I was parked at Stony Pass, and was up and on the trail at 6:30am, heading east towards the CDT.
I followed the CDT north for 2.2 miles.
At the junction with Moose Gulch, I turned right to stay on the CDT, and continued on the trail until I made it to 12800’.
After passing a small pond to my right, at around 12800’, I left the CDT and followed the tundra ridge southeast.
I kept following the ridge, and eventually I could see Sheep Mountain to the southeast. The ridge eventually became a mesa, and the route to the base of Sheep Mountain became obvious.
I needed to get to the ridge, and did so on tundra mixed with scree. This is the overall route I took to get to the ridge
Once on the ridge, I turned left and headed southeast up the ridge. This is where the terrain changed to small talus. It was very loose. The further you climb, the steeper and looser it will be, but you might encounter a game trail to follow.
At the top is a wide, flat expanse, full of holes about 5 feet wide. I kept heading east, towards the summit.
The rest of the route to the summit can be done on the ridge proper and kept at class 2. The only difficulty here is the talus, scree, and exposure that might make it feel more difficult.
I summited Sheep Mountain at 8:20am
Sheep Mountain:
My next goal for the day was Greenhalgh Mountain, to the east
I continued along the rocky, class 2 ridge east
I followed the ridge east, until I came to a dropoff of sorts. Visually, it looked like the scree was continuous and went all the way to the rocks at the bottom. However, that was not the case. I ended up descending about 100 feet on scree, and then everything was loose talus, and steep, so I made my way climbers right to the ridge, and descended that way. If I were to do this again, I would have just taken the ridge to the right. It goes at easy class 3, and there’s talus, but it was much more stable than the talus below the scree. Also, EVERYTHING moves here. More info/pictures to come on my return route of this area.
From the bottom of the ridge, I headed northeast towards the Sheep/Greenhalgh saddle on class 2 terrain.
Then I ascended the ridge to the summit of Greenhalgh Mountain. This part of the route was actually very enjoyable, on class 2 terrain, with rocks that stayed put and didn’t roll.
I summited Greenhalgh Mountain at 9:20am
Greenhalgh Mountain:
In order to get back to the trailhead, I was going to need to descend Greenhalgh and then re-ascend Sheep Mountain, so I turned around and made my way back to the Greenhalgh/Sheep saddle.
At the saddle, I then aimed for the left ridge of Sheep Mountain.
Once there, I ascended the LOOSE rocks up to the ridge, then followed the ridge to the summit. The rocky area went at easy class 3, and is more stable than it looks. In this picture you can see the scree to the center. That’s the way I came down, and I don’t recommend that route. Instead, stick to the ridge.
I then turned left, and re-summited Sheep Mountain, following the ridge west,
Then it was back across the hole filled rock field mesa
And back towards the tundra mesa I’d hiked in on.
However, when I got back to the tundra mesa, instead of heading back towards the CDT, I turned left and headed towards Stony Pass. I could see the road in the distance, and was able to hike down the entire slope on tundra (except for a brief rocky section where I took a game trail), avoiding the willows.
Back on the road, I followed it northwest back to Stony Pass
I made it back to my truck at 11:30am, making this an 8.97 mile hike with 2714’ of elevation gain in 5 hours.
I spent the rest of the day playing Trail Angel for CDT and CT thru-hikers. I met a ton of really cool people from all over the world, gave them snacks, water, and beer, let them re-charge their devices, and had some great conversations. What upset me though, was the Colorado Trail hikers told me I was the first person they’d seen doing trail magic on the trail. Considering they probably only had 2 days left of a 30 day or so hike, this upset me. We can do better Colorado! If you have a free weekend next summer, I’d encourage you to do some trail magic. You won’t regret it!
From my parking spot at Stony Pass I was on the trail at 6:30am, following the 4WD road west until the tundra met the rocks, and I was able to find a game trail that picked up on the other side. This trail starts out difficult to find, then becomes a solid trail for most of the hike. Here’s what the route looks like from below:
I followed this trail for .85 miles, until I made it to the ridge
At about 13085’ I hit a saddle, turned right, and followed the ridge to the summit. This was class 2, but there are a few social trails in the area. I just kept following the ridge southeast.
