I arrived at the Fancy Lake trailhead and was on the trail at 6:30am. The drive in was on a 2WD dirt road, easily accessible except for the last 2 miles, which had a couple of inches of snow still on the ground. Luckily, enough vehicles had driven through the snow and there were bare spots to still keep this a 2WD road. The beginning of the trail is obvious. The trailhead has clean bathrooms and plenty of parking.
I followed Fancy Lake Trail 2006 for 3.3 miles northwest to Fancy Lake. This is a class 1 trail and easy to follow. There was a nice footbridge at the crossing over Fancy Creek.
I sat and admired Fancy Lake for a bit, as it was a beautiful day
From the lake I turned and headed east, to continue following the trail to Fancy Pass.
It was a total of 4.25 miles from the trailhead to Fancy Pass. At the pass, I dipped down to avoid the class 3 section, then gained the ridge as quickly as I could.
The downclimb to avoid the class 3 section was easy, class 2 (there might even be a trail here in summer)
Ascending the ridge was quite steep on tundra
While ascending to the ridge, I did my best to avoid the rock outcroppings
Here you can see the first false summit. I aimed for the ridge to gain this point.
From this point on, it was a ridge hike north. A long, class 2 ridge hike.
Here are some pictures of the ridge
At the base of the summit, I went right to avoid the snow
Then easily gained the peak
I summited Fancy Peak at 10:45am
Fancy Peak:
Here’s a look back down the ridge
This was an out and back hike for me, so I retraced my steps back to the ridge
Then followed the ridge south
This was my descent route back to Fancy Pass
Back at Fancy Pass, I followed the trail east back to Fancy Lake
Then I followed the trail southeast back to the trailhead
I made it back to the trailhead at 1pm, making this a 9.69 mile hike with 3208’ of elevation gain in 6 hours, 30 minutes.
This was a fun hike and much easier than I’d anticipated. It was mostly class 1, with a class 2 ridge. I parked at the Buffalo Mountain Trailhead and was on the trail at 5am. The parking is to the north of the trailhead, so I had to cross the road to get there.
I followed the trail northwest, through a burn area
I came to a junction, and followed it northwest, towards the South Willow Creek Trail
After hiking a short distance, I suddenly started losing elevation. I descended 425’ to South Willow Creek
The trail was rocky, and a bit difficult to follow. There was a cairn that was helpful, letting me know when to continue descending
Crossing South Willow Creek posed another challenge. There were bridges here, but they were all ‘out’. My best advice is to cross every one you see, and the trail will pick up to the northwest.
I quickly came to another junction. This time I went left, following Gore Range Trail 60 west.
This trail would eventually take me to treeline, and a small pond at 11400’. It was about 5.5 miles of hiking from the trailhead to the pond, on a class 1 trail that was easy to follow.
Oh, and one more junction, where I stayed on Gore Range Trail 60
Here are some pictures of the way to treeline
Once at treeline, I came to an unnamed pond. I skirted the pond to the right, on a trail, and followed this trail northwest to Red Buffalo Pass.
From the pass I turned right, and began heading up the ridge. I was surprised to find a faint trail here. There’s a trail on 95% of this ridge to the summit, although it can be difficult to see at times. This is all class 2, and if you find yourself in class 3 territory you’re off route. Here are some pictures of the ridge.
I now followed the ridge east towards the summit. Still class 2, staying on the ridge proper
I summited Red Peak at 9am
Red Peak:
This was the only peak I was doing today, I turned around and headed back down the ridge
Now to head south, back towards Buffalo Pass.
Back at the pass, I turned left and followed the class 1 trail back to the pond.
At the pond several trails intersected, with no signs. I took the one that headed northeast, which was Gore Range Trail 60.
I followed this trail east back to the trailhead
Crossing back over South Willow Creek
Ugh… regaining those 425’ of elevation at the end was a bummer
Then heading back through the burn area towards Buffalo Mountain Trailhead
I made it back to the trailhead at 12:30pm, making this a 14.59 mile hike with 4380’ of elevation gain in 7.5 hours.
