ended up losing a lot more elevation than I wanted to, mainly because there’s a gorge that you can’t see from the pass. I initially tried to go straight over the large boulders to the left, but it cliffed out. You’ll need to stay more to the west. I lost almost 600’ of elevation making my way down into the basin.

This is all class 2, and easy to navigate. Here’s a picture of the gully that will lead you to the ridge. This is a class 2 gully, and you’ll find a game trail if you stick to climbers left.

From the top of the gully, looking back on the route I took there, I had a better view of the gorge I’d been trying to avoid. There was a beautiful waterfall I hadn’t been able to see from the other side.

Once on the ridge, I turned right and followed it southwest.

After about a quarter mile of class 2 terrain the ridge became class 3 for a bit. I spent a lot of time putting together cairns for the rest of the route. This is the route I took

Here are some step-by-step pictures. Most of this is class 2, with some easy class 3 thrown in

Now is a good time to get a visual on the rest of your route. The upper ridge is sustained class 3, but I dipped down a bit and took the grassy gully to the summit

Here’s a better look at the ridge

And some close-up pictures of the class 3 scramble. I was able to stay directly on the top of the ridge for this, until I came to just below the grassy area. If you’ve made it this far you can probably just go straight up and over the ridge, but I felt safer dropping down and taking the grassy gully up. I put a ton of cairns in the area to help guide the way.

Here’s where I dropped down about 20 feet

And then went up the grassy gully (class 2+)

Topping out of the grassy gully

And then it was a quick walk north to the summit

I summited Mt Soso at 9am

Mt Soso:

From the summit I could see my hike into the basin, and the cliff band I’d needed to avoid

I stayed on the summit longer than I normally would, because it was such a nice day. Then I re-traced my steps back to Rock Lake, first by heading south to the ridge

And then taking the grassy gully down. There’s an obvious willow bush in the path. Turn right and head to the ridge BEFORE you make it to this lonely bush.

Then following the cairns back up to the ridge (circled in red)

Here’s the overall route down the ridge, back to the access gully that led up the ridge

And some step-by-step pictures

Then back down the gully, into the basin, avoiding the cliffs and waterfall

Then back up to the pass

From the top the view can get a little confusing, because there are a lot of rocks. Here’s the route:

You’re aiming for this gully, which will have cairns that will lead you back down to Rock Lake

There is a trail here that will lead you back to the lake

Notice there are a lot of campsites in this valley area as well

I made it back to Rock Lake at 11:45am, making this a 7.04 mile hike with 2793’ of elevation gain in 5 hours, 45 minutes.

Irving Peak – 13,218 and North Irving – 13,017

RT Length (from Rock Lake): 11.44 miles

Elevation Gain (from Rock Lake): 4009’

This trip report starts at Rock Lake. For instructions on the approach to Rock Lake, as well as the drive to Beartown from Silverton, click here.

There is a trail that picks up on the east side of the lake, that will take you all the way to the pass on a class 1 trail

It’s rocky, but there is a well-defined trail here with cairns

I spent a lot of time putting cairns in this area to help with navigation, but as long as you gain the ridge, the next part of the route will be obvious.

From the top of the ridge, I could see Mt Soso, and the gully I would need to climb to access the next basin, where Irving and North Irving were.

This is the route I took to get to the gully. There are a lot of small ponds in this area, and marshy areas. I found I could skirt the water to the north, and then easily access the gully

I first had to descend 450’ into the basin (I stayed high, as you can descend much further if you take a different/lower route), and then re-ascended 560’ up the gully.

The gully really wasn’t that bad to ascend

At the top of the gully, I could see Irving Peak and North Irving.

I had a clear visual of how I wanted to ascend, and descend to get there. This is the overall route I took. I stayed high, losing about 650’ of elevation, and paralleled the mountainside at around 12300’ to get to the base of Irving Peak. The dotted line is my descent route off North Irving (more details later).

Here are some close up pictures of the route

When I made it to the bottom of Irving Peak, I had a few options. I decided to head up the gully to the left, but this meant I’d need to descend about 50 feet on the other side and then regain the ridge. Now is also a good time to note my decent route from North Irving. If I were to do this again, I’d choose the same route. The gully I took down would not have been fun to upclimb. The area circled in red is what I was trying to avoid, as it didn’t look like it ‘went’.

