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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.
This is the third time I’ve summited Quandary, and the second in winter, so I won’t give a full report. A full winter report can be found here.
Here are a few highlights from the day:
RT Length: 7 miles
Elevation Gain: 3435’
Time: 5 hours
Partner: Steffen
We arrived at the trailhead at 5am to a few other vehicles in the lot. This is pretty normal for Quandary Peak. One of the vehicles had their dome light on, with no one in the car. We tried to open the door to turn off the light but it was locked. Hopefully their vehicle would start when they got back.
We carried our snowshoes the entire way but didn’t need them. Microspikes were very, very helpful. The trail was well packed down from the trailhead all the way to treeline, but sugary and deep off trail.
We hiked at a steady pace, taking breaks as needed. This was Steffen’s first 14er (and a winter one at that!) so I didn’t want to push him too far. He did great! Here’s the path to the summit from treeline
Right about now the sun was beginning to rise. It stayed behind the clouds for most of the day but made for a nice sunrise photo
This is a simple ridge to summit hike. I was surprised at how little wind we encountered today!
Here’s the final push to the summit. This is where we came across the owner of the vehicle who’d left their lights on. He was a bit sheepish when he realized what he’d done, and picked up his pace on the way down. We offered to jump his vehicle when we made it down if it wouldn’t start for him. I started picking up the pace a bit here as well, hopping as I went and hiking backwards to make talking easier and to keep me going when things slowed down.
Summit Views: I love the little American Flag at the top (and wonder how it stayed with all that wind?)
Summit Photo:
Time to head back down the ridge
We saw mountain goats on our way down, but had a hard time getting a good photo. Mountain goats are frequently seen here. In fact, I’ve seen them every time I’ve hiked this peak.
We had a good view in the daylight of the recent avalanche area. The slope is only 31 degrees for a very short while, yet it slid yesterday. Luckily it wasn’t near the trail, but skiers/snowboarders would want to be careful not to ski this area during high avy days
The snow off the trail was really soft so Steffen decided to make a snow angel.
We made it back down to the trailhead and the guy who’d left his lights on was no longer there, so I guess his battery worked. All in all a great day above treeline! Congratulations Steffen on your first 14er!
The Quandary Peak Summit Sticker can be found here
I’m working on snowflake 14ers. Well, kind of. I set a goal to summit 5 more 14ers this year in calendar winter and I’ve been sitting on 4 since March (I only counted DeCaLiBron as 1because… well, it seemed too easy a hike to count it as more than 1) and I really wanted to get in another 14er snowflake this year. I checked the weather and Bierstadt had the best forecast on the first full day of winter so it’s the one I went with. It ended up being a fantastic choice!
I arrived at the trailhead at 5am to two other vehicles in the lot. I’d actually expected more, considering this is Guanella Pass and it’s the first day of winter. I spent quite a bit of time in my truck getting ready and wasn’t on the trail until 5:30am. I’d decided to start out wearing my spikes and snowshoes, and while they weren’t 100% necessary, I wore them the entire day but could have summited without them. I was just too lazy to take them off. Ok, not lazy, but exposing my fingers to the cold is a no-no and unfortunately a must if I’m going to take the snowshoes off. Also, I’m working on a ‘no blue toes’ season and it helps the cause if I’m not postholing. I would have postholed without the snowshoes.
Here are some pictures of the hike along the road
At the upper parking area the bathrooms were closed so I bypassed them and found the trail to the left
Here’s an overview of the route
The trail had a great trench and was easy to follow. There were tons of fresh signs indicating elk were in the area and using the same trails as the other hikers.
Here’s how to access the area above the willows
This is also when the sun began to rise. I turned back and my views were phenomenal!
There’s a lot you can say about Bierstadt. One of those things is it’s very well cairned/posted. The cairns are large and the posts even larger.
I just followed the snow covered trail and aimed for the next cairn/post. I came across a group of ptarmigans here. There had to be 7 or 8 of them altogether, and they blended in very well with the snow. I didn’t realize they stayed in groups of that size? I’ve only seen them singly or in pairs. It was neat to see so many at one time! One rogue ptarmigan ran ahead and about 10 yards away while the others huddled together. Also, what do you call a group of ptarmigans? A flock? A flight? A covey? (I think it’s a covey….)
In any event, the route was easy to follow all the way to the upper ridge
And to the summit
I summited at 8:40am. It was cold but not nearly as windy as forecasted. I was thrilled (but still didn’t take off my gloves)
Summit video:
Woot! A summit marker!
Here’s looking over at Evans
Time to head back
Here’s the basic route down the face
And a cool alternative view of Pikes Peak
This is about the time I started seeing other people. Mt Bierstadt can see hundreds of people a day, but today I only saw 5: Woot for hiking in winter!!! Only one other person had snowshoes, which was understandable, as the route was really well packed down.
