Laura M Clark

Gray Wolf Mountain – 13,604

RT Length: 9.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 2300’

Surprised they hadn’t yet closed Guanella Pass for the season, and with the only above treeline forecast for peaks I want to climb that didn’t have forecasted “blowing snow and blustery winds” I decided to try to get in this bicentennial before they closed the road. The drive up was icy so I took it slow, arriving at the Guanella Pass trailhead at 6am.

It was windy and cold and windy. Did I mention it was windy? I got ready in my truck, put on my snowshoes, and sat in the front seat, willing the wind to stop blowing my truck back and forth. It didn’t, so I decided as soon as it was light enough where I didn’t need a flashlight I’d be on my way. Today’s hike was short and I wasn’t too worried about time.

I started from the south end of the parking lot at 6:40am

Here’s an overview of my route

I followed the well trenched Bierstadt trail through the willows until I came to post #11

The wind stopped as soon as I descended into the basin, which was a welcome surprise. At post #11the trail continued to Bierstadt, but ended for me. I turned left and angled northeast through the basin, doing my best to avoid the willows and creeks.

Avoiding the willows wasn’t too difficult, but avoiding the small tributaries and creeks was a challenge. It seemed as if there were offshoots of water everywhere. They were covered in a thin layer of ice and several inches of snow. Since they hadn’t yet frozen over completely they were a hazard. It would look as if I was walking along a section of grass, and then I’d hear cracking and gurgling beneath me. I had to take care not to plunge step into a small creek but wasn’t too worried as they weren’t very deep. As I made it to the middle of the basin I noticed a herd of elk moving ahead of me. They’d obviously seen me first and were doing their best to put some distance between us. Luckily for me I noticed they were traveling in the same direction I wanted to go, so I decided to just follow their tracks.

Following the elk had its advantages: they’re heavier than I am and I can see where they posthole and whether or not they break through ice. I didn’t take the conventional way up this slope, but I felt more secure in my footing following animal tracks.

I followed game trails through the willows and trees

to a small plateau. Still following the elk tracks I gained the side of the mountain

And found a cairn! Woot! It seems I was on the right track. The elk had gone left and I wanted to go straight so I stopped following their prints and headed east through the willows and then followed the drainage up the basin, keeping the drainage to my right.

The beginning this part of the hike wasn’t too bad. I just kept following the drainage towards Gray Wolf Mountain

Just as I made it to the base of the peak the wind started picking up intensely. I made the decision not to ascend Gray Wolf Mountain via the ridge because I was worried the winds would be too much for me (dotted line). Instead I followed the basin until I felt I was parallel with the summit and gained the ridge that way, thus being able to make it to the top without the intense wind (solid line)

Winds were forecasted at 20-25mph, but they far exceeded those numbers. The winds never slowed down and they never stopped. It’s difficult to get a picture of wind…

Eventually I hit an ice patch and decided it was time to start climbing Gray Wolf Mountain

I turned left (north) and ascended the ridge

The higher I climbed the lower the wind speeds became. The snow here was either hard packed or soft and unconsolidated, making route finding challenging. I had to go slower than I would have liked to avoid twisting an ankle in the snow hollows between larger rocks.

The further up the mountain I went the more snow I encountered

Until I made it to the ridge and saw it was mostly windblown. Here’s the path to the summit

And looking back, you can see a better view of the dropoff between Gray Wolf Mountain and Mt Spalding and the wind that went with it

As I got closer and closer to the summit of Gray Wolf Mountain the winds increased again. I had to keep my head down and body angled forward to avoid getting blown over

When I made it to the summit I took off my backpack to set it down and it was blown by the wind, tumbling 10 feet away from me. I hobbled back and forth in my snowshoes to retrieve it before it was blown off the mountain altogether. Wow, those were some strong winds! I set up my camera between two rocks on the summit cairn to get a picture of myself on the summit. I got one before the camera was blown over. This is me stoically struggling against the wind to remain upright in the wind. Also, I’m cold.

I didn’t even bother looking to see if the picture was good: The wind wasn’t stopping and I had to get out of there. These were sustained winds that I’m guessing exceeded 60mph. I bent down to retrieve my backpack to put it on. I was able to get one arm through one of the straps, but tried over and over again unsuccessfully to get the other arm through. The wind kept blowing the pack away. Frustrated, I half laughed/screamed “STOP!!!!” to the wind. It didn’t listen and it wasn’t going to listen so I had to get creative. I propped my backpack up against the cairn, turned around, sat down and put the pack on. At this point the wind was blowing me against the cairn and I couldn’t stand up from a sitting position. I rolled onto my side and used my trekking pole to hoist myself up. I made the decision right there not to attempt Mt Spalding today: If the wind was this bad at 13,600’ I could just imagine what it was like at 13,800’.

I trudged against the wind back the way I’d come

When I made it back to the ridge the wind lessened as I descended out of its path. I followed my tracks back to the plateau

Here you can see how each step varied: sometimes the snow was firm, and other times I’d sink

I followed the drainage back down, keeping the drainage to my left. The wind was again strong here, but nothing like it had been on the summit

I aimed for this bump in the ridge

Found the cairn

And headed back down the hillside and into the basin. Here you can see my tracks, along with a bunch of elk prints

The wind hadn’t been present here, so I was easily able to follow my tracks back to the trail

I only ran into an issue once, when an area I’d crossed earlier had warmed up and I stepped through the ice. I’d known water was here and traversed the area slowly. In my snowshoes my foot didn’t even get wet, but this picture shows a break in the ice

I love following animal tracks!

There were tons of moose tracks near the boardwalks in the willows that hadn’t been there when I’d hiked in, but I didn’t see any moose. There was one other vehicle in the parking lot when I left. I didn’t see anyone else all day so I’m assuming they hiked Bierstadt.

I made it back to my truck at noon, making this a 9.5 mile hike with 2300’ of elevation gain in 5 hours, 20 minutes. When I went to stop my tracker it had shut off about an hour or so into the hike (I’m assuming due to cold) so for mileage I’m going by my iPhone’s tally and for elevation gain I’m just using topo estimates. Red is what Strava recorded, orange is the rest of my route, hand drawn. If there hadn’t been any wind this would have been a really easy day. I was kind of bummed I hadn’t had been able to try Mt Spalding, but there are numerous ways I can hit it next time.

Also, apparently my balaclava hadn’t been entirely covering my face. It had frozen in the wind and I’d thought everything was covered but when I looked in the mirror I had a dime sized sunburn on the tip of my nose. Very cute.

US Grant Peak – 13,778

RT Length: 9.5 miles

EG: 4084’

Parked at the Molas Pass Trailhead, I woke up very well rested but with a bloody nose. The stars were out and it was dark outside, but my nose runs a lot while I hike so I know what a runny nose feels like. This was blood, and I reached for a bandana. I slid my arms out of my sleeping bag and gasped at the cold and wondered to myself why my alarm hadn’t gone off? I knew I’d overslept, but wasn’t sure by how much? I fumbled for my phone, which was indeed flashing “Alarm! Alarm! Alarm!” but not making any noise. Apparently it was going off but because of the cold it wasn’t functioning properly. Note to self: get an alarm clock that doesn’t run on your phone. The display said it was 5:26am. Drat! I’d set the alarm for midnight, and now it was much too late to begin either of the hikes I’d had planned for the day (although the 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep had been pleasant).

As I was applying pressure to my nose I considered my options. Due to the time I couldn’t hike into the Vestal Basin, but I was close to the South Mineral Campground where I’d hiked yesterday, and the conditions there had looked favorable. The only downside? I didn’t have any beta with me on any of those peaks. I decided to drive to an area where I had cell service and pull up my email. I wasn’t sure, but maybe I’d emailed some beta to myself a few weeks ago from peaks in the area?

Did I mention it was cold? I turned on my truck and the temperature read 19 degrees. Oh, and that frost is INSIDE the window.

A few miles down the road I had 2 bars of service and found a pullout to park. I was there for about 20 minutes searching through my emails for information on a hike I could do today. Not one vehicle passed me while I was there.

I was in luck! I had started some notes on US Grant Peak. I hadn’t finished them completely (I’d wanted to do this peak with Pilot Knob and “V4” and possibly “V2”) but I had enough beta to go on. It was 50/50 on whether the path would be clear enough from snow to summit, but I figured just the hike to Ice Lake would be worth the effort. I took screenshots of my emails and drove back to the South Mineral Campground, parking in the same spot I did yesterday.

I took my time getting ready (it was colder here than it had been at Molas) and started on the trail at 6:30am. I signed the trail register and was on my way.