Here are some pictures of my route up to the ridge (all class 2+)

And once on the ridge, the area I dropped down to avoid, and then regain the ridge

Some step by step pictures avoiding the rocks and accessing the gully

The gully was at worst class 3

At the top of the gully, here’s looking back on my route from the pass

I turned left, and followed the rocky ridge southwest to the summit of Irving Peak. This was a class 2 scramble

I summited Irving Peak at 11:15am

Irving Peak:

Now to head over to North Irving. This was a class 2 hike northeast down to the saddle, then 240’ of elevation gain as I followed the ridge northwest

I summited North Irving at 12pm

North Irving:

There was a storm coming in, so I quickly made my way back down towards the Irving/North Irving saddle.

There are several gullies you can take down. I took the second one, circled here in red. I do not regret my choice.

Once out of the gully, I retraced my steps back the way I’d come, to the Oso/Soso saddle

From the Oso/Soso saddle I aimed for the ridge to the northeast, losing and then regaining elevation.

From the top the view can get a little confusing, because there are a lot of rocks. Here’s the route:

You’re aiming for this gully, which will have cairns that will lead you back down to Rock Lake

There is a trail here that will lead you back to the lake

Notice there are a lot of campsites in this valley area as well

I made it back to Rock Lake at 3:30pm, making this an 11.44 mile hike with 4009’ of elevation gain in 9 hours.

Rock Lake Approach from Silverton to Beartown

The approach drive is 21 miles from Silverton to Beartown, starting out on 110, then turning right onto 589, or the Alpine Loop, towards Stony Pass. It’s a really good idea to make a gpx file for this drive, as I’ve encountered several people who got lost in the area while taking side roads.

At the fork in the road, keep left to head towards Stony Pass.

The 4WD road quickly begins gaining elevation, but is easy to follow. There are several places to pass vehicles coming the other way. After about 5 miles, you’ll make it to Stony Pass.

From Stony Pass you’ll lose over 2000’ of elevation as you make your way east, towards the Rio Grande River.

I did this hike in September, when the river crossings were low. In fact, they were lower than I’d ever encountered them before, and my Tacoma had no problem crossing.

First river crossing:

Then there’s a junction. Stay right, and take the road that goes towards Beartown

Second river crossing:

From here you are now on 3A, and the road gets more difficult. It does feel like it’s been graded recently though, as it wasn’t as bad as I remember it being last year.

I parked at a nice campsite at 10890’. My truck could have made it further, but I love my truck, and didn’t want to drive it further down the road. Here’s the topo for the drive in

Now for the approach to Rock Lake. This entire approach is class 1.

Here are the stats:

2.7 miles and 1263’ of elevation gain from my parking spot to the top of Hunchback Pass

5 miles and 2349’ of elevation loss from Hunchback Pass to the Rock Lake cutoff

4.8 miles and 1713’ of elevation gain from the Rock Lake cutoff to Rock Lake.

I started out heading southwest along the dirt road (3A), towards the actual trailhead, passing a sign for Beartown along the way.

There were many capable vehicles parked at the trailhead

I followed the trail, 813/Vallecito Trail, as it wound its way up towards Hunchback Pass.

At this point I was above treeline, but that would soon change. From the top of the pass I descended down into the basin

Encountering willows (bring your rain gear) and re-entering treeline.

I crossed Nebo Creek, which is a great place to stop for lunch, or to filter water

This is where the downed trees began. There were dozens of them, but luckily this is also a horse trail, so there were paths already beginning to form around the downed trees.

At around 10135’ I came to the junction for the Rock Creek Trail. It’s marked by a wooden post, and easy to miss in the dark.

I turned left, and followed the Rock Creek Trail

The trail was easy to follow as it gained elevation, heading southeast, paralleling Rock Creek. I entered a wide basin (where I’d been charged by a bull moose on a previous trip to the area), and headed through willows towards Rock Lake.

The willows gave way to trees and switchbacks

Which gave way to more willows

At the end of the willows, was Rock Lake. From where I parked, it was a total of 12.51 miles with 3044’ of elevation gain to Rock Lake

There are tons of places to set up camp directly in front of the lake, but also on its east side. If you see campers set up on the north shore of the lake, realize there are many, many more along the trail ahead as well (hikers left).

