Laura M Clark

Indoor Skydiving

Check it out! For Christmas Steffen got us passes to go skydiving indoors! We weren’t allowed to take our cell phones in, so I don’t have a ton of pictures, but they did send us some after we got home they had taken.

Rebecca went first and only once (she wasn’t feeling so well)

Emily went second, and had a blast! Just look at that smile!

I went last and totally loved it! It was difficult to hear the instructor so we used hand signals. Each of us were only in there for 2 minutes at a time, but Emily and I got to go twice. So much fun! I can hardly wait to go skydiving for real!

Rinker Peak (winter attempt)

RT Length: 6 miles

Elevation Gain: 1500’

Note: My successful summit of Rinker Peak can be found here.

winter. That time of year when I should stick to the peaks below treeline but find myself tempted by good weather and attempting higher summits anyway. Each time I go out I’m reminded there’s a lot I still don’t know. Today was such an event.

The weather was cold but the wind was forecasted to be nonexistent so I decided to attempt a ridge route. I picked the ridge with the best weather and made it to the trailhead while it was still dark. Well, in actuality the Willis Gulch Trailhead was under several feet of snow so instead I parked along Highway 82. It took me about half an hour of driving my truck back and forth along the side of the road, packing down the snow to make a parking space I felt comfortable getting out of on my return. I felt the time was well spent.

I put on my snowshoes and travelled a quarter mile down Highway 82 towards the trailhead. It was 9 degrees outside and I had on my new balaclava. Brrrr!

From the road I was pleased to find there were tracks indicating the trail. I followed them south

Crossed a bridge

And followed Trail 1471.

The trail was well trenched and I was getting excited for today’s climb. There were two ways to climb this peak: One is to take the ridge, and the other is to take the gulch. My preference was to take the ridge but when I got to the place where I was supposed to begin ascending there was too much snow to make it possible.

There wasn’t a trench indicating anyone else had attempted this route since the last snow, and when I attempted it myself I sank up to my waist. Oh well, I guess I’d just continue following the trenched route and try the gulch instead. I continued on towards my second option

Passed a snow covered bridge

And continued following the well defined trail

I came to a junction for Little Willis Gulch and Big Willis Gulch, where I turned right (west) aiming for Big Willis Gulch.

Here the well defined trench stopped, but luckily there was still an older, snow filled trench I could follow. I was postholing but at least I had a trail to follow. The trail had tons of rodent footprints scurrying back and forth on the new snow. I was able to follow this trail as it crossed the creek again. This log bridge was ‘fun’ to traverse while wearing snowshoes

I crossed the logs and followed the trail for about 10 more yards before it abruptly stopped. Hmmm…. Maybe this was the wrong way? I retraced my steps, crossed the stream again and went a little more south, following tracks again. These tracks ended sooner than the last; it looked like they’d stopped because the trees were too dense and turned around. Whoever had trenched this trail hadn’t gotten further than here and decided to turn around. Twice. Once again I backtracked and crossed the stream a third time (in snowshoes) intent on trenching my own trail if there wasn’t one established. I reached the area I’d previously stopped and took one step forward

And sank up to my chest in snow. The only thing that kept me from sinking further was my backpack. It took me about 10 minutes to backwards-wriggle out of the snow, and when I was safe decided to call it a day and head back to my truck. I wasn’t thrilled with this decision, but I also knew it was the right one. There was no way I was going to be able to continue here without skis.

As I was trudging back the thought occurred to me if I’d have taken the ridge up and headed back down the gulch in a loop as I’d originally planned I could have ended up in a very dangerous situation: If I wasn’t able to go any further from this angle, just imagine the predicament I’d be in if I’d successfully summited via the ridge and went back down to the gulch, only to discover the snow was too deep to traverse? I’d have been stuck in the gulch, or I’d need to re-ascend thousands of feet in elevation to gain the peak to exit, making for a very, very long day. Instantly my mood improved: Today was worth it after all, as I’d learned an important lesson: in the winter, if doing a ridge route, always return the way you summit. I re-crossed the bridge

And followed the side of the mountain back towards the trailhead

In the daylight, Lake Creek was beautiful!

I made it back to the road and back to my truck, where the temperature read 12 degrees and I had frost in my hair.

So in the end I didn’t get in a full hike today: Only about 6 miles with 1500’ of elevation gain. I was bummed because I had so many options for hikes today and chose one I wasn’t able to complete, but I was glad I’d at least learned a valuable lesson (or two: I should have picked an easier peak, but didn’t want to re-summit something I’d already done. Next time I’ll take the safer option).

Colored Peaks

RT Length: 15.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 4692’

Partner: Steffen

I’m calling this post “Colored Peaks” because really, there were 6 peaks and it would have taken too long to title: Gold Flake – 10165, Red Flake – 10650, Blue Mountain – 9856, Yellow Mountain – 9982, Black Mountain (UR) – 10132, & Green Mountain – 10140

The forecast for wind today was between 70-90mph up high, so instead of hiking above treeline today we chose to hike some 10K and 9K peaks. It was still pretty windy, but at least we weren’t being blown away. We got a bit of a late start because Old Stage Road takes forever to drive. It’s nicely plowed but still icy in the morning. I decided to park at the furthest peak first and work our way back. The first two peaks were each less than a mile in length, and more like warm-ups for the rest of the day. I’m really glad we decided to do them first because if we’d left them for the end I’m not sure we would have summited them.

