Lizard Head – 13,112

RT Length: 12.86 miles

Elevation Gain:  3566’

I would like to preface this report by stating I do not consider myself a rock climber.  Please don’t use this report as your only information when attempting to summit Lizard Head. There are several, much more detailed reports on this climb that can be found online.  I’m hoping to share my experience, and hopefully add what little I can as someone who does not consider themselves a rock climber to the vast array of knowledge that is out there. 

On my quest to summit all of Colorado’s 13ers, Lizard Head is the most difficult peak to climb, and with a 5.8 rating, requires ropes not only to descend, but to ascend as well.  This is going to be a high-level overview.  Please don’t ask me questions like how many cams were used (as many as were needed) or what sized cams (um… the ones that fit?) or what rating areas were (difficult?) as these are not my specialties.  I can tell you there were 5 pitches (but this can probably be done in 3 or 4 by more experienced climbers) and 2 70-meter ropes were used (tied together for two rappels).  There were several bomb-proof belay stations.  If you don’t feel comfortable leading exposed class 5.8 on your own, but still wish to summit this peak, my advice is to hire a guide.  San Juan Mountain Guides are the local experts in the area, but there are several companies to choose from. 

Thank you for reading! 

I got to the Cross Mountain Trailhead the night before and slept in my truck.  It rained and hailed and sleeted a bit that day, but luckily, as I sat looking over at Lizard Head, it was always in the sunlight.  I hoped this boded well for me the next morning. 

I spend a lot of nights camping at trailheads/passes, and this one was unusually busy in the middle of the night.  Several cars stopped and played music for a while.  I’m not sure what they were doing there, as it was pitch black out, but it was my choice to be there, so I accepted their presence.

The trailhead starts at the west end of the parking area.  It was 29 degrees outside when I left my frost covered truck and set out on the trail at 6:45am.

I followed the Cross Mountain Trail on a well-defined, class 1 path for what CalTopo tells me was 4 miles, before being able to see Lizard Head in the distance

Access to Lizard Head is from the east

There is a well-defined climbers trail here to the base of the climb on loose talus. The goal was to make it here:

It was very cold this morning, and a little windy.  It had snowed two days before, but luckily the snow had all melted out.  I was frozen at the beginning of this climb, and didn’t melt out until making it to the summit, when I was finally in the sunlight.  I do not have very many pictures of the actual climb up, because I had a really bad Raynaud’s attack and my fingers didn’t work with my phone’s touch screen.  Ok, I’ll admit:  I was a bit of a wuss, and there was a lot of spoken complaining as I ascended.  Several times during this climb I had no use of my fingers, so I used my hands like ice picks to grab hold, hoping they would… hold.  I clapped my hands together this morning more than I had keeping time at a color guard/band practice.  So, all that to say I don’t have a lot of pictures, but here’s an overview of the beginning route, starting with a left-facing chimney:

I then encountered a very exposed, less than 2-foot-wide (or less) ramp that went to the left for about 15 feet, then right for about 15 feet.  Sorry, no personal pictures of the ramps, but here’s an approximation of what they look like from below:

Mountain Project has a good overview of the ramps here: Rock Climb Mark of Zorro, Alpine Rock (mountainproject.com)

After the ramps there was some scrambling to do to get to the summit.  This was chossy, but not too difficult to navigate.

This is the route I took

Here’s the view from the summit, looking east

I summited Lizard Head at 12pm

Lizard Head:

There was a summit register, but it was missing its lid.  The pages were enclosed inside a ziplock bag that had holes chewed through it, so if the next person could bring a new summit register that would be great.  As you can see by my sloppy handwriting, I had very little use of my fingers/no dexterity, so my penmanship was terrible (one of the many reasons I rarely sign registers, but this one felt important).

There were two bomb-proof rappel stations on the way down, which meant two rappels.  The first was about 200’, the second about 100’, back down the initial chimney crack I climbed up.

Then it was time to change out of rock-climbing gear, and head back to the trail down that wonderful pile of choss and head back on the Cross Mountain Trail back to the trailhead.

Once again, I apologize for this not being the quality of report I usually like to give out, but hopefully some of the pictures are helpful.  Here are more pictures of the peak.

I made it back to my truck at 3pm, making this a 12.86 mile hike with 3566’ of elevation gain in 7 hours, 45 minutes.  I believe the mileage seems a little high, but those are the numbers CalTopo gave me.  Strava gave me drastically different numbers. 

On to the next trailhead!

P.S.:  I did indeed have a Raynaud’s attack on the climb, and while I don’t think I’ll loose the tips of my fingers, I do currently have blisters which will probably turn into ulcers on a few of the fingers on my left hand.  They currently feel like I touched a hot stove.   This is normal for people with Raynaud’s, and totally worth it for me to make this climb! 