I had no intentions of summiting a peak today. Seriously. After yesterday’s long ridge hike I decided today would be a rest day. I was simply going to hike to the upper trailhead and back to get pictures I was unable to get yesterday, due to starting and ending the hike in the dark. I also needed to put together a rather long trip report, and I wanted to get that out of the way as soon as possible.
I woke up at 9:15am and it was 27 degrees outside. There was at least half an inch of frost on the ground, and my shoes, which I’d kept inside my truck, were frozen solid. I couldn’t even get my feet inside of them. So I sat in the cab of my truck with the heater blaring for half an hour to warm them up.
Once I could stuff my feet inside my shoes I was on the trail, at around 10am. My plan was simply to hike to the upper trailhead and back to warm up and get pictures. I was parked just before the Lulu Gulch trailhead at 10,300’ at a nice dispersed campsite. My truck could have made it to the Huron Trailhead, as it has before, but the road seemed a little more intense this year and I love my truck, so I decided to park lower and get the extra mileage.
I followed the 4WD road as it meandered south, past the Lulu Gulch trailhead and numerous dispersed campsites.
After hiking for about 1.75 miles I made it to the Huron Peak/Lake Ann trailhead. From here, I followed Lake Ann Trail 1462 south.
At the Lake Ann/Hope Pass junction I went left, following the Lake Ann trail
At the Apostle Basin/Lake Ann junction I went left, towards Apostle Basin
This is where I made the decision to continue towards PT 13486. I was feeling pretty good, and said “to heck with a rest day”. I almost immediately regretted this decision. I continued on until I made it to 10845’, where there was a cairn and a blocked trail to the left. I took this trail.
This was an old trail that doesn’t look like it gets a lot of use. There were tons of downed trees to navigate as I made my way east to treeline. At this point I stopped and looked at my readings. I’d gone 3.5 miles and gained 600’ of elevation. I was already exhausted, and wanted to turn back. My mind kept telling me I was tired (I wasn’t), thirsty (I wasn’t) and couldn’t go on (I could). I reminded myself it’s usually your mind that gives out long before your body does, and kept telling myself to go just a little bit further before deciding to turn back. This hike was very much a mental game, but I kept going. I just took a lot of breaks.
Just before treeline, at around 11600’ there’s an abandoned cabin that was cool to look at. When you get to the cabin keep heading east, as the trail becomes difficult to follow, but you’re almost to treeline.
Once at treeline a cairned route begins that leads for about a quarter of a mile. The rocks however, never ended. I followed the cairns up.
I could now see PT 13486 to the east.
There are several routes to get there. I took a high route on my way up, the gully on the way down. There were cliffs I was trying to avoid. This is the route I took as I ascended.
And some step-by-step pictures of the route, keeping high to avoid the steeper rocky sections
I kept rounding the hillside until I could see the Huron/13486 saddle. I headed for the saddle.
This now became a ridge hike. There were a few class 3 moves, and snow to make the route spicy.
I mostly stuck to the ridge. Here are some pictures of the route to the summit.
Here’s a look at the rest of the ridge. This is where it gets spicy. I stopped here for a bit because I met another climber on the trail, Larry, who’s a recent Bicentennial finisher (Congrats!!) We chatted for a bit, and I learned he was in more of a hurry than I was to get to another trailhead before dark, so I let him go ahead while I took a bit of a break. I checked my cell phone for service (none) and decided instead to play a bit of solitaire while I waited. After Larry summited, I was on my way again.
This was the hardest move for me. It was class 3, but the snow made it interesting. I went up to the right, came back down on the left
Here’s the final push to the summit
I summited PT 13486 at 3:30pm
PT 13486:
It was here I realized my negative thoughts had stopped as soon as I’d hit treeline. I guess having a visual of the route really helped clear my mind. I was glad I’d pushed on, even though it had already been a long day. I turned and headed back down the ridge to the Huron/13486 saddle.
Back on the saddle, I turned left and decided to take the gully down. I descended to the patch of tundra below, at about 12400’
Here’s looking back up at the gully I’d descended (which you could ascend as well instead of taking the higher route)
At 12,400’ I turned right, descended about another 200’, and stayed at that elevation until I made it back to the cairned area.