Here’s my topo map for the route in from Beartown

And now some pictures of the way out, from Rock Lake back to the Vallecito Trail.

Back at the junction I turned right, and followed the Vallecito Trail. At this junction, there’s a great place to camp (if needed).

Now for the fun part: 2350’ of elevation gain back to Hunchback Pass

I re-crossed Nebo Creek

And came across tons of wild strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Since it was September, they were all ripe, and a great snack halfway back up the pass

I re-entered willows, and followed them towards Hunchback Pass

From the top of the pass, I headed back to the trailhead

From here you can see where I parked my truck

Back at the trailhead, I followed the 4WD dirt road back to my truck

When I got back, I found another vehicle parked in the campsite alongside mine, ready to combat those pesky marmots (I saw several on my drive out).

Here are some pictures of the drive out. Remember, it’s all left turns now to get back to Silverton.

After Stony Pass I came across a rather large herd of domestic sheep grazing on the hillsides

Here’s my topo map for the entire route

As always, please contact me if you’d like a gpx file for this route.

Taylor Peak – 13,157, Powell Peak – 13,197, Otis Peak – 12,481, Hallett Peak – 12,723 & Flattop Mountain – 12,330

RT Length: 19.75 miles

Elevation Gain: 5983’

I started from the Flattop Mountain Trail inside Rocky Mountain National Park, at the Bear Lake parking area, at 4am. I’ve been to this trailhead a few times, and it fills up before 6am, so plan on getting there early to secure a spot.

There is great signage in this area, leading you to the trailhead

I followed the class 1, well-marked trail for 5 miles up to Flattop Mountain, gaining almost 3000’ of elevation in the process

As soon as I hit treeline the sun began to rise, and I saw a small herd of elk, led by one male bull. He bugled to me, and the ptarmigans began to chirp .

Elk Bugling:

Ptarmigans waking up:

I continued following the class 1 trail to Flattop Mountain (which is really just a plateau).

At the top of the plateau is a sign. At this sign I turned left, following the cairns. Note: there isn’t a sign indicating there is a trail to the left, but there will be dozens of rather large cairns to follow towards Hallett Peak

While you could certainly summit Hallett Peak first, my main goal were some 13ers further ahead, so I skirted Hallett Peak to the right, staying at about 12360’, which kept me on rocky tundra.

As I headed southwest, staying on the rocky tundra, I could see both Otis Peak and Taylor Peak. It was my objective to summit Taylor Peak next, which meant I’d need to lose about 400’ of elevation to the Otis/Taylor Saddle (also where top of Andrews Glacier/Andrews Pass is located)

Here’s my route up to Taylor Peak from the Otis/Taylor Saddle. Note, my route up is solid, my route back down (after summiting Powell) is dotted. I would recommend these routes in the same order I completed them. The entire day consisted of class 2 terrain for all the peaks I summited.

Here are some close-up pictures of the terrain to the summit of Taylor Peak

I summited Taylor Peak at 8:30am

Taylor Peak:

From Taylor Peak I could see Powell Peak to the southeast.

To get there, I’d need to contour southwest down the south side of Taylor, and then follow the ridge towards Powell Peak. The route is obvious, and easily kept class 2.

Here’s the route from the Taylor/Powell Saddle

And some close-up pictures of the route

I aimed for the highpoint, a large rock on the ridge

Here are some closer pictures of the route to the summit

Powell Summit rock, easily scaled from the left

To be honest, I’m not sure where the true summit lies. When I got to the large rock outcropping I saw what looked like a cairn a short distance away, further southeast, but when I went further southeast to that point, the rock looked higher. When I got home my track showed the rock was the highpoint, but there wasn’t anything indicating it was (no cairn/summit register/etc.) A point further northwest looked high too, so I made sure to walk over there, but my photos are from the rock outcropping.

