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Author: Laura M Clark
Laura has summited over 500 peaks above 13,000' solo, including being the first woman to solo summit all of the Colorado 14ers, as well as the centennials. After each hike, she writes trip reports for each one and publishes them on her blog, which is read by fans all over the world. Author of Wild Wanderer: Summiting Colorado’s 200 Highest Peaks, which is available to purchase on Amazon.
I parked at the Hayden Trailhead at Crystal Lake and was on the trail at 6:45am. This is a very popular trailhead, especially during the fall color season. There’s room for about 40 vehicles if everyone parks nicely, but this area does fill up. The beginning of the trail is obvious, marked by signs and a gate.
Before you start your hike, you should take a look at where you’re going. There are plenty of game trails to get you there, but that’s just the problem: There are SO MANY game trails, it’s easy to go the wrong way. I’m sure most of them meet up at times, but it’s a good idea to know where you’re going. Here’s the overall route to treeline:
I took the well established trail around the lake, then looked for the obvious avalanche slide area. There are two or three trails that pick up here and lead you into the trees.
The hardest part about this hike is making it to treeline. I picked up the most solid game trail I could find and followed it as it switchbacked up to Half Moon Basin. Every time I came to another game trail (there were dozens) I tried to follow the most established one. I was heading west until I hit 13125’, then I headed north to treeline.
Once above treeline, the rest of the hike was straightforward, but don’t be fooled by all the game trails here as well: They don’t lead to the summit. Also, I saw a ton of deer this morning, and a few bighorn sheep, which are most likely responsible for all the trails. I followed the tundra up this drainage
At the top of the drainage I needed to get up this little ridge. There was a game trail to the left I took to get there
From here I knew I could go either left or right. I chose left to make it to the ridge, as the right side had a gully and I’m not a fan of gullies (although on my way down I saw there looked to be a game trail up the right side of the gully, so it probably wouldn’t have been too bad). Here’s what going left (west) looks like:
Now I was at the base of the ridge. I hiked up the tundra slope, then followed the ridge northwest as it became manageable scree. This was all class 2.
Now I was on top of the ridge. I turned and followed it north to the summit. This was rocky, but the route was obvious and all class 2. Stay below the ridge proper, on the class 2 terrain. I took the third gully to the right. All of the gullies went, and they are all easier than these pictures make them look.
From the top of the gully I could see the summit. It was an easy hike to get there
I summited Hayden Mountain North at 9am
Hayden Mountain North:
Hayden Mountain North was my only peak for today, so I turned around and re-traced my steps. First, the rocky section headed south, down the gully and back to the ridge:
Then the scree/talus ridge down to the tundra
I now made my way back to the drainage
And followed it back to treeline
Once at treeline I had to find my access trail. This was more difficult than I’d imagined, but I kept heading south/southeast and I came to it.
Back on a robust game trail, I followed it back to the trail I knew was below me that would lead back to Crystal Lake. A note about this trail going down: It’s steep, and I was sliding on the small rocks on the trail. While I had no problems hiking up, I had to take it slow as I descended so as not to slip and fall down.
Back on the main trail, I followed it back to the trailhead
I made it back to my truck at 6:45am, making this a 6.51 mile hike with 3534’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.
On my way down from Imogene Pass, I parked at the Junction for Richmond Pass and Imogene Pass near the Richmond Trailhead at around 10950’. There’s a nice dispersed campsite here (but when I arrived it was already taken). This hike is entirely class 1 or class 2.
I was up and on the trail at 6:30am. I followed the 4WD road all the way to 12600’
At the first and only junction I came to, I turned right and followed the road that said it led to the Richmond Trail, which I never found the entrance to on either my way up or my way back down (which is why I didn’t take the trail all the way back to the 4WD road on my return… that and there was a private property sign down below and I didn’t want to make a mistake there).
I continued following the road to treeline, where it became very rocky. If you have a 4WD vehicle you can drive up this road, but there will be a rather large rock in the middle of the road above 12000’ that’s difficult to navigate around.
After 2.7 miles of hiking, at about 12600’ I left the road, and headed southwest on tundra. This is where I was going.
From there I came to an obvious drainage and headed towards it.
At the end of the drainage I gained the ridge, mostly on tundra.