Eventually the ridge became filled with scree, but the angle wasn’t difficult, and it all remained class 2
I summited Canby Mountain at 7:10am
Canby Mountain:
From the summit of Canby Mountain I could see Galena Mountain to the north/northwest.
It was a ridge hike on tundra to get there, and all class 2. I headed back down to the small saddle, and picked up the trail that follows the ridge.
By sticking to the ridge, following it northeast, eventually the trail ends. You can continue to follow the ridge, however, when I came to the scree area (it’s obvious), I stayed at about 13000’ and skirted the ridge. There’s an obvious dirt road in the distance you can aim for, and some game trails here. I aimed for the highest point of the dirt road, and then followed it along the ridge until it ended.
It ended in a roundabout circle, and from there I left the road and continued following the ridge northwest. This is all tundra, and there are a lot of elevation gains and losses along the way. Every once in a while I’d pick up a game trail, and follow it to make the route finding easier.
The final trek to the summit was all on tundra and included a faint game trail for part of the way.
I summited Galena Mountain at 8:35am
Galena Mountain:
From Galena Mountain, I could see Canby Mountain, and that long ridge, to the south/southwest.
I needed to get back to Stony Pass, so I descended Galena and followed the ridge back the way I’d summited, aiming for the Canby saddle.
Back on the road, I followed it a short distance, and then aimed for the ridge once again.
This time, when I was on the ridge, I noticed there was a “y” in the trail. Go left here, towards Canby Mountain
Following this path led me back to the saddle with Canby Mountain
At the saddle I turned right, and followed the trail back down to the dirt road.
I then followed the dirt road back to my truck.
I made it back to my truck at 9:45am, making this a 6.64 mile hike with 2084’ of elevation gain in 3 hours, 15 minutes.
I had just gotten back from summiting PT 13076, and I wasn’t feeling it today. I was tired and achy and sore, and just wanted to rest. I had some lunch, and about 2 hours later decided to do some scouting on Stony Pass Peak, to figure out how I wanted to summit it the next day. Well, suddenly I had a burst of energy, because instead of scouting it, I just summited the peak.
I could see Stony Pass Peak from my parking spot at Stony Pass.
I headed towards Stoney Pass Peak around 2pm. This is the overall route I took to get to the summit.
First, I headed southwest on the tundra towards the ridge
The terrain became rocky, but there were various social trails in the area, making navigation easy. I just kept heading southwest and up, following the social trails to the summit. There was talus, and it became rocky, but this was all class 2.
I summited Stony Pass Peak at 2:35am
Stony Pass Peak:
From the summit I could see the road and my truck parked below.
I made my way back down towards the road.
Then followed the road to my truck
I made it back to my truck at 3pm, making this a 1.5 mile hike with 618’ of elevation gain in 45 minutes.
I woke up nice and cozy in the bed of my truck and sat there in the dark waiting for my alarm to go off. After waiting quite a while, I looked at my phone and noticed it was 8:15am! My alarm hadn’t gone off, and I was late getting on the trail. I was ready 15 minutes later, following the 4WD southeast towards the CDT trailhead. Doing this meant I lost 160’ of elevation in .3 miles, which I would need to regain at the end of my hike. There is one parking space near this trailhead, but when I got there the day before there was an ATV parked there, taking up the entire spot.
Once at the CDT trailhead, I followed the CDT north for a total of about 3.5 miles, gaining and losing elevation as I went.
At the top of a small pass I came to a junction for the CDT and Moose Gulch, and turned right, continuing on the CDT.
I continued on the CDT until I made it to 13000’
I then turned left, and walked across the tundra northwest, following the gently sloping tundra on the ridge.
Eventually, the peak came into view. This looks harder than it is. By sticking to the ridge, this is all class 2.
Here are some pictures of the class 2 ridge to the summit.
I summited PT 13076 at 10:15am
PT 13076:
This was an out and back hike for me, so I turned around and followed the ridge southeast back to the CDT.
