This was my first time at Hancock Ghost Town. There wasn’t much to it… but there was good parking and the 4WD road looked doable in a 2WD, even in snow. There was a lot of ice/snow on the road, but that was to be expected for this time of year. There was an abandoned RV parked with “No Trespassing” signs just before the parking area. I’m sure the signs were more to protect the mining claim behind the RV than the RV itself, which was missing several windows and looked occupied by wildlife. Due to the ice and snow, it was also muddy, so I decided not to park at the Alpine Tunnel Trailhead, but at the parking area just before the bridge, where there was less mud.
I got to bed quite early, and woke up to my alarm at 6am. I was surprised I hadn’t been cold, considering it was 22 degrees outside when I woke up and there was a layer of frost on my windows. I ate breakfast, gathered my gear, and was on the trail at 6:30am.
I was following Road 295 south, towards Hancock Lake. It was dark out, but there was a full moon and the road was easy to follow. I just had to watch out for ice.
After hiking for 1.6 miles, I made it to Hancock Lake, where the road ended and I picked up trail 1422, skirting the lake to the west, before following the trail east up Chalk Creek Pass. Here the footprints and tire tracks ended, and I was now making my own tracks in the snow. I kept thinking what a wonderful basin this would be for a moose, when I came across some moose tracks. The tracks were facing the opposite direction, so I knew running into a moose was unlikely. I followed them all the way over Chalk Creek Pass. This is a good view of the hike to the pass, and the ridge to Van Wit.
Here’s the route up to the pass, all class 1, sprinkled with snow. At the junction, take the trail that goes left, towards Chalk Creek Pass.
At the pass I turned right, and headed southwest along the ridge.
This is normally a class 2 ridge, but today, due to the snow, there were class 3 areas (on all the ridges with snow today). I continued following the ridge, being mindful of loose rocks and voids beneath the snow. From the ridge I had great views of all 4 peaks I’d be climbing today
I stuck to the ridge proper, dipping to the right only when necessary
Topping out of the ridge there was some snow to deal with, but a cairn leading the way
I turned left and followed the ridge south, towards an obvious cairn indicating the summit of Van Wit
I passed the cairn indicating I was at the unranked summit of Van Wit, and continued following the class 2 ridge towards Monumental Peak
Here are some pictures of the rocky ridge
I summited Monumental Peak at 9:30am
Monumental Peak:
I re-traced my steps back to Van Wit, following the ridge and my tracks in the snow.
Back at the summit of Van Wit, I now followed the ridge northwest, towards Van Wirt. Due to the snow, this was class 3. I took a lot of time carefully navigating the rocks and snow on the way down, losing about 620’ of elevation.
From the Van Wit/Van Wirt Saddle, here’s looking up at Van Wirt
The ridge up to Van Wirt was rocky, but easy to navigate, especially without snow. I just followed the ridge, gaining about 375’ in elevation
From the summit of Van Wirt, here’s looking back at Van Wit
And now, to head over to Hancock Peak. Here’s the actual summit (you’ll know it because it has a cairn, and it’s in the middle of the upper, long ridge)
I followed the ridge north, losing about 275’ in elevation towards the Van Wirt/Hancock Peak saddle, once again, being careful where I placed my feet with the rolling rocks and snow (all still class 2).
At the saddle I saw recent tracks from an adventurous fox, who decided to go down the gully this morning towards Hancock Lakes
Here’s looking back at Van Wirt
And now, to regain 375’ to the summit of Hancock Peak. This was rocky, but I was able to follow the ridge directly, keeping it difficult class 2
Here I went a little left, but could have gone straight over the top.
More ridge photos…
I crossed directly through the snow, which wasn’t as bad as it looked (note, this is a false summit)
Once at the top of this point, I could see the true summit to the northwest. You guessed it: I followed the ridge
I summited Hancock Peak at 12:30pm
Hancock Peak:
There was a torn-up summit register hidden in the cairn. The last person to sign was here over a month ago.
I was making this a loop, so I continued following the ridge northwest
I was headed towards Hancock Pass. At the end of the ridge, just before losing elevation, you can see the pass
I descended towards Hancock Pass, losing 850’ of elevation on rocky and scree filled terrain
From the pass, here’s looking back up the ridge
I turned right, and followed Road 299 for 2.5 miles back to the trailhead.
About halfway back I came across moose tracks again, headed up the pass. That moose was moving! It looked like he was just passing through after the storm, and did so quickly.
I made it back to my truck at 2pm, making this a 10.27 mile hike with 3629’ of elevation gain in 7.5 hours.
Independence Pass is still open, so I decided to try and get in a few peaks before it closes. I drove to the Independence Lake Trailhead the morning of the hike, instead of the night before: every time I drive by this trailhead at night I see porcupines (plural) underneath vehicles parked there. I wonder how many times hikers have returned to their vehicles to find chewed wires at this trailhead? This morning I was hoping it was cold enough, and late enough where they wouldn’t be out. There weren’t any other vehicles in the parking area, and no porcupines in sight.
I gathered my gear and was on the trail at 6am, headed north, following trail 1996. The moon was full, so it was easy to navigate without a flashlight.
I followed this class 1 trail for just over half a mile before leaving the trail to head north. Here’s an overview of my route.
Here are some closer pictures of the route up to the Geissler West/East saddle. I went right at the only junction
After half a mile of hiking I left the trail and continued heading north, easily avoiding the willows by staying to the west
As I neared the back of the basin, I ascended by hugging a rock outcropping and drainage
And then made my way towards the Geissler West/East saddle. I actually stayed a little to the left to avoid snow, and because I was hiking Geissler West first
Right about now the sun was beginning to rise from behind me. I love alpine sunrises!