After gaining the ridge I turned left and headed southwest up solid shale and game trails.
At the top I turned left, and headed south to the summit
I summited T8 at 8:15am
T8:
From the summit of T8, looking northeast I could see Hayden Mountain South
To get there I first re-traced my steps back to the 4WD dirt road
Once back on the road, my next objective was to make it to the saddle. This is the overall route I took:
I was able to do this entirely on tundra and game trails, avoiding the rocky sections to the left. I chose to stay high on the tundra to keep me level with the saddle.
From the saddle, I could clearly see the Richmond Trail.
At the saddle I took the trail that headed along the east side of the ridge north. This is a class 1 trail that will lead you almost all the way to the summit. It has some ups and downs, but it’s easy to follow and keeps you below the rock formations.
The trail was even easy to follow up the talus. I continued following it until I hit the ridge at 13130’. There’s a cairn here. I turned right at the cairn and followed the short ridge east to the summit.
I summited Hayden Mountain South at 10:45am
Hayden Mountain South:
From the summit I headed east back down to the trail
Then I followed the trail down the scree, and back down part of the ridge.
At 12785’ I found a side trail that would lead me back to the Richmond Trail on the east side of the ridge, just below the pass. It looked like it went (it did) so I decided to take it. It’s a game trail, but solid.
Now on the Richmond trail, I turned right and followed it west to 12220’
At 12220’ I left the trail, and headed southwest towards the 4WD road I could see in the distance I’d hiked in on.
Back on the road, I followed it back to my truck
I made it back to my truck at 10:45am, making this a 7.61 mile hike with 3137’ of elevation gain in 4 hours, 15 minutes
On to the next trailhead! But I would have to wait a while. There was a train of about 20 (or more) Jeeps heading up to Imogene Pass, so I waited while they made their way, stopping to take pictures as they went.
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.
The drive to Imogene Pass is not for the faint of heart. You need a 4WD vehicle and a competent driver. Be prepared for narrow roads and large rock slabs with steep drop offs. The worst part is the very beginning (at the separation from Yankee Boy Basin) and at the very end. I drove in from the Ouray side. I didn’t drive all the way to the pass, but parked about a mile below at a wide turnout. I was on the trail at 6:30am, following the road south towards Imogene Pass.
Just before the final switchback to Imogene Pass I bypassed the road and took a game trail to the right, which led me back to the road and Imogene Pass.
The Telluride side was closed
From Imogene Pass I followed the road/ridge north
Maps show a trail here, but if there is one, it’s faint/has been destroyed by rockfall. This hike is class 2, but difficult class 2. Everything is loose. The talus and shale are not secure, and there’s exposure, so be mentally ready for more than a normal class 2 hike. Watch your step, as there are large metal wires strewn all about the ground on this ridge. There’s a trail until you hit this point, then you get to route find. From here I could see Chicago Peak. This is the route I took:
I then rounded the ridge, following the ridge proper
This is where the fun begins. You want to stay high, but not on top of the ridge. I pretty much followed the bottom of the rock outcroppings, traversing on shale. I started out staying to the right, then in the middle switched to the left to go around a large rock, and then took the ridge proper to the slope. Here’s an overall view of my route:
And some pictures:
From here it was an easy ridge hike on shale game trails to the summit. I followed the ridge north.
I summited Chicago Peak at 7:45am
Chicago Peak:
My next peak was Tomboy Peak, which I could see to the northwest. It looked too small to be a 13er from here, but that’s just because Chicago Peak is taller.
This is the overall route I took to get there
First, I continued hiking down the ridge until I came to a small saddle at 13220’. If you’re lucky, you’ll see the game trail to the right that will circle you back to the saddle.
I then turned left, and headed west towards Tomboy Peak, losing 400’ of elevation on very loose shale (no trails here, watch your step).
At the saddle, I headed straight up the ridge to the summit (also on very loose shale).
I summited Tomboy Peak at 8:40am
Tomboy Peak:
This was an out and back hike for me, so I turned around and headed back towards Chicago Peak. The pictures heading back are probably more useful than the ones coming in, due to the angle of the sun. First, I descended to the Chicago/Tomboy Saddle
And then to re-ascend to the ridge
Then to re-ascend Chicago Peak. I followed the ridge south.
