bicentennial – Page 3 – Wild Wanderer

Len Shoemaker Peak -13,642

RT Length: 14.93 miles

Elevation Gain: 4584’

This is the third time I’ve been to Maroon Bells this month. I was able to secure 3 separate permits, and the past few weeks went with friends to summit North Maroon and Pyramid. Today I was here to tag a new 13er for myself: PT 13631. Since I70 is now open (it was closed due to fires) I was the only one driving on HWY 82. I didn’t pass one vehicle between Granite and Aspen. It was awesome. I did see 2 vehicles parked at a trailhead near Independence Pass, and two scruffy porcupines to go with them, merrily munching on the wires underneath. The owners of those vehicles were not going to be happy when then made it back to their cars. I’d have gotten out and shooed them, but, you know, they may be slow but they have quills. I saw three other porcupines waddling along the highway as I drove. HWY 82 is popular among porcupines.

As I passed the parking structure for Maroon Bells I saw a pear shaped bear butt running away from a trash can and then jump over a fence. It was cute to see it bounding away (although I kind of wanted to get a picture so I wished it had stood still for a second).

I had a permit to park at Maroon Bells from 12am-4:30pm. It was 1am when I arrived and I felt it was still a little too early to head out so I took a quick nap. A large group of hikers passed by at 2:40am and woke me up, so I was on the trail by 2:45am.

The trail starts at the west end of the parking area

And follows a well-defined path around Maroon Lake

At the end of the lake I followed the trail towards crater lake. I noted the signs: One said “bear activity in area” as of August 23 (August 1^st had been crossed out) and there was also a sign saying there was a moose in the area. In the last few weeks I’ve seen a bear standing on the side of the road while taking the shuttle ride out and a moose standing in Maroon Lake, so I knew these signs to be true.

This is a class 1 trail to Crater Lake

I turned left at the junction for Crater Lake

And then followed the trail (still class 1) around the ‘lake’ and up the basin.

I passed a few camping areas while it was still dark. In one a large man was standing by the trail, bald, shirtless, and in possession of a rather hairy pot belly. He seemed to be waiting for me to pass by. Luckily this is a well-travelled trail, especially at this time in the morning when others are looking to summit Maroon Peak (I count the flashlights so I know who’s ahead of/behind me when it’s dark out: that large group of hikers wasn’t too far away). I could see him because he had a headlamp shining from his forehead. I didn’t see his dog, who started barking at me as I neared. Of course, I jumped. The man seemed to think it was funny. I continued on. Also, it wasn’t funny. Here’s an overview of the next few steps, as I made my way up to Len Shoemaker Basin

After hiking for 4 miles from the trailhead, and at 10515’ I left the trail to cross Maroon Creek (which at this point of the year isn’t flowing much, but earlier in the season is several feet deep). There are cairns in the area. An obvious trail picks up on the other side.

I followed this trail for .25 miles, until I saw a cairn to my left and then followed a very faint trail east through and then out of the willows, and up the side of the mountain, towards the basin.

Making it to the basin required ascending a series of gullies. I’ve been here several times, and the route gets easier to find each time. This time there were plenty of cairns indicating the way. However, the route sometimes doesn’t seem like it should follow the cairns, but trust me, it does. Here’s the route step by step into the basin. After exiting the willows and crossing a small boulder field there is a faint trail behind the next set of bushes/willows that will lead to the first gully. Now’s a good time to put on your helmet.

I ascended the loose gully, staying to the right for more traction

At the top of the first gully you’ll see another gully to your left. (These are tons of fun in winter BTW, so bring your crampons and ice axe if you expect snow). Ascend the second gully, this time sticking to the left for more stable ground

At the top of this gully is… another gully. Sorry for the hand in this picture: the sun was at an unfortunate place in the sky while I was trying to take pictures and this was my solution.

From here I aimed for the grassy slope and went behind it, angling towards the ridge

And could see another gully to my left. (This entire time I was heading east)

Next, I aimed for the grassy slopes, and the final gully that would take me to the upper basin.

Here I got my first view of PT 13631. I just followed the basin south towards the end

The end of the basin was still holding some snow. This was a light snow year, so I expect there’s snow here almost year-round. The snow can be avoided, but I just walked over it into another basin

I followed the talus rib towards the base of the gully that would lead me to the saddle of Lightening Pyramid and PT 13631

This is the last gully of the day. It’s class 2 but the scree is loose. I looked for larger rocks whenever possible. There is no direct path but there are a bunch of game trails. No area seems to cliff out, so you can pick your line depending on conditions.

At the saddle I turned right and headed southwest up the ridge. Most of this was easy scrambling, after first initially gaining the ridge. To do this I went right, found a class 3 chimney and ascended it. This was the most difficult part of the entire hike, and I probably could have found a class 2 option around this if I tried harder. I felt this chimney was pretty easy.

Here’s looking up at the chimney. There are plenty of hand/foot holds. It’s only about 8 feet high and all of the rocks are stable.