Gold Flake – 10165 (so named because of the gold tin and golden morning)

I parked my truck on the side of the road and we headed east through the trees

And then south to the (rocky) summit.

There were no views on this summit, so we took a quick picture

Signed and replaced the summit register

And made our way back to the truck.

This was a very simple and straightforward trek up and down the mountain (without a trail or views).

Red Flake – 10650’ (so named because of the red tin)

We hopped in the truck, leaving on all our gear, and headed to the next trailhead. There wasn’t a place to park so I parked on top of a dirt berm near a shooting area littered with shell casings and we headed southwest up the side of the mountain.

There was more snow here, but luckily we soon came upon a trench! It looked over a week old, but made route finding much easier. We found a microspike on the trail. I attached it to Steffen’s pack and we took it out with us.

The trench led us to another rocky summit without any views

We signed and replaced the summit register and were quickly on our way back down.

Two easy peaks down, we now drove Old Stage Road to 371 and took that 4WD dirt road south to Emerald Valley Ranch, where I parked next to a locked gate.

Blue Mountain – 9856’

Emerald Valley Ranch is now owned by the Broadmoor, but was originally purchased as a Girl Scout Camp, and then sold to Spencer Penrose.

We started out hiking southwest along the road

There was a locked gate, but no ‘no trespassing’ sign and tons of footprints, so we just went through the gate

I found some pieces to a hornets’ nest in the snow. At first I thought it was the entire nest buried, but it ended up just being a few pieces.

The road was supposed to lead us near Emerald Valley Boys Camp, but we didn’t see any evidence of that. Instead we came to what was left of an old cabin. We looked around for a bit and then headed south.

The trench stopped at the cabin and there was no trail here, so we bushwhacked our way south up the mountainside, following deer/animal tracks when available.

We came upon a small lashed structure that looked to have been lashed recently. Maybe this was part of the Boys’ camp? It would make a good tent if you brought along a tarp.

Onward and upward! Check it out: I found some pieces to another hornets’ nest! Kind of cool, considering it was over a mile away from the last one

We were still straddling the ravine until we made it to the ridge

This was our aim

Once we made it to the ridge it started snowing, which was weird because snow wasn’t in the forecast for today. The wind also picked up, but since we were below treeline it was tolerable. Notice all the deer/elk chews on the trees? We saw them all day, and tons of scat as well (from Deer, Elk, and Bighorn Sheep)

The ridge seemed to last forever! Every time we thought we were at the summit the route would dip down and then back up again

There were so many downed trees! Branches and limbs were scattered everywhere. We had to go around large piles of dead trees and circle back again several times to stay on the ridge.

There were several places that looked like the true summit. We walked around them all but agreed the highest point was the one furthest to the southeast. None of the high areas had a summit register, so we left one and since it was cold turned around and headed back down the ridge, being careful to stay on the ridge this time and not heading back down the gully

Yellow Peak – 9982’

The skies suddenly cleared and we were treated to a great view of the peaks we hiked last weekend: Knights, McKinley, and San Luis

The ridge had some open areas that looked great for grazing and lots of aspens with bite marks

Here’s the last bit of the trek to the summit

We followed the ridge all the way to 9982, which we named “Yellow Peak” because it fit and because there was yellow duct tape on the summit register.

Here’s looking back on Blue Mountain

Black Mountain (UR) – 10,132’

At this point we had a decision to make: we either turned back now and headed back to the ruins/Emerald Valley Boys Camp area, or we made this a loop and continued on. I was a bit worried because I hadn’t brought a flashlight and if we continued I knew we’d be hiking out in the dark. Luckily Steffen had one in his backpack and we were feeling great so we decided to keep going and hit a few more peaks today. We continued west down the mountain to a small saddle on a game trail, and once at the saddle picked up an actual trail.

That led to a 4wd road! This was great!

We followed the road west for quite a ways, past a run-down cabin and a couple of homes sporting tons of elk antlers

We could have followed the road up to the saddle, but at the time we didn’t know this, instead we cut across a field and headed south up the mountain (through a lot of snow)

There wasn’t a lot of elevation gain on this one since it’s an unranked peak, and it didn’t take us long to make it to the summit.

There wasn’t a summit register on this peak. We would have left one but we didn’t have one to leave.

Turning to the northwest we could see our last summit of the day:

Green Mountain – 10,140’

This really was a simple hike northwest past the road and up to the summit of Green Mountain.

When we arrived we had a great view of Black Mountain

There was what looked to be a mine at the summit?

We walked all along the top of the summit just to make sure we hit the actual ‘high point’. We were unable to find a summit register for this one either, and were a bit disappointed until Steffen got an idea: he decided to look inside this stump and guess what? There it was! It hadn’t been signed since 2010 so I’m sure no one else had thought to look inside the stump since then.

We signed the register and put a cairn on top of the tree so others would know it’s there

Time to make this a loop! We traveled west down the ridge, avoiding this outcropping by navigating it to the left

This quickly brought us to the road

We followed it and were surprised to come across a gate. The only thing to do was climb over it. When we made it to the other side we realized we were now on the ‘right side’ of the gate. Curious though, since we hadn’t seen any other gates/no trespassing signs on our way in?

A little ways after the gate, and just before the road curved west, we saw a cairn to our left (well, a rock on a log) and followed a faint trail down the mountainside.