After re-ascending Chicago Peak I continued following the ridge.
Here’s an overall view of my hike through the rest of the ridge.
After making it to the top of the ridge, I followed it south back to Imogene Pass
Once back at the pass I followed the road to my access trail, then the trail back to the road, and the road back to my truck.
I made it back to my truck at 10:30am, making this a 6.16 mile hike with 1975’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.
While this trail looks long, it’s actually quite easy. The elevation gain is gentle, and the views are amazing. It looked like fall below treeline, and winter above, which was a neat contrast. I parked at the upper Mill Castle Trailhead. The last mile and a half or so require high clearance, but a 2WD should make it. If not, there’s a parking area below with vault toilets and plenty of parking.
I was on the trail at 6:30am. The trailhead is obvious, and as with most of this hike, it starts to the west.
The trail (Mill Castle Trail) starts by going through a gate to what used to be a 4WD road, then changes to a trail. There aren’t any junctions to this trail, so I followed it west as it paralleled Mill Creek. There are several creek crossings, as I was hiking up through a drainage, and runnels were entering into the creek from both sides. It felt as if I was gaining and losing elevation most of the time until I made it to treeline. Every time I’d switchback up a hill, I seemed to head back down for another creek crossing. It was almost 7 miles to treeline. On a positive note, the trail was easy to follow, and it was nice hiking in the trees, listening to the birds and squirrels go about their day.
At treeline the trail went through some willows, then west into Mill Basin.
Once in the basin, the trail switchbacked to the right, up to Storm Pass.
Once at Storm Pass, I could see unranked 12er Goat Peak to the west, and West Elk Peak to the northwest.
I followed the ridge west on a class 1 trail towards Goat Peak. I’m assuming the entire trail to West Elk Peak is class 1, but there was snow on the rest of the route, so I’m not entirely sure. If anything, it’s easy class 2. The snow was solid in the morning, so the terrain was easy to navigate. Here are some pictures of the ridge to Goat Peak
This was a bit of a false summit. Here’s the true summit of Goat Peak
I continued following the ridge as it became rocky. Still class 1 or 2, depending on snow.
From the summit of Goat Peak I followed the ridge northwest to the summit of West Elk Peak on easy terrain. I did not see any evidence of a trail here, but it could have been covered in snow.
I summited West Elk Peak at 10:45am
West Elk Peak:
West Elk Peak was my main goal for the day, so I turned around and headed back towards Goat Peak
However, on my way back I could see a faint trail under the snow that skirted Goat Peak to the left, so I took that back to the ridge. I’m not sure if this is an actual trail or a game trail, but it went.
There were some game tracks about half way through skirting the peak, which I followed to the ridge
Once back on the ridge, I followed it east towards Storm Pass
I then picked up the Mill Castle Trail and followed in down the switchbacks, back into Mill Basin
And then all the way back to the trailhead
29
I made it back to my truck at 2:30pm, making this a 19.82 mile hike with 4778’ of elevation gain in 8 hours.
I parked at the Gladstone Mine off 110 outside of Silverton and contemplated my options for the hike the next day. The weather forecast was calling for rain and snow the next morning but amounts and times were varying. I don’t like driving up 4WD roads. It’s not the driving, it’s the oncoming drivers I don’t like. Most are nice, but a few are jerks and make passing people an experience. I decided to spend the night in my vehicle at the junction with 110 and 10 outside of the Gladstone Treatment Plant near Gold King Mine and make my final hiking decision the next morning.
I woke up at 4am the next morning to clear skies, but it was cold and windy. I warmed up in my truck for a bit before starting my hike. I got about 100 yards into the hike and said “this is too windy for me!” and hiked back to my truck to warm up. The wind chill was bitter cold.
The past few weeks had been difficult for me mentally. I’d done a lot of backpacking and had to turn around on a lot of peaks due to weather. I homestead (basically, if I don’t raise it, shoot it, or grow it, I don’t eat it), and I have difficulty eating while hiking/backpacking, meaning while I get a lot of protein, I don’t get a lot of fat in my diet.