I summited Powell Peak at 10:15am

Powell Peak:

https://youtu.be/0oxEIaN_wYg

I then retraced my steps back to the Taylor/Powell Saddle

But instead of re-summiting Taylor Peak, I skirted the summit to the left, staying at around 12750’

This was all class 2, but required a bit of rock hopping

As I continued to round Taylor Peak, Otis Peak came into view. The path towards the summit was obvious

I made my way down to Andrews Pass, and then up towards Otis Peak

I summited Otis Peak at 12:45pm

Otis Peak:

I could see Hallett Peak to the northwest, and descended to the Otis/Hallett saddle

And then headed northeast up to the summit of Hallett Peak

I summited Hallett Peak at 1:45pm

Hallett Peak:

Now to head back to the trail. This was all class 2, and there were cairns to guide the way. Be careful not to aim for the obvious trail in the distance, as it will not lead you back to the trailhead. This is the route you should take. If you look carefully, you can see the sign you’re aiming for from earlier in the morning

At the junction I turned right, and followed the class 1 trail back to the trailhead

I made it back to my truck at 4pm, making this a 19.75 mile hike with 5983’ of elevation gain in 12 hours.

On the way out, I was stopped by another herd of elk, walking along the road.

On to the next trailhead!

McHenrys Peak – 13,330

RT Length: 17.46 miles

Elevation Gain: 4442’

I started from the Glacier Gorge trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park at 3:30am. There were already several parties in the parking lot (probably 10 vehicles), but didn’t see another person on my route all day. This is also a bus stop for access to Glacier Gorge (and lots of other hikes). All this means is that it was overly crowded the last 2 miles of the hike on my way down. Passing people became impossible, and more of a stroll as I hiked out with hundreds of other hikers.

I followed the class 1 trail, staying on the Mills Lake trail. There were wonderful signs that made getting lost difficult.

I passed Alberta Falls at 1.15 miles, and continued following the trail to Mills Lake

After hiking for 3.35 miles I passed Mills Lake, and at 3.85 miles I passed Jewel Lake. Side note: there’s great fishing here. Lots of hungry trout, eager to feast on any worm you drop in. The larger trout are in the stream above Jewel Lake, and in Mills Lake.

I continued following the class 1 trail all the way to Black Lake (6 miles in). This part of the trail had a lot of wood foot bridges, and rock slabs to cross. All class 1, but the rock slabs were tricky to navigate in the dark.

I made it to Black Lake, and continued on the class 1 trail, up a waterfall, and across more rock slabs.

Here the trail kind of fizzled out, but I continued following cairns as I crossed a small creek, and headed southwest towards McHenrys Peak. There are a ton of cairns in this area (circled in red).

Here’s the overall route to Frozen Lake (not pictured) and up Stone Man Pass. There are plenty of cairns to guide you, but for the rest of the hike be careful: there are a lot of granite slabs that are quite steep to navigate (all class 2), and slippery where wet.

Here are some close up pictures to Frozen Lake

I easily rock hopped and crossed the lake on its north side, and continued heading west towards Stone Man Pass

There are still tons of cairns in this area, but choose your route based on the best conditions. The rocks are very slippery where they are wet. I was aiming for the gully below Stone Man Pass.

I didn’t think the gully was that bad. I stayed right on my way up, but took the other side down. I’d recommend climbing up the left side of the gully, as it was more stable, but both were fine. Here are some pictures of the gully

Once at the top of the gully, I turned right and headed northwest towards McHenrys Peak. Everything you can see here is class 2, and there are cairns to guide your way.

I rounded the mountain, and was now on the west side of the peak. Here is got a bit trickier. There were still cairns to follow. I headed up a rock slab, and rock filled gully. This was easy class 3

Here’s the overall route of the rest of the climb. I felt this was difficult class 3, with some exposure.

There was a chimney to head up, and then a short but intense scramble to the summit

I summited McHenrys Peak at 9:50am

McHenrys Peak:

The summit looked like it could have several actual summits, so despite the large cairn and summit register, I made sure to walk all around the summit to make sure I’d actually summited.

Now to head back down. The trickiest part was descending the initial section, and finding my way back around the side of the mountain. Once I was there, it was easy to find my way to Stone Man Pass, and then back down to Frozen Lake.

And then I followed the cairns northeast, back towards the trail that would lead me to Black Lake

Then followed the trail all the way back to the trailhead.

I made it back to my truck at 2:30pm, making this a 17.46 mile hike with 4442’ of elevation gain, as per CalTopo. Strava told me it was a 15.02 mile hike with 6573’ of elevation gain. I tend to go with CalTopo when I write, for consistency purposes, especially since Strava tends to grossly exaggerate elevation gain.