Dolores Peak – 13,289 and Middle Peak – 13,305

RT Length:  8.49 miles

Elevation Gain:  3896’

I drove in to the trailhead the night before, on a 2WD dirt road outside of Dunton, CO.  This was a nice, wide, 5 mile drive that led me to fish creek (NOT to be confused with nearby Fish Creek Trailhead). 

There’s a dispersed site here where I parked, and if you have a 4WD vehicle you can park a little further up the trail (about 50 yards or so) to an area where you can also disperse camp.  There are several spots there.  Here’s a view of where I parked. 

I was up and on the trail at 6:30am.  It was a cold morning, with frost on the ground.  From the upper dispersed camping area I headed north and quickly crossed Fish Creek

An obvious game trail picked up on the other side.  On my way back, I found this sign behind some very overgrown willows.  It was difficult to make out, but shows this used to be an actual trail at one point.  Now however, it can be difficult to follow. 

I followed this trail for 1.3 miles as it stayed to the right of Fish Creek, losing the trail every now and then, and then finding it again.

After 1.3 miles of hiking I crossed Fish Creek

I gained the ridge, and followed it northeast to treeline.  

I was trying to avoid this waterfall/gorge area.

Once at treeline I needed to get here

In the morning I went high, sticking to the talus, and I would not recommend this route.  Stay low, and the terrain is much easier to navigate (2+).

I now wound my way northeast through the upper basin, staying to the left of the creek/waterfall on the only available grassy slopes in a very rocky area. 

I continued heading up the center of the drainage, towards the Middle/Dolores saddle

Once at the saddle I turned right to head up the ridge to Dolores Peak.  If you stay on the ridge directly, you’ll find game trails through the rock leading to the summit.  This is all class 2, choose your own adventure heading southeast towards the summit.

The summit was obvious

I summited Dolores Peak at 9am

Dolores Peak:

I could see Middle Peak to the northwest

To get there I re-traced my steps back to the saddle, then followed the ridge proper towards Middle Peak.  This is the route I took:

And some step-by-step pictures

Here’s looking back at Dolores from the saddle

And now to follow the ridge up to Middle Peak.  This was all class 2 on talus and scree

This was a false summit, as the true summit was further to the northwest, following the ridge proper.  This was all class 2, but with some exposure.  The rock was very crumbly.

I summited Middle Peak at 10:30am

Middle Peak:

It was now time to head back, so I retraced my steps back down the ridge and into the basin.

Exiting the basin was very straightforward, as I simply followed the drainage down, staying to the right to avoid the waterfall. 

Then it was back down that scree slope and into the trees

I hugged the right side of the creek until the ridge made its way to the creek. 

I then crossed Fish Creek, and picked up the game trail on the other side.   There’s a small cairn indicating where to cross Fish Creek

I followed the faint trail back to the trailhead

Crossing Fish Creek one more time, then walking back down the road

I made it back to my truck at 12:30pm, making this an 8.49 mile hike with 3896’ of elevation gain in 6 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

P.S. You’ll notice on the topo map “Middle Peak” is labeled as being further west than where I summited.  Here’s a picture of what the map is referring to, taken from the summit of the ranked Middle Peak.  This point sits at 13261’, and is named, but not considered a ranked or soft ranked peak. 

Electric Peak – 13,297, Graystone Peak – 13,503 and Mount Garfield – 13,087

RT Length:  35.96 miles

Elevation Gain: 9399’

I started from the Molas Trailhead parking area.  This trailhead has plenty of parking, and is a popular spot among CT hikers. 

The trail starts at the south end of the parking area. 

Much of the approach route follows the Colorado Trail, so it’s well maintained and easy to navigate.  I followed the trail as I descended 1700’ to the Animas River.

I crossed the river on a well-maintained bridge, and then followed the trail as it crossed the railroad tracks

Here is where the elevation gain begins.  I hiked along the Colorado Trail east to the Beaver Ponds, following Elk Creek and passing through a couple of cleared avalanche areas.  This trail is easy to follow, with no trail junctions.

This part trips people up all the time when headed towards Vestal Basin: Once at the beaver ponds, I turned right off the trail and traversed behind this large boulder.  There’s a faint trail here that picks up again once you’re past the ponds.

The trail picks up again after the beaver ponds, but it’s no longer as well maintained as the Colorado Trail.  There are fallen trees to navigate, but the trail is easy to see.  I followed the trail as it crossed a beautiful creek and headed south.

At 11260’ of elevation I left the trail.  There are several options to do this, but here’s a visual of where I was headed. 

This is the route I took:

I headed a little further up the trail, crossed the creek at an easily accessible spot, and headed southwest up the slope.  However, this is choose your own adventure, and you can climb straight up the talus/scree if that’s your choice.  I decided to skirt around it.