The trail begins at the west end of the parking area

And starts by switchbacking up the hillside. There were more switchbacks than I thought were necessary, and lots of signs asking people not to cut the switchbacks. What these trail designers may not realize is animals can’t read signs, and I’m sure the trails are being cut by deer, coyotes, etc. that would rather take the faster route. If you don’t want people to cut switchbacks you need to design a more efficient trail. Also, THANK YOU to all of our hardworking trail builders and maintainers out there! You rock!

There was also a lot of avy debris that had been nicely cleared

After the avy area there’s a waterfall. This is where (I believe) the switchback area you can alternately park at links up with the Ice Lakes trail. I went left here.

The trail exits the trees for a bit and then enters them, switchbacking again

Here I encountered ice on the trail. Nothing too difficult on the way up, but slippery on the way back down.

I excited the trees and rounded the corner

The trail is so nice I missed the turnoff and hiked about a quarter mile past it before realizing my mistake. I backtracked and took a picture of the correct route. Turn right here onto the unmarked Island Lake trail

The rest of the trail up to the basin is easy to follow

I had great views of Fuller, Vermillion, and Golden Horn for most of the trek

The trail all the way to Island Lake was well established

I made it to the lake and decided to take a bit of a break. Up until this point it had been slow going. I was curiously more tired than I should have been, considering I’d gotten quite a bit of rest last night. Then it hit me: I hadn’t eaten anything! Adding up my calories yesterday (I’m guessing around 1000 total with the two packets of tuna and spoonful of peanut butter) and apple I’d eaten this morning, I wasn’t fueling properly. I got out a tin of almonds and snacked as I took in the views. Someone had left firewood.

I put on my helmet, gathered my gear, and started out again. Here’s the path I took up to the saddle between V4 and US Grant

There is no clear trail around the lake, but the route was obvious. I was still a little worried snow on route may be a problem, but wouldn’t know for sure until I made it to the saddle, or perhaps even further. This part of the hike is easier than it looked. In my experience, gullies like this are steep and not much fun, but this one was filled with the good kind of scree (like on Red Mountain A) where it’s easy to gain traction. I went straight up the side of the mountain and followed the gully.

About halfway up the gully I spotted something moving out of the corner of my eye. I turned and it stopped moving. At first I thought it was a mountain goat because of its size, but then it started walking again and I noticed it had a canine loping gate, similar to a coyote. But it was huge! My next thought was wolf, but I don’t think we have them in the San Juans? Also, 13K seems pretty high for a wolf. Maybe someone had lost a dog? I whistled to it and it turned around, stood, and watched me until I was out of sight, which ended up being about 30 minutes. Any guesses as to what this is?

The final push up the gully to the ridge wasn’t difficult but I was going slow. This part of the hike was very mental for me, and even though I knew I was close I wanted to give up. Stopping and turning back seemed like a great idea, and it got me to thinking: What is it that keeps me going, even when I want to quit? Stubbornness? Probably. I know if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and stop-stopping I’ll eventually make it. Yes, it’s stubbornness, but it’s also something more…

At the saddle I turned right and my spirits dropped a bit. No snow (yay!) but tons of scree and choss. I was going to have to be careful with my footing.

There was a very faint trail here, and a lot of gullies. I noticed in the important areas there were cairns (probably 5 total). If you see a cairn, use it because it’s helpful: heading up or down the wrong gully would prove nasty here.

I came to an easy class 2 gully (it looks worse than it is)

This is where the fun begins. There isn’t much left to the rest of the route, and it’s all class 3+.

This is the class 4 crux section. Here is the route I took up the class 4 section and over the class 3 airy ledge (it felt worse to me than the airy ledge on Jagged).

The class 4 section was easier to me than I’d heard. I stepped on a medium sized rock and easily pulled myself up. There were plenty of hand and footholds, and I found the climb was just over twice my body length, so no more than 10-15 feet. Here’s the path I took (both up and down)

Here’s another look up from the step

Once on the ledge I went right (the only way I could go) and carefully traversed the ledge. There was definitely some exposure here.

Once around the ledge I found myself at a class 3 gully. Woot! No snow! This was the last obstacle on this climb and I was thrilled it was (basically) snow free! This gully had both stable rock and choss, so each move had to be carefully calculated. It’s steeper than it looks, and would not be fun with snow. It looked like you could take the right side straight up, but that was steeper than I felt comfortable climbing, so I kind of zig-zagged up the gully wherever I could find stable rock. Bonus if there was dirt involved.

From the top of this gully it was an easy walk to the summit

I summited at 10:20am

Summit Video:

It was a really nice day so I spent a lot of time on the summit, enjoying the views and congratulating myself for not stopping when I wanted to. This is why I keep going:

This one was tricky, so here’s how I made it back down. First back down the gully

Then across the airy traverse (don’t look down)

And back down the crux.

Once again, it’s important to be aware of the gullies from here. Look before you commit, as there are many game trails that look like trails. They don’t all “go”. Look for the cairns and second guess each route you take, especially on the way back down.

Looking over at “V4” I didn’t feel comfortable attempting it today, mostly because I hadn’t done any research on the route and an obvious one wasn’t visible to me from US Grant’s ridge. It looked like it had too much snow, so I didn’t even attempt it, and instead put on my microspikes, made my way back to the saddle and headed down.

It’s amazing how different the snow can be on two sides of the same mountain. Here’s my route back down to Island Lake. I followed the soft gully back down, paralleling the snow.

I took another break at the lake to reapply sunscreen and take off my microspikes and jacket (it was getting hot!). I heard some voices above me, looked up, and noticed some hikers at the top of the US Grant/”V2” saddle

The trek out was uneventful. I had to be careful because the snow was now icy and I didn’t want to slip (but I didn’t want to put on my spikes either). I came across a family with three young kids (between the ages of 4-9) who were about halfway to Ice Lakes Basin and didn’t look like they were going to make it. Their dog was off leash, barked and charged at me. I’ve never been afraid of a dog in my life, but this one caught me off guard. The oldest child told me not to worry, that the dog was nice and just pretending to be mean. Hmmmm. In any event, I warned the next couple behind them with the off leash pit bull of the off leash charging dog ahead. Seems to me there was potential there for a scuffle.

There were several cars in the parking lot now.

I made it back to my truck at 1pm, making this a 9.5 mile hike with 4084’ of elevation gain in 6.5 hours.

Rolling Mountain 13,693′ (attempts)

RT Length: 13.5 miles

EG: 5079’

I have a feeling I’m going to have a lot of second attempts while working through the bicentennials and the rest of the 13ers. There just isn’t that much quality beta out there on these peaks when compared to the centennials. My goal with this trip report is to provide beta on a lesser climbed peak. Please feel free to add to this beta to continue improving its collective knowledge. Yes, I know there’s another approach I didn’t use (which I will next time).

My plans shifted and changed right up until I was driving to the trailhead. There are a lot of peaks I want to climb in the San Juan’s, and they had the best weather forecast for the weekend. They also didn’t get as much snow as the rest of the state this week, so I was hoping to hike a few of the more difficult peaks during the nice weather window. My plan was to hike Rolling Mountain Friday and give the Grenadiers some more time so melt out (if they needed it at all). I’d be able to see them from Rolling Mountain and gauge if they were climbable at that point. Plan A was to do the Trinities, Plan B was to hike Arrow Peak, both 25+ mile hikes with 8000’ of elevation gain. I didn’t have a plan C…

I made it to the South Mineral Trailhead at 7am and took my time getting ready. It was really, really cold outside. Luckily the drive in was nice, on a well maintained 2WD dirt road. There wasn’t any ice on the dirt drive in (but there had been on 550, making it a slow approach).

I followed the Rico/Silverton trail for about 2.5 miles, first starting out actually following the trail, which wasn’t more than a game trail through dense trees.

I quickly realized the trail follows the dirt road and instead of spending time route finding I just hiked along the road. I could easily have driven my Tundra the 2.5 miles I hiked.

The worst part of the road looked like this

Just after the Bandora Mine I entered a small basin

Here the trail might as well have ended, as the road became covered in ice.

I found my away across the ice and through the willows back to the road. Here I had two options, one going to the left, the other the right. I chose to take the trail to the right in, and the trail to the left out. Long story short: The trail to the right is more of a game trail so some route finding is involved. The trail to the left is a solid trail but crosses streams at least 3 times.

The road to the right ended at a few campsites

And then a game trail took over.

This trail was faint and the only way I was able to follow it in the snow was due to moose tracks using the trail. They looked fresh, and appeared to be a mama and calf.

Since this is a faint trail the best advice I can give you is to keep the stream to your left and closely follow it.

Eventually I came across where the true trail picked up and route finding (for the time being) was over.

I continued to follow the trail south, past one of the possible routes up Rolling Mountain. I chose not to take this route first because on a topo map it looked like it had a tougher slope angle

I kept hiking until I came to the next basin. At the top of a rock slab hill I turned right (west) and left the trail.