Eventually the snow stopped and we descended a steep pipeline/scree slope to another 4WD road.

I was excited to finally make it to this road! We still had quite a ways to hike, but now all we had to do was follow this road out. Well, I was excited until the road became covered in snow.

The snow was about 2 feet deep and snowshoes would have helped greatly, but we didn’t have any. Instead we took turns trenching and walking in each others’ footsteps. I could tell this was especially taxing for Steffen. I’m used to going for long hikes without eating/drinking anything. My body is just used to it, but his isn’t. Although he’d had plenty of snacks today and was currently out of water because he’d drank it all, he was tired, hungry, and thirsty. He’d already taken a few Advil and I was worried about him hiking in the dark. And then it started to snow.

He stopped to take another Advil and we heard a large cat scream twice to our left. We decided to double the pace towards the ruined cabin. At times there were animal tracks to follow, but most of the time we were trenching through several feet of snow.

I was excited again when we finally made it to the ruins: we now had less than a mile to go!

This was the easiest part because the trenching stopped and we followed our footsteps in. We made it back to my truck around 6:30pm, making this a 15.5 mile trek with 4692’ of elevation gain in 10 hours, 45 minutes.

I was proud of Steffen! This was the longest hike he’s ever done. He was exhausted, and offered to cook me steak to celebrate when I dropped him off at home.

Mount Guyot – 13,370

RT Length: 8 miles

Elevation Gain 3115’

Time: 5.5 hours

As seems to always be the case, my plans changed last minute. The weather’s been so cold and windy lately I’ve been highpointing closer to home, sticking mainly to 9K and 10K peaks with less snow and warmer temperatures. I’m helping someone learn how to route find, but he has a minor heel injury. Instead of hiking today closer to home he wanted to rest it for next week. So I did a quick search and the best forecast I could find for a peak on my list showed 0-6 degree low/high temperature with 30mph gustss at the summit. This would put wind chill in the negative 20s. I debated back and forth and finally just decided to go for it: I could always turn back, but there would be trenching involved, so at least I’d get in a good workout.

I’d wanted to be on the trail by 5:30am but I drove to the wrong trailhead. Actually, Google didn’t take me to a trailhead at all, and when I checked my map realized I was about a quarter mile away but needed to drive for a bit to make it to the correct place. No worries though, because it was still dark outside and snowing, and I was hoping the snow would let up before I started.

When I made it to the French Gulch Trailhead it was still snowing, and a balmy 9 degrees outside. The road to the trailhead was plowed and packed down. I decided against putting on my snowshoes right away and attached them to my pack instead. I did put on my microspikes.

At 6:15am I started to the left of the trailhead sign, following the 4WD road past the closed gate.

It was snowing lightly and I could see the full moon through the clouds. It was a cool, quiet morning. I followed the road until I came to the turnoff for Little French Gulch. Here I turned left and donned my snowshoes: I was going to need them!

While the road had been pretty packed down the previous trench on the Little French Gulch trail had been filled with several inches of fresh snow. In most areas I could tell where the trail went, but the entire time I had to re-trench the trail. I tried to see how deep the snow here was by probing it with my trekking pole, but the pole went all the way down and never hit dirt, so I’m guessing there was at least 5 feet of snow on the ground.

Last night, while looking at a topo map, I’d planned to leave the trail and head straight up the ridge just after the Little French Gulch turnoff. I realized this morning there was no way that was going to happen: the snow was deeper here than it looks, and the first step I took I sank up to my waist in snow while wearing my snowshoes. Nope.

So instead I followed the trail to just below treeline, where I turned right (west) and headed up to the ridge, switchbacking as I went. (Side note: I took many of these pictures on my way back down. The snow was sugary and often times I’d trench up to my waist and my camera would get covered in snow. It was so cold I was unable to get the snow off the lens, so the pictures are a little blurry).

To avoid any avalanche danger I tried to stick to the trees, close to the ski area

It stopped snowing just as I made it to the ridge. I turned left (south) and followed the ridge. Here the snow was rather deep and sugary, and the wind picked up dramatically.

Once on the ridge the summit was obscured with clouds. Here the snow ranged from bare ground to several feet deep. I kept on my snowshoes.

Instead of going over the bump I skirted it to the left (it’s a false summit that would be more obvious without the clouds)

There were several snow covered ‘trails’. I chose one of the higher ones.

Looking back down the ridge

And at the rest of the route to the summit

While the snow had stopped and the clouds had lifted, snow was being blown from Bard Peak, turning into clouds, and blowing over Mount Guyot.

The wind was intense and I couldn’t see very far ahead of me due to ice crystals in the air. I considered turning back several times more than I’d like to admit, but I wasn’t beyond cold (yet) and I decided to keep going. My toes still felt fine, and my fingers were holding up. The ridge to the summit was mostly windswept, with a few areas of deep snow. I kept my snowshoes on because I didn’t have the dexterity in my fingers to take them off, and I knew if I did I wouldn’t be able to put them back on again. This meant my final push to the summit ridge was slow, as I was basically carefully rock-hopping in snowshoes, trying not to twist an ankle. Cold doesn’t begin to describe the weather: I thought to myself how I was glad I was solo today: everyone else I know would have turned back, and if I were with someone I would have had to turn back as well (with my Raynaud’s I have to keep moving and not take breaks, especially in the cold/wind). I went straight up the ridge, sticking to the snow when possible to avoid the rocks.