This gully wasn’t too bad as far as gullies go, but I put on my microspikes anyway. 

Towards the top I could see quite a bit of snow still left in the gully.

I traversed the gully to the right, finding there was about 2 feet of space where the snow had melted away from the rock.  The snow was avoidable until the last 30 feet or so, when I climbed on top of the snow and walked to the top of the gully on several feet of rock-solid snow.

However, if this is outside of your comfort zone, you can also traverse to the left and make it to the top of the gully on more scree.  Both routes lead to the same place (I took this route on my way down).

I was now in an upper basin, full of all different sizes of loose rocks.  This wasn’t difficult to navigate, but it was extremely time consuming.  I was headed southwest, staying to the right.

At 12500’ of elevation I turned right to start my climb up Electric Peak’s south side.  If you don’t already have your helmet on (I usually put them on for scree-filled gullies) now is the time to do it. 

Much of the route to the summit is hidden at this time.  I started by climbing up a class 3 gully to the right

From Graystone Peak, I had a good visual of the route I took, keeping it mostly class 2 after the initial class 3 gully

Once on top of this gully, there are several options to make it to the summit.  Here are some on the ground pictures.  The terrain was rocky most of the way to the summit.

The summit was fairly flat and rocky.

Electric Peak:

From the summit of Electric Peak, I could see my next objective, Graystone Peak, to the south.

I re-traced my steps back to the saddle

Now to head over towards Graystone Peak.  I looked east, and saw these wonderful rock slabs.

Traversing up and down large rock slabs is mostly a mental exercise in not freaking out. I kept telling myself “My shoes have got this, trust your shoes. Also, don’t look down”. This is the route I took.  There’s no avoiding the slabs.

Another view of the rock slabs, with a little bit of climbing towards the end (which was favorable to the smooth slabs)

After making it up the rock slabs, I turned left, now ready to scale Graystone Peak

Scaling this peak is exactly what it looks like:  straight up the side with a lot of various sized rocks to traverse that are loose.  I headed southeast up the mountainside.

Once making it to the ridge, I stayed on the ridge proper to the summit, with some easy class 3 ups and downs along the way.

There was a large cairn at the summit

Graystone Peak

I turned around and headed back down the peak the way I’d ascended, doing my best to keep my balance and navigate the loose rocks.

It had been a long day, so once I made it back down to the little patch of grass at the base of Graystone Peak I decided to call it a night and set up my bivy.  I dried out my clothes, ate some dinner, and wrote notes down in my journal.  Just before settling down for the night, I heard rocks tumbling and then skidding to a halt behind me.  I turned around, and about 30 mountain goats were standing on the ledge, about 20 feet away.  Most of them dashed away before I got a picture, but they seemed just as surprised to see me as I did them.  They were probably headed towards the patch of grass I was using as a bivy site, and seemed a little disappointed to find me already occupying the space.  I wish I could have told them I wouldn’t bother them and they were free to stay, as there wasn’t any other grazing areas around, but they all bounded away to find another site.

I was up early the next morning and on route to Mount Garfield.  Even though this was the shortest of the peaks I was doing this weekend, it was by far the most challenging.  Once on the ridge it was consistent class 3 the entire way.  I started out by heading southeast around the base of Graystone Peak. I was headed here:

This was a quick and easy gully to climb.  Once out of the gully, I passed through an open grassy area and then descended over 300 feet down grassy slopes to the right, towards Garfield Lake. 

Once at Garfield Lake, I needed to gain the ridge.  This can be done in several ways, but this is the overall route I took.  There were a couple of nicely placed trees I used as a guide on the ledges.  I just aimed for one tree, and then the next.  Here’s an overview of the route to the ridge as seen from Graystone Peak

From Garfield Lake, I aimed for the rock ledge with two trees on it, spaced about 300 feet apart.  It was class 2 to the ridge.

When I’d passed the two trees, I looked up and saw this gully. 

I made my way straight up the gully to the ridge.

Once on the ridge I turned right, and this became a class 3 ridge hike all the way to the summit.  I was able to mostly stay on the ridge, dipping to the right one time.  If you encounter a class 4 move, you’re off route.  Here are some pictures of the ridge.

I stayed to the left of this gully, climbing up the rocks instead of on the scree.

At the top of the gully I turned right, and continued following the ridge.

The only time I dropped off the ridge was when I came to this large rock.  At this point I dropped to the right and descended about 30 feet before re-gaining the ridge.

Back on the ridge, I followed it to the summit, class 3 the whole way

Mount Garfield

Here are some pictures of the route back down the ridge

Then back down the gully to Garfield Lake

Back at Garfield Lake, I took the same route back to the base of Graystone Peak, this time going up the grassy ledges

This was an out  and back hike, so I re-traced my steps down the rock slabs, across the rock field, and back down the gully to the trail.