I cut across the willows and headed up the slope, first on tundra, and then on terrible talus

All was going well until I made it to the top of this hill. My intended route to access the summit is outlined

But when I made it to the top of the hill I was surprised to find a steep downward slope, covered in snow.

My first thought was to just walk down it. I put on my microspikes and took a step and plunged up to my waist in snow. Wow! That was deeper than I’d thought! So deep and sugary I don’t think snowshoes or an ice axe would have helped. Next I tried to traverse around the snow on the scree, my intent to find the smallest piece of ice and cross there. However, the scree here is light and covering smooth rock slabs, making traversing the area like walking on marbles, even with spikes on. I tried heading higher but encountered similar wide, snow filled gullies. I retraced my steps and tried again. I couldn’t cross this area to my right because there was as 40 foot dropoff. Glissading wasn’t an option because I sank to my waist, and I didn’t have the tools necessary to climb back up (or self arrest).

This was so incredibly frustrating! I spent almost an hour trying to find a good way through this seemingly easy section, and hit a dead end every time. I glanced up and looked at the rest of the route. It looked like even if I made it past this part the area I needed to gain the ridge was covered in a large snow drift.

At this point I made the decision to turn around and instead try the route I’d passed on my way in. Yes, it would mean a lot of added elevation gain, but I felt I’d be safer. I had all day, so I wasn’t worried about time. Here’s the route back to the trail. I followed the deep drainage a little more closely this time.

A bonus of turning back: I saw a mama moose and her calf feeding on the willows! Although I tried I didn’t get a great picture of them, but I was able to watch them on my entire descent. I’m sure they’d been there all morning (I’d followed their tracks, remember?) I just hadn’t been able to see them. They never even glanced up at me: they were too busy eating.

Oh, and that drainage with the dropoff was full of ice…

I backtracked on the trail for about a mile and just before making it back to the South Park area I turned left (west) and left the trail. Here’s the route I took

This drainage was full of a lot of large, loose boulders. Not the kind that would cause a rockslide, but the kind that would roll out from under you can cause you to twist your ankle.

After the rocks came tundra

And as I made my way up this area I crossed my fingers I wasn’t going to encounter a similar snow-filled bowl like I had on the other side. Luckily, this is what I saw as I ascended. Woohoo! More rocks!

And just a little bit of avoidable ice. My goal here was to gain the ridge. I knew I needed to head straight to the rock wall and then turn right (northeast) and ascend the ridge

All was going well until I made it to the rock wall.

Here the snow became steep, and I had to get creative to stay safe. I made a small snow trench and shuffled my way to the gully. Here are my tracks looking back.

What I saw ahead of me made my heart sink: My (loose) beta told me to just ascend the gully to the ridge, and that this was a class 2 hike. Let me tell you, this is NOT a class 2 gully, or even a class 3 gully (maybe class 3 in snow: this would probably be an ok couloir climb). I decided to take it one step at a time, dropped my trekking pole and headed up.

It started out class 3, but quickly the little bits of dirt and gravel that were there gave way to smooth rock. I was unable to find secure hand/footholds, and after about 70 feet of climbing I felt I was entering class 5 territory. The rock here was smooth, and would have made a continuous slide in the rain. If I slipped, there’d be nothing to stop me for over 100 feet. Yes, I knew I could continue climbing up, but in no way did I feel confident climbing back down. I should have had a helmet for what I was doing, and rope for rappelling back down. Solo adventuring is dangerous, and I’ve promised a lot of people in my life if I felt in over my head I’d turn back. This was one of those times. I took a picture of the down climb

And one of the Grenadiers (fresh beta for tomorrow)

I slowly headed back down. I’d climbed much further up than I’d realized, and the down climb was much more difficult than I’d anticipated. The entire time I was descending I kept telling myself what a good decision it had been to turn around: this was scary insane! Yes, it was a bit disappointing to turn back twice in one day, but I’d learned quite a lot about this mountain, and there’s still one more approach I know of I’m going to try next time. Surprisingly, I wasn’t in a bad mood: failed attempts are all a part of the game. In fact, I was elated when I made it back down the gully safely! As a bonus, I now have a better idea of how I want to summit next time. Here’s a look at the route I took back to the trail:

Once on the trail I decided to take the proper trail back down.

As stated earlier, there were no less than 3 icy creek crossings

Back on the Rico/Silverton trail I had one more creek crossing and then a nice walk on a 4WD road back to my truck.

As I was walking along the road I was passed by trail runner, running with his dog. Trail runners always impress me, but this time I was doubly impressed: this guy runs with his CHIHUAHUA, and the dog LOVES it! They run every week, this time from Molas Pass to South Mineral Creek Campground. Has anyone heard of this guy? He had me take a picture of him and his dog with his cell phone (the dog posed happily) because he never sees anyone on the trails to take photos of them

The entire way back I was surprised at how dry the Ice Lakes Basin seemed. It was too bad I hadn’t done much research on the other peaks I’d needed to hike in this area: the conditions looked perfect! I made it back to my truck at 4:30pm, making this a 13.5 mile hike with 5079’ of elevation gain in 9 hours (more than anticipated: it felt like 8 miles). Strava said my highest elevation reached was 13,172’. Rolling Mountain is 13,693’

Back at the trailhead I re-braided my hair, changed my clothes and took a quick wet-wipe bath. Before long I was on my way to the next trailhead: Molas Pass. I drove up and got a good look at my options for tomorrow’s hike:

It looked to me like I didn’t need snowshoes or even traction (I’d bring traction anyway). As I sat there eating my dinner of tuna and crackers a vehicle pulled up next to me and a man and his dog got out. They looked like they were going to be there for a while so I got out to say hi. We got to talking, and I learned the man had recently completed the Colorado Trail after recovering from health related issues. It had taken him 5 months (5 months!!!) and he had a new tattoo to commemorate the journey he proudly showed me, which incorporated Arrow, Vestal, and the Trinities. We exchanged trail names (his was “Mosey” for obvious reasons). The Colorado Trail has been calling my name lately, but I’ll most likely have to do it in weekend segments because I’ll never get the time off work to do it all at once. He seemed appalled by this. I told him I was sleeping in my truck and heading out early in the morning, to which he took as meaning I was homeless. I assured him I wasn’t, just a dedicated outdoor enthusiast. He called that hardcore. After completing the CT he moved here from Bailey and just wanted to see the mountains again. It was my goal to get to bed before 7pm so I politely excused myself, brushed my teeth, put Vaseline on my feet, and waited for him to leave so I could find an appropriate place to use the restroom. I made a few notes in my hiking journal about the day’s events, had 2 (ok, 3) shots of whiskey, and took a look around me. Yes, it did seem as if I lived in my truck (I swear I clean it up when I get home on Sundays)

I set my alarm for midnight and set up my bed (3 sleeping bags and a body pillow: it was supposed to be 23* here tonight). I was still going back and forth on which peak(s) I’d hike in the morning, but figured I’d make the decision when I could see them up close. As I’d learned today, even a little bit of snow on the trail can completely change your hiking plans.

Mt Champion 13,645 & PT 13,736

RT Length: 8 miles

Elevation Gain: 3692’

I really wanted to get in this hike before they close Colorado 82 for the winter, and this weekend seemed like a great opportunity: The weather had a nice forecast so I decided to go for it. I made it to the trailhead and was on the trail by 6am. My truck was the only vehicle in the lot, and there was frost on the ground and glittering in the moonlight on the willows. It had snowed 3-5 inches the night before and right now it was cold, cold, cold!

I’d just started out when I heard the loudest sound of tires screeching I’ve ever heard. I turned around and saw a truck’s headlights stopped in the distance. In the dark the driver had missed the last turn before ascending up to Independence Pass and had driven about 40 feet off the road. They were very lucky this part of the road was relatively flat! I watched the truck as it backed up, stopped, backed up again, stopped, and backed up a third time to make it back to the road. Once they were successfully on their way so was I.

I’ve been in this area before and the instructions I’d put together said to follow Lackawanna Gulch. So I did, but I had difficulty with the frozen stream crossings. The usual areas had more water than I’d expected so I had to walk up and down the banks of the creek to find a place to cross. I didn’t feel comfortable taking off my boots and fording the stream with all that ice. I ended up turning back and starting over again when I came to an area I didn’t recognize. Yes, I’d been here before and I knew the way I was going would get me to the gulch, but I wasn’t headed the way I’d left instructions I said I was going, so I backtracked and crossed the creek again and headed northeast until I came across a cairn, which led me to another cairn and another and I knew I was on the correct trail.

The snow was fresh and I used my trekking pole to knock it off the trees when they were covering the path.

The sun started to rise and through the trees I could tell the views today were not going to disappoint.

The trail was faint but easy to follow, even in the snow, until I made it to the avalanche area.

Here the trail ended so I followed some fresh deer tracks through the debris and into the trees. Keeping the creek to my right I made my way west.