I continued heading towards the saddle
Once at the saddle, I then turned left, and was surprised at how much snow there was on the ridge to Geissler Mountain West.
I would have liked to have taken the gully to the summit, but the snow as sugary and unconsolidated, and above my waist in places, making my ice axe and spikes useless, so I took the ridge. This posed its own set of challenges, as the snow on the ridge was either covering the rocks, or covering the voids. It was “choose your own adventure” to find out which. There was some class 3 scrambling here, but I was able to take the ridge proper.
Here are some pictures of the ridge
Once at the top of the ridge I needed to head west towards the summit. The snow here was up to my waist. I headed towards the next ridge
I gingerly climbed up this ridge, once again, staying directly on top of the ridge. This was class 3 as well.
Only to find it was a false summit! Here’s the true summit of Geissler Mountain West
I dropped my gear and just brought my camera with me, climbing over the snow and then hand-over-fisting it on the rocks to the actual summit. This was class 3 with some exposure. I didn’t take the snow because it was an unconsolidated drift, with a lot of voids to twist an ankle, sink up to my chest, or worse
I summited Geissler Mountain West at 8:25am
Geissler Mountain West:
I followed my tracks back to the Geissler West/East saddle
Now to head up towards Geissler East. Spoiler alert: there are several false summits. Also, once I could no longer stick to the ridge, I went right, and kept going right, hugging the south side of the mountain
This ridge is mainly class 2, with a few class 3 moves sprinkled in. The class 3 moves probably could have been avoided, if there hadn’t been snow. Here are some pictures of the route
Remember, there are a lot of false summits… and keep heading right
And finally! The true summit!
I summited Geissler Mountain East at 9:30am
Geissler Mountain East:
From the summit I could see the trailhead
I decided to re-trace my steps back to the saddle. This was easy, as I just followed my footprints.
And from the saddle I made my way back down into the basin, once again, following my tracks (I love that snow allows the re-tracing of steps to be so easy!)
Back down to the willows, and eventually the trail
I made it back to my truck at 11am, making this a 5.97 mile hike with 2381’ of elevation gain in 5 hours.
I wanted an early start for this peak, but not too early. I knew it had snowed the past couple of days, but only a few inches: I had no idea what to expect when it came to conditions, above or below treeline. I got a later start than usual because I was making this a loop and wanted to get pictures on the way in of the route. I gathered my gear and was on the trail at 5:30am.
I started following the Gibson Creek trail west, and after about .1 of a mile, turned right onto 1336 (the sign is still damaged) and followed 1336 past the first junction (this is where the loop connects) and turned left onto 1349. I had hiked for a total of 1.3 miles at this point.
There was now snow on the trail. It was still dark, and I could hear an owl hooting in the trees. I saw lots of rabbit tracks, and some elk tracks as well. Mine were the first footprints. I continued following trail 1349 as it switchbacked up the mountainside.
At 10350’, and after a total of 3.4 miles of hiking, the trail will stop increasing in elevation and start heading towards trail 1351. It was here I left the trail and headed west up the ridge. I was worried there would be a lot of downfall here, like there is when heading up towards Gibbs Peak, but the ridgeline was surprisingly manageable below treeline.
Along the ridge I came across two separate sets of bear tracks, both heading south
I kept heading west, following the ridge. Just at treeline, and before topping out, I skirted the ridge to the left.
There is no need to ascend to PT 12245. Instead, I stayed just a bit south of the point, then gained the ridge by losing elevation.
Once on the ridge the conditions varied. They started out with easy, lightly covered-in-snow tundra. I followed the ridge southwest.
I was able to see Mount Marcy and Silver Peak clearly at this point.
I continued following the ridge southwest, through varying conditions. There were a lot of elevation gains and losses. I was aiming for the point in the middle. The difficult areas are circled in red (only difficult because of today’s current snow conditions). The rest of the ridge was a class 2 ridge walk.
The snow had drifted in some areas, and snowshoes were helpful.
I went straight up and over this, using snowshoes in the beginning, and then taking them off to scramble up the rock.
Here I dipped down to the right to navigate the rocks, and then quickly re-gained the ridge
Here are the next few obstacles, and the path I took. If I didn’t stay directly on the ridge, I dipped to the right.
I kept aiming for the highest point on the ridge
The last push was the hardest. This was difficult class 3 climbing on the snow. I stayed mostly in the center of the ridge
Here are some closer pictures of the class 3 scrambling to the top
From the top, here’s looking back at the ridge
I now turned right and followed the easy ridge towards Mount Marcy
It was difficult to tell where the true summit was, and there were two cairns at the top. I went with the one furthest north, as it had a summit register and required me to pass the first cairn, thus ensuring I’d hit the summit at some point.