Once back to the CDT I turned right, and followed it south as it wound back to the 4WD dirt road.
I then followed the dirt road back to my truck, parked at Stony Pass.
I made it back to Stony Pass at 12:30pm, making this a 9.64 mile hike with 2129’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.
I was exhausted, and decided to take a lunch break at my truck.
To see the approach, view my previous post of Mt Nebo from Beartown, as this was the second day of my trip. Or, if you’re only doing this peak, the hike in from Beartown to the Nebo Creek Trail is easy to follow, and described on my descent.
I was up and on the trail at 6:30am, startling a small herd of elk as I opened up my tent. I continued following the CDT east, down towards West Ute Lake. I lost about 700’ of elevation as I headed back down to treeline. This is an easy to follow, class 1 trail.
From West Ute Lake, I could see PT 13171, and I followed the trail up to the saddle. From this vantage point, you can see 3 notches in the ridge to the peak. The first notch is class 2, the second is class 3 or 4 (depending on the route you choose), and the third is class 2.
At around 12250’ of elevation I left the trail, and headed for the ridge, doing my best to avoid the willows. The route here is all class 2, and you can pretty much pick any line of tundra and it will get you to the ridge. This is the route I took:
Once on the ridge, I turned right and followed it west. The ridge was rocky, but went at class 2 (except for the second notch). The first notch was an easy class 2 walkaround.
The second notch was an easy downclimb, then a choose your own adventure upclimb. I kept it class 3 by staying to the right of the white rock. The rock was solid, but there was also a lot of talus littering the solid rock. This is the route I took:
I made my way back to the ridge
Here’s a look at that third notch, another easy class 2 workaround by going left
Then it was a rocky, class 2 hike to the summit
I summited PT 13171 at 8:30am
PT 13171:
This was my only peak for the day, so I re-traced my steps back down the rocky ridge
Then I navigated my way down off the ridge, back to the CDT
Back on the trail, I followed it forth (then northwest as it curved)
There was one point where the trail intersected with the West Ute Trail, just after West Ute Lake. I didn’t notice it on my way in, but if you notice it here, go left.
I made it back to treeline, then gained 725’ of elevation back to my campsite at 12500’
I took down my tent, and continued hiking west on the CDT, towards Vallecito Trail.
Once I made it to the Vallecito Trail, I turned right, and followed it north to Hunchback Pass, gaining 955’ of elevation up to the pass
Then I continued following the trail back down to Beartown, and my truck.
I made it back to Beartown at 1:30pm, making this a 13.85 mile hike with 3207’ of elevation gain, including campsite tear down, in 7 hours.
I was up and following the 4WD road towards the Hunchback Trailhead at 6:30am. It was cold because it had rained the night before, and everything was covered in a film of ice. I followed the road for 1.5 miles to Hunchback Pass Trailhead.
I then followed the trail another 1.5 miles to Hunchback Pass
Oh, and I saw a moose along the way. Well, actually two moose, but the male got scared and ran away before I could get a picture. The female wasn’t too bothered.
Once at Hunchback Pass, I turned left, and followed the ridge south, then southeast. Here’s the general route I took. This is choose your own adventure, and this morning I went slow because the rocks were icy.
At the top of the ridge I could see PT 13121, Mt Nebo, and PT 13232 in the distance. I followed the tundra towards PT 13121. If you are following my GPX file, you’ll notice it’s a little erratic here. That’s because my compass kept doing crazy things. Just keep heading towards the base of 13121.
From the base of PT 13121, I headed south on the rocks towards the summit. I would gain 400’ in .2 miles to get to the ridge. The rock here was loose and steep and not fun to climb at all. If you have the option, I’d summit this peak from the way I descended. However, I did not do that, so here is my route, and a few pictures of the rock mess towards the ridge.
When I made it to the ridge I turned right, and walked the short distance to the summit
I summited PT 13121 at 9:40am
PT 13121:
I could see PT 13232 and Mt Nebo to the south. I descended the rocky and tundra ledge towards the PT 13121/Mt Nebo saddle. Circled is where I set up camp for the night. That’s where I was headed. It’s adjacent to the CDT.