At the top of the ridge I turned left (east) and carefully made my way to the summit

This area was fraught with cornices. In my snowshoes I tried to stick to the area of snow closest to the rocks, walking on the rocks when necessary to avoid the cornices. It was cloudy when I made it to the summit, and I was cold. Frigid even. I kept pumping my fingers back and forth. I could feel the ice on my face, in my eyelashes, and on my hair. Yes, frigid was a good way to describe the weather. I had sunglasses and ski goggles but couldn’t put them on because I had no dexterity in my fingers and told myself the sun wasn’t that bright anyway. In no way was I risking taking off my gloves to get a photo of myself and I wanted out of this weather as soon as possible so I tried to take a selfie with my camera by just turning it around. For some reason, I got a video instead (still not sure how this happens: I should spend more time learning how to use my camera)

Summit Video:

I was finally able to get a picture (with my gloves in the way). I wasn’t about to try and get another photo.

There weren’t great summit views today.

I turned and headed back across the ridge. Check out those cornices!

Looking down the ridge

Most of my tracks were gone on my way back down.

I didn’t think it was possible, but the wind picked up even more on the way back down the ridge. 30mph winds seemed a low estimate for what I was experiencing now. Brrrr!

I was so excited when I made it back to treeline and out of the wind! Well, excited until I found the wind had covered most of my tracks and I had to re-trench them on the way back down. The snow was soft and I frequently postholed up to my waist, causing me to twist and turn to get up, covering my snowshoes, clothes, etc. (and camera) with snow in the process.

After a few dozen yards the trail was once again easy to follow back down to the gulch

I’d honestly thought it would warm up when I made it back below treeline, but it didn’t. I’m kind of digging the frosted eyelash look…

I continued on the trail and came across some backcountry skiers with their dog. They thanked me for trenching the trail, and did a great job of smoothing it down with their skis. I wished them luck, thanked them for smoothing my tracks down, and was on my way. They gave me an odd look: I smiled back, but I’m sure I looked a mess!

Back on the road I kept my snowshoes on just because I didn’t want to take off my gloves. It was still so cold out! There were now several cars in the parking area

I made it back to my truck at 11:45am, making this an 8 mile hike with 3115 feet of elevation gain in 5 hours, 30 minutes.

I was really glad I’d decided to hike above treeline today. I’d been a little put off due to the forecast, and I’d had to seriously push myself during the hike, but it had been worth the experience. It reminded me again when I have the option to go hiking or not, the answer is to at least give it a try.

When I made it back to my truck I took off my snowshoes and hopped into the cab and turned on the heater to warm up. The temperature outside read 12 degrees. Slowly, I re-warmed my hands and once my fingers were moving normally again I took off my shoes, socks, and outer jackets/layers. I was happy to see my toes looked ‘normal’! The ice in my hair was the worst: it dripped onto my neck/shoulders as it gradually warmed and melted. I put on sandals and started my drive home. About 10 minutes later my foot started throbbing. I pulled over and drat! My toes were blue! I turned over my foot and the entire pad was blue as well. So much for “operation no blue toes” this year. I was so frustrated! They’d seemed fine when I got back to my truck, why were they hurting and blue now? After about 30 minutes they were back to ‘normal’ again, going from blue to a waxy red and eventually back to white. No permanent damage, just a Raynaud’s attack (they only last about 30 minutes or so, and can happen in any weather, just most likely when cold). One way to prevent them is to stop hiking in the winter, and that’s not going to happen, so I’m going to have to learn to live with the attacks or suck it up and take the medication (I’m not a fan of drugs, so this isn’t likely to happen either). At least they’re not affected while I’m hiking.

Knights Peak – 10490, McKinley Peak (UR) – 10450, San Luis Peak – 10460, PT 10100 & PT 9410

RT Length: 10 miles

Elevation Gain: 4094’ (debatable?)

Time: 7 hours

Partner: Steffen

Another day of local highpointing! Today I’d wanted to hit 5 highpoints off Old Stage Road and Steffen volunteered to go with me to practice some routefinding below treeline. It was snowing (lightly) when we made it to the first parking spot. Actually, the drive took what seemed like forever because I was careful driving on the icy road. I had to turn around a few times before finding a big enough space to park my truck while avoiding drifts and ended up parking a little ways further than I’d wanted to.

We donned our microspikes, left the snowshoes in the truck, and headed west along Old Stage Road. There isn’t a trail on this one (or if there is it was covered in snow) so we just walked up this slope and continued southeast up the ridge

Knight’s Peak, McKinley Peak, and San Luis Peak

There was snow here, and a lot of downed trees. I let Steffen route-find since he’s learning. In places where I would have zig-zagged to avoid branches he just knocked down the ones in the way. My bandana kept getting caught on branches (and eventually ripped in half).

About half way up the ridge we ran into an old set of tracks and decided to follow them up

The tracks led to a rock formation

This rock formation had a class 3/4 chimney we used a strategically placed log to climb. This part was unexpected and fun!

Looking down the chimney

From here we continued southeast towards the summit

The summit block had a rather fancy trail register

We didn’t sign the register, but we did climb up on the rock to make sure we tagged the high point. From here we had a great view of our next objective: Unranked McKinley Peak. Here’s an overview of the route we took

Heading down from Knights Peak was fun! We passed some stashed firewood, which made no sense to us since this place was littered with fallen trees

We headed towards the saddle and then up the ridge. There were some neat rock formations here too.