I summited Mount Marcy at 11:40am
Mount Marcy:
I headed back the way I’d come, and headed towards Silver Peak. I didn’t re-summit the high point, but skirted it to the right on easy terrain
And then followed the ridge to the saddle
Here’s looking back at Mount Marcy. The black arrow is how I accessed the ridge
But now, to continue towards Silver Peak
I made it to the saddle, and picked my route. By sticking to the very top of the ridge I was able to keep this class 3, although there were some tricky moves with the snow. Here’s the route I took
And some closer pictures of the ridge
Topping out of the ridge was class 2
I then headed south towards the summit
I summited Silver Peak at 1pm
Silver Peak:
I was making this a loop, so from here I wanted to descend into the Lakes of the Clouds basin. To do this I followed the ridge about 50 feet south, then turned left and headed east. It’s important to follow the contour of the ridge, as it cliffs out if you go too far north. Here’s a visual from earlier in the day. You’re trying to avoid the cliffs I the circled area
Please note: I’ll show you how I made it down to the Lakes of the Clouds, but I do NOT recommend this as a winter/winter conditions route, and it’s probably not ideal in summer either. There was snow in the top of the avalanche chute, and it was mid-October. The gullies were unstable and difficult to navigate while covered in snow, and it was hard to find a direct route down. The only positive was the creeks were low, so I was able to walk directly in them to avoid the willows. (Willows: another reason to avoid this route, just go back and take the ridge down).
I made my way into the basin, first heading south, and then east
Once I could see them, I was aiming for this lake, where a trail would pick up
The route required me to cross/use an avalanche route/drainage area. To navigate this, I stayed as high as possible, once crossing the drainage
I stuck to the stream whenever possible, which would ultimately lead to the lake
I have to say, this part of the hike was miserable. I had to watch every step, and took considerable time dusting snow off rocks to make sure I had secure hand/foot placement. It was getting later in the day, so snow stuck to my microspikes. I lost a spike somewhere along the way… probably in a stream crossing, as the snow that had built up on my foot became engorged with water, much as a snow cone would when adding syrup, became heavy, and slushed into the muck. Long story short: my feet were wet the entire hike back to my truck.
Here’s looking back at how I came down from Silver Peak. The top of the avalanche area is circled in red, and flows all the way to the lakes
I skirted the lake to the left and at the north end of the lake came upon trail 1349, which was packed down this morning by fishermen heading to the lakes
I took Trail 1349 for 3.75 miles, back to Trail 1336, and the to the Gibson Trailhead. This is a great, class 1 trail. The only downside are all the softball-volleyball sized rocks littering the path
I made it back to my truck at 4:30pm, making this a 16.6 mile hike with 5573’ of elevation gain in 11 hours.
I was the only one at the Lake Ann/Huron Peak trailhead at 5pm on a Friday, and I was thrilled! The 4WD road to the upper trailhead was a little rougher than I remembered it, but the drive had been worth it to be the only one there. I jotted down some notes from the days hike, sipped some whiskey, and looked at notes for tomorrow. It was still light out when I curled up in the back seat of my Tacoma and drifted off to sleep to the sound of pounding rain: that meant fresh snow on the peak tomorrow!
I woke up and things seemed dry outside, which was odd for the amount of rain I’d heard last night. I put on my winter gear anyway and was on the trail at 5:30am. The trail starts at the south end of the parking area, and continues heading south, towards Lake Ann. Be sure to take the Lake Ann trail, NOT the Huron Peak Trail
I hiked 4 miles south along a class 1 trail to Lake Ann
Stay left at this crossing
At the second crossing I went right
And crossed a creek on a ‘pretty-solid’ bridge
Finally, I started gaining elevation as I made my way towards Lake Ann
Just after making it to treeline, go left at this junction.
And you’ll arrive at Lake Ann
The goal is to skirt the north side of the lake, and enter the upper basin
Here’s an overview of the route
And some step-by-step pictures into the upper basin
Once in the upper basin I aimed to ascend the amphitheater. This can be done multiple ways. I decided to stay left on the way up (solid line), and follow (very faint) game trails, and I went right on the way down (dotted line). The orange arrow is where you’ll eventually be aiming.
Here’s another picture of the amphitheater
Once at the top of the amphitheater I was in another basin. I turned right, and followed the ridge. I’m sure the best way to ascend this gully is straight up the gully, but today there was unconsolidated snow blocking that route. Even with microspikes I wasn’t able to get traction the gully direct, so I took the rocks to the right.
Here are some closer pictures of the gully
At the top of the gully I went left
Which brought me to the ridge (and a cairn!)
I turned left and followed the ridge northeast. This is a class 2 ridge, which I was able to stay on the top of the ridge to hike most of the way.
Here it gets a little dicey. If there hadn’t been snow, I would have taken the ridge all the way to the summit. However, with the snow and ice today things were slippery, and the exposure was real (to the left). I decided to dip down to avoid some of the worst of the exposure. I did this a little later than I should have, as it as getting spicy already. The area with exposure is circled in red. This is how I summited West Apostle
Here’s a picture of the ridge
And this is the exposure I was avoiding
So, I dipped down to the right and kept it class 2
I summited West Apostle at 9:30am
West Apostle:
There was a summit register, but it was a pipe one missing its lid, so I replaced it with a jar. Here’s looking back at the false summit
I headed back the same way I summited, heading west, avoiding the area with exposure
Here’s what that looks like after dipping down
Back on the ridge, I followed it to the saddle.
The cairn was helpful in finding the correct exit from the ridge in all this snow.
I made my way back down towards the gully, staying as much to the west as possible, avoiding the gully direct and sticking to the rocky area.
I then re-entered the basin, and headed west towards Lake Ann
Back at Lake Ann, it was easy to pick up the class 1 trail and follow it back to the trailhead.
I made it back to my truck at 12:30pm, making this a 12.04 mile hike with 3575’ of elevation gain in 7 hours.
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
I descended to the north, and round a gully to take down heading southeast, and turned left at the tundra
I then headed northeast towards North Fork Lake Creek
For reference, here’s looking up the gully I took down from PT 13232
Once on the trail I followed it back to the trailhead.