Last week my husband got 2 elk, so I took a break from backpacking to help him process the meat. When he saw me again after being gone for a while he mentioned I’d lost about 10 pounds, and needed to put on more weight. To put it in perspective, I weighed 105 pounds before and was down to 95 pounds. At 5’4”, this isn’t a good thing. I don’t have the fat reserves to keep me warm, which is a major problem with my Raynaud’s. I tried to bulk up when I was home, but I wasn’t able to gain 10lbs in 2 days.
Losing weight and having a handful of failed summits that I should have been able to climb (darn weather!) put me in a moody mental state. So, this morning I was unconsciously looking for any excuse to just go home, and the cold, windy, and potentially snowy weather was giving me that excuse. I knew the wind was blowing in a storm that would hit full force later that day. That’s why I chose something easy for today: I didn’t want to get stuck in a storm. I sat in my truck for a bit trying to will myself to get out and hike when I decided to just drive up the dirt road to see how bad it would be. After all, it was now 5am, and I’d most likely be the only one on the road. I headed up 10:
For those of you wondering, the road isn’t that bad. It’s doable in a high clearance 2WD with a capable driver. I followed the road 3.68 miles north to an unnamed pass at 12900’ to the east of Lake Como. (For those of you hiking this, it’s 2419’ of elevation gain). This is a bit of a shelf road in areas, but it’s wide and there are plenty of places to pass oncoming vehicles.
There was a parking area at the pass, so I parked and sat in my truck, waiting for the sun to come up. I could hear the wind howling all around me, shaking my truck back and forth. I wanted to use the restroom and tried to open my truck door. The wind immediately slammed it shut. My mind said: “not today” and I drove halfway back down the road, intending to just head back home. In the time it took me to get halfway down the road I’d talked myself into driving back to the pass. After all, it had been dark and I didn’t even have a visual of the peak yet. The least I could do was get a visual, and then decide. So, I drove back up to the pass.
I sat there and waited for the sun to rise and the wind to die down. As soon as I could see the mountain, I realized it would be a very quick and simple summit from this saddle. I told myself the only reason it was so windy was because I was on the saddle: As soon as I ascended, the wind would stop. Surely I could brave the suck for a few minutes? At 6:35am I left my truck and headed up the ridge.
This is a very straightforward hike, entirely class 2. I ascended the tundra to the ridge, turned left, and ascended the shale and then tundra again to the summit.
Halfway up the ridge I came to a game trail and followed it west.
Once on the ridge, I turned left and followed it south to the summit. It started out as rocky, then turned to tundra.
The summit is marked by an obvious cairn.
I summited Brown Mountain at 6:50am and could not feel my fingers. As you can hear in the video, the wind never let up, but once I got started I kept telling myself I’d be a fool not to finish because the summit was RIGHT THERE, and I’d be in sight of my truck the entire time. I may be frozen when I made it back to the truck, but at least I could turn the heat on.
Brown Mountain:
I didn’t stay too long at the summit. I turned around and headed back the way I’d ascended, my truck below in sight the entire time.
I made it back to my truck at 7:05am, making this a 1.02 mile hike with 425’ of elevation gain in 30 minutes. If you start from Gold King Mine it’s 8.38 miles with 2844′ of elevation gain.
Then I drove back down to Gladstone and Gold King Mine. In any event, long story short, hiking is very mental. Knowing how to talk yourself into a hike is a great asset, especially when you’re not ‘feeling it’, as long as you have a backup plan and don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation. It’s always the right decision to turn around and go back, but sometimes you need to dig deep and push on. I needed an easy win today for my mental state. Once again, easy hike, but it would have been easier to have just given up and gone home.
I arrived at the Andrews Lake trailhead and noticed a rather robust coyote sitting along the shoreline, just staring. He wasn’t bothering anyone, so I let him be.
About 20 minutes later, I heard a woman screaming from not too far away. The coyote was attacking her Golden Retriever (which was luckily leashed). I ran over there with my trekking pole to help her out. The coyote had been stalking them for a bit and wanted the dog as food. After scaring the coyote away, we chatted for a while, and she told me this wasn’t the first time her and her dog had been stalked by a coyote. I was surprised the coyote would be so bold as to go after such a big dog. We quickly became friends, exchanged contact information, and we were both on our way.