I was aiming for the trees to the west
I then picked up the cairned route back down to the trees and the trail
I followed the miners trail through the trees, back to the actual trail
Then followed the trail north back to the Huron/Lake Ann Trailhead
And took the road back to the lower Huron Trailhead
I made it back down to the lower trailhead at 7pm, making this a 14.11 mile hike with 3299’ of elevation gain in 9 hours.
This entire hike was class 2, made spicy with the snow.
I parked just before the Lulu Gulch trailhead at 10,300’ at a nice dispersed campsite. My truck could have made it to the Huron Trailhead, as it has before, but the road seemed a little more intense this year and I love my truck, so I decided to park lower and get the extra mileage.
I woke up to a thick layer of frost because it was 27 degrees outside, and was on the trail at 6am. I followed the 4WD road as it meandered south, past the Lulu Gulch trailhead and numerous dispersed campsites.
After hiking for about 1.75 miles I made it to the Huron Peak/Lake Ann trailhead. From here, I followed Lake Ann Trail 1462 south.
At the Lake Ann/Hope Pass junction I went right, following the Lake Ann trail
At the Apostle Basin/Lake Ann junction I went right, towards Lake Ann
I immediately crossed a bridge, and followed this trail (1462) through the trees to about 11600’
This next part is a little difficult to explain, but at 11600’ I left the trail and headed west, towards Harrison Flat. Here’s a picture from above at where I crossed
On the ground however, it looked like this:
I was headed here to access the upper basin:
Once in the upper basin, I headed west towards the lake at 12155’
Once at the lake, I skirted it to the right, and headed up the slope. This is the route I took to the ridge. This is the overall route I took to the top of 13253. Note I stayed below the ridge for some time, to avoid the rocky areas.
And some step-by-step pictures. This is choose your own adventure, but I took the ramp to the right to ascend the ridge.
Then stayed low to avoid the rocky areas. It became obvious when to ascend on a scree/tundra ramp
There was a summit register here, which I thought was odd because the true summit was to the south. I’m not sure if it’s LiDAR or what, but LoJ does not show this as the true highpoint anymore, as PT 13258 to the south is higher. I took a video anyway, as I was there.
PT 13253:
I then headed southeast towards PT 13258
This is the overall route I took
And some pictures of the route. I descended about 115’ to the saddle, nd then ascended to the summit
I summited Pt 13258 (also known as 13253 south) at 10:15am
PT 13258:
And now to head back to PT 13253
Back at PT 13253, my next objective was PT 13251, to the northwest
First, I had to get to PT 13024. It was a simple, rocky, class 2 ridge hike to get there
Then it was down and up to PT 13251. Here’s my overall route to get there, staying to the left when I encountered obstacles, keeping this class 2.
I summited PT 13,251 at 12pm
PT 13251:
There was a summit marker at the summit
My next goal was Sheep Rock Mountain, which was much further away than it seemed. First I needed to summit these two points (13115 and 13100, unranked, but they feel like they’re ranked) before following the ridge. While downclimbing each of these points, there was sugary snow covering the rocks, making the traverse a bit spicey. Otherwise, it was all class 2.
I began by following the ridge north, towards PT 13115. Don’t be fooled, there are actually two summits here
Here’s a view of the first downclimb
Here’s looking back at 13251
Then up the ridge 165’ to this point. This was all class 2, but rocky
This point was unranked, as is the next point I could see to the northwest, PT 13115
I initially stayed to the left of the rocky ridge to descend towards the saddle, then switched to the right side, and back to the left. There was snow involved, so I’m not sure what it looks like in dry conditions. This was all class 2 scrambling.
Here’s the ridge up to PT 13115. It stayed class 2, staying left before taking the ridge
I stopped here for a little break before continuing on.
I could see Sheep Rock Mountain to the northeast. I decided to skirt PT 13100 and stay low on the ridge. This was my overall route.
Here are some pictures of the route to Sheep Rock (all class 2)
I summited Sheep Rock Mountain at 2:15pm
Sheep Rock Mountain:
I could see all 3 remaining peaks I had for the day, West Virginia, Virginia, and Winfield. West Virginia Peak was to the north.