Once on the ridge I scrambled my way to the summit. This is all easy class 3, just scout around for the best route.

The summit is relatively flat. There’s a summit cairn with two summit registers. The metal one is closed and has 2 pens inside. The white one is open (without a lid) and is empty. Bring some paper if you want to sign this register.

I summited PT 13631 at 7:20am

PT 13631:

The views were great, but the smoke from nearby fires shaded them a bit.

Here’s the route back down the ridge

Down the chimney (you can see my trekking pole below for reference)

And back around to the saddle.

Once again, great views

Back down the gully and through the basin

And back down the gullies, following the cairns west along the way.

Through the willows

Back to the trail that would lead me across the creek

And back to West Maroon Creek Trail 1975 and Maroon Lake

When I was here last week there’d been a moose standing in the lake. Guess what? He was still there (this time lounging by the lakeshore). Pretty cool!

I made it back to my truck at 11:45am, making this a 14.93 mile hike with 4584’ of elevation gain in 9 hours (with some time spent ogling the moose).

Here’s a topo map of my route. I have to say, the views were incredible but the peak itself was kind of a letdown. It had just been too easy, when I’d been expecting the more intense scramble over crummy rock the Elks are known for. It almost wasn’t worth bringing my helmet, but the moose was an added bonus.

On to the next trailhead!

“Castleabra” – 13,804 & PT 13559

RT Length: 15.2 miles

Elevation Gain: 4393’

Peal Pass road is no joke. I drove up late at night (a little after midnight) because I had appointments until 7:30pm, and I was glad I’d decided to drive in so late: there were no other vehicles to pass on this road. Also, it was a Monday night, so I’d missed the weekend traffic. I would have been in trouble if I’d met another vehicle on this road: in the 10+ miles I only saw 2 or 3 possible turn out areas. There are many areas that are shelf road with no visibility of vehicles coming from the other direction. There were potholes several feet deep: more than once I got out to make sure my truck could handle the terrain. The stream crossings were only about a foot deep and easily crossable, but committing since you couldn’t see vehicles coming from the opposite direction.

Since it was night the shadows played tricks, but my truck was able to successfully make it to 10,420’ where I parked it for the night at the junction of 738/402. There was a 4Runner in the 2 vehicle lot and I backed in right next to it. My truck could have made it the last mile should I have chosen to drive further. Knowing I was only going to get a few hours of sleep tonight (it was almost 2am) I quickly went to bed and got up at 4:45am. I was no the trail by 5am. The trail heads up and northeast, following the 4WD dirt road.

I came to another creek crossing and decided to take off my shoes to cross (I kept them on when I crossed on my way back, as I could see the rocks better)

Here’s the rest of the 4WD road

At this point I’d like to stress how much easier this hike would have been had I started in daylight: the trail is faint and hard to find/follow. See the trail?

In the dark I missed it, and continued to follow the road. No worries though, because it was easy to take the road back to the trail when I realized my mistake. Here’s the trail

It aims towards the trees where there’s a registration box. It doesn’t look like this area gets a lot of use.

And now I was ready to hit the trail, but this is what I saw

No real trail to speak of. There are a lot of game trails in the area, which can be both helpful and confusing. I’ll save you the misery I went through route finding in the willows/trees in the dark, and give you the description of the clearer trail I was able to follow on the way back. Basically, avoid the temptation to go right into the trees. Stick as close to Middle Brush Creek as you can for the first 1.3 miles after the trail register, keeping the creek and beaver ponds to your left at all times (you’ll never need to cross the creek, but you can stay close).

The willows become problematic around 11000’, and these willows don’t quit. They range from 2 feet tall to about 10 feet tall, and where they’re over 4 feet tall they grow over the trail towards each other. There is no clearly defined trail that remains constant, but a lot of game trails that weave in and out.

Bears don’t seem to have difficulty finding the trail however

As soon as I entered the willows I started getting wet, and I was confused, as it hadn’t rained last night? Within a couple of yards I was dripping with water. My waterproof jacket was soaked, my pants spongy and my shoes were oozing water. I kept getting hit in the face with cold, wet branches and I had leaves covering my clothes. When I got home I noticed I had red streaks where the branches had whipped my legs. Have I mentioned I’m not a fan of willows? I was getting cold, and encouraged the sun to rise. Fast.

After wretchedly whomping through the willows, and after 4 miles of hiking I came upon a trail to the right (east). I headed towards the trail in the distance and followed it

This was a nice trail through the trees, and then once again, willows.

From here the trail is very obscure until you reach the upper basin. The willows have many, many game trails that make accessing the upper basin possible, but time consuming. I just kept aiming northwest, keeping the creek to my left and rejoicing when I found a game trail. I still got hit in the face with willows, but could see a trail below my knees.