This time, instead of going down the snow-filled gully I went to the right, and descended on scree

Back on the trail, I followed it back to the Beaver Ponds

Then I followed the Colorado Trail back to the Animas River

I crossed the train tracks, and trudged back up to Molas Pass, something I timed just right so I’d be doing later, during the cool part of the day.

I usually go by CalTopo stats to keep things consistent.  CalTopo gave me 35.96 miles with 9399’ of elevation gain, but Strava gave me 27.67 miles with 13,170’ of elevation gain.  Take your pick! 

On to the next trailhead!

PT 13006

RT Length:  7.95 miles

Elevation Gain:  2429’

I drove up from my camping spot to the Independence Lake trailhead that morning, and was on the trail at 5am.  The trailhead has plenty of parking, and even a bathroom, but parking spots fill up fast.  The trailhead is obvious, and starts at the north end of the parking area. 

I quickly came to a junction and headed towards Lost Man Lake

I followed this class 1 trail to Independence Lake, crossing over Roaring Fork River on a nice placing of rocks

Then continued following the trail to the saddle

It was about 2.5 miles to the saddle. From here, I could see PT 13006.  I lost 472’ of elevation as I descended towards (and past) Lost Man Lake. This remained a class 1 trail.

At about 12320 feet of elevation, I left the trail and headed towards the ridge.  This is the overall route I took to the summit of 13006.

First, to gain the ridge.  The willows were avoidable.

Once on the ridge, I turned left, and crossed a few rock slabs.  They were class 2, but now is a good time to put on your helmet.

From here on out, I stayed to the left of the ridge.  My first objective was to make it here.

I rounded the rock formation to the left

This brought me to some large boulders I had to climb.  This was the ‘crux’ of the climb.  The boulders are fairly stable, but far apart.  I rock-hopped up and across them.

The rest of the hike to the base of the summit was class 2 on tundra.  I kept to the left of the ridge, following grassy slopes.

At the base of the summit block, I had about 20 feet of solid class 3 scrambling to do to make it to the summit. 

I summited PT 13006 at 7am

PT 13006:

Here’s looking back at the route from the saddle.  This is Lost Man Lake

This was an out and back hike, so I descended the same way I ascended.  Here are some pictures as I made my way back down the ridge

Then it was back down to the trail

I followed the trail as it skirted Lost Man Lake and climbed it’s way to the saddle

Then continued following it past Independence Lake, all the way back to the trailhead.

I made it back to the trailhead at 9am, making this a 7.95 mile hike with 2429’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

PT 13509 and Telluride Peak – 13,514

RT Length:  8.39 miles

Elevation Gain: 2744’

I’d spent the past few days dispersed camping at Red Mountain Pass, which is where I began my hike. 

I was up and on the trail at 5am, hoping to beat today’s storms and make it to Independence Pass to join some friends camping that afternoon.  I started our following the dirt road for .75 miles

Just before the Black Bear Pass / Porphyry Basin junction, I turned right onto a side trail.  A 4WD vehicle can easily make it here.  There’s room for one vehicle to park (yesterday I saw a full-sized Ford F250 parked here).

I was now on a “pack trail” that looks like it used to be a road.  I followed this trail until I came to a mine.

This is where I left the “trail” and route finding became tricky in the dark.  In the daylight, it’s pretty easy. There are a few game trails here, which I tried to pick up when I could find them. 

Here’s the route I took after the mine

And some step-by-step pictures as I made my way northeast, hugging the mountainside

I crossed a mining area, then headed up the slope

I now had a view of how I wanted to gain the ridge.  I was initially going to gain it to the left, and this would have worked as well, but I saw a small herd of deer grazing and I didn’t want to disturb them

This is how I gained the ridge, on easy, class 2 terrain

Once on the ridge, I followed it north towards the summit, as the tundra gave way to shale, which had game trails to follow

I summited PT 13509 at 7:20am

PT 13509:

I could see the town of Telluride to the west

Looking north, I could see Telluride Peak

To get there, I made my way northeast to the 13509/Telluride saddle, then northwest to the summit of Telluride.  This was a chossy, class 2 ridge hike with a few game trails mixed in.

The easiest way to access the summit is from a class 2 ramp to the left of the summit boulder

I summited Telluride Peak at 8am

Telluride Peak:

Now to head back to the trailhead.  I looked southeast, and could see Ptarmigan Lake.  I didn’t want to descend that low, so instead I made my way back to the 13509/Telluride saddle

I then continued heading southeast to this point

Once there, I turned right and hugged the side of PT 13265 until I came to a gully

I descended the gully, and aimed for an old cabin I could see to my right

Here’s looking back at the gully I descended

At the cabin I turned left, and headed south through the basin

As I descended, I could see my route in, and decided to take the same route out of the basin.  I could even see the game trail that picked up on the other side (it doesn’t last for long).