I made it back to y truck at 4:30pm, making this a 13.75 mile hike with 5322’ of elevation gain I 11 hours.
I got lost in the dark on the drive up to Loch Lomand and accidentally took an intense 4WD road. Let’s just say, if you’re on a 4WD road that requires serious 4WD skills, you’re on the wrong road. I made it to Loch Lomand, passing several great dispersed camping sides along the way, parked, and was on the trail at 5:45am.
It was still dark when I started out, and I didn’t take the most efficient route, but your main goal is to get to the upper basin, near Lake Caroline. I did this by following a trail around the Loch, and then heading west, up a gully. You’re aiming to get here, by avoiding as many willows as possible.
I started by following this trail
And then headed up a gully
Eventually the willows ran out, and I was on rocky tundra. I followed this tundra west
Once un the upper basin, I kept Lake Caroline to my right and gained the ridge. This can be done any number of ways, Here’s my route:
It was rocky here, but all class 2
Once on the ridge, I could see the summit cairns to the northwest, and aimed for the summit of Mt Bancroft.
I summited unranked Mt Bancroft at 7am. There were two large cairns at the summit.
Mt Bancroft:
From Mt Bancroft I turned and looked west. It was a simple ridge hike to both Parry Peak and Mt Eva.
I followed the ridge west towards Parry Peak. Here the wind picked up, and didn’t stop for the rest of the hike. There were faint trails here
I summited Parry Peak at 7:30am
Parry Peak:
It was WINDY! Much windier than the forecasted 5-10mph. I was glad I’d packed my winter gloves. As I recall, the last time I was on this ridge it was super windy as well. The wind made the nice day quite cold. There was a storm coming in, so I kept going, turning and following the ridge southwest towards Mt Eva. There are faint trails here too.
This was another simple ridge hike, that got a bit rockier at the end.
I summited Mt Eva at 8am
Mt Eva:
Today felt really laidback: it was easy to cruise along the ridgeline, without any major obstacles keeping me from slowing down. Here’s looking back at Parry Peak and Mt Bancroft from Mt Eva
There was a downed communications tower near the summit of Mt Eva. I’m guessing wind was involved.
And now to head back to Parry Peak.
I re-summited Parry Peak, and then headed back to Mt Bancroft. I decided to actually summit these peaks again, as it felt like a really easy day and I welcomed the extra elevation gain.
Mt Bancroft from Parry Peak
I re-summited Mt Bancroft, and then followed the ridge southeast
Here’s my overall route out of the basin, keeping Lake Caroline to my left this time
I just kept aiming east, for Loch Lomand
It was much easier in the light of day to navigate my way
I made my way east to the trail, then followed the trail southeast to my truck
I made it back to my truck at 10:15am, making this a 7.29 mile hike with 3921’ of elevation gain in 4.5 hours. I was surprised at how quick todays hike seemed to be. As I looked behind me, huge storm clouds were starting to form: it’s going to snow!
The Rico-Silverton Trailhead past South Mineral Creek has to be one of my favorite trailheads to spend the night. The 4WD road in isn’t very 4WD (except for the creek crossings), and there are rarely any people there. Also, no marmots. I was woken up in the middle of the night by a rustling sound I thought was a rodent in my truck, but ended up realizing it was just my elbow brushing a bag of chips.
It was another cold night, but I was ready to go at 5:45am. It was still dark, but I’ve taken this trail numerous times, so I knew which way to go.
The trail starts at the south end of the parking area, and immediately crosses the creek
I followed this class 1 trail all the way to treeline, crossing the creek several times along the way.
Another perk of hiking here is a mama moose owns this basin. Every year for the past few years I’ve seem mama, mama and baby, or mama and yearling in this basin. It’s been neat to see mama get bigger, and baby(ies) as well. This yearling seems to be female, as she didn’t have antlers. I saw these two just as it was beginning to get light out, so the pictures didn’t turn out well. As soon as they noticed me they headed south, slowly making their way over the pass.
I hiked the Rico-Silverton Trail for 2.2 miles, to about 11925’, and then left the trail to follow the contour of the upper basin east, towards the south side of Twin Sisters. This is the route I took
And some step-by-step pictures:
There are some faint game trails here, but they aren’t really needed, as long as you’re heading for the base of the mountain
Once there, I found a clear path through the willows and ascended the talus
I was surprised when I heard coyotes yipping during the day: I usually only hear them at night
Coyotes:
Following this line brought me to the base of the rock outcroppings. I put on my microspikes, and followed where the slabs met talus until I found the gullies.
All of the gullies go, but, as I found out on my way back down, find the first one and stick with it (turn left and follow it to the ridge). You’re aiming for the ridge, which means hiking northwest. Microspikes were extremely helpful here. This shouldn’t be more difficult than class 2+
It’s going to be a chossy-talus-scree-filled mess, but it’ll go
Once on the ridge, I followed it northeast, staying on the ridge. There’s a false summit here. I kept my spikes on, but they were overkill. The rock here was talus, and annoying, but firm.