I finally made it out of the willows at 12000’. Here’s the overall route I took to get to “Castleabra”

There are several ways to get to “Castleabra’s” ridge. I went directly up the south face, but could have also taken the gully to the right or left. I didn’t do this because there was a herd of about 30 goats having a grand old time kicking down rocks to the right and I didn’t bring my helmet. I was worried the scree would be brutal to my left going up, so I went straight up the middle. Here’s the route up the south face. This is all class 2 on unstable rock, and there are several access gullies. All go, just pick your line.

After gullies there’s some rubble to deal with to gain the ridge

Once I’d gained the ridge I turned left and headed west

I summited “Castleabra” at 9am. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten my camera at home, so these are all cell phone pics and due to that you get selfies (and sometimes the side of my finger in shots).

Castleabra:

Here’s a look at the route I took in

I was making this a loop, adding in PT 13550 as well. To do that I headed back the way I’d came, then angled down the scree towards the basin. There is no solid trail here, and none of the area cliffs out, so you can descend at any time and make your way scree-surfing towards the basin. Here’s the overall route I took

And step by step, back down the ridge

Here’s looking back up at the route I took down from “Castleabra”. As you can see from this photo, there are several options to gain the ridge for this peak, and the entire ridge is class 2.

Now on to summit PT 13550. The trick is to stay high and gain the ridge as quickly as possible. Don’t dip down further than you have to, because you’ll just have to re-gain the elevation later.

Once on the ridge it’s loose and rocky but all class 2. I followed the ridge to a false summit

I summited PT 13550 at 11am

13550:

Here’s a look back over at “Castleabra” and Castle Peak

It had been a long day and I was tired. I hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, and I was hiking slower than usual in the heat (but at least it’s warmed up and I’d dried out). Time to head back down the ridge

Here’s the route I took down the ridge and through the upper basin

And back down to through the willows. Luckily, I had a good idea of where I was going and the willows had dried out in the afternoon sun, so they weren’t as miserable as on the trek in. Here’s the overall route through the willows

And step by step. Yes, I was on a trail. Anyone have a chainsaw?

Back through the trees and across the talus trail

And back down to the creek/beaver ponds, following game trails where available

I picked up the faint trail that led back to the trailhead

And took the 4WD road back to my truck

I made it back to my truck at 2pm, making this a 15.2 mile hike with 4393’ of elevation gain in 9 hours.

When I got back to my truck I noticed a faint dusting of water droplets had landed on my truck last night. Just a few here and there on the dirt that coated the vehicle from the drive in. The skies had been clear when I went to bed, and I didn’t get more than 2.5 hours of sleep, but it must have sprinkled a bit in that time. Even a quick, light sprinkle of rain can cause the willows to turn into a nightmare. Next time I’ll wear my waterproof pants when willows are involved, no matter the weather.

Luckily, since it was a Tuesday I didn’t pass another vehicle on my way down (I’d been worried about that). Oh, and someone was moving cattle on my drive out. The wrangler was clicking and clucking to the cows and making swishing noises. She thanked me for stopping to let them by, and I thanked her for allowing me to take a photo and complemented her on her chaps (they were really cool). I miss farm/ranch life (kind of…). Time to head home and get more work done.

PT 13786 & Whitney Peak – 13,286

RT Length: 15.85 miles

Elevation Gain: 4866’

After a long day and a wedding reception I arrived at the trailhead at 10pm and quickly went to sleep. The trailhead for this hike is located at the end of 4WD road 727. Well, the road goes up further, but it’s excessive 4WD (pictures and description to come). Any 4WD vehicle can make it to this point.

I woke up at 3:15am, intent on being on the trail by 3:30am. Sleepy-eyed, I opened the back of my truck and scanned the area with my flashlight for wildlife. Sometimes I see deer/raccoons/porcupines outside and like to shoo them along before getting outside my vehicle. Nothing this morning. Great. So I hopped out to find an area to pee (I know you’re thinking “why is she telling me this?” but it will all make sense in a minute).

As I’m looking for an appropriate area I scan around with my flashlight and just behind the reflective trailhead flag/post/marker I notice a small greenish-yellow circle reflecting in the light. My first thought was ‘animal’ as this looked like an eye. But it was only one eye. So I waved my flashlight back and forth to get a better look. I couldn’t define a body and the circle didn’t move so I assumed it wasn’t an animal and was most likely some piece of reflective trash.

I went about my business, turning my flashlight off (others were camping in the area and in the dark I didn’t want what I was doing to be the only thing they could see). I turned my flashlight back on and the reflecting circle was gone. And then as I waved my flashlight around all the sudden it was back again. Just one small circle, reflecting in the glow of my flashlight.

I got into my truck to put on the heat while I put on my hiking boots and turned the car on. At that moment 3 things happened:

The engine turned over and made a loud, V8- – ‘VROOM’ sound
My trucks daytime running lights turned on and I could clearly see I’d just
Scared the mountain lion walking towards my truck

The frightened mountain lion crouched to the right, did a 180 degree turn, and bounded off into the trees to my left, his long tail the last thing I saw as he hurried away. Well, that was certainly cool! It all happened so fast I wasn’t able to see if it had 2 eyes or 1 (I’d only seen one glow), but I knicknamed him ‘One Eyed Willy’ just the same. It wasn’t lost on my I’d just had a mountain lion ‘stalk’ / watch me while I was peeing. I bet not many people can say that.