Back on the “trail” I followed it southeast as it hugged the mountainside

Then it was back down the drainage that led to the mine

Back at the mine, I picked up the trail that led me back to the 4WD road

Then I followed the road back down to Red Mountain Pass

I made it back to the trailhead at 9:30am, making this an 8.39 mile hike with 2744’ of elevation gain in 4.5 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

T 10 – 13,484 and Trico Peak – 13,321

RT Length: 9.52 miles

Elevation Gain: 3260’

I’m not gunna lie, this was my third attempt at T10.  I’d attempted it twice earlier this year, when there was too much snow to access from the Three Needles side, and another time when I felt the terrain was too loose on the Trico side.  Both times I’d made it to within 100 feet of the summit, but called it for safety reasons.  Also, I’d been in the area, took a bunch of pictures, and I had a plan.  I wanted to make this a class 2 hike in a different way.  Spoiler alert:  I was unable to make that happen. Sorry folks, T10 is class 2D/2+ (both mean steep scree,  and honestly, I’d much rather climb a class 3 peak) from Black Bear Pass, sketchy class 3 from the Three Needles side. 

I was parked at Red Mountain Pass, which had a sign indicating Black Bear Pass was closed to vehicular traffic. Now, a 4WD vehicle can make it to the pass from this side (it was open when I was here in July of this year) but they’ve closed the gate, presumably from difficulties on the other side of the pass, because this side was and has been clear to go.

I and on the trail at 5:30am.  I took 4WD 823 to the Black Bear Pass/Prophyry Basin junction.

I quickly came to the Black Bear Pass/Prophyry Basin junction and continued straight towards Black Bear Pass

Although steep at times, a standard 4WD should be able to make it to the pass if it were open

The pass was indeed closed to vehicular traffic.

I walked around the closure and continued towards Mineral Basin.

The road continues through Mineral Basin all the way to Black Bear Pass. I could now see T10

The road splits before the pass, but both roads circle back to the same place.  I’m assuming the road to the left is for when there’s still snow on the main road, as there was late July of this year.

There is an obvious road that goes all the way to the base of T10

At the end of the road I sat down and strapped on my helmet and microspikes, and looked at the route up. 

Last time, I’d gone too far to the right, and the terrain became too steep to climb.  This time I stayed more to the middle.

There were tons of game trails here, which most likely weren’t game trails at all but runouts from the snow.  The rocks were not stable, no matter what size they were.  Lots of scree here as well.  Here are some pictures of my route up T10.   Be forewarned, it looks like the rocks shift every year.   Some large rocks were in a different place than they were 2 months ago.

Once on the ridge the summit was clear. 

Here you can see the ‘other’ 13477 to the left and the summit cairn circled)

I summited T10 at 7:30am

T10:

There was a storm coming in, so it was windy and cold.  I didn’t stay long, and instead headed back down towards Black Bear Pass the way I’d summited

Back down on the road, I looked over at Trico Peak, and around at the weather. 

It had been sprinkling off and on, and the wind was fierce, but I knew from the last time I did Trico it was a quick and straightforward hike.  I decided to go for it. This is the overall route I took

After the road ends, there is a game trail that goes pretty much all the way to the summit, keeping Trico Peak class 2.

I summited Trico Peak at 8:20am

Trico Peak:

I’d made it, but the wind was fierce, and I could see storms all around me.  I jogged back down to the pass, stopping only a few times to take pictures of the route

Back on the 4WD road, I turned left and followed it back down Mineral Basin to Red Mountain Pass

I made it back to my truck at 9:30am, making this a 9.52 mile hike with 3260’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.

Three Needles – 13,494

RT Length:  8.82 miles

Elevation Gain: 2420’

I drove up the night before, and parked at Red Mountain Pass.  There’s a dispersed campsite you can see from the road that I like, so I parked there.  There are a few more sites further up.

Knowing the area was supposed to get rain and storms starting at 9am, I was up and on the trail at 4:30am.  I followed Road 823 to the junction with Black Bear Pass.

At the junction with Black Bear Pass, I turned left and followed Road 622 through Porphyry Gulch

It was 2.6 miles from Red Mountain Pass to the upper trailhead, on an easy 4WD shelf road with few passing areas.  When I got to the upper trailhead, I was surprised to find someone had set up camp in the upper parking lot/turn around area.  Normally, there’s room for 7 cars here, but these people took up at least 4 spots.  When the ant train of 4WDs come up later today, they are not going to be happy.