Hitting the false summit was a bit of a downer, but the hike had been easy thus far, so it was kind of expected. I continued following the ridge. There’s a quick chasm to cross in the circled area. It can be kept at 2+. I dipped down to the left about 30 feet, then re-ascended and started climbing towards the summit
Form here it was a simple ridge hike to the summit
I summited Twin Sisters West at 8:40am
Twin Sisters West:
From the summit of ‘west’ it was easy to see the route to Twin Sisters East: I just needed to follow the ridge
There were no big surprises on this one. There were some game trails to the right, but they didn’t seem prudent. I just followed the ridge, and then closely navigated the rock problems, which were all class 2. This is the route I took
And some closer pictures
The summit was relatively flat. I wasn’t sure where the exact summit was, so I waked the entire length, just to realize the summit was at the top of the ridge
I summited Twin Sisters East at 9:20am
Twin Sisters East:
Because I’d done most of my hiking in while it was dark, I decided to make this an out and back trip so I could get better pictures of the trek i. So, I retraced my steps back to Twin Sisters West. This was a simple ridge hike
From Twin Sisters West I continued following the ridge southwest. It’s important to follow this ridge all the way to the end (black arrow). Also, here’s an overview of the route around the basin. Fun fact: the white area isn’t water, but rock from a dry stream bed. I’m sure at some point in the year it holds water, but I’ve only seen it dry.
Here’s a close up of the ridge problem
And following the ridge to the end
Once at the end of the ridge, I turned left and scree surfed/carefully navigated my way down the gullies
At the base of the gullies I turned right, and headed out of the basin
There were faint game trails here
That led me back to the Rico-Silverton Trail, which I took north back to my truck
I made it back to my truck at 12:30pm, making this a 10.32 mile hike with 4101’ of elevation gain in 6 hours, 45 minutes.
Due to colder weather than anticipated, I’d abandoned my initial backpacking trip after the first night and was looking for a “Plan B”. Going through my binder of potential hikes, I narrowed it down to ‘something around South Mineral Creek’ and decided to drive to the trailhead. It was full when I got there, but that was ok, as I was planning on hiking the next morning (I’d already put in 15 miles that morning).
The trailhead was open this week, after being closed due to last year’s fire. There was an information center set up at the trailhead, with a place for volunteer park rangers to talk with hikers. There were also signs educating hikers about wildfire.
Speaking of wildfire… where was it? From the parking area there was no evidence of a fire. As people slowly made their way back to their vehicles and left the parking area, I ate my dinner of noodles and chips, sipped some whiskey, and read a book. I made it an early night, wanting to get some sleep before it got really cold.
It got really cold. Another night in the 20s, which made for a layer of frost on everything when I woke up. I didn’t want to get out from my sleeping bag, where I was warm. And, I had a headache? I really wasn’t feeling it this morning, but got ready anyway, and was on the trail at 6:30am, 2 hours later than I’d originally planned. It was still dark outside. The trail starts at the west end of the parking area, and has a trail register and signage. I didn’t sign the trail register, because it was covered in a layer of frost and my hands were cold enough at it was.
The trail was very easy to follow. The fire burn area was short, and ended just before the waterfall/4WD trail cutoff. It seemed to follow the avalanche area from a few years ago. The trail seemed unaffected, and was clear of debris.
I followed this class 1 trail 2.5 miles to treeline. At treeline, I started feeling more like myself, excited now I chose to hike today (isn’t that always the case?).
At the junction around 11425’ I turned right and followed the trail into the upper basin, towards Island Lake.
Here’s an overall view of the hike to the V4/US Grant Saddle (the lake isn’t visible yet, but it’s straight ahead).
At the junction I turned left, towards Island Lake. This is the junction I’d be coming back to when it was time to hike V2.
I decided to skirt the lake to the left, on the obvious trail, but you can take either side. Note: there isn’t a clearly defined trail to the right, but it’s an easy trek either way. There was a thin layer of ice on the lake.
Once past the lake it’s ‘choose your own adventure’ to the saddle. All routes go here.
Here are some closer pictures
When I hit the scree I put on my microspikes, and didn’t take them off until I made it back to this spot. There’s a runnel you can follow, as well as tundra and scree routes.
Once at the saddle I turned left, towards V4
I skirted the north side of V4, hugging where the talus met rock, following the contour of the mountain west. This is loose rock.
Following the contour of the mountain brought me to a scree-filled gully. I ascended this gully (microspikes were very helpful here, as it’s steep).
At the top of the gully I turned right and followed the scree up
This is where it got complicated. I’m not entirely sure which it the actual ‘summit’. I saw a cairn, and scaled the first tower I came to (this was easier than pictures make this look). The cairn is circled in red
But when I got to the top, it looked like the actual summit might be the next tower.
So, I checked my altimeter. It read 13,540’. I backtracked and made my way to the next tower
But when I got to the top of the next tower and checked my altimeter, that too read 13,540’. I turned and looked back: the first point now seemed higher to me, and it had a cairn, so I figure that was the high point. Peakbagger said the peak was 47 feet behind me, but somewhat closer to the first tower… which would have put me in empty space.
I made my way back to the first tower and took some pictures. I summited V4 at 10am. (Not sure why I said V3 in the video, but by the time I realized my mistake I was already back by Island Lake).
V4:
I headed back the way I’d come, back towards the US Grant/V4 saddle
I stayed high here, to avoid the loose choss
My next objective of the day was V2. Here’s the overall route I took to get there
I made my way back down towards Island Lake, this time skirting the lake to the north, picking up the obvious trail on the other side that leads to the US Grand/V2 saddle.
There’s a small fork in the trail about halfway up the hillside, but it doesn’t matter which way you go, as they both merge back together. Microspikes are a good idea here too.
Once at the saddle, I turned right and followed the ridge east, immediately coming across a memorial plaque
There was a trail here, and it was easy to follow.
It was a bit rocky near the summit, but there was still a trail to follow. Easy class 2
The summit was long. I walked the entire length to make sure I summited, but I’m pretty sure the actual summit is about 1/3 of the way across. There’s a wind break there.