I sat in my truck for about 15 minutes, this time with the high-brights on, waiting to see if he came back. After he didn’t return where I could see him I decided to give One Eyed Willy as much time as needed to get as far away from me as possible, and instead of putting on my shoes I went back to sleep and woke up at 5:15am. I was on the trail by 5:25am.

The 727 trail starts at the east end of the parking area

After a short distance I turned left and followed the extreme 4WD road for 1.8 miles.

This road should not be attempted by a stock 4×4 vehicle, and unless your vehicle thinks making it up to Lake Como is easy, don’t attempt this road.

I came to an area with a creek crossing. There’s a trail that goes to the right. I could have followed the trail, but instead I crossed the creek and followed the road for a short bit, until the road curved.

In the dark I missed the sign and followed the road, but just before crossing the creek you can take this junction to the trail instead

If you miss this junction no worries, just as the road curves to the left there’s a great trail that will take you to Fall Creek trail 2001 (apparently a lot of people miss the ‘sign’ and take this way, like I did)

This is a class 1 trail that will take you all the way to the Seven Sisters Lakes area.

At this sign go right (going left will take you to a camping area, near a lake)

This late in the year all stream crossings were easy

Here are a few more pictures of the class 1 trail up to the Seven Sisters Lake area

Once at the upper lake, before you reach the pass, there are several options to ascend up the slope. In fact, I took a different route up than I did back down, and as I was coming down I saw several other viable routes, depending on conditions, snow levels, etc. Here’s an overview of the route I took:

And step by step

I took the ramp to the left on the way up, to the right on the way down

Close up of the grassy ramp

At the top of the ramp I was at a lake. This lake looks like it shifts shoreline depending on where the waterline lies at different points in the year. Here’s the route I took around the lake and up the side of the mountain (note: I went right on my ascent, left on the descent, and while both were class 2, left was easier.

Here’s what this looked like step by step. This is all class 2:

There are many ways to ascend to the summit. You can take the saddle to the left as well and then follow the ridge, but I chose to go straight up the south face. This area is more stable than it looks, with large rocks and boulders to hike up.

I summited PT 13,768 at 9:15am. It was hazy due to the fires in the area, but I couldn’t smell any smoke

PT 13,768:

Here’s a look back at the route I took in

From the summit, here’s a look over at Whitney Peak and the overall route I took to get there

I started by heading southwest, finding a good descent point, and heading back down to the lake

Once around the lake I took the ramp back down and headed southeast until I connected back up with the Fall Creek Trail

I took Fall Creek Trail up to Fall Creek Pass

And then turned right (south) and followed the ridge. This was an easy walk compared to the rest of the day (which had been easy as well). If you’re in the area, hike this peak, it’s worth it!

At the top of the ridge is what looks like the summit, but it also looks like the summit could be further east. Spoiler: I climbed to both ‘summits’ and when I got home and looked at my altimeter they had 2’ of difference in height, and the one furthest west I stood on top of, while the one more east I sat on the summit block, pretty much canceling out those 2 feet of difference. Either way, I hit both summits, and I think both should count, especially if you don’t feel comfortable with climbing.

I crossed the first ‘summit’ and headed east towards the second ‘summit’

I walked over to the second summit and all around the summit block. I’ve heard some people wondering how you can “just climb up” and let me tell you, it’s actually pretty easy and doesn’t require an explanation (but I’ll give you one).

This is how you’re supposed to ascend the block: I’ve circled where there’s a good grip to place your right hand. Set your right knee below that as you press your knee against the rock, and then you place your left hand on the top and pull yourself up. I’m 5’4” and this worked for me. The two rocks at the base are very loose, so don’t trust them too much. Or, even better yet, if you’re with a friend do the ‘stand on the knee’ thing and help each other one at a time reach the summit.

I knew I could climb up this rock, but I wasn’t sure I could downclimb. It’s rated 5.6, and since I solo I wanted to be over-prepared. That and I’d brought my 30 meter half rope with me just in case and it seemed a shame not to use it. So before I climbed the rock I set up an anchor and attached my rope to it, then set the rope over the rock. Note: ROPES ARE NOT NEEDED FOR THIS CLIMB. They were overkill, but fun just the same, and gave me some practice and extra leverage. Here’s my (not needed) set-up:

I summited Whitney Peak at 12:15pm. The summit block is about 4 feet by 2 feet.

Whitney Peak:

I rappelled back down because I could. Note: you can just slide down on your belly until you reach the rock, but don’t aim for the rocks you used to get higher ground: aim for the stable rock they’re rested on.

The rope allowed me to belay down past the unstable rocks and even a bit further, getting a secure footing on the ground. I packed up my gear and headed east towards the other summit of Whitney Peak.