The trail starts to the left of the parking area, and is initially well defined.

In the dark, the trail was difficult to find for a bit.  I was aiming for these rocks

Just behind these rocks, a nice trail picks up to the right, and brings you to Bullion King Lake. 

Here’s where the trail ended.  I skirted the lake to the right, and started heading northeast into Porphyry Basin

There’s no need to climb all the way to the top here.  I skirted to the left, and continued heading northwest.  If you look around, you’ll see remnants of old mining equipment and structures in the area, but they’re all flattened at this point.

Here is where I strapped on my helmet and microspikes. I could clearly see Three Needles in front of me.  I went straight up this gully.

The gully was full of shale and scree.  It was loose, and hard to get stable footing.  I was glad to have on my microspikes.  It looks like the terrain shifts every year, as well as every time it rains. Towards the top there are game trails, but they were more needed down below.  Here are some pictures of the gully

At the top of the gully, I turned right, and followed the scree

I was headed here

I looked for a weak point to ascend, and found this chimney.   I didn’t climb up the chimney, but you certainly could

Instead, to the right of the chimney I found a narrow ledge.  Yay!  Being short is finally working out for me when it comes to scrambling!  I climbed up to the right of the chimney, they traversed left to the ridge.

The ridge was short but full of kitty litter and talus. It never got worse than easy class 3, but it was loose. 

This is the overall route I took to the summit

And some step-by-step pictures

I summited Three Needles at 6:45am

Three Needles:

I had cell service, so I checked the weather, and even though I could see dark clouds and virga in the moonlight this morning, it looked like the weather had been pushed back until later in the day.  So I decided to sit on the summit for a bit, and enjoy the cell service and sunrise.

This was an out and back hike for me, so I retraced my steps to the access gully

Once again, I did not descend the chimney, but ducked under a rock ledge to the left, then headed down

At the bottom of the chimney I turned left, and headed back to the access gully

From the top of the gully, I could see my route out of the basin

The gully was much easier to navigate heading down, but still very loose.

Now to make my way back to Bullion King Lake

And pick up the trail on the other side that lead me back to the 4WD road

Back at the upper trailhead, I followed the 4WD road back to Red Mountain Pass

 

I made it back to Red Mountain Pass at 9am, making this an 8.82 mile hike with 2420’ of elevation gain in 4.5 hours.

Mahana Peak – 12,643 and Isolation Peak – 13,114

RT Length:  21.79 miles

Elevation Gain:  5665’

I parked at the Wild Basin Trailhead inside Rocky Mountain National Park and was on the trail at 4am. There’s plenty of parking here, but they have timed entry from 9am-2pm every day. 

The trailhead starts at the south end of the parking area

I followed the signs for Ouzel Lake/Bluebird Lake.  This class 1 trail is really well marked, so it’s difficult to get lost if you read the signs.  I passed several waterfalls (Copeland Falls, Calypso Falls, and Ouzel Falls).

After hiking for 4.75 miles I came to the junction for Ouzel Lake and Bluebird Lake.  I turned right onto the Bluebird Lake Trail.

I didn’t stay on this trail long however.  Maybe about 10 yards or so. Then I left the trail and headed northeast to gain the ridge

This is where I startled a moose.  He was about 15 feet away from me when I saw him, so I quickly ducked behind a large boulder.  Usually, moose run away when they see you, or ignore you, but this guy seemed interested in me.  I’ve seen probably over a hundred moose in Colorado, and I’ve only been charged once.  This guy looked like he wanted to charge me, so I remained hidden.  For a solid 15 minutes, every time I peeked out from behind the boulder, he was still staring at the boulder I’d hidden behind.  I know moose have poor eyesight, so while he knew I was still there, he was probably trying to figure out if I were a threat or not.  (That’s Chickadee Pond in the background).

Eventually I crawled away on my hands and knees so he couldn’t see me in the brush, and continued my way up the ridge.  This included a lot of bushwhacking through downed trees.  A lot of downed trees.

Once I made it to the ridge, I followed it west to treeline

The route from here was straightforward.  I stayed o the ridge, following it west.  The terrain started out as loose rocks, then changed to tundra.

When you get to the tundra, don’t be fooled:  this is a false summit.  Stay to the left of it

This is the true summit of Manaha Peak.  It’s easy class 2 to get there

I summited Mahana Peak at 9am

Mahana Peak:

From Mahana Peak, I could see Isolation Peak to the northwest

To get there, I headed northeast along the ridge until I came to a low point, and then headed northwest towards the ridge.

This is the overall route I took to gain the ridge of Isolation Peak.  If you look carefully, you will see a green band of grass that makes the route easy to follow.  I descended on rocky terrain, then was greeted with tundra, then rocky tundra as I ascended.