I summited V2 at 12pm
V2:
From the summit, here’s looking back at V4
It was getting cold, quick, so I headed back to Island Lake, and followed the trail from the morning back out of the basin
Here you can see the burn area (along the 4WD road)
Here are some pictures from the hike out
There were so many people on the trail hiking out! And everyone seemed to have a dog. I was discouraged to see trash on the trail: it hasn’t even been open a week and people are already littering. I picked up a few pieces on my way out.
I made it back to my truck at 1:30pm, making this a 12.74 mile hike with 4921’ of elevation gain in 7 hours
I didn’t want Peak Fifteen to be my Bicentennial Finisher. I really didn’t. In fact, last month I attempted Peak Fifteen, but had to turn around due to several factors: There was too much water in the couloir and if the section I was in was really class 4… my skills had gone south. It hurt to hike all the way in from Purgatory and not get a summit, but I knew the conditions weren’t safe. So, I turned around, went back home, and did more research.
This time, I brought my friend and climbing mentor, Tim. My thoughts were to climb this peak with him, get the hang of it, and attempt it solo at a later date. Spoiler alert: After successfully summiting this peak, I do not think I’ll be attempting it solo.
It was a long hike in from Purgatory. We ended up hiking a little slower than anticipated, so we stayed the night at the campsite at Ruby Lake; something I’ve always wanted to do. It was already dark when we arrived, and I’d only brought one set of clothing, so it was a cold night for me as my sweat turned to ice at night inside my bivy. This made for interesting (zombie filled ) nightmares.
The next morning, we were up before sunrise to be willow warriors and thrash our way into Ruby Basin. We made it just as the sun rose.
Here’s the route we took up the gully to the saddle. We stayed just above the willows, and hiked southeast across the basin until we were directly below the gully, then ascended the gully.
When I was here in August, there was snow under the scree in this gully. Because it was under the scree, I didn’t see it and it caught me by surprise when I unexpectedly sank up to my waist in slush. Back in August, I made it up this gully by going right, but this time we went left. It looks like the conditions change here frequently, so pick the line that goes best for you. Also, microspikes help here with the scree (if you don’t use microspikes on scree you’re making it more difficult than it needs to be: get some spikes for summer too). Here are some pictures of the gully
The second half of the gully is full of large rocks, which eventually give way to scree. This scree is some of the worst scree I’ve experienced. This is where your microspikes really come in handy. Back in August I followed fresh goat tracks to the saddle. Those tracks in September had been used several times and formed nice switchbacks. However, it appears these tracks are destroyed every winter, and need to be remade every summer/fall.
Once at the top of the gully it was time to lose about 350’ of elevation. We did this by following the scree southwest, staying high but just below the rock outcroppings (we took a different approach on the way back).
We continued down to about 12,500’, and then entered the Peak 15/Peak 16 gully
This is the gully you’re looking for. There are cairns here, and it’s the first, obvious route ‘up’
The first part of the gully is class 3, and just requires some rock hopping.
This gully turns into a couloir, and becomes easy to follow, but difficult to climb. This is the first class 4 section. There were no good hand/foot holds, as everything crumbled in my hands. In August it was running with water. Tim spent some time cleaning away the loose rock, making climbing easier. Even in mid-September, there was still water here. Wearing a pack with climbing gear/rope makes the ascent that much more difficult.
The second class 4 section of the couloir was… more than class 4. I started up, and when I got about halfway through realized I may have been in over my head. I couldn’t climb down, so I had to keep going up. Since I was ‘stuck’ it became a mental exercise, where I told myself “If I can do this while on rope, I can do it off rope as well”, but to be honest it was intense and I didn’t feel comfortable soloing this (but I did). There was a lot of deep breathing involved. I’d recommend roping up here, if you can find a way to do so. Climbing shoes would have been helpful (but they were in my pack…). We both felt this was class 5, not class 4. I belayed my partner on this section from above.
Just above this section there are anchors set up. It’s good to take note of where they’re at as you’re passing them. There will be three sets of anchors in the couloir. Here are some more pictures of the couloir. A lot of the webbing set up looks faded, but there’s plenty there. We cleaned up some of the older webbing and hiked it out (the stuff we didn’t even need to cut because it was frayed and falling apart).
The couloir seemed to last forever. At 13,050’ we exited the couloir, below the 15/16 saddle, and went left up the ledges to 13,300’. This was class 3 scrambling with a lot of kitty litter (kitty litter is the name of the game on this climb). Where applicable, I noted Tim tossed unnecessary obstacles aside, like tumbling rocks and kitty litter, to help clear the route.
When we were about 50’ below the Peak 15/16 saddle it was time to rope up for the slabs. This picture looks at the saddle, but we were headed the opposite way, left/west (this picture is just a good visual of where you’ll be)
We were headed west, across the ledge system.
While we were still on level ground, we roped up. Then Tim led the way across the slab. It was good to get roped up first because there wasn’t a lot of room at the rappel area to do so. Here’s an overall view of our roped ascent and the belay stations. I put on my climbing shoes, but Tim didn’t feel his were necessary.
This is what it looked like getting there. We are aiming for the red circle to get to the lower belay station.
Once at the lower belay station I was set up to belay Tim from below as he set the protection and climbed first. Here’s looking back at the traverse
Oh, there’s some exposure here.
Since Tim’s the more experienced climber (WAY more experienced) I’ll let him describe this part of the route, starting with his overview:
Look for a series of shallow ledges that leads to a three foot wide ledge with a horn big enough to straddle. This is still 4th class terrain, so you can simply belay sitting next to the horn without an anchor.