There’s a summit boulder here too, but it’s only about 4 feet high and easily climbable, so I climbed it and sat on top just in case.

Time to head back. I hiked back down the slope but before making it to the pass I went left and headed down west until I reached Fall Creek Trail. If you decide to do this there are a lot of options to make it happen, but also a few areas where you could ‘cliff out’ (you’d just have to backtrack, nothing too serious) so pick your line carefully

Once back on the Fall Creek trail I followed it out of the basin

And back to the 4×4 road and my truck

I made it back to my truck at 2:45pm, making this a 15.85 mile hike with 4866’ of elevation gain in 9 hours, 20 minutes.

Due to the One Eyed Willy delay I was late driving home. Tomorrow is my daughter’s last first day of school (first day of her senior year of high school) and I wanted to make her a special dinner. She requested my fried chicken, and I didn’t want to disappoint her. A big thank you to the lazy construction worker who forgot to turn off the “HWY 24 is closed past Hartsel: Find an alternate route” sign, as on a Sunday night around 5pm I was the only car taking my chances and using the road. There never was a closure, and I was able to get home in record time to make a special dinner for my baby girl.

Lookout Peak – 13,661

RT Length: 4.03 miles

Elevation Gain: 2060’

After summiting San Miguel Peak I still had some energy and I could make Ophir Pass be on the way home, so I decided to head over and hike Lookout Peak. Word of advice: if you plan on hiking this peak drive in from the 550 side, not the Ophir City side. You can make it to the trailhead in a 2WD from 550, but there’s some serious exposure/4WD needed on the Ophir City side. My truck handled it, but there were times I was scared it wouldn’t. Also, seeing a vehicle that had fallen/rolled a few hundred feet down the shelf road didn’t make me feel any better (it looked like it had been there a while).

The trailhead is located just to the east of Ophir Pass, and can fit 2 cars if you squeeze in tight.

I tried to leave as much room as possible so other vehicles could pass each other at this point if needed. The trail starts just behind where I parked my truck. You can see a faint trail through the willows. It also looks like people use this area to pee (there were old wipes/tp littering the area).

The willows don’t last long (a few yards or so) and then I aimed for the power lines, heading north.

Once at the power lines I had a good view of the entire route up to Lookout Peak

From here the route is especially well cairned. I’m thinking someone a) had a really slow hiking partner, b) wanted to be very helpful to future hikers, or c) has a cairn fetish, because there were cairns placed no more than 50 feet apart for the entire route. If you don’t see a cairn on this hike, you’re off route. I fixed a couple of downed cairns for fun, just because I felt if they were there they should be there properly.

The first goal is to gain the ridge, and this is done by following the cairns northwest. At times there is a faint trail here, but there were a lot of cairns

Once on the ridge I turned right and followed it north

This boulder area looks tricky, but was all class 2

I kept following the ridge and the cairns

At 13380’ I came to a rock formation that looked like it went either way (it did). I went east on the way up, west on the way down, and both went. The east side has a slippery gully though, so I’d recommend staying west and taking the steps.

At the top of the gully I turned right and followed the faint trail and cairns northeast

At 13475’ I put on my helmet and did some class 3 scrambling to the summit. This looks much more difficult than it actually was. The scrambling was easy, but the little rocks covering the boulders were a little annoying. I ditched my trekking pole and followed the cairns north.

This would be a good introduction to class 3 climbing for someone looking for a quick summit to practice on. At the top of the short class 3 section it became class 2 to the summit

I summited Lookout Peak at 2:30pm

Lookout Peak:

Here’s what the route looked like on the way back down:

I took the steps on the way back down instead of the gully

And then followed the ridge back to the basin

And from the basin, aimed for the power lines and Ophir Pass road and my truck

I made it back to my truck at 4pm, making this a 4 mile hike with 2060’ of elevation gain in 3 hours, 20 minutes.

I drove home and didn’t get to bed until past midnight. When I woke up my first thought was “Wow! I didn’t get woken up at all last night due to wind/wildlife!” Then I realized I was sleeping in my own bed and not in the bed of my truck…

San Miguel Peak – 13,757

RT Length: 10.69 miles

Elevation Gain: 3834’

Wow! What a busy trailhead! There was parking, and overflow parking, and parking along the side of the road, and all spots were full. I was lucky enough to snag a spot as someone was leaving directly in front of the trailhead sign. The trailhead is at 10,700’, and I planned to spend the night here before hiking the next morning (there was only 1 other vehicle in the lot when I got up the next morning to hike)

I’d already had a long day but it was early, so I ate dinner, got out a glass of whiskey, and jotted down some trip notes from my hike today. There were dogs barking and tons of people coming back from their hikes. I even saw one family of 4 (and a dog) setting out. I thought it was a little late to set out for the hike, but they looked like they were backpacking in and planned to camp at the lake. I guess it’s better to hike after 3pm when it’s cooler (and there was still about 3 hours of daylight left: they had a good chance of making it in time). The kids (both under 10 years old) were thrilled, and bouncing up and down, ready to head out. They kind of reminded me of my kids when they were little: full of energy and excited to be outside, everything new and exciting. Now when we go camping as a family we’ve done it so much we all have our ‘roles’ and everything just kind of happens. It’s no longer novel, but I do have some great campers (and fire starters, outdoor cooks, etc.). My 20 year old son still makes a tradition of climbing the tallest tree he can find just to prove he can, a tradition he started at 5 years old. Bravo to this family for starting them young!