Views of the way back down…
With more of those awesome trenches
I made it back to the upper parking lot
And hiked the rest of the way down to the Guanella Campground parking area. There were many more vehicles there now than when I arrived. Also, they do a good job of plowing this area.
I made it back to my truck at 10:45am, making this an 11 mile hike with 3455’ of elevation gain in 5 hours 15 minutes.
The girls planned this event 8 months ago. The goal: to hike to the top of the Manitou Incline wearing onesies. Me, being their leader and knowing they weren’t referring to outfits they wore as infants, had to look up what onesies were (pajama-like costumes that are all one piece). This sounded fun to me so we worked on setting up a date. We settled on the first week in December because we thought the weather would be cooler, there’d be less people climbing, and because band and cheerleading would be over so more girls could attend. They all met at my house and we carpooled to the free shuttle lot. Side note: they all drive now, which is weird since I’ve known them all since they were 5.
I’ve never used the shuttle before but it sounded like fun to go with a group and it would save us $20 in parking fees so I was all onboard with this idea. Once the shuttle arrived we had to wait a while for it to take us to the incline (it only goes every 20 minutes) so we talked about our strategy and goals for the climb.
I’d shown them a video last week about hiking the incline and they were all excited to try it themselves.
When we finally arrived we walked up to the start of the incline (one of the harder parts of the hike, actually) and the girls put on their microspikes. I wasn’t 100% sure they were needed, but it’s better to be safe than sorry and the troop owned enough pairs so everyone wore them. I took a selfie with the girls and we were off!
We started out at a moderate pace
But after the first 200 steps or so they all needed a break and two of them were having a hard time breathing. Not gonna lie, I got a little worried at this point. When I hike the Incline I don’t take breaks. Well, today we took a lot of breaks. And I mean a lot. Every 100 steps or so we stopped.
Soon the girls had tied the arms of the onesies around their waist (who’s idea was it to wear felt on this thing?) and we stopped at the Christmas Tree (the halfway point) for an extended rest.
We were glad we’d chosen to hike in December: Yes, the weather was cooler (this would not have been fun in onesies in the sun) and there were less people than normal.
More hiking….
And more resting…
But to be fair, their rests were short and they all kept going. One of my girls had her Tourettes start acting up and she had a hard time seeing due to the ticks but she never complained. They were all tired but no one wanted to quit. I’m proud of them for that! The microspikes ended up coming in handy after the bailout spot, when the trail got icy for a bit.
The girls stayed pretty much together, only being separated by a few feet or so for most of the hike, with Kimberly powering on ahead as we neared the summit. Finally, after an hour and a half of hiking, the girls made it to the summit!
Jules got out the Fun Dip and the girls rested for a bit while I got out the hot chocolate and apple cider. We ended up only having the apple cider though, as my fuel canister had run out and we didn’t have anything to heat the water (bummer!)
I took a selfie because hey, how many people hike the incline in costumes? Caroline did as well, I’m guessing for SnapChat
I tried to get them to continue on to Rocky Mountain but Emily had winterguard practice and everyone was hungry so it was time to gather our stuff and head back down. The Barr Trail down was much icier than the Incline route up and I was glad we had spikes. The girls realized just how important they were when one of Emily’s broke and she took it off. In less than a minute she slipped and fell on the ice, landing on her back. Hard. Ouch! But bless her, she took some ibuprofen and kept hiking. We made it back down to the shuttle at 1:45pm, making this a 4.5 mile hike with 1962’ of elevation gain in 3 hours.
We rode the bus back to our cars and drove to Fargo’s Pizza, where Breanna met up with us and we all chatted for a bit. It’s so cool watching these girls grow up! We discussed boys, school dances, cookie sales, homework, teachers, and a little about our upcoming trip to California.
I went rock climbing with a group from church recently. This was super fun but a little out of my comfort zone, as I’m not a big ‘people person’ and usually climb alone. Everyone was super nice and I was able to get in a run on the keyhole route at the Garden of the Gods. It was a bit chilly out (hence the puffy) but as a bonus someone brought homemade fudge (yum!).
The fun started around 12:30pm with ‘Ralph’s Tree’. You see, Ralph went up first so he could stay up there and take pictures of everyone climbing. Since he was first it was his job to climb up and then throw the rope back down. Well, the rope got caught on a scrub bush and knotted up when he threw it down. It took about 20 minutes for him to sort it all out, but finally he was able to get the rope unstuck and toss it down. We all joked about it and shouted up at him to be more careful with the next rope. Well, you guessed it, the second rope got tangled too, and we couldn’t stop laughing! For a visual, here’s the scrub tree that was the only obstacle that needed to be avoided… and the one that tangled the ropes twice.
We all had a good laugh about that one and teased him in good fun until the end of the event. Eric was on belay (without shoes, of course) for the orange route and due to the slope of the rock (or lack thereof) the rope near the top had more friction than normal and he had his work cut out for him
Since I was a guest I waited for everyone else to climb first. As I was waiting and watching and enjoying homemade fudge I noticed some climbers to our left topping out at a cool gully (Eric says we can try that one next). Anyway, I thought it was a cool visual so I grabbed Eric’s mirrorless and took a few photos. Don’t they look cool?