Also, there were a few elk along the trail who didn’t seem bothered by my presence… they wouldn’t even look up from whatever they were eating to acknowledge me.

On to the next trailhead!

Pagoda Mountain – 13,488

RT Length: 17.74 miles

Elevation Gain: 4544’

I started from the Glacier Gorge trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park at 3:30am. There were already several parties in the parking lot (probably 10 vehicles), but didn’t see another person on my route all day. This is also a bus stop for access to Glacier Gulch (and lots of other hikes). All this means is that it was overly crowded the last 2 miles of the hike on my way down. Passing people became impossible, and more of a stroll as I hiked out with hundreds of other hikers.

I followed the class 1 trail, staying on the Mills Lake trail. There were wonderful signs that made getting lost difficult.

I passed Alberta Falls at 1.15 miles, and continued following the trail to Mills Lake

I made it to Black Lake, and continued on the class 1 trail, up a waterfall, and across more rock slabs.

This is where my report may differ from others. I took a different route in than I did out at this point, and liked my route out better. It was easier to follow, and there were less willows/shrubs involved. Here’s the overall picture of what I did. There is a cairn circled in red, indicating the route to McHenry’s Peak. Don’t take that route, but leave the trail and head behind the bush. You will then easily see cairns that will guide you through the upper basin.

Once again, there is no established trail to Green Lake, but there are some tramped game trails (all covered in grass, not much dirt to be seen) and lots of cairns. This is also choose your own adventure. You’re aiming south, towards the mountains (circled in red). There are several small streams to cross in this area, all easily hop-able.

I navigated a bit to the right of the waterfall to get to Green Lake (cairns here too)

Once at Green Lake, I turned left and headed southeast. Here’s my overall route on scree, navigating around large boulders and rock slabs to keep this all class 2.

Here are some close-up pictures of my route up the gully, to the saddle

Once at the saddle, I turned right and headed up the ridge. I went directly up the ridge on the way up, which was class 3. I kept it class 2 on the way down by staying more to the left of the ridge.

Here are some pictures of the ridge.

I summited Pagoda Mountain at 9am. There was a plastic tube at the summit as a register, lacking a lid, but with a ziplock bag inside. I didn’t bother opening it.

Pagoda Mountain:

I had a great view of the Longs Peak keyhole route

Now to re-trace my steps back to the saddle, before the storm hit

And back down the scree to Green Lake

Once back at Green Lake, I turned right and followed the cairns north out of the basin

This time I went behind the rocks and picked up the old trail, circled in red

Then followed the trail all the way back to the trailhead. It started raining just as soon as I made it to treeline, accompanied by a flash of lightning, a loud boom, and a wide rumbling all around me.

I made it back to my truck at 1:30pm, making this a 17.74 mile hike with 4544’ of elevation gain in 10 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

K49 – 13,535

RT Length: 9.81 miles

Elevation Gain: 3162’

I arrived at the North Halfmoon Creek Trailhead to find it almost full at 3:30am, with several vehicles parked just below the final ‘difficult’ section. Pro tip: If your vehicle cannot make it all the way to the trailhead, do NOT park it just below the difficult section, as it’s narrow and I barely avoided hitting several vehicles on the way down later in the day. I was driving a Tacoma; I can only imagine the difficulty a larger vehicle would have passing poorly parked cars in this area. If your car can’t make it, do us all a favor and park in the 2WD parking area. The upper 4WD parking area was full of 4Runners, Suburbans, and trucks.

I was on the trail at 4am. The sky was clear and I could see stars, but apparently it had rained the night before, and I was quickly soaked.

The trail was an easy to follow, class 1 trail

At the junction, I continued straight on North Halfmoon Lakes Trail

This was still a class 1 trail, with some fun boulders thrown in. These were easy to navigate, with cairns to guide the way.

After hiking for 2 miles, I came to an unmarked junction and left the North Halfmoon Lakes Trail and followed a social trail to a stream.

There were several small streams to cross, and no established trail. I continued heading southwest, staying above North Halfmoon Creek, doing my best to avoid the boulders. This was all done below treeline, so pictures don’t help much. I stayed level at around 11600’

I came to an avalanche area, crossed it, and continued staying at 11600’

Eventually I could see North Halfmoon Creek, and an easy place to cross. I crossed the creek, and headed southwest.