I started my hike at the Andrews Lake Trailhead, which is at the west end of the lake. The trailhead has vault toilets (but women be mindful: the door lock moves left and right but doesn’t actually lock). There are about 15 parking spaces here, with an overflow lot on the way in to accommodate more vehicles.
My goal for day 1 was to make it to Crater Lake, since I had a late start, not starting until about noon. I followed the class 1 trail as it skirted the lake, then switchbacked up to some ponds at 11200’
I then continued following the trail as it wound south to crater lake, rolling up and down in elevation as it went. Pictures of this trail are difficult to give reference points to, as most of it was below treeline and the views were always the same. However, there are no junctions or side trails, so just stay on the main trail and it will take you to Crater Lake. There are several small creek crossings that are easily manageable, and the trails were a bit muddy.
It was 5.5 miles and 1530’ of elevation gain from Andrews Lake to Crater Lake. It took me 2.5 hours to get there with a full pack. There are some good campsites up the slope in the trees to the north of the lake (your right when you arrive). I set up my tent and made it an early night.
The next morning I was up and on the trail at 7am. To the left (east) of the lake there’s a trail that will take you through the willows and up to another small pond.
I skirted the small pond on a trail to the left
And then the trail ended, but I could see my route to the southwest. Here is where I was aiming:
To do this, I went down a grassy gully, then headed southwest, losing about 400’ of elevation total as I rounded the mountain, avoiding the rocky gully below.
I made it through the trees, and the terrain became rocky. I was headed towards a saddle to the left of South Twilight Peak.
This is choose your own adventure. I chose to stay low, heading for the small stream below, then ascend by following the tundra, going to the right of the rock pile (it’s obvious as you get higher), and up the tundra slope.
Here are some pictures of my way to the saddle:
Once on the saddle I turned right, and scrambled northwest to the summit of South Twilight Peak. This was mostly class 2. I just looked for grassy gullies and ascended them, heading northwest, until I came to the top, then walked the short distance southwest to the summit.
I summited unranked South Twilight Peak at 9:10am
South Twilight Peak:
From South Twilight Peak, Twilight Peak was to the northwest.
It was a class 2 tundra/rock walk to get there that only took me 20 minutes. This is the route I took, sticking mostly to the ridge.
There was a bit of a false summit. The summit is to the north.
I summited Twilight Peak at 9:30am. Sorry, no summit video: I thought I took one, but when I uploaded it, it was only 1 second long, so it wasn’t very helpful.
From the summit of Twilight Peak, I could see North Twilight Peak to the North.
To get there, I continued following the ridge north.
It was all class 2 until I got here.
This is where the route finding and class 3 fun began. If you haven’t already put on your helmet, now is a good time to do so. I could tell there were a lot of ways to navigate this ridge successfully, but many would end in getting cliffed out. I chose to go right. Here’s an overall view of my route out of this fun. There’s a hidden gully I took to get back to the ridge.
This is class 3, and pretty steep, but if you choose your line carefully and drop down just to the right of the gully, the gully is easy to access.
I passed through the gully, which was a bit sketchy. These photos don’t do the terrain justice, but the graupel here had turned to ice, and there’s a bit of a waterflow on the rocks, which had also turned to ice. I put on my microspikes (they’re ALWAYS in my bag), and carefully navigated through the notch and down the gully, being deliberate so as not to slip on the ice. There’s exposure here, so falling would be detrimental. At the bottom of the gully was a large boulder. This can easily be climbed up from the other direction, but heading down the gully I found a very small hole to the right I was able to crawl through (I’m glad I’m small!). You can also climb over it to the left, but I didn’t like the conditions (ice) on that side. The boulder is circled.
Here’s looking back up at the boulder at the base of the gully. I crawled through the hole to the left (circled).
Once passing around the boulder, I immediately turned right and re-gained the ridge.
The rest of the route to North Twilight was class 2. I descended to the saddle, then re-ascended to the ridge on a small patch of tundra. The slope angle was low, so it was an easy trek.
Once on the ridge, I turned left and headed west for the summit.
The only problem? The summit ridge is rocky but flat, so it’s difficult to tell exactly where the summit is. I walked the length of the summit, but I’m pretty sure the actual summit is in the middle (not the far west end as indicated on a map). There aren’t any cairns, but there is a circle of rocks on the middle of the ridge placed on top of another rock that look ‘intentionally’ placed.