Oh, and while I was there I saw the opportunity to take a shadowselfie I couldn’t pass up.
It was fun watching everyone else climb up, and while they did I took the opportunity to study their routes. Check out Curtis and Connie rappelling down together! Awwww!
A Coopers Hawk decided to perch near us for a while
When it was my turn to climb I was totally ready. I knew which line I wanted to take and just went for it. It actually felt pretty easy. Ralph got a picture of me from above
Once at the top I sat for a minute and enjoyed the view. I could hear the conversations of visitors strolling around below
Of course I got a selfie
And then rappelled back down
I was one of the last to climb (a few people went twice after I was done) and even though it was early the sun was fading fast. It tends to do that with Pikes Peak to the west. I was talking with Eric and decided to get creative with my camera.
All in all a fun time! Afterwards I brought Emily home a pizza and then joined everyone for church.
Oh, and here’s a few photos from Kindergarten Rock Eric and I climbed that one last week but I didn’t post.
And from scoping out Keyhole for this trip
Another cool silhouette sunset shot. That one’s on my list of climbs too.
My flight actually made it in on time and I drove from DIA to the Mosquito Creek trailhead starting at around 11pm. I70 was closed for rock mitigation so I used 285 instead (and passed fire trucks rescuing drivers from vehicles that had slid off the road). I was a bit worried about the conditions of the roads since it’d snowed yesterday, but I had no trouble making it to Alma. From there the 2WD dirt road was icy but drivable.
I saw signs indicating Mosquito Pass was open, but I was headed to the Mosquito Creek Trailhead. I turned off the 2WD road onto the 4WD road and drove up about 20 yards before deciding to turn my truck back around and just park at the junction. I didn’t feel comfortable driving my truck through the snow on the road, and I knew it would most likely just get worse as the day warmed up. So I parked my truck and since it was only 1:30am I decided to try and get some rest before starting the hike.
I set up my sleeping bag(s) in the cab, ate a few pieces of turkey jerky I’d made with Thanksgiving leftovers from last week, downed a few shots of whiskey and I went to sleep. My alarm was set for 5:30am, and although it was 12 degrees outside and the wind was howling I was warm inside my sleeping bag inside the cab of my truck. When the alarm rang at 5:30am and it hadn’t even begun to turn light and that wind sounded less than fun I made the decision to re-set my alarm for 6am and got in another half hour of sleep before starting the trail at 6:15am.
I was immediately glad I’d decided to park where I had. Just following the road the conditions ranged from bare dirt to 6 inches of ice to 4 feet of snow. There were quite a few drifts covering the road I wouldn’t have felt comfortable driving my truck through. There was a constant wind coming through the lower basin, changing the drifts as it went.
I wore my microspikes from the time I left my truck until I made it back, but didn’t need snowshoes until I reached the London Mill.
After the London Mill the snow picked up on the 4WD road and I was postholing up to my knees, even with my snowshoes on. It was slow going and very tiring. Here’s a look at the rest of the route
I followed road 656 into the upper basin.
There wasn’t a ton of snow, but there was enough to completely cover the road in areas.
Once I was in the upper basin the wind stopped but the snow levels were still uneven. I made my way towards the aerial cable. I could see what was left of it littering the mountain even from hundreds of yards away. Here the road stopped.
I turned left and headed west
My goal was to gain the ridge. It was a straightforward snowshoe with no large rocks/obstacles to overcome.
It’s steeper than it looks, but I didn’t need to put the risers up on my snowshoes.
Once on the ridge the wind picked up again, but it wasn’t giving me a headache like I’d had on Mt Flora.
Side note: for those of you who remember the curious headache/nausea that caused me to turn back after summiting Mt Flora instead of hiking the ridge, I found out what happened (and no, it hadn’t been the wind). Before hiking Flora I’d woken up in the middle of the night and needed a quick drink, so I went to the fridge and half dazed with my eyes squinted closed to block out the fridge light found some iced tea in the back and chugged it straight from the container. It had tasted awful, but I hadn’t thought much of it. I travel to China for work and bring home loose leaf tea, which my kids love to make. Sometimes it has a curious taste/texture. The next day I’d had a terrible headache accompanied with nausea while hiking above treeline and attributed it to the constant wind. Well, a few days later I was cleaning out my fridge and when I found the tea in the back of the fridge I noticed what I’d thought had been leaves had actually been mold: Big clumps of mold floating in the tea and covering the sides of the container. Thinking of how I’d swallowed a good cup or more of that stuff made me nauseous all over again, and I felt lucky a headache was all that had happened. The container was beyond cleaning so I threw it away. Needless to say, I will be looking much closer at my late night drinks in the future.
