13232 – Wild Wanderer

PT 13121, Mt Nebo – 13,209, and PT 13232

Route Length: 8.55 miles

Elevation Gain: 3732’

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!

Jenkins Mountain – 13,432, PT 13,145 & PT 13,232

RT Length: 13.75 miles

Elevation Gain: 5322’

Snow had been forecasted for today, but not until later in the afternoon. I made it to the North Fork Creek Trailhead on an easy 4WD road, and it was foggy out. I was hoping the fog would lift as the sun came up, but it ended up snowing off and on all day. Luckily there was no wind, so the snow was actually enjoyable (if annoying because I couldn’t see very far). I was on the trail at 5:30am.

I followed North Fork Creek Trail for 2.75 miles southwest to treeline at 11,250’, without gaining or losing much elevation. I never crossed the creek.

Here the trail stopped. I’d hoped by now the sun would have lifted the fog, but unfortunately, it started snowing instead, and visibility wasn’t great.

Here’s a view of the route I took to the ridge, from back on the trail later in the day

I followed the path of least resistance and headed southwest towards a rocky gully and the ridge (better pictures later). There was a fog, so I didn’t get great photos, but here are some pictures of what I could see:

The rocky gully area brought me to the ridge between point 13050 and 13015. I couldn’t see far, which was frustrating, but I knew to continue following the ridge southwest. Luckily, I came back to this spot later I the day, so I have clear pictures of this part of the hike. The rocks here rolled. In the morning they were icy, so I had to be especially careful.

I followed the ridge towards 13050. This ridge was easy to follow, even when it was snowing. I stuck to the ridge proper, only dipping down to the left one time. This can all be kept at class 2.

Once at PT 13050 I turned right and headed northwest towards Jenkins Mountain, first losing about 230’ of elevation.

This was another ridge hike, where I briefly dipped down to the left to avoid some rocks

Here are some pictures of the ridge, up to the first “false summit”. If you can’t stay on the ridge, dip down to the left.

From the top of the false summit, I lost a little bit of elevation, but it was an easy ridge hike to the true summit of Jenkins Mountain. I’m sure this would be a piece of cake on a clear day. Today however, the ridges were frustrating because I didn’t have visuals of how far they ‘went’

I summited Jenkins Mountain at 10am

Jenkins Mountain:

I was happy to see it looked like the weather was starting to improve. There was a summit register. I turned and headed back towards PT 13050.

Halfway down the ridge I could see PT 13050, as well as PT 13140

I didn’t completely re-summit PT 13050. Here’s an overview of the route I took to PT 13140

And some step-by-step pictures

I could stay on top of the ridge for most of the ridge; it wasn’t until the end I needed to dip right.

After the false summit I needed to dip down and lose about 75’ of elevation

I regained the ridge

And this is how I summited PT 13140. I’m sure there was some sort of a trail here, but it was currently covered in snow. The last few feet are ‘choose your own adventure’, all class 2.

I summited PT 13140 at 11:30am

PT 13140:

From the summit, here’s looking back at the trek from Jenkins, as well as the next few points for the day

For reference, this is how I gained the ridge to the saddle between PT 13050 and 13015. It’s kind of a ridge itself.

And another view, from PT 13140, looking back at how I exited the basin and gained the ridge. I headed back to PT 13050.

Here’s looking northeast at PT 13015 from 13050.

This was a class 2 hike all the way to PT 13015

From the summit of PT 13015 I could see my next peak: Pt 13232.

This is the route I took to get there:

This route had me turning and following the ridge for a short distance northwest, descending a scree, rock, and snow filled gully, crossing the basin, finding another gully and ascending it to a slanting plateau/ramp, taking the plateau to the ridge, and then following the ride to the summit. Here are some step-by-step pictures:

I lost 850’ of elevation, heading int the basin

I then headed northeast and crossed the basin, heading towards an access gully (alternately, you can lose more elevation, skirt the then re-ascend the ramp, but I wanted a more direct route.

Here’s a closer look at that gully. It was as 2+ gully, but wasn’t technical at all.

At the top of the gully I turned left and headed towards the saddle, then took the ridge to the summit (all class 2)

Here’s looking back at the way I took down and across the basin from 13015

The ridge was rocky, but easy to follow. I tried to stay where the rocks met the tundra.

I summited PT 13232 at 2:45pm. It was now snowing, but it was a nice, gentle snow.

PT 13232:

I could see the trailhead from the summit to the northeast: now I just needed to get there. I descended the ridge to the northeast. Not far, just a few yards, found a scree filled gully, and took that to tundra. I then aimed northeast towards North Fork Lake Creek, until I found the trail and followed it back to the trailhead.

Sorry for the foggy pictures here: I was in the clouds and it was snowing much of the day. The trailhead is circled in red