There was a drainage that was easy to follow

I crossed the creek again (once again, easy) and continued heading southwest

At 11900’ I turned and headed south, up this hill

This led me to the upper basin. Here’s my route to the ridge. This is choose your own adventure. I tried to keep it between the rocks and the scree. I took the rocks up, the scree down.

Here are some close-up pictures of the route to the ridge

Once on the ridge, I turned right and followed it southwest

This was all class 2. There was a short class 4 section, but it could be easily avoided by dropping down to the right a little bit, then regaining the ridge

Here’s looking back at that rock you’re trying to avoid

Now it was an easy, class 2 ridge hike to the summit

There were 2 summit registers at the summit. A plastic tube with I (surprise!) wasn’t able to open, and a glass jar with a register I signed.

I summited K49 at 7:45am

K49:

From the summit, here’s a view of Mt Massive, and my route in/out. Now is a good time to get a view of your exit route, and the avalanche run-out you’re aiming for on your way back

I turned and re-traced my steps back down the ridge

Then back down the scree towards the basin and North Halfmoon Creek

Here’s my route across the creek and staying at 11600’ until I met back up with the trail

After passing the avalanche debris I was quickly able to hook back up with the trail

And follow it back to the trailhead

I made it back to my truck at 10:30am, making this a 9.81 mile hike with 3162’ of elevation gain in 6.5 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

Chiefs Head Peak – 13,577

RT Length: 18.17 miles

Elevation Gain: 5476’

I parked at the Sandbeach Lake Trailhead at Rocky Mountain National Park, and was on the trail at 4:30am.

The Sandbeach Lake Trail was a class 1 trail I took all the way to Sandbeach Lake. There were 2 creek crossings, but they had footbridges across.

It was 5 miles to Sandbeach Lake. Once at the lake, the fastest way to skirt the lake and find a trail is to go right here

But I wanted to see the lake, so I did, and then followed the lake past a small stream, and caught up with the trail there.

After crossing the creek, I followed the trail northeast to treeline. When the trail ended, there were plenty of cairns to guide the way (circled in red).

Once at treeline, I kept aiming for Mt Orton (unranked). There were cairns to mark the way until I was in front of Mt Orton

I then skirted Mt Orton to the left, and went through a very small saddle

I could now see an easy path to Chief Head’s ridge. Here’s the route I took

And some close-up pictures

Once on the ridge, I followed it .3 miles to the summit, on rocky terrain. I was able to keep it all class 2 by staying to the left.

There wasn’t a summit register, or a cairn, or a marker, so I just walked all over the rocky summit.

I summited Chiefs Head Peak at 11am

Chiefs Head Peak:

From the summit I had an amazing view of Pagoda, Longs, and Meeker

This was an out and back hike, so I turned and retraced my steps back down the mountain, around Mt Orton, and to Sandbeach Lake

The cairns picked up again, and I could now see Sandbeach Lake, so route finding was easy until I hit the trail.

Back at the lake, I picked up the Sandbeach Lake Trail, and took this class 1 trail all the way back to the trailhead.

I made it back to my truck at 3:15pm, making this an 18.17 mile hike with 5476’ of elevation gain in 10 hours 45 minutes.

On to the next trailhead!

Mt Chiquita – 13,054, Ypsilon Mountain – 13,513, Mt Chapin – 12,454

RT Length: 10.2 miles

Elevation Gain: 3555’

I parked my truck at the Chapin Pass trailhead and was on the trail at 4am.

The trail starts out heading directly up to the pass.

After hiking for .25 miles I came to an obvious junction and turned right, heading towards Chapin, Chiquita, and Ypsilon summits

The trail was very easy to follow. I followed it east and rounded the north side of Mt Chapin (saving it for later).

The trail changed from Class 1 to Class 2 as I made my way up to the top of Chiquita, heading northeast.

I made it to the summit just as the sun was starting to rise

I summited Mt Chiquita at 6am

Mt Chiquita:

From the summit of Mt Chiquita I could see the summit of Ypsilon Mountain to the north.

It was an easy ridge walk to get there, with a small false summit along the way. I just followed the ridge down 270’, and then up 722’ to the summit of Ypsilon.