I followed the ridge north. There were a few cornices forming on the ridge making snowshoes helpful and just enough rocks to slow me down.
Towards the top the wind really picked up and you could actually see the cold. I kept on my snowshoes even though they were overkill. I just didn’t want to take them off to put them on again in the cold and wind.
As I got closer to the top I noticed a plaque to the left of the summit and went to get a closer view
The actual summit was just to the right (east) of the plaque
I summited at 10:20am
Summit Video:
I hadn’t seen my daughter all week because I’d been in Florida for work, so I decided to just head back the way I’d come instead of heading over to hike Treasurevault, Mosquito, etc. It was my goal to be back home when she got home from school, so I turned around and headed back down the ridge
I followed my tracks back down the ridge
Back through the basin and to the 4WD road.
Most of my tracks were gone in the upper basin, but once I made it back to the road they were easy to follow. I did my best to make a trench, but it could use a few more people on the route.
I was once again glad I’d decided not to drive the road up.
I started this hike at 6:15am and finished at 1:15pm, making this an 11.2 mile hike with 2762’ of elevation gain in 7 hours. I didn’t see another person hiking all day.
I made it home in just enough time to take a shower before my daughter came home from school. She was a little sheepish when she walked in; the kitchen was a mess with dishes in the sink and on the counter and opened packages and mail all over the place. She’d thought she had another few hours to clean up before I arrived. I was just happy to see her. We chatted and cleaned up the kitchen together before making dinner and heading to the ice rink.
I’ve already climbed Mt Sniktau before so this isn’t much of a trip report but more journaling. A detailed trip report of Mt Sniktau can be found here.
Steffen asked me to take him hiking a 13er and to be honest the weather everywhere in the state was terrible for today. We’re talking 50+ mph winds and snow. Lots of snow. In fact, Mt Sniktau had snow forecasted to begin at 11am, so I figured we should start early. He met at my house at 3am and we carpooled there. I drove, and found it odd to have someone else to talk with in the car. There was rock mitigation work along I70 which seemed to come out of nowhere but I was glad they were working on the problem (large boulders landed on the road, blocking an entire lane).
We arrived at the London Pass trailhead at 5:45am, the only ones parked in the lot, and spent some time in the truck putting on our snowshoes and gear. It was dark so I couldn’t tell if we needed snowshoes or not, but figured it best to put them on when it was warm and take them off if necessary. Another vehicle pulled into the lot and a man started hiking a little before we did. We started on the trail a little after 6am.
There was a faint trail in the snow up the ridge, and after about 100 yards there was enough light to see we didn’t need snowshoes so we took them off. We quickly caught up to and passed the hiker in front of us, who was intent on “Cupid” and maybe Grizzly. We wished him luck and followed the ridge.
The forecast called for snow and it looked like it was rolling in. Luckily we were always in sight of the trailhead so I wasn’t too worried about the weather.
Steffen was doing great physically but was having minor difficulties breathing so we took breaks every now and then so he could catch his breath. He was a champ though and did a great job keeping up and not complaining. We followed the ridge to the summit.
There’s a large cornice on the top of Mt Sniktau Steffen had fun playing on, which terrified me a little…
Looking at the weather over Grays and Torreys we decided it was time to head back
Along the way I taught Steffen a little about how to self arrest with an ice axe and he spent some time practicing. This is a really good skill to know how to use when climbing in winter conditions. Remember to keep those spikes up!
We didn’t see another hiker the entire day, which seemed odd for this peak. It’s a popular one even on bad weather days because the trailhead is accessible and this is an ‘easy’ 13er.
We made it back to the truck at 8:30am, making this a 3.7 mile hike with 1494’ of elevation gain in 2.5 hours. The weather had been a bit gloomy but not too windy and as an added bonus we missed the snow!
On our way home we discovered why no one else was out hiking Mt Sniktau today: I70 was closed where the rock mitigation was this morning and there were backups for miles and miles and miles in both directions as drivers exited and had to find an alternate route. It didn’t look like anyone was going skiing/snowshoeing/hiking here today, and to make it worse this was a holiday weekend. It was a good thing we left so early: we were lucky to have missed the traffic!
The weather always wins. The day before this hike instead of getting 1-3” of snow we got more like 8” and I’d spent quite a bit of time shoveling my driveway. This extra snow occurred all over the state and the peak I’d intended to climb now wouldn’t have a reachable trailhead. So I did the easy thing and just switched my plans to hike a peak with a 2WD trailhead. Admittingly, I didn’t do much research and just left the house with a topo map and a vague idea of where I was headed. Luckily this is one of those peaks you can do that with.