There are a bunch of game trails here, and they all lead in the correct direction. Just before making it to the creek again I found a cairn and turned left (north) and headed up Champion’s east ridge.

There was no trail here, or if there was it was covered in snow. I followed a steep rocky drainage up the slope and towards a mine.

Once at treeline the wind picked up a bit, but stayed at the forecasted 20-30mph. I made it to a 4WD road and decided to do some exploring of the Champion Mine as an excuse to get out of the wind for a bit.

There was old equipment littered about the area

I stayed here for about half an hour taking pictures. I didn’t spend too much time inside because in the wind it didn’t feel too stable. There was a lot of creaking going on. I headed back to the road and continued heading northeast up the side of Mt Champion.

This was by far the most difficult part of the hike for me. It wasn’t technical at all, but I haven’t hiked in snow for many months and I was using muscles in my calves and quads I haven’t used for a while. I’d brought snowshoes and seriously considered putting them on, but in the end didn’t because I felt they would be overkill in such little snow and this was actually good conditioning for the months to come. The snow was about 6-8 inches deep in its deepest spots, and at times there was bare dirt. I aimed for the ridge and followed it up. Note: this is not the summit

But it’s close. This is the true summit

The summit was marked with a cairn and summit register (which I didn’t touch).

I was surprised to find a cornice already beginning to form on the summit. Surprised because this was the first snowfall here of the season.

I was quite cold and debated heading over to PT 13,736: that last bit of elevation gain after the mine had worn me out! Did I mention the views? Absolutely amazing!!!

Of course I decided to continue on (I wasn’t that tired, just a bit out of hiking-in-snow shape). The trek over to PT 13,736 is a straightforward scramble along the ridge

I had to be careful because some of the rocks were large and the spaces in-between them was often covered in snow and my feet could fall between the cracks if I wasn’t paying attention. I probably took more time on this ridge than it required, but I didn’t slip, fall, or twist an ankle. Microspikes didn’t seem necessary, my boots provided enough traction here.

Once again, windy, but with the balaclava and hat it was tolerable

Here’s the last push to the summit

The summit was small and full of large, snow covered rocks.

I set up my camera, sat on a snow covered rock and took 1 picture of myself. I was super glad when I got home and saw the picture turned out ok because it was the only one I took (logistics made it difficult to take a picture of myself on this summit). I didn’t see a summit register, but it was probably buried under the rocks and snow.

The views from here were as equally amazing as from Mt Champion

Here’s the route back to Mt Champion, and the North Lake Creek trailhead is circled in red.

A short way down from the summit I met another hiker! I was very surprised to see anyone else out here today. We talked for a short while, but I don’t do well standing still in the cold so I was probably a little quick to end the conversation. He said he might be headed over to French Mountain after this, and had taken the road in. I wished him luck and was on my way

Re-summiting Mt Champion was easier than I’d thought it would be: I wasn’t nearly so tired after taking the ridge. Heading back was a breeze as all I had to do was follow in my previous footsteps.

Here’s the route down from the summit of Mt Champion

By now the sun was warming up the snow and it was getting slippery, but I still didn’t feel I needed traction

I found the rock drainage again and followed it back down the mountain

I slipped here. Twice. Turns out snow covering moss that’s still green is slippery when the sun warms it up.

On my way out of the gulch I stayed higher in the trees than on my way in because I found a cairned trail. I followed it until it disappeared and then followed game trails to the avalanche area.

Where I linked up with the trail I’d followed in and followed it back out. The sun had already melted out a lot of the snow from this morning.

The creek crossing was much easier to navigate in the daylight and I found an easy place to cross

From here I could see the dirt road, so I aimed for it and followed it back to the trailhead.

I made it back to my truck at 1pm, making this an 8 mile hike with 3692’ in elevation gain in 7 hours. I was surprisingly but pleasantly sore from such little mileage/elevation gain.

Rito Alto Peak – 13,794

RT Length: 9 miles

Elevation Gain: 2849’

This was my second attempt of Rito Alto Peak, as the last time I was here I had to turn around due to downed trees and too much ice on the 4WD road in. The weather forecast for today showed heavy winds (70-80mph) overnight that would calm down to 30mph around 8am, and a 20% chance of snow between 1-3pm. I wanted to summit 3 peaks today: Rito Alto Peak, Hermit Peak, and Eureka Mountain, and I figured if I started around 6am I should be able to summit them all and avoid the weather in the morning and the afternoon. Note: most of these pictures have been lightened because it was darker than anticipated and the pictures didn’t turn out well.

Let’s talk about Hermit Pass Road: It’s definitely a high-clearance 4WD road I wanted to drive when I wouldn’t need to pass another vehicle. October after the leaves had fallen off the trees seemed like a good time. It took me about 45 minutes to go the final 3 miles to where I parked around 11,300’. My Tundra handled it just fine, but it’s not something I want to drive again.

The wind was howling and I was seriously worried a tree would fall in the road while I was hiking and block my drive out. Note to self: time to put the axe and shovel in the back of the truck again. At one point I saw a two person backpacking tent (set up) on the side of the road. I thought to myself “Wow, they’re camping seriously close to the road. Who would do that?” (I’ve done this before near a trail, but never on a road). Then another gust of wind blew and the tent flew about 30 feet into the air and over my truck. Hmmm… seems like someone lost a tent.

I parked around 11,300’ but my truck could have made it all the way to the top of the pass. There were a lot of camping areas along the road, but not many areas to pass another vehicle.

I parked my truck and got out my gear, glad to notice it seemed the wind had stopped. My GPS stated it was 3.6 miles further on this road to the pass. I started hiking along Hermit Pass road at 6am. The stars were out in full force and there was only one small cloud in the sky, illuminated by the moon. The road was no more fun to hike than it was to drive. There are so many bowling ball sized rocks that you have to be careful where you step. At least there wasn’t any route finding involved.

I made it to Horseshoe Lake just as the sun was beginning to rise. I could see a thin layer of ice on the lake.

As I followed the road it curved around the hillside and up towards Hermit Pass. Here I got my first (and best) view of Rito Alto Peak. The summit was in the clouds, but I figured by the time I made it there the fog would have lifted.

Once again, well defined road to the pass

Here’s looking back on the road from the top of the pass

Just before reaching the pass I left the road and climbed a rocky gully to reach the ridge.

Once on the ridge I looked to the west and assessed the weather situation. The wind picked up and it was pushing the fog towards me at an accelerated pace. “Good” I thought. “The wind should push the fog past me around the time I make it to the summit.” Unfortunately, mountains make their own weather.

I turned northwest and headed up this rocky section

And onto the ridge

From here it was a simple class 2 ridge hike to the summit

Here is where the wind seriously started picking up, bringing the fog with it at an alarming pace. I could see it rushing up the mountainside towards me

I continued following the ridgeline as the fog turned into clouds

Now I could only see a few feet in front of me, and wondered how I’d know I’d made it to the summit?

That’s when I saw it: A flag and cairn in the distance!

I headed towards that flag and when I got there I dropped all my gear and took a photo

It was cold and that wind was brutal. I took some pictures of the memorial

And was taking a picture of the flag again when I noticed it:

I wasn’t at the highpoint of Rito Alto Peak. The wind slowed down for a bit and I could see the terrain angled up ahead of me. Frustrated (why would the memorial be below the summit?) I gathered my gear and continued north for a couple dozen yards in almost no visibility. The rocks got larger and then I felt they were heading down. I had no idea if I’d reached the summit because I couldn’t see anything. I took a selfie (lightened for clarity) and a picture of the rocks (not lightened) and decided to head back down, hoping the clouds at this point would have cleared enough below for me to see my way to Hermit Peak.

The clouds I expected to dissipate as I hiked down instead grew thicker and I had a hard time orienting myself because I couldn’t see any landmarks. I just kept aiming southeast, hoping I was following the ridge. Every once in a while the wind would slow down and I could see a few yards ahead of me.

I was thrilled when I made it to a point where I could see the road again! It looked like this was where the clouds were at their lowest.

Foolishly I entertained the idea of waiting them out. I honestly expected the clouds to lift at any moment because weather wasn’t predicted until 1pm today (and then only a 20% chance). Instead of hiking down to the road I hiked straight to the pass, hoping to see Hermit Peak. When I got to the pass I couldn’t see Hermit Peak, or much of anything really

I did see this…

Undeterred, I decided to hike to the road slowly. Maybe the clouds would lift in the next few minutes?

I found a sign saying “road closed” and a trail register

The clouds grew thicker. Argh! I had all day to hike and I wasn’t even tired at this point. I really wanted to summit Hermit Peak and Eureka Mountain today as well, but without visuals I didn’t want to continue on. I also really didn’t want to come back for these peaks: that 4WD road in had not been pleasant and I didn’t want to drive it again. The weather was rapidly deteriorating. I wasn’t worried about summiting the 2 other peaks, I was worried about the descent from Eureka back to the lake. I’d had a good look at the route on the way in and in case the clouds didn’t lift (I still thought they would) it wasn’t a route I wanted to attempt with low visibility.