I descended 460 feet down to the Sheep Rock/West Virginia Saddle, staying either on the ridge direct or dipping down to the right in the beginning, the left towards the end. This can all be kept class 2
Here’s looking back up at Sheep Rock Mountain
Then I ascended 350’ to the summit of West Virginia, still keeping this class 2
The summit was an easy scramble to the top
I summited West Virginia Peak at 3:10pm
West Virginia Peak:
To the east was Virginia Peak
I stayed mostly on the ridge for this part, dipping to the right as necessary
There was a rather interesting rock formation along the way. So much is going on here
Now up the rocky ridge
I summited Virginia Peak at 4:10pm
Virginia Peak:
My final peak for the day was unranked Winfield Peak to the north
This would be yet another ridge hike. Here are some pictures of the ridge to Winfield
Still more ridge to go…
I summited Winfield Peak at 5pm
Winfield Peak:
Now to head back down. I was (obviously) making this a loop, and had to get back down to the 4WD road. This included some bushwhacking. Initially, I continued following the ridge northeast
Then it became obvious I needed to follow the ridge east. This was very steep and included a lot of scree.
I descended 860’ down the ridge, to about 12260’ of elevation, then took an old road down into the basin. The road quickly dissolved, and I bushwhacked east through the trees, looking for a hiking trail I knew would be below. Here’s my route out of the basin
And some pictures
And now into the trees
As I got closer to the trail, I could see the 4WD road I needed in the distance. I kept aiming for the road
And eventually made it to the trail. I took this trail south, until it hooked up with another trail that would take me across clear creek and back to the 4WD road
Back on the 4WD road, I followed it northeast back to the lower Huron Trailhead
I made it back to my campsite at 7pm, making this a 19.34 mile hike with 5574’ of elevation gain in 13 hours.
I parked at 10800’, at the junction for 344/349 (Grassy Gulch Road). It’s an easy 4WD road to get there. I have a stock Tacoma, and while the clearance was nice, I never needed to put it into 4WD to make it up the road. There’s an upper trailhead as well, on a more intense 4WD road, with a nice dispersed campsite just before it at 11950’. If you drive to the upper trailhead, the RT Length is approximately 5.8 miles, with 1890’ of elevation gain.
I was on the trail at 6am, following Grassy Gulch Road.
I followed this road to treeline
Here’s a picture of the dispersed campsite at 11950 (to the left):
I followed the road up to 12130’
I was headed here
The road continues on, but here trail 1444 picks up. I followed the trail to the saddle. Here’s an overview of the route:
As you can see in the picture below, from the saddle there’s a trail here to the left. I couldn’t tell if it was a game trail or an actual trail, as it was covered in snow, but I followed it to the ridge
This is the only point on the rest of the ridge I diverged from the ridge. I skirted these rocks to the right to stay on easy terrain, then re-gained the ridge
I now had my first view of Gladstone Ridge
However, it would be a long walk to get there, first traversing over PT 12962, then PT 13038.
Here’s the route over to PT 12962
I then descended about 200’ to the 12961/13038 saddle. The terrain here was rocky, and a bit tricky since the rocks were slightly filled in with snow. I had trouble figuring out where the voids in the snow were, so I did my best to rock-hop and avoid the ice on the rocks while doing so.
At the saddle of 12961/13038, looking up at my route to 13038, where it’s 240’ up to 13038. In dry conditions, this is a ridge hike, but today I found myself dipping down to the right a bit to avoid the narrow, icy rocks that made the ridge direct.
From the top of PT 13038, looking east I could see Gladstone Ridge.
This was a simple ridge hike to the summit.
I summited Gladstone Ridge at 8:45am
Gladstone Ridge:
This was an out and back hike for me, so I re-traced my steps, following the ridge back to PT 13038
Then back down the ridge, and up to PT 12962
I then followed the ridge west back to trail 1444
Back on the trail, I turned left and headed towards the 4WD road
I then followed the road back to the lower trailhead
I made it back to the lower trailhead at 11:15am, making this a 10.2 mile hike with 3140’ of elevation gain in 5 hours, 15 minutes.
I was meeting some ladies in Breckenridge for a weekend getaway, and to take them up their first 14er. Boreas Pass was along the way, so I decided to make a quick stop to summit Boreas Mountain. I drove up Boreas Pass, and parked at about 11500’. Boreas Pass road is a 2WD dirt road, and easy to navigate.