Check out the view of Knights Peak! When you descend this peak be sure to stay to the north.

There’s a bit of a false summit to McKinley, but the actual summit isn’t that far away.

We went up these rocks

Skirted this rock formation to the right (south)

Carefully maneuvered our way up this ramp

And noticed the summit of San Luis Peak was to the right (east)

So we downclimbed the rock we were on to the left (west), skirted the large rock and re-climbed with a little scrambling back to the east

And headed towards the summit

This part was definitely class 3-4 climbing! It reminded me of the summit block on Sunlight in the Chicago Basin, but a bit longer

This part was challenging for me because it required taking off my gloves. The rocks were cold and covered in a thin layer of snow, so my fingers weren’t very useful. I did summit however, and took some photos for fun.

Here’s looking back on the other two peaks we’d already summited this morning

Steffen headed down the summit block first. He wanted to climb the other tower, which we both agreed seemed to be about 10 feet lower than the summit of San Luis Peak

I slowly made my way down, being careful not to slip because there was no way to catch myself. Ropes would be a good idea on this part. Helmets too.

We fixed the cairns (they were pointing towards the lower of the two spires)

And headed back down the rocks. Here’s the route we took, using the tree for added support.

Once again, there was no path down this mountain. We just zig-zagged our way down through the trees toward the road. It was very steep, and I was glad we’d decided to take this way down instead of up.

We came across a cool cave that would make a great den. We didn’t see any tracks near here in the snow, so we assumed it was vacant

Steffen stopped to make a snow angel

And we exited the trees and followed the road back to my truck

Here we could have taken a short cut between the mountains back to my truck, but the snow was too deep. If we’d had snowshoes it wouldn’t have been a problem though

Our next peak was a little ways away, so after getting back to my truck we drove on Old Stage Road back the way we’d come and found a parking spot at the base of 10100.

10100

There was less snow here but we kept on our microspikes, not sure of what we’d encounter. The first part of this climb was steep and ascended through lots of brush and trees, both alive and dead

We angled slightly left up the mountain until we came to a rocky area. We rock hopped up the rocks

And came to rocks that were not climbable, so we skirted the formation to the left

And went up a small gully

We turned left at the top of the gully and followed the ridge to what we thought was the highpoint, but was really a false summit. From here we could see the true summit of 10100, more to the north of us. We could also see increasing clouds.

It was a short hike over to the true summit. Here we found a summit register and Steffen signed it (I don’t usually sign them, but added my WW for good measure).

The wind picked up and snow flurries began, so we decided to head back to my truck. It was amazing how different the trail looked on the way back with no visual cues to help with route finding. On the way in I’d kept looking back at the mountains to remember how to exit, yet now the snow was so enveloping it covered our earlier tracks and I was unable to see any mountains.

In the snow we had a little trouble finding the correct gully to descend, but eventually found it and made our way back to the road.

9410

With all this unexpected snow we debated our final peak of the day, but once we made it to the trailhead we decided to go for it. Peak 9410 is an easy hike on an established trail for 80% of the time, and a good introduction to easy route finding and peakbagging. We parked at the top of a hill at the trailhead for Gray Back Peak and headed southeast on a scree and snow filled trail.

This trail quickly became snow packed, but there was a nice trench to follow

We hiked it up past point 9153 and descended a bit, losing about 150 feet in elevation before regaining it and reaching the top of a hill. The trail continues south here towards Gray Back Peak, but we found this marker on a tree and left the trail, heading east.

Every so often we’d see a cairn or surveyors tape, letting us know we were on the right track. We headed east and once we reached the ridge northwest towards the summit

Once again, the summit views weren’t all that great due to the snow/clouds, but the short trek had totally been worth it.

We found a summit register but didn’t bother to sign it

And instead headed back down the mountain

And back to the truck

We made it back to my truck at 2:30pm, making this a 10 mile hike with 4094’ of elevation gain in 7 hours, with a couple of trailhead drives in the middle.

But those numbers are debatable. Steffen’s numbers were drastically different than mine. We both used Strava to track our progress, and hiked the entire time together, yet his elevation gain read in the 5000’ range, while mine was in the low 4000’. That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Our mileage was off too, making me wonder what’s up with the disparities. Have my numbers been artificially low, or are his high?

Kuss Mountain (UR) – 13,560, Mosquito Peak – 13,787, & Treasurevault Mountain (UR) 13,706

RT Length: 12 miles

Elevation Gain: 3409’

Time: 6.5 hours

I’ve been excited to head to the Mosquito Creek/Pass area since I was here last month. I’d avoided the area in the winter in years past, thinking it would be closed, but the 2WD dirt road in is actually plowed quite a ways.

In fact, it’s plowed at least past the turnoff to Mosquito Pass, which is where I parked.

I started on the trail at 5:30am, wearing my snowshoes. I kept them on all day even though they were overkill at times. The 4WD road was impassible in a vehicle, with the conditions ranging from bare dirt to ice and drifts with several feet of snow.

I followed the road, making fresh tracks as I went

Passing the London Mill

And hiking along the road for a few more yards until I reached the junction of 12 and 856. Here I turned left (west) and followed the snow covered dirt road

The road was covered in drifted snow and difficult to walk in, even with snowshoes. Around this time the ptarmigans began to wake up and the sun started to rise. I could see the white birds flying against the pink landscape and thought to myself how lucky I was to be here right now.