I wrestled with my decision for longer than I’d like to admit, and in the end chose to head back. This ended up being the correct choice: The clouds continued to form and followed me down the road.

The clouds played tricks with my eyes: it was if I could see each tiny particle swirling around in the mist. It was beautiful to watch but caused me to blink my eyes every so often to refocus. Visibility got a little better as I made my way back to Horseshoe Lake.

Here’s a look at the road back out

It kept getting colder and colder and then it started to snow. The snow was peaceful and nice to hike out with.

Yes, turning back had been the correct decision, but I felt a bit deflated because I didn’t get in as much elevation gain/mileage today as I’d hoped. Those clouds never lifted, they just got worse, and the snow had been quite unexpected this early in the day. I made it back to my truck at 11am, well before the possible snow time of 1pm. This was a 9 mile hike with 2849’ of elevation gain hiked in 5 hours.

I kept apologizing to my truck on the drive down: I love my truck, and this road isn’t something you do to something you love. At this sign it’s 6.7 miles up to Hermit Pass. I know I’ll be coming back to hike Hermit/Eureka, and I want to summit Rito Alto again at the same time so I can get better summit shots. Physically the hike really wasn’t very difficult from the pass. Next time I think I’ll just park here and make it a long day (or possibly come in another way?).

Here’s a look back at the weather on my way out. The snow didn’t stop for as long as I had the mountains in view.

For some reason I was under the impression the name of this peak was “Rio Alto Peak”. Maybe I just spelled it wrong in my notes the first time and never caught the error? It wasn’t until I came home and looked at my log on a topo map that I realized my mistake. Whoops!

Surprise Visit

When your Airman is stationed in Alaska but texts you to let you know he’ll be in Nevada for the weekend you use up all your airline miles and fly out to go see him!

Well, actually, at first I thought about driving out, but after doing the math realized if I did I would only have an hour to spend with him before I needed to drive back home, and that didn’t seem like enough time. So next I checked flights: Hey, flights from Colorado Springs to Vegas are supposed to be cheap, right?

They’re not. Well, they might be if you make them a couple of months in advance, but since it was last minute I didn’t have a lot of options. In the end I used up all my airline miles and still had to pay about $500 to fly Emily and I from Denver to Vegas (and back). Totally worth it! The downside? We had to leave at 3am for our flight in, and didn’t get back until 12am the next morning (and then I had to drive home from the airport and turn around and go to work). We did get to spend a lot of time with Thomas though, and my mom and Tom drove out so we got to see them for a bit as well.

First stop (after picking up our rental vehicle) was breakfast. Mom and Tom were picking up Thomas and meeting us at Eggscellent, a breakfast restraint with the highest ratings online (we all loved our meals!)

It’s weird seeing Thomas wearing glasses. Emily and Thomas spent a lot of time exchanging memes, but we got a lot of great conversation in with everyone as well. Thomas loves his job, has made new friends, and likes living in Alaska (it’s a lot like Colorado…)

After breakfast Mom and Tom drove back to California, and I took the kids to the Hoover Dam. I’ve been all over the United States, with extra emphasis on the Southwest, and for some reason I’ve never been to the Hoover Dam. I’m not sure why? Most likely because I thought it would be underwhelming (it was). We parked and decided to walk around for a bit…

There was a dedication area that intrigued the kids: there were bronze statues and the entire walking area was a map of the stars that would indicate to celestial beings the exact time and date the dam had been constructed. I thought this was a little self promoting, but realize it isn’t a new idea. Touching the toes of the statue(s) was encouraged.

There was a summit marker here, which I appreciated.

We crossed the bridge, and the ‘dam’ jokes began.

Don’t sit on the dam wall

Dam Tumbleweed

Dam fish

Dam birds

Dam boat

Dam tour

Dam project

Dam guard

Dam dog (yes, there’s an actual Dam dog that was portly because the 3500 workers all loved him and liked giving him treats)

(you get the idea)

The kids even started putting together memes…

There was a great joke made about Emily being in APUSH and Herbert Clark Hoover being the first president of the United States (don’t ask, but it was funny) and Thomas wished for a basketball to roll down the side of the dam (a dam basketball) to play physics games.

Of course we took some family photos (points to Thomas for taking as many photos as I asked for!)

Thomas asked me how the dam had been built and I didn’t know the answer (well, dam). It was getting warm so we decided to go to the visitor’s center to find out. Admission included a 10 minute (dam) video, explaining how the dam was built: They blasted huge holes in the mountain to divert the river, and then poured 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete to form the wall. It was way more complicated than that, but that’s the gist. It had some really bad grammar for a documentary (‘builded’ was one of the words used). Also, they didn’t explain how they re-routed the river back? All in all it was very (dam) educational, and the kids actually enjoyed the experience. I’m glad they’re old enough to appreciate learning, even when the way it’s presented isn’t fun. It was kind of cool being in both Arizona and Nevada and going back and forth between time zones. The entire experience from parking to leaving took about an hour and a half.

Next we drove to Red Rock Canyon. I’d been told this was the place to adventure in the Las Vegas area and had high expectations. Apparently so did everyone else: it took us 45 minutes to get through the admissions gate! Thomas had a military pass that got us in for free (thanks Thomas!). We decided to drive and look for some places to hike. There were so many people there this was more difficult than it sounds. The first three turnoffs held dozens of vehicles and they were all full, so we kept driving and looked for a less popular spot. There wasn’t one, so I parked about a mile away from a trailhead and we walked along a dirt road that would take us to look at White Rock.

We were already tired when we made it to the trailhead, and everyone there said there wasn’t anything to see, it was just a ‘hike’ so we turned around and walked a mile back to the car, intent on hiking somewhere with a destination.

Petroglyph Wall sounded promising, so we drove there next. Once again, there wasn’t any parking, but I found if I waited long enough someone would leave. This was a short walk from the parking area to the site, with dozens of social trails we could take to get there.

The site had a few petroglyphs, and we’d been expecting… more. They were blocked off and there were shrubs and bushes all around so there wasn’t a great view.

We are really spoiled with the petroglyphs we have at The Ranch , so the kids weren’t impressed here at all. We took a few pictures and decided to go exploring

I went off trail and found a place we could boulder for a bit. The kids were against it at first (“Mom! Don’t go off trail!”) but quickly followed, eager to boulder as well. I found a really good spot with a few crumbling petroglyphs and called the kids up.

Thomas decided to bushwhack his way up and ended up tearing a 4 inch hole his shirt! He took it well but was disappointed since he really liked that shirt. I told him we’d go shopping on the way back and get him another shirt (somewhere…). In any event, bouldering was fun

On the brochure they gave us at the entrance gate there was a picture of some bighorn sheep petroglyphs, but no information on where they were in the park. It would have been fun to find them, but they looked really well preserved and I’m sure they weren’t in an ‘obvious’ place or they would be behind fencing (etc). We now had a plan (Thomas needed a new shirt) so we left the park and went to a shopping area.

Thomas found a shirt and a pair of shorts at the first place, and Emily found a shirt at the second. Satisfied we’d shopped enough for today we went in search of dinner. The kids both wanted In n Out, so we found one close to Thomas’ hotel and went in. There were so many people there (most in less than appropriate bathing suits). The food was good though

There was an ‘In n Out store’ nextdoor and we had time so we decided to take a look. They had a bunch of In n Out merch (obviously) and while we were there Thomas decided to buy a shirt and hat: his Halloween Costume is now taken care of.

Next we drove to the strip and parked as close as we could to Thomas’ hotel. It took us a while to find a parking spot, and the lot was intended for customers only so we went inside and bought a pack of gum for the flight home. The security guard talked with us and said it was ok for us to park there while we walked around for a bit. We only had half an hour before we needed to leave.

None of us are big fans of Las Vegas. It’s just not our style, but that’s where his hotel was and Thomas wanted to see the Bellagio Water Show (his roommates weren’t interested). It was a close walk, and the show went on every 30 minutes.

We found a TAC military store, which was great because Thomas’ initials are TAC

And of course took a picture by the Eiffel Tower and had to quote Gru: “We stole the Statue of Liberty – the small one, from Las Vegas! I won’t even mention the Eiffel Tower… also Vegas.”

We ended the day at the Bellagio water show, which was only 3 minutes long but a highlight of the day. The kids and I sat on the fence to watch it. We were all impressed, and I’m sure Thomas will go again to see it before he leaves.