I summited North Twilight Peak at 10:40am
North Twilight Peak:
Now to head back to Crater Lake. I did this by turning around and following the ridge east. While there are some ups and downs on this ridge, there are game trails that can help keep this a class 2 trek with one or two easy class 3 sections (I’ve labeled the route below). Here are some pictures of the ridge.
I could now see Crater Lake in the distance. Here I found a game trail that would lead me most of the way there. I descended on the tundra, heading northeast, towards the small pond I’d seen early that morning. There I picked up the trail that headed west back to Crater Lake. Here’s the overall view of the route:
And some pictures. First, I found the tundra to the right of me, and descended on the game trail that wound its way back to the ridge.
This trail ended in a meadow, so I headed northeast through the trees towards the small pond.
Once at the pond, I followed the trail back to Crater Lake.
I made it back to Crater Lake at 11:20am. Once back at Crater Lake I checked the weather (I had cell service for almost this entire hike). Forecasts for the next day were all over the board (calling from anywhere from half an inch to a foot of snow, starting anywhere from 7am to noon), so I decided to pack it out and come back another day for the other peak I had in the area. I packed up my tent and followed Crater Lake trail back to Andrews Lake.
I made it back to Andrews Lake at 2:45pm, making today’s hike 11.61 miles with 3034’ of elevation gain, and the total hike 17.11 miles with 4573’ of elevation gain.
I was parked at Stony Pass, and was up and on the trail at 6:30am, heading east towards the CDT.
I followed the CDT north for 2.2 miles.
At the junction with Moose Gulch, I turned right to stay on the CDT, and continued on the trail until I made it to 12800’.
After passing a small pond to my right, at around 12800’, I left the CDT and followed the tundra ridge southeast.
I kept following the ridge, and eventually I could see Sheep Mountain to the southeast. The ridge eventually became a mesa, and the route to the base of Sheep Mountain became obvious.
I needed to get to the ridge, and did so on tundra mixed with scree. This is the overall route I took to get to the ridge
Once on the ridge, I turned left and headed southeast up the ridge. This is where the terrain changed to small talus. It was very loose. The further you climb, the steeper and looser it will be, but you might encounter a game trail to follow.
At the top is a wide, flat expanse, full of holes about 5 feet wide. I kept heading east, towards the summit.
The rest of the route to the summit can be done on the ridge proper and kept at class 2. The only difficulty here is the talus, scree, and exposure that might make it feel more difficult.
I summited Sheep Mountain at 8:20am
Sheep Mountain:
My next goal for the day was Greenhalgh Mountain, to the east
I continued along the rocky, class 2 ridge east
I followed the ridge east, until I came to a dropoff of sorts. Visually, it looked like the scree was continuous and went all the way to the rocks at the bottom. However, that was not the case. I ended up descending about 100 feet on scree, and then everything was loose talus, and steep, so I made my way climbers right to the ridge, and descended that way. If I were to do this again, I would have just taken the ridge to the right. It goes at easy class 3, and there’s talus, but it was much more stable than the talus below the scree. Also, EVERYTHING moves here. More info/pictures to come on my return route of this area.
From the bottom of the ridge, I headed northeast towards the Sheep/Greenhalgh saddle on class 2 terrain.
Then I ascended the ridge to the summit of Greenhalgh Mountain. This part of the route was actually very enjoyable, on class 2 terrain, with rocks that stayed put and didn’t roll.
I summited Greenhalgh Mountain at 9:20am
Greenhalgh Mountain:
In order to get back to the trailhead, I was going to need to descend Greenhalgh and then re-ascend Sheep Mountain, so I turned around and made my way back to the Greenhalgh/Sheep saddle.
At the saddle, I then aimed for the left ridge of Sheep Mountain.
Once there, I ascended the LOOSE rocks up to the ridge, then followed the ridge to the summit. The rocky area went at easy class 3, and is more stable than it looks. In this picture you can see the scree to the center. That’s the way I came down, and I don’t recommend that route. Instead, stick to the ridge.
I then turned left, and re-summited Sheep Mountain, following the ridge west,
Then it was back across the hole filled rock field mesa
And back towards the tundra mesa I’d hiked in on.