I talked with a bunch of hikers and made it an early night. Bonus: the mouse that had been residing in my truck must have left because I didn’t hear a squeak all night.

I was up and on the trail by 4:45am.

This is a class 1 trail that goes for 2.5 miles to Hope Lake.

The only downside here all the willows/bushes lining the trails: I was the first one out this morning and got spiderwebs in the face to prove it. After the third web I started pole swinging…

I made it to Hope Lake just as the sun was coming up.

This lake isn’t much to look at in the morning, but once the sun came up it was beautiful! I made my way west, following the lake. Here I saw a tent set up, presumably for the family I saw hiking in last night. I tried to be quiet and not disturb them as I walked right past their tent and followed the lake. I wanted to cross the dam here, but the water level was too high to allow me to walk along the shoreline

So instead I gained the ridge and made my way over to the dam.

As I was gaining the ridge the family’s dog came up to me. It was nice, I gave it a pet, and was on my way, wondering to myself why the dog wasn’t sleeping inside the tent with the family? It wasn’t a large dog, and would totally have fit with them inside their tent. Also, not much of a guard dog: it licked my hand and didn’t bark once. I was confident the family was still asleep as I passed their tent again to gain the ridge. I followed the ridge to the dam, crossed the dam, and headed southwest up the side of the mountain (note, there is a lot of old ‘trash’ here: tin cans and cast iron and the like).

There were a few cairns here, but I basically just followed the gully southwest up the mountain

As I was hiking I erroneously believed this was the summit of San Miguel Peak. It’s not. I ended up going straight up the face, but here’s the way you should go instead:

Once at the top you’ll see a ridge. The ridge goes for about 500 feet. I followed it…

And at the end came to an unexpected drop off.

This is where the hike became interesting. I looked at my options and I felt going right was safer than going left. (the left side of the mountain absolutely looks summitable, just more loose and time consuming). Here’s the route I took to the summit. Note: This was class 3 climbing, and on my way up I stuck to the solid rock (as opposed to the scree filled gully… the rocks were still loose here). Luckily I’d brought a helmet. I put it on and started towards the gully.

I summited San Miguel Peak at 8:30am (this one didn’t have a great place to set my camera…)

San Miguel Peak:

Time to head back down. I took a slightly different approach on the way down, following this track (mainly because at the summit I found a cairn indicating this was the ‘trail’ and started off in that direction…)

Here’s what it looked like, and I’d like to note neither way was better than the other (one was more exposed but on relatively stable rock, the other was on loose scree over rocks)

Back up to the ridge

And then back down to Lake Hope

This time, when I got to the lake I crossed the dam, and then just went over the hill, heading northeast until I came to the trail I’d hiked in on… passing a lot of old mining trash along the way. I could hear the family that had been camping having a grand old time: the kids were obviously thrilled with their adventure, and the parents were too. They genuinely sounded happy (I could hear their excited exclamations from the summit all the way back down to the lake). Once again, rock on mom and dad! Well done!

Once back at the trail, I followed it back to the trailhead. I passed dozens of people hiking. Every one of them had a dog, and more than half were obsessed with their masks (not judging, just stating). There were tons of kids out, and they all looked miserable. Who starts a hike with kids in the afternoon and expects them to be ‘excited’ hiking while they’re miserable and hot? I’ve been a park ranger, scout leader, and a mom, and I can tell you from experience, hike early or late, but don’t do the bulk of your hiking between 11-3pm if you want happy little hikers.

I made it back to my truck at 11:15am, making this a 10.69 mile hike with 3834’ of elevation gain in 6.5 hours.

This had been a fabulous morning, it was early and I wasn’t tired, so… on to the next trailhead!

Coxcomb – 13,663 and Redcliff – 13,648

RT Length: 13.24 miles

Elevation Gain: 4654’

Climbing Gear included 2 60 meter 7.9mm ropes.

I’ve been up in my head about this peak since my failed attempt last month. Last time I’d turned around because I wasn’t 100% sure I was in the right area and I was afraid of cliffing out. All of the information I had on Coxcomb was conflicting (some called areas class 3 and others class 5, etc.) and none of the pictures I had from others lined up with what I was seeing. After going back home and researching more I realized I had been in the correct area, and now I was ready to try again.

I drove to the Wetterhorn Trailhead and was surprised to see no one else parked in the lot. The last time I was here there were several other vehicles. I got out, walked around, and signed the trail register so I wouldn’t need to in the morning. It was cloudy and windy but on the plus side there were no mosquitoes.