Once on the ridge, I turned left and could see Isolation Peak to the southwest. This was a class 2 hike, sticking to game trails either directly on or to the left of the ridge, until the last 10 feet or so, when it was a quick class 3 scramble to the summit

I’m pretty sure this block is the summit.  I sat on it, but briefly.  Pictures/video were difficult.  The summit rocks didn’t feel stable, and I could see through them to air below if I looked down. 

I summited Isolation Peak at 10:30am

Isolation Peak:

Here’s looking back at Mahana Peak from Isolation Peak

If you’re not up for class 3-4 scrambling, now’s the time to head back the way you came in, towards Mahana.  It’s the fastest route.  If you’re up for some scrambling, strap on your helmet if you haven’t already, and head northeast along the ridge.  Some of this ridge I’d consider choose your own adventure.  This is the route I took, keeping it class 3, with some easy class 4 scrambling (down chimneys/gullies).

I was now back to where I ascended the ridge, and followed the ridge northeast.  There is a lot of elevation gain and loss on this descent

I went to the right of this boulder.  Getting through was sketchy class 3.  The boulders were large, but there was a lot of empty space between them, and they didn’t feel solid. 

My next objective was to make it here (this was class 2, sticking to the ridge)

This is where it got a bit tricky.  I turned left, and descended into a rather large and steep gully.  I spent a lot of time in this gully route finding, and my advice is to stick to the gully proper until you make it down to 12160’.  You’re trying to go below this rock formation, which goes a lot further down than you’d think.

I turned left, and descended into the gully

I came to a place that looked like it cliffed out, but it was really just a drop onto a boulder, then a 7-foot downclimb. 

Here’s looking back up at the gully

And a look at the final drop.  The boulder in the middle was essential to the descent.

This was at about 12160’, where I stopped descending the gully, and looked for a grassy ledge climbers right. 

I made it to the ledge, descended another grassy ledge, then reascended a grassy ledge to re-gain the ridge

For those of you doing this the opposite way, here’s a look back at the grassy ledge I descended.  You can see why I had to drop down so low in the gully, with the sheer cliff face to navigate.

Here’s how I got around the next few obstacles

And that was it for the climbing for today.  I kept my helmet on because I still had a scree-gully to descend, but all the class 3 and 4 stuff was done.  I’d wanted to head over to Mt Alice today too, but clouds were forming and I didn’t think it was a good idea.  I headed towards Boulder-Grand Pass, turned right, and descended the gully towards Lake of Many Winds.  From the pass, it was 9.5 miles back to the trailhead.

A good trail picks up here, and leads all the way back to the Wild Basin Trailhead.  Here you can see Thunder Lake.  This trail becomes the Thunder Lake Trail, skirting the lake to the left.  This is a class 1 trail.  Once again, it’s very well marked, with signs indicating the route back to the Wild Basin Trailhead

I made it back to the trailhead at 4:45pm, making this a 21.79 mile hike with 5665’ of elevation gain in 12 hours, 45 minutes, at least according to CalTopo.  Strava gave me drastically different numbers

On to the next trailhead!

Jones Mountain B – 13,214

RT Length: 6.04 miles

Elevation Gain: 2361’

I’d parked about 6 miles past Cottonwood Lake, at the junction of 344/349.  There are a few dispersed campsites in the area, and a few further up as well.  I was up and on the trail at 4:45am, hoping this would be a quick hike because I had other things to do this afternoon. 

The trail starts by following 4WD road 349.  It’s a narrow 4WD road, but if your vehicle made it this far, it can make it all the way to the top of the road

I followed the road for 2.3 miles, up to about 12,330’. 

I didn’t know it at the time, as it was still dark, but I could have taken the road all the way up to the ridge, and then taken the ridge to the summit, which would have been easier.  I’ll have pictures of that route on the way back down.  Here’s where the road goes to:

Anyway, I didn’t take the road up, instead, I decided to gain the ridge here

This route was very straightforward

I also got to see a beautiful sunrise

From the I turned right and followed the ridge northeast.  From the ridge it was a short .25 mile hike to the summit. 

I summited Jones Mountain B at 6:30am

Jones Mountain B:

It was rather cold and windy on the summit, making it feel like fall.  I turned around and, in the daylight, noticed the road I’d hiked in on went all the way to the ridge, so I followed the ridge southeast back to the road.

Some ptarmigans overlooking Ptarmigan Lake

Here’s the route up the ridge from where the ridge meets the road

Back on road 349, I followed it all the way back down to road 344

I made it back to my truck at 7:45am, making this a 6.04 mile hike with 2361’ of elevation gain in 3 hours.

Now it’s time to head back home to harvest a couple hundred apples from the tree in my backyard before the thunderstorms hit for the day. 