I started by heading east, up the slope to the ridge.
Here’s the overall route I took, staying just to the right of the willows.
And some step-by-step pictures of the route to the ridge. There was some talus to deal with, but this entire hike is class 2.
Once on the ridge, I travelled to this point
Now it was a ridge hike on loose rock, heading south. There were game trails to follow, which made route finding easy.
I continued following the ridge south. This part is choose your own adventure as well, as long as you keep heading south you’ll eventually see the summit (currently hidden). There were cairns here, so I followed the cairns
The true summit was difficult to ascertain, as many points looked like the highpoint. When I used my altimeter, the furthest point south was the highpoint, with a wind break at the top (and a summit register).
I summited Boreas Mountain at 1:50pm
Boreas Mountain:
I took the same route to descend as I did to ascend, and re-traced my steps
Then I headed back down the slope, once again using the willows as my guide, this time keeping them to the right of me.
There’s a cairn at the base of the slope that I aimed for (circled in red)
I made it back to the trailhead at 2:45pm, making this a 3.39 mile hike with 1575’ of elevation gain in 2 hours.
I’m going to do my best to keep this class 2/2+ here. I made it unnecessarily class 3 in areas, but they can be avoided. I started at the Wild Basin Trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park. I was on the trail at 4am. The beginning of the trail is obvious.
I’m not going to detail the approach to Bluebird Lake, as I’ve already done that in previous reports and the trail is class 1 trail the entire way. Just follow the signs towards Bluebird Lake. If Bluebird Lake isn’t on the sign, follow the one that says Ouzel Lake. The signs say it’s 6.4 miles to Bluebird Lake.
Now the fun begins! The class 1 trail that got me to Bluebird Lake stopped at Bluebird Lake.
I was able to find some faint game trails here, but like I said, they were faint. This was my next objective, a ramp in the distance:
And my overall route to get there.
I was able to keep this class 2, but there are class 3 options. First, I descended down to the lake, then ascended a class 2 ramp. There’s an easy class 3 ramp here as well.
At the top of the ramps was a trail for a short distance heading west.
This is the route I took to get to Lark Pond, aiming for a ramp in the distance
And some step-by-step pictures
Now at Lark Pond, I stayed to the right of the pond to get to Pipit Lake. There weren’t any trails here.
Yay! Pipit Lake!
I skirted the left side of the lake, heading towards the grassy gully. This involved rock hopping on stable rock.
If you’re following my GPX file, you’ll note I ascended to the left on the rocky area. I wouldn’t recommend this, as it’s extremely steep. I ended up gravitating towards the rocks to avoid the steepness of the scree, and got into sketchy class 3 territory (lots of very lose rocks the size of bowling balls on top and around larger rocks, forming small, unstable gullies). Instead, this can be kept class 2 by taking the grassy gully up.
Once at the top of the grassy gully I turned left, and ascended the slope. Yes, it’s steep. This is class 2+, but luckily there isn’t a lot of scree. Instead, these rocks are fairly stable (still check your footing for loose rocks). This is also choose your own adventure. The entire slope goes. It’s about 1200’ of elevation gain from Pipit Lake to the ridge.
At the top of the rock slope I turned left, and walked the short distance to the summit of unranked Ouzel Peak
I summited Ouzel Peak at 9:15am
Ouzel Peak:
To the south I could see Ogalalla Peak.
This was an easy tundra trek of about 1.5 miles. First, I descended to the Ouzel/Ogalalla saddle
Then I followed the ridge as I ascended about 670’ to the summit
The final push to the summit was rocky, but class 2
I summited Ogalalla Peak at 10am
Ogalalla Peak:
This was an out and back hike for me, so I retraced my steps back to Ouzel Peak
Then it was navigating the rocks and heading back down the gully to Pipit Lake
At Pipit Lake I skirted the lake to the right, and headed back towards Lark Pond
I stayed to the left of Lark Pond
Then looked for the ramp I’d used to on my way in
Now to make it back to the trail. Here’s the overall route I took
I went down the class 3 ramp this time, facing forward, without too much difficulty.