I’d never been to Berthoud Pass before and was surprised at how large the parking lot was. It was 12* when I arrived around 5am and I decided to put on all my gear while sitting in my truck. Then I waited for a little bit of light before heading out. It had snowed here quite a bit yesterday as well and there were several feet of fresh, sugary powder on the ground. Since there were no tracks I wasn’t sure where the road/trail was so I just headed up the mountain (dotted line). This was more difficult than I‘d expected, as I kept sinking up to my waist in the snow. Snowshoes weren’t helping. Eventually I made my way to a road (solid line) and realized where it went all the way down to the parking lot (whoops!) and took it all the way up to Colorado Mines Peak. The road is located at the south end of the parking lot and without snow should be easy to find. In the afternoon there were several tracks made to the road by others who’d known what they were doing.
The road was easy to follow because there were poles placed every 50 feet or so along the trail. I was postholing here as well, and my legs were getting quite a workout.
As soon as I was out of the trees the wind picked up and never stopped. It wasn’t more than 20mph, but it just wouldn’t let up.
There wasn’t much route finding on this part of the trek, as the road was easy to follow all the way to the top of Colorado Mines Peak. At the top there were radio towers and buildings, etc.
I wasn’t sure where the summit was, so I just walked all around, taking pictures of the various structures. They’re larger than they look.
It was windy and cold and I didn’t feel like setting up my camera so I just got a quick selfie
I didn’t see an established trail from the top of Colorado Mines Peak to Mt Flora, but I could see a trail heading up the ridge of Mt Flora so I headed northeast down the side of Colorado Mines Peak towards the saddle
The wind was still blowing, forming a cornice along the ridge
The trail from the saddle up was easy to see. Snowshoes weren’t needed here, but due to the wind and cold temperatures I didn’t want to take off my gloves to take off my snowshoes, so I left them on.
Did I mention the wind? At about this time it was getting really annoying. I kept thinking every time I went around a corner or over a hill that the wind would die down, but it didn’t seem to matter which side of the mountain I was on: I was getting pounded by the wind (and ice)
This was all very frustrating because this was a relatively easy hike, yet I was starting to get a headache from the constant wind
After winding around the mountain for what seemed like a long while I could see the last bit to the summit. Here the sastrugi was beautiful and in most places solid, making it easy to cross
There were several large cairns indicating the path to the summit
The summit was large and relatively flat, with cairns, signs, and windbreaks full of snow
I’m not sure what time I summited, but it still felt like early morning.
It was still early in the day when I summited and I wasn’t tired at all, yet I was starting to feel nauseous. This wind was really getting to me. My balaclava had frozen to my face and I was worried I was getting frostnip on my nose (I was). I walked around the summit and looked at some of the other peaks I’d wanted to hike today
This should have been such an easy hike (and it was) but I decided here not to continue on. Yes, I’d wanted to summit a few other peaks today, but the forecast called for increased winds in the afternoon and I’d already had enough. This wind was making the morning miserable. Looking ahead at an added 6 miles of wind sounded like torture, and that’s not why I hike. I told myself I’d come back and do this hike again when the conditions were better (less wind). So I turned and headed back towards Colorado Mines Peak
As the wind increased and I became ever more nauseous I celebrated my decision to head back and enjoyed the views
Instead of going back up and over Colorado Mines Peak I decided to follow the trail that went around the mountain. Until the trail was obscured by snow and I couldn’t follow it anymore. Then I just made my way around the mountain until I found the road again.
The snow here was thicker and I was glad I’d kept on my snowshoes
Here’s a look back at my tracks to the road
Once on the road again I noticed all of the tracks I’d made this morning were gone
Here the wind let up and I took a minute to take some ibuprofen. Almost immediately I began to feel better. I could see the parking lot was full of vehicles and if I had skis I’d just slide my way down there. The snow was all powder and the skiers seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.
About halfway down the mountain I came across plenty of new tracks and two trenches on either side of the road. Needless to say, hiking down with a trench is a lot easier than trenching on the way up. I was thankful for everyone who came after me and made a solid trench.
I was also thankful to be out of the wind. The trees were lined with fresh snow and made for a beautiful trek out.
I made it back to my truck around 11am and was surprised to find people tailgating in the parking lot. I guess that’s a skiing thing? The parking lot was buzzing with activity, too many vehicles, people and pets, and I had to be careful not to run anyone over in the parking lot on my way out. I looked at my nose in the mirror. Yep, I’d definitely gotten a little bit of frostnip. I wish I could find a way to keep my balaclava from freezing? Hmmmm. Maybe I just need to try a different brand.
I started this hike around 6am and finished just before 11am, making this a 7.75 mile hike with 2334’ in elevation gain in 5 hours. I was a little disappointed I hadn’t done more today, but felt trenching in powder had given me a good workout just the same. Any day above treeline is a win. I’ll be back to complete this hike soon.
My flight got in late. I’d been in California all week at a tech conference and decided to leave Thursday evening to allow me to hike on Friday morning. This seemed like a great idea but the flight was delayed and I didn’t end up making it to Denver until 1:30am. I jumped in my truck and drove to the Cathedral Lake trailhead, a little upset I was behind schedule but not too worried since it was supposed to be a nice day and I wasn’t on any time schedule.