I summited Ypsilon Mountain at 7am

Mt Ypsilon:

This was going to be an out and back for me, so I retraced my steps back to Chiquita, losing 722’ of elevation, and then gaining 270’

Back at the summit of Mt Chiquita I continued following the ridge southwest, back to the trail. There is a trail to the summit of Mt Chapin from there.

Here are some close up pictures of the class 1 trail

I summited Mt Chapin at 8:30am

Mt Chapin:

I turned and retraced my seps back to the trail below

Once back at the junction with the main trail, I turned left and followed it west to Chapin Pass

I even saw a few bull elk lounging along the way

Back at Chapin Pass, I turned left, and followed it back to the parking area, which was now overflowing with dozens more vehicles than could fit in the area. If you want to do this hike, get there early.

I made it back to my truck at 9:15am, making this a 10.2 mile hike with 3555’ of elevation gain in 5 hours, 15 minutes.

On to the next trailhead!

Fairchild Mountain – 13,509 – Hagues Peak – 13,56 – Mummy Mountain – 13,420

RT Length: 24.7 miles

Elevation Gain: 6931’

I made it to the Lawn Lake trailhead exhausted. It’s been a fun month, but not one in which I’ve gotten much sleep. I was on the trail at 4:30am.

I followed the class 1, Lawn Lake Trail, for 5.7 miles

After hiking for 5.7 miles I came to a junction with the Black Canyon Trail, and took the Black Canyon Trail past Lawn Lake, and all the way to the Fairchild/Hagues Saddle.

Just after passing the lake I came across 3 bull moose enjoying breakfast. I took a few pictures and gave them their space

Bull Moose at Lawn Lake:

I continued following the class 1 trail up to the saddle

I crossed a small stream. You can clearly see the trail on the other side. The trail became faint in areas, but there were cairns and the trail became easier to see near the saddle.

Just before making it to the saddle, I turned left and this is the route I took to the summit of Fairchild, following the ridge southwest

Here are some close up pictures. Note, the boulders become very large near the top. They’re all stable, but larger than vehicles. My hiking shoes gripped the rocks nicely, but they would be treacherous if they’d been wet.

I summited Fairchild Mountain at 9:45am

Fairchild Mountain:

There was a plastic tube summit register I couldn’t open, and a rock wind break at the summit.

From Fairchild, I looked back at the saddle and could see Hagues Peak, and my route. Now is a good time to get a visual of the way you want to summit, as it’s difficult to see from the saddle/below. This is the route I took, which kept it low class 3, but mostly class 2.

I made my way back to the Hagues/Fairchild saddle

And then followed the ridge until I made it to 12700’.

I then headed northeast towards the ridge, staying on class 2 terrain. Here are some close ups of my route

Also, there were more moths than I’d ever seen this far above treeline, and dozens of crows taking advantage of the situation

I gained access to the ridge with a few easy class 3 maneuvers.

One on the ridge, I turned left and followed it through more easy class 3 terrain west to the summit. If there’s an option, always go right around the boulders.

The summit is circled in red

It’s just a little further southwest past the tower

I summited Hagues Peak at 12:25pm

Hauges Peak:

There were several benchmarks/elevation markers, and another summit tube (full of various loose pieces of paper, so I didn’t bother signing one).

Next on the agenda for the day was Mummy Mountain. I turned and headed back down the ridge the way I’d summited, and then crossed PT 13302, and headed up Mummy Mountain. Here’s my overall route

And some step by step pictures

The terrain became rocky near the top, but this all remained class 2

I summited Mummy Mountain at 2pm

Mummy Mountain:

The weather had held out so far, but on the summit of Mummy Mountain I heard my first clap of thunder in the distance, and wanted to get back down to treeline as soon as possible. I followed the ridge southeast on class 2 terrain.

I aimed for the drainage, and followed it until I made it back to the Black Canyon Trail

I followed the Black Canyon Trail North until the junction with the Lawn Lake Trail

There I took the Lawn Lake Trail back to the trailhead. It rained the entire way. Not the fun, misty rain, but buckets of large water droplets. The sky thundered all around, after large flashes of lightning.

I made it back to my truck at 5:30pm, making this a 24.7 mile hike with 6931’ of elevation gain in 13 hours.

On to the next trailhead!