I tried to pump myself up for the hike tomorrow, but was still having trouble mentally. I told myself to just enjoy the hike and focus on learning something, even if I didn’t summit (again). I got out the book I’m (still) reading: Death in Yosemite, and noted I was still on the ‘death while climbing’ chapter. It may sound macabre, but reading about how other, more experienced climbers have died while climbing puts climbing into perspective for me: gravity never sleeps, and I can never be too careful (which is another reason why I turned around last time). I like to review potential mistakes so I don’t make them.

A group of three (shirtless) guys in their early 20s walked by, carrying gear and pads. I stopped them to see where they were headed and they told me they were just out bouldering. Hmmmm… I didn’t think the area was good for bouldering, but I wished them luck.

I made sure to get to bed early, and wouldn’t you know it, I heard a mouse moving around under/inside my truck as I was trying to sleep. I guess those mothballs don’t work. Also, I believe it was the same mouse as last week: it’s most likely been living in my truck, building a nest, etc. I was going to need to get some traps asap.

I woke up and was on the trail at 4:30am, taking the same route as last time. There’s an obvious trailhead with a register.

I followed the class 1 trail for 3.4 miles up to the top of the pass, and then lost 450’ of elevation as I descended into the basin.

I’ve heard of others who’ve stayed high here instead of going into the basin, and from my perspective, the rubble and talus and scree aren’t worth it: I’m ok losing a little elevation, and I’m actually convinced it saves time. Once in the basin I left the trail, crossed the basin and followed the ridge up to the base of Coxcomb

There was a little bit of scrambling to get to the base

Here’s an overall view of the route up

Once there I was happy to see the rocks I’d placed in the chimney were still where I’d put them. I sat down, put on my helmet, and mentally prepared myself to begin. Here’s the first chimney

I made my way over to the chimney and tried to climb up. No dice. I love to boulder, but I haven’t been since COVID started due to the gym being closed and now requiring masks (say what you will, but I cannot work out with a mask on. I respect the rules however, and thus choose not to go). All this to say I’m a little rusty when it comes to my bouldering skills.

Ok, so if I couldn’t just climb up I’d do what I did last time: I took off my pack, attached a rope to the pack and my harness, and tried climbing up without a pack. The rock was cold and my fingers were stiff and I tried and tried but was unable to climb up the chimney. What was wrong? I’d been able to do it last time! Ugh. That was when I realized last time I’d worn climbing shoes. I guess they did make a difference. Oh well, I was just going to need to get creative. I tried once again, this time angling myself sideways, putting my thigh into a crack, shimmying around, and pressing into the side of the rock with my inner thigh and hoisting myself up. This took me halfway up the chimney. From there I was able to hoist myself up and use my arms to do the rest. I made it to the top of the chimney, hauled up my gear, and prepared for the second part for the climb. The red circle is where I ‘sat’

The next section was easy class 3. I re-coiled my rope, put on my pack, and made my way to the base of the next chimney

This is where I’d gotten stuck last time. This time however, I was sure I was in the correct spot. I initially tried to climb this with my pack on, realized that wasn’t going to happen (the pack was too heavy and put me off balance) and decided to try climbing this chimney without my pack. The red circle is where I took off my pack.

Here’s what the climb looks like from there. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to climb this with my gear, but also knowing I needed my gear to descend I decided to once again tie the rope to my harness and loop it around my pack. I was very careful to make sure my rope didn’t get tangled, and I had an exit strategy in case the whole ‘rope around the pack thing’ didn’t work in this area. I wouldn’t recommend this tactic unless you put a lot of thought and planning into its execution, as so many things can go wrong in this scenario. Here’s a look at the beginning of the route

I made it halfway up and stopped.

At the halfway point I hauled up my gear to where I was positioned. I figured this would lessen the chances of my pack getting stuck when I hauled it all the way up, and also gave me a chance to test whether or not hauling the pack would work in an area where I still felt I could downclimb safely. This tactic proved successful, so I continued on.

From the halfway point, here’s looking up at the rest of the route

This is a class 5.2 chimney that requires some stemming/fun/creative moves to ascend. At one point I even used a crack climbing technique to get a good hold with my arm vertically and hoist myself up. This is the point I wasn’t able to make it past last time, but after talking with others who’d successfully climbed this area I felt confident I’d be able to as well. There are some sketchy moves, but plenty of opportunities for stemming/hand holds to make the ascent doable. I was terrified but just told myself not to look down, to focus ahead, and soon enough I’d made it out of the chimney. Here’s the route I took

Once at the top of the chimney I turned and hauled up my gear, feeling pretty pleased with myself for making it this far. I recoiled my rope and put it in my pack.