I’d heard they were closing the road to Maroon Bells today and figured since they were in the same area they’d be closing the road to the Cathedral Lake trailhead soon as well. When I got to Ashcroft I saw the gate was still open but there was a blinking sign indicating the road was going to close on November 15 (today). I was excited it was still open until I noticed it said they were closing it at 7am. Drat! I’d arrived before the gate closure but only by about an hour and a half. Oh well, this only added 3 miles total to my hike. Also, props to them for putting up signs warning of the upcoming closure.
I parked my truck in the parking lot at Ashcroft, gathered my gear, and was on the trail at 5:45am.
I followed the road for a mile and then turned right (west) onto a dirt road.
Here the road became icy. I followed it for another three quarters of a mile to the trailhead
I saw several ropes put across roads that weren’t open, which I thought was a great idea! I was here last May when there were several feet of snow on the ground and following the correct road had been a challenge when everything was white. These ropes would have come in handy back then
The dirt road led me to the Cathedral Lake trailhead.
The trail up to the lake is a well defined, class 1 trail. The trail had seen snow recently but was well packed down. In the morning I didn’t need microspikes, but they were very helpful in the afternoon.
The avalanche area has been well cleared
Just after ascending this hill (after about 4 miles from the start of the trail) the trail splits in two, one going to Cathedral Lake, the other to Electric Pass.
I went right towards Electric Pass
Here the snow picked up quite a bit and the trail became less traveled.
Most of the snow seemed to be directly on the trail. Unfortunately, it looked like one other person had been here since the snow fell and apparently they hadn’t brought snowshoes because they’d postholed with every step. It made my trek that much more difficult.
The trail led me to a basin and from here snow obscured the rest of the route, making this a class 2 hike. Also, here the tracks stopped. It seemed the previous hiker had given up their hike at the basin (probably because they lacked snowshoes). With no visible trail I’d originally planned to hike to the end of the basin and gain the ridge, but as I was aiming for the ridge I came across the trail again and decided to follow it instead. Here’s the route I took
Some parts of the trail were completely dry
But most of the trail was obscured by snow. I’d lose it and then find it again. I decided this was a good time to put on my microspikes.
I just kept aiming for the saddle
Once there I saw a cairn and followed the ridge west
Instead of following the ridge to the summit I followed the trail, which went around to the left
After rounding the corner (still on the trail) I could see the route to Electric Pass
This area was full of loose talus. It looked like some people had attempted to summit this way in the past (there were cairns pointing upwards) but this seemed foolishly difficult and unnecessary.
The last bit was steep and the snow here was soft. I carefully made solid tracks in the snow.
There was a cornice to navigate before gaining the ridge. Once on the ridge I turned right (northeast) and followed the trail to the summit
The summit had a lot of red rocks and a large cairn
I summited “Electric Pass Peak” at 10:15am
“Electric Pass Peak”
The views were absolutely amazing!
From here I had a good view of the route to Leahy Peak
I turned and went back the same way I’d summited
It hadn’t been very long since I was there, but the section of snow just under the ridge had now become slick. This was the crux of the route for the day, going back over the cornice and snow that took me back to the talus
Here’s the route I took from “Electric Pass Peak” to Leahy, doing my best to stick to the ridge and avoid the snow
Side note: look at the difference in snow levels on opposite sides of the mountain!
Here’s the last bit up to Leahy Peak. This really was an easy ridge walk, and if you’re even considering summiting Leahy I’d recommend doing so.
I summited Leahy Peak at 11:15am
Leahy Peak
Time to head back. I followed the ridge back as best I could until I came across the trail again
Here’s my route from Leahy Peak back down to the basin
On my way back I put on my snowshoes and tried to stomp down the postholes along the trail
It was really neat seeing all the animal tracks on the way down that hadn’t been there on my way up
I was almost back at the trailhead when I came across three hikers. They were surprised to see me because they hadn’t seen any other vehicles at the trailhead. They also didn’t have proper gear to be out hiking, especially on all this ice. They seemed upset with me when they saw I was wearing microspikes because they hadn’t brought any.
I was surprised they’d parked at the trailhead.
Me: “Weren’t they supposed to close the gate this morning?”
Them: “Yes, they did. We just used our 4WD vehicle to drive around it”
I didn’t agree with their tactics and gave them a blank look as I let my eyes go wide. Don’t be like them.
I made it back to the trailhead and indeed they’d parked their car in the lot, going around the closed gate to get there.
I followed the dirt road back to the paved road
And followed the paved road back to Ashcroft (and the closed gate)
I made it back to Ashcroft at 2:15pm, making this a 14 mile hike with 4406’ of elevation gain in 8 hours, 30 minutes
I was a bit tired, seeing as how I hadn’t slept in 2 days, but considered today’s outing a win!
Note: My successful summit of this peak can be found here.