I continued following the road around London Mountain towards the North London Mine

From the mine is where things got a bit tricky, as the road I was supposed to take was covered in snow.

It didn’t start out difficult, but about a quarter of the way to the London/Kuss saddle I switched my trekking pole for my ice axe. The path felt similar to the alleyway on Kit Carson and I was glad I was wearing my snowshoes: a lot of the snow was consolidated but every few steps I’d sink up to my knees in an unexpected drift.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally made it to the saddle. From here it was a straightforward hike up the ridge.

I kept my snowshoes on, and they became helpful towards the end

Cool findings at the top

Also, it was windy

Making this a loop, next I was headed for Mosquito Peak. There were cornices the entire way, but sticking to the ridge it was easy to avoid any danger. Snowshoes here were overkill but I was too lazy to take them off.

Looking back up at Kuss Peak

And up the ridge to Mosquito Peak

Snowshoes were helpful once again for the final push to the summit

Summit photo

I was anxious to finish this ridge loop before the wind picked up this afternoon so I didn’t stay long on the summit of Mosquito Peak. I turned towards Treasurevault Mountain and immediately slipped on the soft scree/snow mix, landing on my knee. Wonderful. I could tell before I even hit the ground it was going to hurt, but picked myself up right away and headed down the side of the mountain, more careful now, realizing the snow was sugary atop loose scree and talus.

At the Mosquito/Treasurevault saddle I saw a bunch of mining equipment, which I thought was pretty neat for 13K+.

Here’s looking back up at the scree/snow that is the ridge down from Mosquito Peak

And a look up the ridge to Treasurevault Mountain. All three of these peaks had similar ridges to their summits. Snowshoes were nice.

There weren’t any rocks to set up my camera on and my trekking pole was tied to my backpack so I just set it up on the snow for a picture. Not the best, but it gets the point across.

Completing the loop turned into a really long ridge hike from Treasurevault over to Mt Tweto, which felt more like 2 ridge hikes

The cornices were fun to look at along the way

Just before the saddle with Mt Tweto the wind really began to pick up. I’d considered re-summiting Mt Tweto again today, but with the increased winds thought it would be best to just head back. I’m kind of kicking myself for that decision now…

There was a lot less snow here today than there had been last month. Here’s the route back into the basin

And back up towards the saddle for Mt Tweto

Hiking out of the basin I aimed for the trail I’d hiked on the way in, making this upper part a loop

The snow here was sugary and I kept sinking to my knees while wearing snowshoes. Here’s another view of the route I’d taken up to the London Mine. On my way out I was just headed back towards the road, as all the 4WD roads in the area were covered with snow and I couldn’t find them.

Here’s a look back at my trek out of the basin

I followed the snow packed 4WD road back out

And just before making it to the road noticed a recent (and small) avalanche slide.

I made it back to my truck at noon, just as it was starting to get really gloomy out. It felt like snow was approaching.

This was a really fun and easy winter hike. I look forward to exploring more of the area this winter, but will most likely do so from the South London Mine side next time.

Cheyenne Mountain – 9565, The Horns – 9212 & Sugarloaf Mountain – 9633

RT Length: 10.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 4712’

Time: 6 hours 15 min

Partner: Steffen

With the weather iffy in the high country I decided to tackle one of my 2020 goals early: climb 3 El Paso County Highpoints. Steffen is training to hike 14ers this year so I invited him to go along. Before heading out I used Caltopo to make a route of the drive in, not being sure just how Old Stage Road would look this time of year. It ended up being almost completely clear of snow. I parked near the stables.

Cheyenne Mountain 9565’:

Just to clarify, we summited the highpoint of Cheyenne Mountain. There have been articles written and news posts stating the Dixon Trail goes to the top of Cheyenne Mountain: It doesn’t. The Dixon Trail goes through Cheyenne Mountain State Park and up the side of the east side of the Cheyenne Mountain range near the communication towers, but it doesn’t summit anything, and in fact if you were to go off trail and scramble to the top of Robbers Roost you’d still be over 100 feet shy and about a mile of bushwhacking away from the true summit of Cheyenne Mountain. Here’s topo proof: On the left is the true summit of Cheyenne Mountain, and on the right is where the Dixon Trail takes you.

In any event, at 6:30am it was 14 degrees outside when we donned our gear (microspikes) and headed east over a snow bank and up the mountainside, dipping about 200 feet before starting the ascent.

This hike was entirely below treeline with no distinct trail so we just aimed for the ridge and ascended the mountain on its west side. The ground had many dry spots but we tried to stick to the snow as much as possible so we’d see our footprints upon our return.

About three quarters of the way up the mountain we started running into cairns and surveyors tape, which was a nice surprise (until they stopped). We also found some bear scat that looked to be from last fall. This seemed a good area to find a bear.

Once on the ridge we came across some mountain lion tracks that looked to be a few days old. This area also seemed like a good place for a mountain lion to den, with a lot of large rocks and boulders to hide in. We followed the ridge left (north) to the summit.

Once at the summit we found a summit marker! This was cool because it was totally unexpected.