If you feel you need one, wrap the rope end around the horn three times to make a tensionless hitch or use a cordalette. Bring your second up and have them belay from the three foot wide ledge below you. There will be about three horizontal seams you can place pro in ranging from #3 Camalots to .25. I managed to place five pieces total.
After your last piece you want to head for a shallow V slot next to some bulges. This is the 4th class exit and leads past a rock with a crack in it you could build an anchor in. This is exposed and one could fall from there, and you may be out of gear as I was. Continue then above this to where the steepness of the pitch eases off and there are two scrubby evergreen bushes. You can sling some of the roots for a sketchy, but adequate anchor. Once your second is up, you can both walk to the right towards a large, grassy ledge where the final 3rd class gully is.
I’m not a serious climber: I’ve been climbing for a few years, but I’m no expert. I was glad to be roped in, and wouldn’t have wanted to do this part without someone belaying me (or the other way around). A fall would have been fatal. Tim called it “poorly protected 5.4”. He placed 5 pieces of protection.
From the upper belay station, we turned right and followed the slopes east, looking for an access gully/kind of a small chimney.
The gully is about halfway to the saddle. This is what it looks like from below
From the east side it’s easier to see. This is class 3, with a cairn at the bottom.
Once up the gully, we followed the ledges northeast to the ridge. This was “choose your own adventure”, but we aimed for the northeast corner of the ridge
Once the furthest northeast we could go, we ascended the ridge via a short, easy class 3 ramp, and scrambled west to the summit
Final, class 2 scramble to the summit (easier than it looks)
We summited Peak Fifteen at 12.30pm. Also, yes, it was my birthday, so I was celebrating not only my bicentennial finisher, bust also turning 41. Woot!
Peak Fifteen:
We stayed at the summit for quite a while, enjoying the beautiful day and awesome views. The summit register was a tube, so naturally the paper inside was wet. I added a pencil to the register, signed my WW’s, and we headed back down.
Note: we rappelled 6 times before making it to the bottom of the couloir. That’s a lot of rope work! There were adequate webbing/rings set up, which held just fine but are bleaching and might need to be replaced next season (see pictures). We cleaned up some of the ripped/damaged rope and brought it out. We brought a 60 meter, 7.9mm rope. It worked perfectly for the ascent and rappelling down, but being smaller in diameter, tended to get stuck in the cracks. Also, this is where I learned Tim curses when ropes get stuck.
We followed the ridge east back to the ledges, which we followed southwest.
At 13570’ we headed back towards the saddle and the anchors. We rappelled down from the first anchor, and afterwards headed towards the second anchor, circled in red.
The second rappel
Here’s looking up from the bottom of the second rappel
The third rappel brought us to the Peak 15/16 saddle
Here’s looking up and down from the saddle
Once at the saddle, we went southwest on slopes, following the couloir to the right
We made our way back to the couloir, and rapped 3 more times to the bottom. We counted 6 rappels in all.
From the base of the couloir, we made our way back to the scree-saddle, this time taking the direct, grassy/tundra approach, to avoid the scree. We saw mountain goats here.
And then back down the scree filed gully, scree surfing to the basin
From the basin we hiked back through the willows to our campsite at Ruby Lake, making it back around 6pm. Round trip from Ruby Lake to the summit of Peak 15 and back to Ruby Lake made for about a 13 hour day. All that rope work sure took its time! We celebrated with some whiskey and wine; after all, this was my bicentennial finisher, and it was my birthday… no one got hurt, and, this was much harder than anticipated by both of us for different reasons and we were successful. All reasons to celebrate!
We made it an early night and were up at 6am to hike back to Purgatory. The night was much warmer, if only because I didn’t go to sleep in wet, sweat filled clothing. The hike out went fast, as we talked much of the time. We made it to the Animas River/Purgatory trail bridge, and were surprised to see people in sandals carrying small children (some of them crying). Apparently, the train stops at Cascade Wye now for passengers to get off and walk around (not sure if it’s ever done that before?).
We made it back to Purgatory Trailhead around 2:30pm. My tracker says we went 53.34 miles, with 13765’ of elevation gain.
I would like to thank Tim for being my climbing partner and accompanying me on this trek, which I’m sure ended up being more of an adventure than he bargained for! I believe this climb takes two experienced climbers to complete safely; It was nice to have someone I could trust join me. In addition, he’s been my climbing mentor, voluntarily taking me climbing and ‘teaching me the ropes’ for years. He’s the one who taught me how to set up anchors, how to climb and rappel safely, and all about proper gear. I couldn’t have done all the other class 5 bicentennial peaks without his instructions. I still keep his safety checklist with me in my climbing gear.
I also want to thank everyone who has posted trip reports in general, but specifically trip reports for Peak Fifteen, as for me it was the hardest of the bicentennials. We all experience hikes/climbs differently, and it was nice hearing the difficulty/route finding levels from other climbers. If you plan to climb this peak, please take it seriously, and read all trip reports you can find on this peak before attempting a climb, as they all offer great insights.
I’m not a fan of the Rockdale Trailhead. It’s an adventure in itself, starting with a drive through Clear Creek
And then the road to get to the trailhead is littered with dips and rocks. I feel I’m a pretty good driver on 4WD roads, but I have a hard time avoiding some of the obstacles on this one. If you drive to the upper trailhead be sure of your driving skills/vehicle.
I made it to the trailhead and was on the trail at 5:30am. The trail is class 1, and starts out by heading south along trail 1461.