I never should have attempted this hike today, but the weather was clear and my beta told me the mountains in this area were snow free. There are so many 13ers in the San Juans I wanted to knock another one out before the snow sets in again. As I was leaving the house around midnight my daughter asked me if I’d take her to the school musical that night at 7pm. I did some mental math and figured I’d have plenty of time to climb this 7.5 mile peak and be back in time to take her to see the musical.
I drove in the dark to the Grizzly Gulch trailhead, a little surprised to see so much ice on the 2WD dirt road in
There was one other vehicle in the lot when I arrived. I’m guessing they were headed to Redcloud/Sunshine today. Last time I was here I’d had a porcupine visit me in the middle of the night, making noise in the gravel below my truck as he tried to get up inside.
It was getting light as I put on my gear. From the parking lot it didn’t look like I’d need microspikes or snowshoes, but I decided to bring them anyway. I was on the trail at 6:30am. The trail starts at the west end of the parking lot and then crosses a bridge and heads southwest on a well defined trail.
Well, it would have been a well defined trail if there hadn’t been so much snow! Not enough in the beginning to put on spikes/snowshoes, but way more than I’d anticipated.
It was immediately obvious no one had been on this trail since the last snow, which had to have been over a week ago. What was curious was how soft and sugary the snow was after sitting for so long. There were also tons of animal tracks visible in the snow, mostly fox and moose, and they’d been here recently by the signs of urine and scat on top of the snow.
Last time I was here I’d seen a moose, so even though I never ended up seeing one I was extra vigilant today. I went in and out of the trees several times and noticed much less snow in areas without trees. This gave me hope for the rest of the trail above treeline. Of course, most of the snow in these areas was only on the trail itself.
When I made it to treeline I was disappointed to find quite a bit of snow. It wasn’t the snow that bothered me, it was the type of snow: all sugary with very few areas that were consolidated. The drifts were the worst! 4+ feet of sugary snow that didn’t respond to snowshoes made for difficult traversing. I put on my microspikes. Here’s the path I took to the middle of the basin
There was a stream that needed crossing. It was partially covered in snow/ice and I couldn’t tell how wide or deep it was. It took me several minutes to find a good area to cross where I wasn’t worried about falling in.
After crossing the creek I located a faint trail on the side of the mountain and worked my way towards it. The trail was only visible because it was covered in snow. The walk to the trail took a long time because I was postholing with every step.
Climbing up the hill should have been easy, but the snow was still sugary and the talus below unstable. Rocks rolled with every step I took, so I took them slowly
There were several large areas of snow directly on the trail that were not passable. I tried making a bridge in the snow but it wasn’t consolidated enough to hold my weight. Stomping it down did not create a trail so I had to descend on the talus to find a stable route.
Oh, and I met a few ptarmigans
Here’s another view of the ascent
All of this careful footwork meant I was going slowly. I was really excited when I made it to the top of the headwall, as I knew I’d have a view of the rest of the route to the ridge and I was hoping to find it snow free.
It wasn’t. Here’s the route up to the ridge
I continued for about 20 yards, trudging through sugary snow that went up to my thighs and mentally did the math. This hike had taken me about twice as long as it should have to this point, mainly due to the condition of the snow. I had 1.5 hours left before my turnaround time and looking ahead of me the snow in the gully areas looked similar to the snow I’d already had to avoid to get this far. Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid the snow ahead of me. There was a small lake out there I couldn’t see and I was worried I’d break through the snow and ice and fall into the lake. I grudgingly made the decision to turn around and head back home. That would give me time to make dinner and shower before the musical tonight. I was super bummed because it was a 6 hour drive out here and the day felt wasted, but I also knew I’d had bad beta and couldn’t have anticipated these conditions. The snow needs to consolidate before it’s safe to hike here. Here’s the path I took back:
Postholing the entire way…
In this picture you can see moose tracks and the trail I needed to make my way back to
I followed the trail where possible
Aiming for the creek and the trail out
Here’s looking back at my tracks
Getting through the willows is the hardest part, especially in sugary snow
Isn’t it fun when the only snow is directly on the trail?
The creek was almost frozen
I made it back to the trailhead at 10:30am, surprised to see another vehicle in the lot. This hike ended up being a little over 5 miles with 1948’ of elevation gain, done in 4 hours. I’d been hiking at close to 1 mile per hour this morning, which is considerably slow considering I average 2+mph normally. The good news is I made it back home in plenty of time for the musical. I’ll be back either in spring or summer, when the snow’s either consolidated or gone. Here’s a look at my route:
I got a late start on this one but I didn’t mind much. I made it to the Freemont Pass South trailhead just before 6am, surprised to see two other vehicles already parked there. I’m not sure we made the best use of our parking spaces
When I looked up at the mountain I could see headlamps. Wow! It’s not often I’m not the first person out. That’s what happens when you sleep in. They were taking a different route to the ridge than I planned on taking, and I wondered if they knew something I didn’t? You can’t really see them, but they’re circled here. The orange line is how I gained the ridge
I put on my microspikes under my snowshoes and headed out. As the sun started to rise I followed the road as it wound southwest, switchbacking a couple of times
There were plenty of tracks on the road until I came to a straightaway. All tracks went left (east) but my instructions said to go right, so I got to be the first one on the new snow!