However, when I got back to the tundra mesa, instead of heading back towards the CDT, I turned left and headed towards Stony Pass. I could see the road in the distance, and was able to hike down the entire slope on tundra (except for a brief rocky section where I took a game trail), avoiding the willows.
Back on the road, I followed it northwest back to Stony Pass
I made it back to my truck at 11:30am, making this an 8.97 mile hike with 2714’ of elevation gain in 5 hours.
I spent the rest of the day playing Trail Angel for CDT and CT thru-hikers. I met a ton of really cool people from all over the world, gave them snacks, water, and beer, let them re-charge their devices, and had some great conversations. What upset me though, was the Colorado Trail hikers told me I was the first person they’d seen doing trail magic on the trail. Considering they probably only had 2 days left of a 30 day or so hike, this upset me. We can do better Colorado! If you have a free weekend next summer, I’d encourage you to do some trail magic. You won’t regret it!
From my parking spot at Stony Pass I was on the trail at 6:30am, following the 4WD road west until the tundra met the rocks, and I was able to find a game trail that picked up on the other side. This trail starts out difficult to find, then becomes a solid trail for most of the hike. Here’s what the route looks like from below:
I followed this trail for .85 miles, until I made it to the ridge
At about 13085’ I hit a saddle, turned right, and followed the ridge to the summit. This was class 2, but there are a few social trails in the area. I just kept following the ridge southeast.
Eventually the ridge became filled with scree, but the angle wasn’t difficult, and it all remained class 2
I summited Canby Mountain at 7:10am
Canby Mountain:
From the summit of Canby Mountain I could see Galena Mountain to the north/northwest.
It was a ridge hike on tundra to get there, and all class 2. I headed back down to the small saddle, and picked up the trail that follows the ridge.
By sticking to the ridge, following it northeast, eventually the trail ends. You can continue to follow the ridge, however, when I came to the scree area (it’s obvious), I stayed at about 13000’ and skirted the ridge. There’s an obvious dirt road in the distance you can aim for, and some game trails here. I aimed for the highest point of the dirt road, and then followed it along the ridge until it ended.
It ended in a roundabout circle, and from there I left the road and continued following the ridge northwest. This is all tundra, and there are a lot of elevation gains and losses along the way. Every once in a while I’d pick up a game trail, and follow it to make the route finding easier.
The final trek to the summit was all on tundra and included a faint game trail for part of the way.
I summited Galena Mountain at 8:35am
Galena Mountain:
From Galena Mountain, I could see Canby Mountain, and that long ridge, to the south/southwest.
I needed to get back to Stony Pass, so I descended Galena and followed the ridge back the way I’d summited, aiming for the Canby saddle.
Back on the road, I followed it a short distance, and then aimed for the ridge once again.
This time, when I was on the ridge, I noticed there was a “y” in the trail. Go left here, towards Canby Mountain
Following this path led me back to the saddle with Canby Mountain
At the saddle I turned right, and followed the trail back down to the dirt road.
I then followed the dirt road back to my truck.
I made it back to my truck at 9:45am, making this a 6.64 mile hike with 2084’ of elevation gain in 3 hours, 15 minutes.
I had just gotten back from summiting PT 13076, and I wasn’t feeling it today. I was tired and achy and sore, and just wanted to rest. I had some lunch, and about 2 hours later decided to do some scouting on Stony Pass Peak, to figure out how I wanted to summit it the next day. Well, suddenly I had a burst of energy, because instead of scouting it, I just summited the peak.
I could see Stony Pass Peak from my parking spot at Stony Pass.
I headed towards Stoney Pass Peak around 2pm. This is the overall route I took to get to the summit.
First, I headed southwest on the tundra towards the ridge
The terrain became rocky, but there were various social trails in the area, making navigation easy. I just kept heading southwest and up, following the social trails to the summit. There was talus, and it became rocky, but this was all class 2.
I summited Stony Pass Peak at 2:35am
Stony Pass Peak:
From the summit I could see the road and my truck parked below.
I made my way back down towards the road.
Then followed the road to my truck
I made it back to my truck at 3pm, making this a 1.5 mile hike with 618’ of elevation gain in 45 minutes.
Wild Wanderer 