After hiking for less than half a mile I came to the avalanche area. Last time I was here was recently after the avalanche, and it was difficult to navigate. They did a lot of work in this area, and now you can drive a car through it (if vehicles were allowed, that is). I passed around the gate, and continued along the trail.
Just before making it to Clohsey Lake there’s a junction in the road and it becomes a trail. You can take this, or continue taking the road to the lake and pick up the trail on the other side. I chose to take the trail up and over the small mountain
I followed this trail south for 3 miles from where I parked, through pine trees, willows, across streams, and eventually to treeline.
After about 3 miles the trail kind of disappeared/fizzled out. Last time I was here I found cairns to take me to the ridge, but this time I didn’t see any. No worries though, I just kept rounding the hillside, heading northeast towards the ridge. You’ll want to just head towards the ridge, but easier terrain is to your left (northeast).
It was 3.75 miles to the ridge. Once on the ridge I turned right and followed the ridge south. I could mainly stay on the top of the ridge, dipping to the left a few times when necessary. I was headed towards the black arrow.
To continue to follow the ridge I had to make it around this point. I aimed for just below the large boulder, then went left, following dirt and scree and hugging the mountainside.
This part was easy, but as I rounded the corner, I came upon gullies full of choss. This area felt class 4. To navigate these, I hugged the gullies, dipping down to cross the first big one, and then remaining level before eventually finding what looked like a game trail to the ridge.
Here’s the view and my route from the first big gully. I stayed level to get across the chossy gullies. It’s harder/steeper than it looks.
Safely across the first gully, here’s looking back at the route I took down
Now I continued at level elevation heading south, until I found an obvious route to the ridge. Until this time the ridge had been rock slabs, spires, and choss, but once it became rocks and tundra I headed up, then turned left to follow the ridge.
From this point on, the ridge ‘goes’. It’s mostly on large, solid rock, but remember, these rocks can move. It’s about three quarters of a mile from here to the summit of Pear Peak. The ridge felt consistent class 2-3. I didn’t feel there were any class 4 moves on this ridge.
If I ever felt the need to dip off the ridge, I went left. Pear Peak is actually to the left, past the false summit (which isn’t really a false summit because you can see the true summit most of the time)
Here are some more ridge pictures
I summited Pear Peak at 8:45am
Pear Peak:
Now the easy part, as I turned northwest and descended the ridge to the Pear Peak/PT 13220 saddle. This was class 2, once again sticking to the ridge and dipping to the left when necessary.
Here’s an overview of the rest of my route, mostly following the ridge, except for a short area on the way to 13220 where I stayed left (more on this later). You also have a good view of the decent route from here. Now’s a good time to study it.
Ok, down the ridge to the Pear Peak/PT 13220 saddle. It’s all class 2, and you’re aiming for a scree filled gully, circled in red
Once you make it to the gully, the choss and adventure begins.
I dipped down into the gully, crossed it, and then stayed level in elevation as I rounded the south side of the peak, aiming for two protruding rocks.
Once I started heading north, I followed game trails up gullies and back to the ridge. This area seemed to go on forever.
Once on the ridge it was class 3 to the summit
I summited PT 13220 at 10am
PT 13220:
Here’s looking back at the route from Pear to PT 13220. It was 1.5 miles from Pear to 13220.
Next up, PT 13517 (more ridge work!)
I followed the ridge the entire time. The ridge to the saddle was class 2. The difficult part is the ridge circled in red, which I felt was consistent class 3, with a bunch of class 4 moves thrown in.
The trek to the saddle was mostly on rocks, with a short ridge at the end (yes, you can stick to this ridge too)
I entered the final ridge by going around to the east, then ascending the ridge by heading northeast.
As I said before, this is a class 3 and 4 ridge. There are too many specific moves to illustrate here, as the climbing is consistent, so I’ll just show a few of the fun ones. While the rock looks solid, and mostly is, please be careful of the ones that look solid but roll. If you can’t go straight up the rocks, look for game trails to the left. Nothing should feel over class 4. To put it in perspective, I consider difficult class 4 anytime I need to remove my DSLR camera from around my neck, or put my trekking pole away to climb. I didn’t have to do either of those things on this ridge, but it was the most difficult climbing of the day.
The last little dip before the final push to the summit was class 2
I summited PT 13517 at 11:15am
PT 13517:
PT 13517 was a little over a mile away from PT 13220. Here’s looking back at PT 13220 and Pear Peak
I turned and retraced my steps back to the saddle.
Here’s the other side of that initial class 4 move
Back at the saddle, I headed east, and took the gully to the left down
The gully had scree, tundra, and bounders. I was easily able to find a way down this gully, but it looked challenging to find a good way to go up. I was glad I chose to do Pear first.
Here’s my overall route down the gully, across the small basin (I stayed high here) and back down to the trail. I followed a waterfall northeast, keeping the waterfall to my left to exit so I wouldn’t need to cross the water. This brought me to willows and the trail I’d used to hike in.
The hike out was uneventful, except it rained. I know it looks like it was a beautiful day, but in reality, just before PT 13220 it was snowing, and it rained/hailed/graupeled a bit on my way down. There were also people fishing at Clohsey Lake who had a few dogs. I was about 100 yards from them, but their dog wouldn’t stop barking at me. I’m sure that made for wonderful fishing.
I made it back to my truck at 1:45pm, making this a 11.89 mile hike/scramble with 3995’ of elevation gain in 8 hours, 15 minutes. And now, for the fun drive out!
Here’s a view of Clohsey Lake and the basin from Pear Peak
Wild Wanderer 