Goodbyes are always hard. We walked back to the car, Thomas gathered up all his gear (new clothes, costume, leftover cinnamon roll from breakfast) and we hugged goodbye, not sure when we’d see each other again. It could be months or even years. I need to find a way to get to Alaska to visit him…

My favorite part about the day was being together. I loved seeing the kids laughing and joking and having fun!

The flight home was uneventful. Emily and I both tried to sleep but that’s more difficult than it sounds on a plane. Vegas is beautiful from far away

Emily had a lot of homework to do this weekend she wasn’t able to get done and she didn’t get a lot of sleep, but I believe bringing her to see her brother was more than justified: we may not see Thomas again for another few years and my kids are all best friends. It was so cool seeing them interact together: I only wish Rebecca could have made the trip as well.

When we got home Emily had tons of homework to do, but since it was 2am I told her to go to bed. The next day she was anxious because she had a lot of homework to catch up on. I told her to explain to her teachers it was a last minute trip to see her brother who’s stationed in Alaska and who she might not see again for a few years. She’s in honors classes and doesn’t think her teachers will buy it, but she’s also a good student and I think they’ll be lenient this one time…

Baldy Alto – 13,698 & Stewart Peak 13,983

RT Length: 11 miles

Elevation Gain: 3961’

Colorado had it’s first measurable snow Thursday and Fridays are my hiking days. Of course I paid extra close attention to the weather and it looked like the San Juans were going to be cold and windy but the snow would be negligible. I had a few other peaks in mind closer to home, but I’ve learned the hard way while the trail may be snow free, it’s unlikely the roads/highways would’ve been snow plowed at the early times I like to hike.

I’d thought about sticking closer to home but didn’t want to waste a full free day when I could be above treeline, summit or no. Also, I had some new winter gear I wanted to test out and the area with the best forecast for the entire state was near the Eddiesville Trailhead in the San Juans. I made it a late start because (at the trailhead) it was supposed to be 1* until 7am, when it jumped to 7*. It was going to be cold, and I figured sunlight would help.

I left my house at 1:30am and arrived at the Nutras Creek Trailhead at 6:30am, surprised to see a tent set up near the trail but no vehicle. It’s a 24 mile drive on a dirt road to this point, and I wondered how they made it here? My dashboard said it was 14* and I already considered today a win (to be fair, it went all the way down to 0* on my drive in and back up to 14*, so the forecast was in the correct range). The creek crossings were negligible, just a trickle at the first and completely dry at the second.

Not knowing how much snow had actually fallen here yesterday I’d brought both my summer and winter hiking boots. It was icy on the way in and there was a sprinkling of snow on the peaks nearby so I opted for the winter hiking boots, just to err on the side of caution. The last time I was here to summit Stewart Peak it had rained and my feet had been soaked in the first 10 minutes and were solid blocks of ice on the peak. I didn’t want that to happen again. The winter boots were overkill but also the correct choice.

I’ve needed new gear for a while, and this year saved up money to purchase better winter equipment. All of the centennials I hiked in cold conditions I did so wearing a snow bib I’d bought for $2 at a garage sale in 1998. After an intense winter/spring hiking season this year the bottom half were ripped to shreds thanks to my wonderful microspikes and snowshoes. The jacket I’ve been wearing was a great jacket from a great brand, but I’ve sewn up over two dozen holes and it no longer keeps me warm/waterproof. I need to wear compression socks when I hike (and basically for any activity that requires shoes) and I wear wool socks over them but the ones I’ve been wearing haven’t been keeping my feet warm. My goal this winter season is “no blue toes” so I was trying out a new pair of socks (over my compression socks). Also, gloves. By far my most expensive purchase was when I splurged on a new pair of Alti Mitts last month: I’m super excited to try them out. These would be cumbersome but could be game changers.

So, I bought new socks, gloves, and ski pants (woot! No more taking off half my layers to use the restroom!). Roxy makes a pair of outdoor snow pants that almost fit me. The smallest size they make is one size too big for me, but I found they fit better if I wear yoga/moisture wicking pants underneath them. Bonus: They’re not from the kids section and they kind of make it look like I have a figure instead of looking like the Michelin Man.

Finally, a new jacket. I’ve been in the market for a long time for a new winter mountaineering jacket but I’m frugal and don’t want to spend $500+. I’ve gone to REI, Sierra Trading Post, and several other outfitters looking for something that would keep me warm without breaking the bank and came up empty. I was in an online forum for people with Raynaud’s and someone very highly recommended a simple mountaineering jacket. I was exceedingly suspicious due to the (very low) price and because it was synthetic and made in China, but I purchased it on Amazon and figured I’d give it a go early in the season. When it arrived I was doubly skeptical: It came in a small 12x12X4 inch plastic case and didn’t look robust enough to keep me warm. I left the tags on it in case it didn’t perform as advertised so I could return it and try again.

Fancied out in all my new gear I hit the trail at 7am, being careful to be quiet since the campers were not yet awake.

The first 2 miles of this trail follow Nutras Creek southwest on an easily identifiable trail. I could see a light dusting of snow on the nearby peaks.

Anywhere there was water or where water accumulated there was ice

After 2.2 miles of hiking on an established trail I came to an area where I was close to the creek and it looked easily crossable. I’d need to be on the other side to summit Baldy Alto. I chose to summit Baldy Alto first today because I’ve already summited Stewart Peak and I wasn’t entirely confident my new gear would allow me to summit more than one peak today. The creek looked frozen solid until you stepped on it and then you plunged into the water, realizing it wasn’t more than an inch or two thick. At its lowest point about 5 feet across. My little legs weren’t going to be able to make that jump so I walked up and down the creekbed looking for a better way to cross (a log, large rocks, etc.). When I couldn’t find one I added a few medium sized rocks to the creek and made my way across.

There was loose talus on the other side. My goal was to make it to the trees and then up to treeline.

There was no trail, and once again the talus was very loose and would slide out from underneath me when I took a step. Once in the trees I just kept aiming southwest, looking for treeline

Just before treeline I came across an area where it was obvious elk frequently bedded down for the night. It felt special just to be hiking through the place. Treeline actually came fast and I aimed for the ridge, knowing most of this hike would be above treeline. Here I passed willows through game trails and some lose rocks (all class 2)

I was about halfway up the slope when I heard what sounded like a flock of seagulls conversing with a group of horses. Curious, I turned and noticed a herd of elk coming down the slope of Stewart peak. So cool! They were making trails through the willows like nobodies’ business. I followed them with my eyes, watching where they were headed. I’d half expected them to make their way to the bedding area I’d just passed, but they turned and headed west, following the drainage. I kept an eye (and ear) out for them as I made my way up the ridgeline.

Last time I was here I hadn’t been able to see the summit due to clouds, so I wasn’t sure where the actual summit was. That ridge was long. It felt like it took forever to climb, and every time I thought I was at the summit I realized it was a false summit and it was over the next hill.

The worst part? The wind. Those 20-30mph winds never stopped. The wind never got below 20mph, and several times I was knocked down by a gust. I’m assuming the gust would have to be over 50mph to make that happen, so the forecast had been a bit off. Wind chill with 30mph winds was forecasted today at -20, so it was cold, cold, cold.

The best part? My winter gear was working fabulously! There was no way I’d still be hiking in these conditions if I was wearing my old jacket/gloves. No way. I could tell the wind was frigid but it was tolerable. Snot was freezing to my balaclava and the top of my jacket which was a little annoying but I wasn’t miserable. I’ve found a lot of hiking is about being in a constant state of some sort of discomfort and getting past it to obtain your goal. Cold, yes. Miserable, no. Woot! I have found gear that works!

Finally, after 3 or 4 false summits I made it to a cairn and I could tell I was almost to the actual summit of Baldy Alto

I’m not sure when I summited (I feared taking off my gloves for any reason due to the cold/wind to check my phone/time/etc), but I found with my new camera if I had a tool I could manipulate the buttons to take timed photo without taking off my gloves like I’d needed to with my last one. I found a pointy rock and made it happen (those buttons are small!). It took about 15 minutes, but it worked! High-Five to my new gear for making this possible! Not sure how to take a video yet in these conditions (but I’m working on it). There was no summit register.

Despite the unrelenting winds I wasn’t unbearably cold and due to the minimal elevation gain/trail length I wasn’t tired yet at all, so I decided to take the ridge over to Stewart Peak. This is the route I took. The elk are in the red circle at this point. I could see but not hear them (the wind drowned out all other noises except its own howls).