I took some time to set up my tent, then I was on my way again, headed up this ridge
There was a lot of scree and talus here, but it’s all class 2+. There’s a bulge in the middle I skirted to the right, then headed back to the ridge proper, and towards the top you can go either to the left or the right, and I chose right for the way up (towards Nebo), and left on the way down.
Here’s the option to go either right or left. Both class 2, but the left is on more solid rock.
I chose to go right (there’s a cairn where the arrow is)
From here I could see Mt Nebo to the west
I needed to make my way towards the saddle, but now is a good time to choose your route, You can go up the tundra that turns to talus on the left, and keep this route 2+, or you can take the ridge to the right, which goes at difficult class 2, maybe some easy class 3, and includes a lot of rock/boulder hopping. I chose to stick to the ridge.
But first, descending down to the saddle. This was rocky, but class 2. From the saddle, here are some pictures of the route up the ridge towards the summit
There was one ledge section that went at class 2 but had some exposure. I crossed the ledge, and it was an easy hike up talus to the summit.
I summited Mt Nebo at 11:30am
Mt Nebo:
To the east was PT 13232. I descended back to the saddle.
Then it was back up the rocks, following the ridge. The rest of the hike was all class 2 to the summit, mostly boulder/rock hopping.
Once back on the rocky point that splits the two peaks, it was now easy to hike southeast to the summit. I followed the talus to the rocks, and kept ascending. The ridge proper goes at class 2. Here are some pictures of the route.
I summited PT 13232 at 12:30pm
PT 13232:
Now I was headed back to my campsite. I turned around, and followed the ridge as it descended northwest.
I then went right when I made it to the bump in the ridge, descending on talus and rocks before making my way back to the ridge.
I then followed the ridge back to my campsite and the CDT, being careful to go left to avoid the steep sections.
I made it back to my campsite at 1:15pm, making this a 8.55 mile hike with 3732’ of elevation gain in 6 hours, 45 minutes, including time to set up my camp and eat lunch. This report continues with PT 13171 the next day, along with a hike out back to Beartown.
Oh, and it rained and hailed and graupled that night. For hours. I kept punching the top of my tent to get the slush off so it wouldn’t freeze overnight. Here’s a picture from about half an hour into the 4 hour storm, when I got a little break. Gotta love late summer storms above treeline! Good times!
I came back a month later and was successful in summiting P2. Details below.
Full disclosure, I did NOT summit P2. However, I came very close, and thought I’d share the information I have for those who might find it useful.
I camped at 11330’ of elevation, along the Rock Lake Trail that parallels Rock Creek in the basin just before Rock Lake.
The next morning I was on the trail at 6:30am, heading west. My goal was to gain this ridge, and I did it poorly. I spent way too much time route finding, so I’m going to try to make this easier for you. You need to ascend this ridge, but DO NOT do it here. There is a way to find a weakness and ascend here, which I did, but I was greeted with the steepest, worst scree I’ve ever encountered, where if I’d have fallen, I would have skidded all the way down, over the edge. It was dangerous, and put me at a too high position and I needed to descend anyway.
Instead, start out by crossing Rock Creek (I was able to jump across it) and head for the rocky section.
Parallel the rocky section until you come to just before the waterfall. Then turn left, and head up the scree to what looks like a solid rock wall. There is a very well-hidden access gully here, that will easily get you where you want to go.
Climb up this easy gully, and immediately turn right, and head towards a drainage.
When I made it to the drainage, I followed it west as far as it went, until I was on a small ridge parallelling a pond. There are a few game trails here that will lead you up. Stay in the drainage, which goes from rocky to grassy as it ascends.
I came to a ridge and turned left. Here I could see a rocky basin. I followed the basin southwest, left, until it ended.
From here you can see two gullies. One leads to P3, the other to P2. I went up the gully to the left, and came down the gully to the right. Both are loose and scree filled. The P2 gully had larger rocks, which would have made it better (for me) to ascend, and the P3 gully had more scree, which would have made it better (for me) to descend. Alas, I ascended the P3 gully, and descended the P2 gully.