Then crossed the stream and headed back up to the trail
It was now a class 1 hike 6.4 miles back to the Wild Basin Trailhead. There were plenty of signs indicating the way
I made it back to the trailhead at 3pm, making this a 20.7 mile hike with 5309’ of elevation gain in 11 hours.
I parked near the lower Matterhorn Creek Trailhead at a nice dispersed camping spot, and was on the trail at 6am the next morning. The trail is an obvious 4WD road, and if your vehicle has made it this far, it will make it to the upper trailhead.
I followed the dirt road alongside Matterhorn Creek to the upper trailhead. There are several dispersed campsites near the upper trailhead as well.
Once at the upper trailhead I continued following the dirt road north
The dirt road is closed at this point, and becomes more of a trail.
I came to a well marked junction and turned right.
From this junction, to the right you can see the ‘road’ you want to take. It’s grown over, and doesn’t look much like a road, but it’s Ridge Stock Trail 233. This is where you’re headed.
I followed this road all the way to just before treeline. It was difficult to follow at times because it was so grown over and there were quite a few downed trees blocking the trail. The higher up I got, the more difficult the road became to follow, as it looks like elk live permanently in the area. The game trails parallel and cross the road, making route finding interesting.
At around 12000’, the road curves around the mountain and I left the road to head northeast along the ridge. I quickly came to treeline.
From treeline, this became a class 2 ridge hike. I followed the ridge northeast.
Here’s the route I took to get to the summit of Broken Hill
This is a ridge hike on tundra all the way to the base of Broken Hill
There’s a summit block at the end of the tundra.
My first thought was to go up one of the class 4 chimneys, but I felt there must be a better way. I scouted around, and found if I headed to the right and around the corner, I could keep this a class 2 hike to the summit. I aimed for here:
I skirted the mountainside, then headed north on class 2 terrain to the summit
I summited Broken Hill at 8:25am
Broken Hill:
This was an out and back hike for me, so I returned the way I came, down the slope and around the rocks, back to the ridge
Then it was back down the ridge to treeline
At treeline I continued heading southwest until I came back to the ‘road’
Then I followed the road back to the trail
And took the trail back to the trailhead
I made it back to my truck at 10am, making this an 8.22 mile hike with 2924’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.
I parked just after the Matterhorn Creek Trailhead because there was a good dispersed camping spot there and it was a good place to stage for the weekend of hikes I had planned. This road requires 4WD. I was up and on the trail at 6am. I followed 4WD dirt road 24 west for .75 miles.
At the very first spur road I came to on the right I took it, and it took me a short ways to the actual trailhead, the Wetterhorn Basin Trail 226. There are plenty of places to disperse camp here as well.
I followed the road to the right if given the option (all the other areas are camping spots).
By continuing to follow the road I eventually came to the trailhead sign
While the sign looks new (and indeed, all signs I followed looked new), the trail was overgrown. It looks like at one time it was a road, but it hasn’t been for decades. I went through downed trees, brush, and willows as I followed the trail.
I crossed Mary Alice Creek, and would now stay on the right side of the creek to treeline.
At 11700’, the ‘road’ started switchbacking the opposite direction, and I started bushwhacking through the willows. There were game trails through the willows. The main goal is to stay to the right of the creek. I was headed here:
Now above treeline, I continued heading northwest, sticking to the right side of the creek. This was my next goal:
I could see a pole in the distance, and headed towards it
Once at the pole, I could see a trail sign straight ahead of me, and headed towards the sign
The sign indicated there were trails going several different directions, but the trails were very faint. I continued following the Wetterhorn Basin Trail to the right, as it headed northeast.
I quickly came to another sign, that directed me to descend into Wetterhorn Basin. Initially I did, but as soon as I could turn left onto the tundra I did and followed tundra to the ridge, heading northwest.
I stayed below the ridge, aiming for this low point, staying on the tundra and below the rocks. This was all class 2.
I stayed to the right of this rock formation, aiming for the ridge
Once on the ridge I followed it north. The actual summit is hidden here. This is a class 2 ridge hike, mostly on tundra, with a few false summits along the way.
Here are some pictures of the ridge
The actual summit was quite flat, but there was a cairn indicating the summit. I walked all around, just to be sure that was the actual highpoint, and it seemed to be. There was a summit register.