I aimed for the saddle. I’d been watching the elk for about 3 hours and thus far they hadn’t noticed me because I was downwind from them, but as soon as I hit the saddle that changed. They could smell me now (if it hadn’t been for the intense wind headed their way the fact I’d been sweating for the past few hours meant I’d be hard to miss at this point even in lesser winds). Their heads picked up and then each one looked at me and quickly fell into a procession. They started moving together as one up the basin and onto the ridge I’d just crossed. I found it intriguing a herd of elk would be intimidated by a single person. They were all eyeing me, trying to sneak past me like a freight train. I stood in awe for a moment, and then fumbled for my camera in the -10-20* weather (maybe colder with the higher than anticipated winds?). Knowing pictures would never do the experience justice I held the camera at my chest and just kept shooting, leaving my eyes free to take it all in. It was magnificent, like something you’d see watching a documentary on National Geographic but on a much grander scale because I was in the middle of it and the reason behind their behavior. I saw their eyes staring at me, their hooves stomping the dirt to dust, their heads moving up and down, the warm breath puffing from their noses into the cold air, and the muscles in their legs charging them forward. They each looked at me individually but moved as one, up and over and down the hillside. Wow. Just… wow. I didn’t want the experience to end, but they’d moved on and it was time for me to do so as well. The pictures really don’t do justice to the occasion.

This next part of the hike was class 2, up and over the ridge on large, loose talus.

I continued along the ridgeline to this point. I’d thought this was Column Ridge and the point beyond was Point 13,795, but apparently the point beyond is the only one that’s a 13er (it’s not ranked).

Oh well, that’s what I get for not taking out my map. There was a marker here though…

Time to head over to Stewart Peak. This was an easy trek

The last part looked like it might be tricky, but it wasn’t. I just continued up and over class 2 terrain

And then walked the rest of the way to the summit.

No videos today of the summit(s) due to cold/wind. I was able to get another summit photo again using a pointy rock. I had a pencil and stylus in my pack, I just didn’t want to take off my pack to get them out because my gloves are cumbersome. I’m thinking I’ll keep them a little more handy next time, and this week I’m going to attach longer strings to the zippers of my pack so it’s easier to open/close with my bulky gloves. Also, I’m smiling in this picture.

There was a summit marker here too… but no summit register

The hike today had seemed too easy. The most difficult part was dealing with the insane wind. I hadn’t thought about it before starting out, but I didn’t know how to tighten the strings around the hood of my new jacket to make it fit my face, and once out there hiking I wasn’t able to figure it out without taking my jacket off. Since I wasn’t about to take my jacket off in these conditions I resorted to placing my hand on top of my head to keep the hood from blowing off when hiking into the wind. Not ideal, but it worked.

The trek down from Stewart Peak was actually kind of fun. I decided to just “wing it” since I’d been here before, and I didn’t take out my topo/etc. I just followed the ridge to the end and aimed for the creek, knowing it would lead me eventually to the trail.

I’m not recommending this approach unless you have good route finding abilities and you like to rock climb because I made it to a section I’d label as class 4. I love to boulder so I went through this area with vigor instead of looking for another way around, but if this not your cup of tea follow the standard approach down Stewart Peak to the creek.

Also, there are tons of game trails here that look like actual trails but lead nowhere. It’s a bit… misleading.

By keeping the creek in sight I was easily able to link up again with the trail out.

The entire time down I was thinking of how much easier this hike had been taking Baldy Alto first instead of Stewart Peak: the elevation gain had been more gradual and if I were to do this loop again I’d start with Baldy Alto. Once I made it to treeline the wind stopped and I could hear elk conversing with each other through the area I’d hiked that morning. That got me wondering if there’s more than one herd up there, or if it was split up?

I made it back down to the trailhead and there was more gear at the campsite than when I’d passed it this morning. There was a young gentleman of about 25 years sitting in a camp chair, dressed head to toe in camo. There were guns and archery equipment propped against the trees and a second tent set up. He stood up when he saw me and said hello and asked me where I’d been. I could tell by his accent he was from the south and my heart melted a little bit. Apparently the check engine light had gone on in their vehicle so the rest of his party had gone to Gunnison to get it checked out. They were here hunting elk and had spent last week in Wyoming hunting antelope. He dripped of congeniality. I’m a sucker for a well bred southern man and if he’d been around 40 years old and single I would have prolonged the conversation by telling him where he could find those elk. Instead I wished him good luck and went back to my truck to clean up and head home.

I started at 7am and finished at 2pm, making this an 11 mile hike with 3961’ of elevation gain in 7 hours.

Please don’t judge me (too harshly) and know no one is paying me to say this, but the jacket I got was the Wantdo Waterproof Ski jacket (I’m not yet sure if it’s actually waterproof but others tell me it is). It worked so well and exceeded my expectations, especially for such a low cost jacket (under $100). I’m not sending it back and look forward to an awesome winter adventure season! The gloves and socks and pants were phenomenal as well.

Women Crushing It

FemaleFriends2

Wheeler Mountain – 13,698

RT Length: 9.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 2810’

My alarm clock rang and I hit snooze. Today’s worry: starting too early. I wanted to be home from the hike around 1pm because that’s when my daughter would be home, but I didn’t feel the need to start too early when this was a short hike with minimal elevation gain. I didn’t think it would take me more than 5 hours.

After trying to fall back to sleep for 20 minutes I gave up and drove to the Montgomery Reservoir trailhead, arriving at 4am and taking my time getting ready. It was much colder than I’d anticipated and I put on my winter gloves from the beginning. The drive in was uneventful and I was the only one in the parking area when I arrived.

I was on the trail at 4:30am. It starts at the east end of the parking area (you pass it when you drive in).

The trail passes the Magnolia Mine and follows an extreme 4WD road for 3.3 miles to Wheeler Lake. If your vehicle can make it to the top of Lake Como you have a chance in being able to navigate this road, but you should probably just hike the 3 miles. This is my third time on this trail, and I can tell you it’s much easier to follow without snow.

In the dark I saw a bunch of flickering lights and wondered what they were? They looked like gas-powered lights, fire and all, and I figured they were probably from a mine. In the daylight on my way out I realized they belong to a house/structure on private property.

There are some flat areas and very bumpy parts to this road, making a quick pace nearly impossible.

It was windy and cold and I wasn’t ‘feeling it’ today so I trudged along, hiking slower than usual. Windy is normal here (it’s a basin after all) but the cold along with the wind made this easy part of the hike more challenging. After hiking for 3.3 miles and an hour and 45 minutes I made it to the lake, just as the sun was beginning to rise. I still needed my flashlight but aimed it away from the lake, as there appeared to be campers there. I could see a tent and heavy-duty 4WD vehicle parked beside the lake.

There’s a trail along the left side of the lake that’s used for both the Clinton-McNamee-Traver hike and Wheeler Mountain, so it’s easy to follow. The only downside? It was iced over and slick. In fact, any part of the road/trail thus far that had held water had been iced over.

The trail up past Wheeler Lake towards Wheeler Mountain is less traveled and more difficult to find. Here’s the path I took, staying to the left of the waterfall. It passed around the outskirts of the willows.

I passed someone’s getaway vehicle along the way

At the top of this gully there’s another small lake. This time I skirted the lake to the right, following well placed cairns. Oh, and the wind stopped! This was fantastic! I was finally starting to warm up a bit.

Once above the second lake the trail is faint but the cairns are helpful. The trail turns and heads northwest. The goal here is to gain the saddle.

I felt there were just the right amount of cairns here to keep me headed in the right direction, but basically I was just aiming towards the saddle. During the last bit the trail goes left and then angles back right over a grassy area

Once I gained the saddle the wind picked up intensely. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been a normal wind, but this wind was a steady 40mph and icy. It was like an arctic blast was blowing directly against me as I hiked. I turned right at the saddle and headed northeast. Instead of going up and over the ridge (which doesn’t look possible) I skirted it to the left, following the cairns.

There aren’t very many cairns here, but they are all placed in helpful areas. If you can’t see a cairn, you’re off trail. This is not something I’d want to attempt in the snow. I skirted several gullies

I found myself at the top of a particularly sketchy gully where it looked like I was going to have to lose some elevation and I didn’t think I was headed the right way. Also, I couldn’t see any more cairns. The wind picked up dramatically and I seriously considered turning back. My fingers were frozen and finding the “Y” in the ridge that indicated the summit was taking a lot longer than I thought it should. I looked all around but wasn’t sure where to go? I started jumping up and down to get warm, and that’s when I saw it: a cairn just over the next rib. Woot! I just hadn’t been tall enough to see it. So yes, I went down this gully, and then back up and around, aiming for the cairn

I was so glad I hadn’t decided to give up! The summit was in sight, and there were enough cairns leading the way so I didn’t need to do too much route finding. Here’s the way I took to the summit

There was a rock gully to climb

And then I turned left (north) and did some fun rock climbing the last way to the summit. Well, it would have been fun if I hadn’t been frozen and if the wind would have stopped. This part was exposed and I stayed low on the rocks to avoid the gusts of wind, worried they’d knock me off balance and I’d fall over the edge.