Here are some pictures of the P3 gully. I ascended on scree, sticking close to the rock band, and headed towards the ridge.
Once on the ridge I turned left, and followed it northeast. While it looks daunting, this was all class 2 on stable rock, and not so stable rock.
Until I got to here. If you haven’t already, now is your time to put on your helmet. From here the rest of the route is exposed class 3 and class 4 climbing. I chose to stick to the ridge. Luckily, the rock here is solid and there are plenty of hand and footholds.
I stuck to the ridge here, so I won’t include direction lines, but I’ll show you a few pictures of this part of the ridge, which I considered class 3
Until I got to here. I felt this was class 4, and the crux of P3. This is the route I took, sticking a bit to the left as I felt there were more holds, but I can see how someone with a higher risk tolerance would have gone straight up the middle.
I could now see the summit of P3. This is the route I took.
I summited P3 at 9:45am
P3:
From the summit of P3, I made my way back to the ridge.
Back on the ridge, I followed it to the P3/P2 saddle
From the saddle, I headed up on talus and scree, following the ridge towards P2, but avoiding the large rock structures to the right.
I then came to a sloping section, with a false summit. I made my way towards the false summit
From the false summit, I could see the true summit of P2 in the distance.
I followed the ridge, and this is what I saw in front of me
The climbing wasn’t what bothered me here. It was that long, yellow rock slab. I’d heard it was maybe 40 feet, but being there in person, it looked double that. I downclimbed a bit to get a better view, and the view didn’t get any better. Pictures DO NOT do this slab and it’s exposure justice.
At this point I had to make a very difficult decision. I do a lot of crazy stuff while hiking solo, but it’s always within my abilities, and I try not to take unnecessary risks. This rock slab was an unnecessary risk, and that’s coming from someone who’s favorite 14er is Capitol because of the knife’s edge. I did not feel safe downclimbing this slab solo, or even with another person present, although I would have tried it going from the opposite direction if I didn’t need to downclimb it again. I had about a 75% certainty if I attempted to downclimb this slab, I would fall. And the exposure wasn’t pretty.
One of the reasons my husband encourages me to hike solo is he knows I don’t take unnecessary risks in the backcountry, and I want to come home safe to him. I also want to be a Grandma someday, and I can’t do that if I die.
I knew there was another way to summit by dropping down to the left, so I got out my cell phone and checked the weather. The 10% chance of rain after 12pm had now become 80% chance of thunderstorms. I wouldn’t have the time needed to route find my way to the summit of this peak and make it back to my tent in time before the storm came in.
So, I turned around at the final crux to the summit and headed back down. I did a lot of scouting around while I was up there and know how I want to attempt this peak next time (I’m thinking of dropping down to avoid the edge or coming in from a different angle). I’ll be back to summit this peak another way.
So, I turned around and headed back towards the P3/P2 saddle.
Just before the saddle I turned left, and took the P2 gully down into the rocky basin.
I then followed the basin back to the drainage, staying mostly to the right of the basin.
When I came to the drainage, I turned right followed it, staying to the left of the pond, back to the ledge, following game trails where I could find them.
Just before making it to the waterfall I headed right, found my access gully, and headed down.
I descended the rocks, then headed back to my campsite.
I made it back to my campsite at 1:30pm, making this a 6.61 mile hike with 2539’ of elevation gain and tons of route finding in 7 hours.
Oh, and that storm? It dumped about 4 inches of slush, rain, snow, and hail on top of my tent in about 2 hours. So now, I had another difficult decision to make: Stay there overnight and wake up at 5am to a tent frozen solid, pack it up, and hike out, or just hike back to Beartown now. For those of you who know me (and my Raynaud’s), you know what I did. I packed it up and headed back to Beartown, hiking in the dark to make it back to my truck in time for my work meeting in the morning. It was NOT a fun hike out, as the trails were now covered in slush (I slipped a few times in the granite rock sections) but I stayed (relatively) warm.