After about a quarter mile I turned left and entered the trees
There was no trail here but I could see the mountain. I trenched my way south, sometimes coming across ski tracks or old game trails
Eventually I made it to treeline and had no difficulty figuring out the route before me. There were some large snow drifts towards the end of the basin I wanted to avoid so I decided to gain the ridge early. The snow here was soft and sugary and I was once again glad I’d worn snowshoes.
Here’s the path I took up the ridge
It’s steeper than it looks. Once on top of the ridge I ran into the tracks of the hikers I’d seen that morning. None of the tracks headed back down so they must still be on the mountain. I turned southwest and started up the ridge
The snow here wasn’t consistent. In some places there wasn’t any snow, and in others it was consolidated. I saw just enough postholing tracks from the hikers above me to convince me to keep my snowshoes on.
I followed the ridge to a small saddle and ascended the hill.
I completely thought I was nearing the end of this climb and kept looking for the other hikers. They should have been way ahead of me. Why hadn’t I seen them yet? I kept feeling like I was getting closer and closer to the end, which meant they should have been on their way back by now. At the top of that hill there was a pole. This pole is important, as it signifies the correct route to take back down. It’s good to make a mental note of where this is. I went right here
This is where the fun began. Once again, I totally assumed this was the summit (it wasn’t). I went up and over
And saw this
No worries… that must be the summit (it wasn’t). It was an easy class 2 hike though, until I came to a short class 4 section here, which was interesting in snowshoes
At the top of the class 4 section my heart sank: I still had a long ways to the actual summit, and it looked like all class 3+ from here. I couldn’t see the other hikers anywhere and I was getting seriously worried because all tracks still pointed up.
I looked for the class 2 section as an alternate, but there was so much snow it wasn’t a viable option. If I was going to continue I was going to have to climb class 3 in the snow. That wasn’t going to be possible with my snowshoes on. I seriously considered turning back. This would be an easy hike with no snow, one I could do quickly next summer. I debated my chances of success in the current conditions.
I decided since it was a nice day I’d take it one step at a time and turn back if necessary. The snowshoes weren’t necessary so I sat down to take them off and stash them while I summited. Just as I was kicking them off (I didn’t want to take my gloves off so there was a bit of a struggle) I saw the group of hikers coming towards me. No, they hadn’t been slow, it had just been a much longer ridge than I’d anticipated and they’d been behind rocks when I’d made it within final view of the actual summit. I waited for them to pass me. I had a hard time making conversation (my mouth was frozen and it was difficult to make words) but we had a quick chat. They said the headwall on the way they’d come up hadn’t been fun. I wished them luck and we were on our separate ways. I was so glad I’d decided to put on my spikes under my snowshoes! It was worth it not to need to take off my gloves. The wind wasn’t too terrible, but I’d need all the feeling in my fingers I could get for some class 3 scrambling.
This last route on the ridge mainly sticks to the ridge, but it does dip down a few times to the right. Here’s the route I took
It looked like the group ahead of me had gone a little higher in places than I did but I felt their route looked class 4 and felt more comfortable staying a bit lower. I was never more than 30 or so feet below the ridge and most of the time I was right on top. The last push to the summit was on class 2 rocks
There was a big cairn indicating the summit. I was thrilled I’d decided not to turn back! That had been easier than I’d anticipated.
Here’s my summit photo
It is much harder to work a camera with large gloves on than you’d think. If you have a few minutes to spare you can watch one of my attempts (I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. Turns out it was on video mode). This sort of stuff happens frequently and wastes time on the summit. I tend to give up quickly and go with the first shot I take, especially when it’s cold and time has more meaning.
Summit Post
Here’s a look back down the ridge
The trail down the ridge was pretty similar to the way up. Here’s a look at the tricky sections
Remember how I said that pole was important? Here’s why: You don’t follow this ridge all the way down. You’ll eventually turn left and follow a different ridge
The wind was starting to pick up, and some of the trenches forming were body-sized because of the sugary snow
The pole is circled here in red. Follow the ridge to the left, don’t go straight or it will take you to point 12923.
From here I followed the ridge to just before the headwall
Looking back things started to get windy
I turned left and headed down the side of the mountain. Down was much easier than up.
Here’s my exit route back into the trees
My tracks were mostly gone in a lot of the basin but I could see where they picked up near treeline
Once at treeline I just followed my tracks back to my truck, doing my best to form a nice trench
I made it back to my truck at 12:30pm, making this a 6 mile hike with 2759’ of elevation gain in 6 and a half hours. The hike had felt longer distance wise than it was, and I it felt shorter time wise. I guess I kind of went into a zone when crossing the ridge and lost track of time.
Wild Wanderer 