Mt Kruetzer – 13,122 and Chalk Rock Mountain – 13,064

RT Length: 10.43 miles

Elevation Gain: 3117’

My plans for this weekend changed last minute.  I got gas and was on my way, but suddenly my engine light turned on, saying there was a transmission problem, and to get to my dealer right away. I have less than 25,000 miles on my truck, so this concerned me.  I decided to pull over on the side of the road to google what could be wrong.  The next exit I came to there was a man wearing only jeans, holding a 6 foot 2×4 over his shoulders, swaying back and forth on the side of the off-ramp.  It was 1am.  I decided to wait for the next exit. 

I googled the warning notification, and it turned out the light could be one of over 40 things wrong.  With cars and mountaineering, hope is not a strategy.   I thought about it for a minute, and finally decided driving 6 hours and then another hour off road was probably a bad idea, so I turned around and headed to the nearest dealership, and slept in my truck until they opened at 7am. 

Bugs.  Bugs were what was wrong.  Bugs on my windshield and bugs on my grille were obscuring the sensors from doing their jobs.  The sensors were now clean, and I was good to go, with the admonition I should wash my truck more often.  To which I replied “It’s a truck.  It’s supposed to get dirty.  If not, you have no business owning a truck.”  Seriously though, washing my truck in the summer lasts a good 6 hour drive to the next trailhead, and doesn’t seem worth the money.  I got a high five and was out of there, now a day behind, so summit modifications would need to be made. 

I made it to the trailhead in a thunderstorm, which I’d expected.  It was my plan to wait it out, and start in the morning.  I parked 6 miles past Cottonwood Lake, at the junctions of 344 and 349.  There are dispersed campsites closer, but I planned to be here for a few days and this made a good base camp. 

I was up and on the trail at 4:15am to a clear, starry night ski, hoping to get in my summits before the clouds and rain came at 9am.  I followed road 344 west for 1.4 miles.

I then turned right onto  344G.  There were several dispersed campsites here as well.

I followed this road all the way to 12,020. 

I passed an old log cabin

Staying left, I continued to 12,020

At 12,020 I turned left, and followed a trail northeast through Mineral Basin

This is where I was headed, towards the saddle.  The road is sometimes a trail, sometimes two ruts, but it goes all the way to the saddle.

I’m going to apologize for the pictures on the ridge.  The weather forecast said 57% sky cover until 9am, when the clouds were supposed to roll in, but as you can see, they arrived early. I thought about waiting the clouds out, but it was obvious they were just accumulating.  At one point I even turned back, knowing I’d need to do this hike again anyway to get better pictures, but turned around again and summited, because I was so close.  While this is a class 2 ridge hike, I hiked it with my compass out the entire time, as I couldn’t see more than a few yards ahead of me at a time. I’m going to show you some really terrible pictures of the route, but know from the saddle it’s .7 miles southwest, and then .8 miles south/southeast along the ridge, mostly on tundra with a few rocks thrown in. 

At the saddle I turned left, and headed up the ridge

The summit is obvious, after quite a few false summits.  Here I saw a mountain goat run past me into the mist.  The summit was noted by an obvious cairn (that needs a new summit register)

It’s important to note by this time I was feeling like a popsicle.  I could not feel my hands and my feet felt like blocks of ice. Apparently it’s wet and cold hiking inside of a cloud. 

I summited Mt Kruetzer at 7am

Mt Kruetzer:

I made my way back to the saddle.  I’ll apologize again for the terrible pictures, and promise to climb these peaks again someday so I can get better photos of the route.

Back on the saddle, I headed northeast towards Chalk Rock mountain

This is the route I took up.  It was obvious why it’s named “Chalk Rock Mountain”.  There were game trails here, and the summit was surprisingly close. From the saddle, it was only .3 miles to the summit.

The summit was relatively flat, without a noticeable cairn

I summited Chalk Rock Mountain at 8:10am

Chalk Rock Mountain:

More than ready to be out of the clouds, I turned around and headed southwest back to the saddle.

Back on the saddle, I turned left and followed the road back down into the basin

This is the route out of the basin

I turned right onto the road and followed it back down

Back at road 344 I turned left, and followed it back to my campsite

I made it back to my truck at 9:45am, making this a 10.43 mile hike with 3117’ of elevation gain in 5 hours, 30 minutes. Now it’s time to dry out my shoes, socks, and feet for tomorrow morning.

On to the next trailhead!

Oh, and this is what the mountain looked like as I hiked down.  The clouds never went away!

The next morning I hiked Jones Mountain B.  Unlike yesterday, the there were no visible stars, as the sky was cloudy.  However, once I made it to the ridge, I could see Kruetzer and Chalk Rock were clear.  Here are some more visuals of the route

As you can see, it’s mostly a ridge hike.