From the saddle of P3 and P2, I followed the ridgeline to 13190’, where you can see the false summit. From below the false summit, I went left (east) and found a gully. I descended this gully, but not all the way. Instead, I stayed high and traversed these rock outcroppings. This route is basically class 3 and choose your own adventure. I stayed high so as not to have to re-gain elevation, and this worked for me. Here are pictures of the route I took:
See this rock formation here? While it’s difficult to see from this angle, I’m nicknaming him “El Diablo”, because to me he looks like a lot of things, but also closely resembled my High School Mascot, the Diablo. Yes, my high school mascot is the devil. For middle school we were the Banditos (imagine Yosemite Sam as a Mexican, complete with the mustache and beard, bullet harnesses and a gun in each hand). Alas, after I went there the parents got upset and changed things and now they’re the “Leopards”. The parents keep trying to change the Diablo mascot as well, but the students won’t let them. In any event, I digress. I went to the right of El Diablo on my way in and used him as a spotting point on my way out. After passing El Diablo I could see a large gully to the right. I stayed high on class 3 terrain and climbed the gully, which brought me to the base of the rock slab.
From there, I turned left, and it’s a class 3 climb to the summit. I tried a lot of different routes that others said ‘went’, but I found climbing straight up the face was the easiest way to summit and stayed at easy class 3. Climbing straight up the face is easier than it looks, with lots of ledges. From there I was on a small ridge, and it was 10 feet or so of walking northeast to the summit. Here’s the overall route:
From my base camp at Rock Lake, I was up and on the trail at 6:30am, headed for the pass that leads towards Moon Lake. There’s a nice trail that will lead you all the way from the left side of the lake to the pass.
Once at the top of the pass, I looked left, and found the route I wanted to take to get to the gully. I aimed for the white strip of rock in the middle, staying on tundra and solid rock most of the way. This was all class 2.
Once in the gully, I followed it east towards a saddle. There was a lot of loose rock in this area, but it was all class 2.
Once at the top of the gully, I turned left and headed north up to the ridge. The rocks here were large, loose, and easy class 3 terrain. The rest of the route to the summit would be rocky.
I could now see Weminuche Peak to the east. To get there, I’d need to gain another saddle. This is choose your own adventure, but this is the route I took to the next saddle. Very rocky terrain here.
Once at the next saddle, I followed the rocky ridge east to the summit. This is class 2+. The rocks are the size of microwaves, and many of them are loose, or surrounded by talus. There are no game trails here.
I summited Weminuche Peak at 8:20am
Weminuche Peak:
This was an out an back hike for me, so I turned around and retraced my steps back to Rock Lake. Here’s my overall view of the route back down.
First, heading west down the ridge to the saddle
And then heading southwest towards the next saddle
Back down the short but mighty rocky section
And then northwest down the gully until I could see the pass to my right that would lead me to Rock Lake.
I headed towards the pass, staying mostly on rocky tundra.
Once at the pass, I picked up the cairned trail that would lead me back to Rock Lake
I made to Rock Lake at 10am, making this a 4.16 mile hike with 1550’ of elevation gain in 3.5 hours
From my campsite at Rock Lake, I was up and on the trail at 7am, heading west towards the pond at 12000’
I skirted the pond to the left, and ascended on the tundra parallelling the small rock pile
At the top of this small pile of rocks was a much larger pile of rocks. I continued following them west to the Peters/Buffalo saddle.
At the saddle I turned left, and headed southwest up the slope to the ridge. This was 600’ of elevation through kitty-litter scree and talus in .2 miles. This was class 2+ choose your own adventure, but this is the basic route I took:
At the top of the ridge I turned left, and rock-hopped to the summit. This was all class 2 or easy class 3.
I summited Peters Peak at 8am
Peters Peak:
From Peters Peak, I could see PT 13229 to the northwest. I turned and headed back down the ridge, but not to the Buffalo Peak saddle. Instead, I followed the ridge west, all the way to the saddle of Peters Peak and PT 13229. This was rocky, but could all be kept class 2
From the Peters/13229 saddle, I looked for a yellow gully in the rock, and aimed for it. This is the basic route I took, all class 2 until the gully.