Our summit views included Colorado Springs, Almagre with Pikes Peak, and The Spanish Peaks

Summit Picture

There was about 6 inches of snow on the ground towards the top so we followed our tracks back down the ridge

Cheyenne Mountain wasn’t our only goal for today, and after looking at a topo map we didn’t want to re-ascend the hill that led back to the parking area. We decided to traverse the north side of the mountain instead. There was more snow on the north side and we were frequently knee deep in powder

But after just a few minutes we came across the MacNeill trail, and check it out: it had tracks!

The Horns 9212’:

This was awesome! We just followed the class 1 trail as it curved northeast around the mountainside

It can be tempting at times to veer off trail, so be sure to stick to the side of the mountain. There were downed trees everywhere. There is also a lot of up and down, meaning you’ll gain elevation on the way out as well.

We came across an old water pump and frozen waterfall/stream

There were broken pipes littering the trail from here just about up to the summit, as well as varying depths of snow. We kept our microspikes on.

We made it to the top of the ridge and now lost elevation as the trail continued on the east side of the mountain and then snaked back to the west side. Here’s where the tracks ended, but luckily the trail was still easy to follow. There was more snow on the east side.

The trail snaked back around to the left (west side) and into an area filled with boulders. There was one spot that was tricky to pass due to the snow, but with the help of microspikes and trekking poles it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t touch the pipe.

We continued on the trail as it once again curved east around the mountainside

And came across a trail sign

We followed the trail towards what looked most likely to be the summit on top of a rocky area

We came across cabins, which I wasn’t prepared for. There wasn’t a camp on my topo map (Pikes Peak Atlas). It didn’t look like anyone was at camp today so we continued on towards the highest point, which seemed to be up these stairs

At the top of the stairs was a large boulder and what looked to be a fire tower.

We climbed the boulder carefully (class 3) and looked around. It seemed this was the summit, so we took a few pictures. There was a puddle of ice over what we assumed was the summit marker (if there was one?)

As we looked around it was unclear if we were at the true summit or if the rock about 15 meet away but near the cabin was the true summit, so we downclimbed and walked up the stairs of the fire tower. This was referred to as “The Horns” so it made sense there were two rocks.

The points looked to be about even, with the one on the north maybe just a little higher? It was here we noticed the security cameras. There were many and although we weren’t doing anything wrong we decided to leave. From the tower we could tell this place was bigger than we’d thought (later we realized this is “Cloud Camp” owned by the Broadmoor).

Time to head back down. The boulders here really look fun to climb/rappel.

We hiked along the MacNeill trail for a little ways and suddenly came across a small wooden gate in the middle of the trail. Why hadn’t we seen this before? We walked around a bit and realized the gate had a sign that said “Trail Closed”

Whoops! Due to the switchbacks and amount of snow we’d never even seen the sign! Check this out: this is the way we hiked in, and the red circle is where the sign is located

As you can see, from the trail going to the summit the gate closure isn’t obvious, but on the way back down or from a different angle you can see it perfectly. In fact, you run into it.

I’m not sure about the legalities here, but it seems they don’t want the public highpointing on their property. They need to work on the placement of their signage if this is the case. This was the only sign we saw.

We continued to head back down and got a good glimpse of the fire tower (a fire tower wasn’t on my topo either?)

There was also a good view of our way in/back out

And of Pikes Peak (etc). I had fun naming all of the summits from here…

On the way back we decided to follow the footprints on the trail instead of our tracks back the way we’d come (if we could avoid it we didn’t want to re-ascend the hill). This ended up being a great idea and in no time at all we could see Old Stage Road and my truck. This trail ended just where we’d began, it just went more north than east (the way we’d begun)

We made it to my truck at around 12:30pm, but our day wasn’t over yet.

Sugarloaf Mountain 9633’:

Without taking off our gear we drove further along Old Stage Road and parked directly at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain.

It looked like a quick hike to the top of this El Paso County Highpoint, so we headed off into the trees, starting at the surveyors tape tied around a pine.

If there was a trail here it was covered in snow, so we just trekked south, straight up the hillside. This area was steeper, covered in more snow, and more heavily treed than the other mountains had been today. Downed trees made the trek ‘fun’

When we were about 30 yards from the summit we came across a trail, which started from the opposite side of the mountain (south) and worked north. We hadn’t taken this established trail because I believed it started on Private Property (but couldn’t be sure). In any event, I didn’t want to push my luck.

We came across a rocky area and a wiki-up

And quickly found ourselves at the summit. It had totally been worth adding the extra peak: In total it only added about a mile to the day.

There wasn’t a summit marker or registry, but we were sure we were at the summit.

We once again followed our tracks back down, Steffen aspen tipping along the way

We made it back down to my truck at 1:20pm, making this a 10.5 mile hike with 4712’ of elevation gain in just over 6 hours.

2020 Goals

2020 Hiking Related Goals:

Hike on 60 days this calendar year
Hike/walk/run/treadmill 2020 miles
Summit a combined total of 10 winter 13/14ers
Finish all the Bicentennials outside of the San Juans
Hike in the San Juans at least 4 times
Complete one new class 5 Bicentennial
Summit 2 highpoints outside of Colorado
Summit 3 new El Paso County Highpoints
Hike one section of the Colorado Trail (it’s been calling my name)
Complete Grand Canyon R2R
Keep my average above 10+ miles and 4000’+ of elevation gain per hike

2019 Stats of Goals

Today was my last day of the year I had available to hike, and while the weather was chilly I had no idea just how cold it actually was. The forecast said the low was -6 and the high was 5, but there wasn’t supposed to be any wind so those temperatures seemed doable to me. I got up and drove to the trailhead, just to discover it was negative 36 degrees outside. I didn’t realize it could even get that cold in Colorado!