I finally knew I was on the summit when I found the summit register (which I never sign, but it’s nice to know they’re there)

It was far too cold for me to take off my gloves to set my camera up to take a good photo, and there honestly wasn’t much room to set it up, so I just took a selfie. I have no idea what time it was (I couldn’t pull out my cell phone to check) and sorry, but no video either (I take those on my cell phone as well).

I didn’t stay on the summit any longer than it took to take a few pictures. I returned the way I came

Back down the rocky gully, aiming for the cairn

Heading back was much quicker because I was sure of the correct way and had no problem locating cairns. I was in a hurry to thaw out.

Once back at the saddle I located the cairn that told me where to descend, and turned and headed back down to the lake(s)

And back down to the 4WD road

In the daylight I could see all the waterfalls were a bit icy. I completely understood: It was cold, even without the wind (which hadn’t yet let up).

The campers I’d seen at the lake in the morning were gone, and their vehicle had crushed all the ice along the road as it drove out. I saw several modified vehicles on my way back: probably 10 or more, all part of a caravan. I was hoping to see wildlife, but with all the vehicles I realized that wasn’t likely. I didn’t see any hikers the entire day. Here’s looking at the way back to the reservoir.

The wind never let up but it did get a bit warmer as the sun rose. I never took off my gloves. It looks like it’s time to bring out my heavy-duty winter gear! I started this hike at 4:30am and made it back to my truck at 11am, making this a 9.5 mile hike with 2810’ of elevation gain in 6.5 hours.

I was a little bummed it had taken me so long because the elevation gain was minimal, but I knew it was due to the cold and that bit of route finding on the ridge. This peak all in all was much easier than I’d thought it would be, yet took me a bit longer than I’d thought to complete. Despite the wind and cold, today was a fantastic day!

Raftpacking

The day had its ups and downs. I’d set my alarm and it hadn’t gone off, putting me 4 hours behind schedule for the day. I’d summited Deer Mountain A in the coldest conditions I’ve seen this season, made it back to the trailhead, and drove as fast as I could to Canon City. I hate being late, and felt awful for putting us behind schedule. No, not going wasn’t an option: we were raftpacking in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon in October, the weather wasn’t going to get any better than it was right now and I really didn’t want to wait until summer. Also, I’ve recently accomplished a few major goals and came to the realization I need to start making time for my friends.

Rafting isn’t a quick process, so after combining vehicles and driving and setting up the raft and our dry bags we weren’t on the water until just after 5pm. I didn’t do much (any) of the set-up, and learned a few things about putting together gear (no water or backpacks in dry-bags). I made a mental note to start relaxing now that I’d made it and we were on river. I tried not to get too apprehensive about the weather. It was a warm day, but we were starting late. It wasn’t supposed to get too cold but I can have a Raynaud’s attack even in good weather, so I was hoping not to get cold. Or wet. As long as it wasn’t windy I should be fine. Last time we were out here I didn’t get wet at all, so I was thinking positively.

The ride down the river was nice. We were on river, so phones/cameras were in dry-bags. (Sorry, no on water pictures). We saw raptors flying overhead and river dippers skimming the water and catching bugs near the shore. All around fish jumped and caught their own dinner. The gorge was beautiful and Eric made the rapids look easy (I didn’t do much).

The sun was slowly starting to set in the gorge and the wind picked up just a little bit. I was getting splashed in the rapids and instead of drying out between runs I stayed wet. It accumulated, and before I knew it I was cold. Very, very, cold, even though it was nice out.

Trying not to be too much of a baby I asked how much longer until we made it to camp? 15 minutes. Good, that was good. I could do that. I thought. Unfortunately I don’t remember much about that last 15 minutes because I was so, so, so, so cold. I was losing feeling in my fingers, toes, and legs, but didn’t want to scare Eric and tell him that. I pumped my fingers back and forth. I had goosebumps and my toes were now white.

At 7pm we parked the boat at the beach (yes!!!) and I got out.

Well, I kind of tumbled out of the boat and walked about 10 steps, stumbling towards the scrub oak on the other side of the sand like a newborn giraffe.

I’m used to losing fine motor skills, but this loss of gross motor skills was a bit embarrassing. I could tell by the look in Eric’s eyes he was scared and I tried to reassure him I was ok. He wasn’t buying it and kept a close eye on me. He told me he knew I was used to either leading or doing things on my own, but he was here to teach me how to work as a team (filing that one away).

I knew I just needed to change my clothes so I could get warm, but he wasn’t leaving my side. I took off my life vest and put on a thermal and sweatshirt (something I could do to get warm without taking any clothing off). He had me dry my feet in the sand (it didn’t work). It took me a while to convince him I was ok and just needed to change out of my wet pants. I left the immediate area to go change and he stayed by the raft. Yesterday I’d bought new snow pants: shout out to Roxy for making a pair that, almost, fit me! They’re size xs and I could use one size smaller, but being a little big I was able to put them on without struggling. Bonus: They aren’t kids snow pants and snow pants they’re warm!

It was a slow process but with new dry clothes and a knit hat I felt much better. I still couldn’t feel my toes. I decided walking around in socks was going to have to be ok, put some on, had a shot of whiskey and started feeling much, much better. I began talking more and moving around. Eric was visibly relieved. I’m sure he was worried he was going to have to airlift me out of there or something. It was my fault all around (I got there late) so this never should have been an issue. And, now warm and dry I could focus on other, less basic survival need kinds of things.

My pants were dripping wet. I placed them on a rock, not convinced they’d dry through the night and started setting up my bivvy. We were sleeping about 20 feet above the river on a rocky ledge. There was just enough room for 2 people so we set up our sacks side by side. Unbeknownst to me, Eric put his good sleeping pad underneath my sack (which would come in handy during the night if it got cold). I think he may have been concerned I was going to have another attack during the night (I didn’t).

Knowing I don’t have fine motor skills when it gets cold I don’t usually cook when I backpack/camp in the wilderness, so I was snacking for supper. Drat! I’d forgotten my dried mangoes in the front seat of the truck! Oh well. Beef jerky and almonds it was for dinner. Eric heated up ramen.

We sat and ate dinner on the rock ledge and talked, watching the stars come out. I’m not sure when I fell asleep, but I woke up twice during the night because I was thirsty. Bonus: I wasn’t cold! Here’s the view from our sleeping shelf

I woke up first and watched the sunrise, or as much as I could see from inside the gorge. I wrote up some trip notes from the day before

And made a friend. Actually, lots of friends: there were little caterpillars everywhere! I put every caterpiller I found on the rock behind me and eventually decided to go for a walk because my legs were falling asleep. As quietly as I could I got up, stretched, and went exploring. The area isn’t large, but looks like it could support about 10 people camping (if you don’t mind close quarters and no tents).

Check out the down view from the sleeping area

I was just getting ready to head back when I saw a mama deer and her two babies running like they were late for school

Deer

I took an early morning selfie because I was still the only one up, and decided to take a nap.

I woke up just before the first train went by. I got out my breakfast (you guessed it: beef jerky and almonds). Eric warmed up some water and I had ‘coffee’ and he put the rest in a water bottle for me to use to warm up. He’s convinced me to perpetually hike with a jetboil so my fingers get used to using it when they are numb: Last time I almost started a forest fire, so I haven’t tried to use one when cold since. Everyone on the train waved as they passed and were excited to see us ‘camping out’ in a place only accessible by watercraft. Also, I love my new socks!!! Totally worth the $6. And my pants dried over night so I didn’t have to raft out with snow pants! Another win!

We sat so long on the ledge we saw another train go by. I enjoyed just watching the river, glad to be warm

Around 11am we gathered our gear and got ready to head out.

We were careful to sweep the area one more time to make sure we left no trace. This is the sleeping area (sans gear)

Back in the boat I was worried I’d get cold again, but thankfully the rest of the rafting was done in the sunlight. We stopped and waved to another train and enjoyed some wild grapes on the side of the river. We made it back around 1pm and drove to get Eric’s car. There we parted (he said he could take down the raft and put all the gear away by himself, and I selfishly agreed so I could go home and cook my daughter dinner before heading out again at midnight).

So, minus the brief Raynaud’s attack it was a great trip! We camped at the perfect spot, had some great conversations, and I learned quite a bit about raftpacking. We were the only ones on the water the entire trip. Hopefully next time I can be of a little more help on the water!

After arriving back home I looked at the pictures/videos from the trip. There was one point where I’d thought I’d taken a picture of the train passing, but ended up taking a quick video of the train along with a 4 minute video of the inside of my pocket. While listening to the video I realized something: I’m a lot!!! I talk rapidly, move from one subject to the next, over explain, and monopolize the conversation. This is something I’m going to need to work on. I may need to implement a code word or something with my kids to help me realize when I’m like this (all the time?). BTW, my nickname in preschool was “M-O”, for “Mellow Out”. So I guess what I’m saying is this isn’t something new…