The gully itself goes at class 3, but you can find more stable (also class 3) rock about halfway up to the left. The gully itself was pretty stable, but there was scree littering the rocks. The goal is to gain the ridge.
Once on the ridge, I turned right, and followed it a short distance north. There were cairns here. It was rocky, and the rocks were loose.
At the top of the ridge there were more cairns, all going left, following the ridge west. The ridge was pretty flat, and there were several large cairns (most likely for the traverse). I wasn’t able to tell where the actual summit was, so I just hiked the entire rocky, class 2 ridge.
I summited PT 13229 around 9:15am
PT 13229:
I was not doing the traverse today. While the skies were currently clear, it would be pouring down rain in another 2 hours, and I knew I had to get back to camp. So, I turned and headed back towards the Peters/13229 saddle.
I headed south towards the yellow gully
Then took the yellow gully down to the 13229/Peters saddle
Once at the saddle, I re-ascended much of the ridge to Peters Peak, then descended to the northeast, avoiding cliffing out below the Peters/13229 saddle.
First, up the ridge
Then, down to the Buffalo/Peters saddle
Once at the saddle I turned right, and followed the drainage east back towards Rock Lake
I made it back to Rock Lake at 11am, making this a 4.1 mile hike with 1897’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.
I hiked into Rock Lake the day before, and met a few forest service workers doing trail maintenance along the trails. They were sawing up logs from trees that had fallen directly on the trail to make a clearer path. While I was very excited they were doing this, the trail in was the wettest and muddiest I’ve ever seen it. The entire trail was a river, several inches deep with water, making walking on the rock slabs slippery. Even the side social trails were full of water. In any event, when I got to Rock Lake I set up my campsite (150 feet from the water), filtered some water for the next day, and I dried out my shoes and socks.
I was up and on the trail at 6:30am. I skirted the lake to the left, and found a great trail on the small slope to the left of the lake that brought me to a trail that headed up to the pass. Once in the rocky section, this trail is very well cairned.
From the top of the pass, I would then lose 1000’ of elevation as I headed down towards Moon Lake. This is a very well marked trail that led me towards.
Just after passing by Moon Lake I crossed a creek and followed the trail left.
As soon as I came to a clearing, I left the trail to skirt the side of the mountain, doing my best to stay at around 11600’. If you pass the waterfall (you’ll notice it), you’ve gone too far. There are a few cairns here, but they are few and far between. I did my best to stay on game trails as I skirted the mountain, heading south.
I came to an unnamed pond, and skirted it to the right. There’s actually a really good game trail that will get you through the willows and into the upper basin. Just stay to the right of the creek.
Once in the upper basin, I followed it southwest. It’s marshy here, so watch your step.
I continued following the basin until I could see a ridge in front of me. I gained the ridge, and followed it left.
This brought me to another pond. From here I could see the rest of my route to the 13323/13350 saddle.
I aimed for the scree gully and then the grassy ledge. There are some game trails here, and a good one picks up once you’re on the slope that stays in-between rock formations and heads straight for the saddle. Here’s my overall route:
And some pictures of the route to the saddle:
Once at the saddle I turned right, and headed towards PT 13323. This was an easy hike on rocky tundra.
I summited PT 13323 at 10:15am
PT 13323:
To the southeast I could see PT 13350
So I headed back down to the saddle
Then followed the rocky, class 2 ridge to the summit of PT 13350
I summited PT 13350 at 10:50am
PT 13350:
This was an out and back hike for me, so I turned and headed northwest back to the saddle
Once at the saddle, I followed the game trail back to the scree, then the scree and talus back to the small pond.
Once at the pond, I followed the ridge down into the basin, following the creek
Just before the creek turns to do down to the pond, I picked up the game trail that would skirt me through the willows, down to the pond, and then back to curve around the hillside northeast.
I kept heading north, skirting the mountainside a bit to the west, towards the trail that would lead me back to Rock Lake.
Once on that trail, I followed it all the way back to Rock Lake
I made it back to Rock Lake at 2pm, making this a 11.6 mile hike with 4397’ of elevation gain in 7.5 hours from Rock Lake.
Wild Wanderer 