I sat in my truck, willing the temperature to rise for a good half an hour before it didn’t and I decided to drive home. I felt -36 was just too cold to make an attempt. In fact, I was even a little scared to turn off my truck because I wasn’t sure it’d start again in those temperatures. I was bummed the weather forecast had been so off, but enjoyed the solitude on the drive there and back. Since this was my last chance to hike I can now re-cap my 2019 goals and reflect on how I did:

Hiking related 2019 goals:

Help someone climb a 13er or 14er, or any hike they didn’t think was possible for them. Done. Started them on Sniktau and kept going from there.

Complete 4 highpoints outside of Colorado, with at least 1 being above 10,000’. Done, I did 7, with 3 above 10,000’

Black Mesa – OK, 4973’

Guadalupe Peak – TX, 8749’

Reno Point – DC – 409’

Wheeler Peak – NM – 13,161

Mt Whitney – CA – 14,508’

Boundary Peak – NV- 13,180’

Woodall Mountain – MS – 806’

Complete 21 Centennials (I’m currently at 76, so this would bring me to 97). Done, I completed all the Centennials.

Complete 5 winter 14er ascents (duplicate peaks are ok). Done. I completed 10 winter 14ers and 4 winter 13ers, summiting a couple (Quandary) more than once.

Climb 80 peaks. Done. 80 ranked, 18 unranked, for a total of 98

Hike on 50 days this calendar year. Done. I hiked on 71 days, not including my treks up the Manitou Incline and down the Barr Trail or local hikes.

Attend 12 Happy Hour meet-ups. Nope. I attended 10.

Try 3 new types of Whiskey (yes, this is hiking related, and not a stretch goal considering the point above). Done, done, and done. I stopped counting at 8.

Keep track of miles hiked. Done, 839 total miles hiked, not including my Manitou Incline hikes, local treks without a summit, or daily treadmill time

Mt Elbert (winter attempt)

RT Length: 10 miles

Elevation Gain: 2685’

Time: 7 hours

Partner: Steffen

Note: Our successful winter summit can be found here.

This was an attempt of the East Ridge of Mt Elbert. We ended up turning back around 12,500’ and did not summit today. We still had a great time though, with great views and fun animal prints to be found in the snow!

We arrived at the South Mt Elbert trailhead and were on the trail around 5:30am. There was one other vehicle in the lot from out of state. From the booklets and maps in the front seat I figured they were highpointing. We ever did see this person…

In the dark we were unable to see the 4WD road and took the trail instead to the 4WD parking area, adding on 2.4 (unnecessary) miles to this hike

Even though there had been recent snowfall the trail was well trenched and we didn’t need snowshoes for the first few miles. Ours were the first tracks on the trail, leading me to believe the other hiker(s) had taken the 4WD road up. After about a mile of hiking we came across mountain lion prints! They looked to be only a few hours old. They were headed in the opposite direction and followed the trail for about 20 yards before disappearing.

I spent the next hour or so stopping frequently to scan the night for glowing eyes but didn’t see any. After about 3 miles we made it to the junction. Here I decided to put on my snowshoes, and kind of wished I’d done so earlier. The bridge had a couple feet of well packed snow to cross.

There were some interesting 14er signs and here’s where we caught up with the other hikers tracks.

The sun was beginning to rise and the forest suddenly became more beautiful. The aspen trees and snow made for a unique landscape

This hike was trenched and relatively straightforward but felt like it was taking forever to complete. We made numerous stops just to enjoy the view. The trench continued up and over the mountainside, and here Steffen stopped to put on his snowshoes. This made a ton of difference for him!

The tracks stopped at treeline but the route seemed obvious: just head to the ridge.

Now that we were above treeline we had a good view of the summit. Unfortunately, it looked windier than we’d anticipated.

The mountains all around us seemed to be making their own snow. We weren’t going at a very fast pace (lots of stopping) and Steffen had already taken a few pain killers. We still were only about half way in both elevation and distance. I didn’t think our chances of summiting today were very high so we decided to turn around here. It was a shame because it seemed like such a nice day but on a positive note the fun stuff happened on the way back.

This slope would be perfect to ski/snowboard down!

When we made it back below treeline I saw prints that hadn’t been there before: it looked like a bird had caught breakfast while we’d been gone!

Steffen made another snow angel and debated doing this on every hike until the realization hit there wouldn’t be snow in the summer… Ha! The shadows from the trees made it difficult to get great pictures.

We had fun identifying animal tracks and I enjoyed the aspen trees again. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many aspen with snow below treeline: usually I see only pine trees so this was a fun treat!

We re-crossed the bridge

And headed back to the trailhead.

We came across the mountain lion tracks again and I got better pictures in the daylight. Just as we left the prints behind we came across a group of 5 snowshoers with their dogs. The dogs were off leash and the owners seemed upset we were there. Lucky for us we’d turned back when we did or the mountain lion tracks wouldn’t have been there upon our return. We made it back to my truck and checked our stats. I was surprised we hadn’t gained more elevation than we had. This hike seemed to have taken all day and I was sure we’d gained close to 4000’. Oh well: This was a well trenched hike, so I’ll be back to complete it in winter (soon).