I summited PT 13313 at 8:45am
PT 13313:
I made my way back the way I’d come, taking a few minutes to ‘summit’ this point along the way because it looked like fun
Here’s an overall view of my route back to the junction. I descended the same way I ascended.
I made my way back to the trail, and followed it back to the junction
This time, instead of taking the Wetterhorn Trail back down to the trailhead, I followed the Saddle Trail south. This was a much better trail, and took me to the saddle of PT 13207 and 12979.
Once at the saddle, I turned right and headed northwest on tundra, towards this rock formation
Getting around the rocks was class 2+. It looks more difficult than it is, but it’s full of loose rocks and scree. Here’s the overall route I took:
This is choose your own adventure, but if you feel you’re in class 3 terrain you’re making it too hard. I skirted the rock to the right, but hugged the side of the rock as well.
It’s obvious when it’s time to ascend. I then followed the ridge to the summit, with a couple of false summits along the way. All class 2
I summited PR 13207 at 11am
PT 13207:
For the descent, I made my way back down the ridge, but wasn’t interested in downclimbing the rocky section.
Just before the rocky section, I turned left, and descended back to the Saddle Trail down talus and tundra. This was class2, and I could clearly see the trail below.
From the bottom, it looks more difficult than it is
Back on the trail, I followed it to the Wetterhorn Basin Trail/Saddle Trail Junction
And then turned right and headed southeast down the basin until I could find the Wetterhorn Basin Trail
I followed the trail back to the 4WD road
And followed the road back to my campsite.
I made it back to my truck at 12:30pm, making this an 11.06 mile hike with 4041’ of elevation gain in 6.5 hours.
I started this hike from the lower Nellie Creek Trailhead at around 9400’. There are several dispersed camping sites in the area, and it’s a good place to park if you have a 2WD vehicle. I have a 4WD vehicle, but I’ve found it’s no fun passing others on this road, so I chose to park down below.
I was on the trail at 5am, following the road as it headed north.
At the first creek crossing I crossed to the right
And when I hit a fork in the road I turned left
Then continued following the road to the second creek crossing, where I crossed on some logs to avoid getting wet
I continued on the 4WD road towards Nellie Creek Trailhead.
After hiking for a total of just over 4 miles, I made it to the trailhead.
I followed Uncompahgre Peak Trail 239, a well-established, class 1 trail.
I followed the trail as it wound it’s way above treeline
At the junction for Uncompahgre Peak and Big Blue Creek I stayed left, and headed towards Uncompahgre.
The trail was still easy to follow. This is a good time to notice the drainage/creek to the left
I looked for a low spot on the trail, left the trail, and crossed the drainage. I was initially headed here.
Now the fun begins. You’re going to want to stick to the ridge to the left, but don’t do that unless you want a lot of ups and downs. Instead, head straight up through the middle of the basin here
I was heading towards the low point in the ridge
This is a headwall usually filled with snow. In fact, this was my second attempt at this peak because I was here much earlier in the year when it was filled with snow, and without my ice axe, it was unclimbable. Even without snow, it’s steep, but firm (no scree).
Once on top of the ridge I turned left, and headed towards the summit. At first it was on tundra, but that changed as I headed towards the summit.
The terrain here was full of loose rock. It looked like class 3 in the beginning, but I found if I stuck a little lower to the right I could keep it class 2 and regain the ridge. There was minor scree to contend with. Here’s an overall view of the route to re-gain the ridge.
Back on the ridge, I followed it to the summit. This was all class 2. This is where the wind picked up. While it was a sunny morning, it was very, very cold, with 25mph winds.
I summited PT 13155 at 8:20am
PT 13155:
I headed back the way I came, down the ridge towards the saddle
Just before making it to this large block I turned right, and headed back down the headwall
Here’s an overview of my route in and out of the basin. Notice the rocky areas I avoided.
And some pictures as I made my way through the basin and back to the trail
Back on the Uncompahgre Trail, I followed it back to the Nellie Creek Trailhead
I then followed the 4WD road back to the lower trailhead
I made it back to my truck at 11am, making this a 13.8 mile hike with 3800’ of elevation gain in 6 hours
Wild Wanderer 