I’ve heard it’s class 3 after this point to exit the chimney, but it felt class 2 to me

Last time I’d been worried I was in the wrong gully. Since I hike solo I’m extra careful, and probably turn back more often than I should when uncomfortable. One of the reasons I’d turned back here last time was I was worried if I ascended the wrong gully I’d be cliffed out. It turns out that wouldn’t have been the case, so if you’re worried about cliffing out in this area don’t be: all chimneys exit in the same area, and it’s solid. Here’s looking back

And forward towards the summit of Coxcomb

There was still one more obstacle before reaching the summit: a 25 foot notch I’d need to rappel before upclimbing to the summit.

I got out my rope, attached it to my gear and the anchor (which looked solid so I didn’t replace the webbing) and rappelled down into the notch. This is committing because it’s class 5.6 to climb back up. I’m not a climber, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to upclimb this section on my own: forward was the only way from here on out. This last bit included rappelling down, then climbing out of the notch

Here’s a look back up at this section from inside the notch

I once again retrieved and recoiled my rope, and got ready for the final pitch to the summit. I went north, following the cairns, and climbed up an easy chimney

From there it was an easy walk to the summit

I summited Coxcomb Peak at 9:30am. There was a summit register in a powerade bottle that should probably be replaced. I didn’t open it, but it looked like the papers were smushed in there.

Coxcomb:

I was thrilled I’d made it this far, but I still had the 170’ rappel to accomplish. I went to work, looking for the webbing and anchor set up. It was easy to find and still looked good, so I decided to use what was already there.

I tied my two ropes together with a double fisherman’s knot and threw my ropes. It was quite windy, and the wind was coming at me, so it took a couple of tries to make sure the ropes made it all the way to the ground. This was quite frustrating, but worth the extra effort to make sure it was done correctly. Next, I tested the rope, watched my knot to make sure it was secure, unclipped my safety, and started the rappel. Everything went smoothly. I even noticed 2 more anchors set up below where I’d rappelled, so if you brought just one rope it would have been enough (the webbing looked old though, and should probably be replaced).

My feet touched the ground and I gave out a “Woot!” I was so excited! I’d done it!!! I’d solo’d Coxcomb Peak, a peak I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to climb, let alone solo. I gave myself a minute to let it sink in, and then went about retrieving my ropes.

I had two ropes, one purple, one orange. I always pull the darker one. I pulled the purple one and was thrilled when it moved. I pulled it about 10 feet when it stopped. Hmmm. Ok, maybe it got stuck? So I pulled the orange rope back a few feet, and then tried the purple one again. Once again, it got stuck. I whipped the ropes and they moved as far as I could see, so one of the ropes must have been stuck up at the very top. I spent the next hour doing everything I could think of to retrieve those ropes, to no avail. In the end I made the very difficult decision to leave them there. I did put a note in the trail register on the way down and I posted to some climbing social media sites about their whereabouts, so at this point I’m fairly confident they’ve been retrieved. It hurt to leave them there, not only because of LNT, but also because this is the first time I’ve used them (besides the initial breaking in).

Here’s the rappel

I sighed heavily and turned to hike up Redcliff.

This was a very short, simple, and straightforward climb. I summited Redcliff at 11:15am

Redcliff:

Here’s looking back at Coxcomb. I’ve circled the notch that needs to be rappelled down and then climbed back up

I turned and headed back to the Coxcomb/Redcliff saddle, and then descended west into the basin

There wasn’t a well stablished trail here, but the route was easy enough to figure out. I just aimed for the visible class 1 trail below I’d taken on my way in this morning

Here’s looking back at the route from the saddle to the trail

And a look at the hike out

I made it back to the now full trailhead and my truck at 1:10pm, making this a 13.24 mile hike with 4654’ of elevation gain in 8 hours, 40 minutes.

I was thrilled with today’s success, and even though I’d lost two new climbing ropes I drove to the next trailhead on a bit of a high.

Gravel Mountain – 13,577 & PT 13702

RT Length: 8.66 miles

Elevation Gain: 3042’

I left Cinnamon Pass after hiking some bicentennials in the area, intent on driving to the Henson Creek Trailhead that leads up to Hurricane Basin. I put together a gpx file on CalTopo which had me taking Road 5 to 2, which is the road that goes over Engineer Pass. However, I wasn’t going to take the pass, I was going to take another road that cut down to 21. I was all excited about this until I drove to the cutoff. At the cutoff all that was there was a sign that said no going off road. Also, the road ended. Hmmm. OK, so there was no road here (or at least, not anymore) so I turned around and drove over Engineer Pass to the trailhead.

I have a stock Tundra, and it handled Engineer Pass just fine. I did see a couple in an OHV, a man in his 40s driving and his wife white as a ghost sitting next to him, clutching her purse as if it were a life vest. She was scared beyond belief, he was having the time if his life…lol! Luckily, since it was after 5pm there weren’t too many other drivers on the road, so I didn’t have to pass too many people. In fact, I didn’t see another vehicle once I went over the pass.

That being said, I wouldn’t recommend driving over Engineer Pass to get to this trailhead: Instead from Lake City take 20 to 21.

I found a nice dispersed campsite near an old cabin.

I walked around for a bit but honestly didn’t stay up long: it had been a long day and I was beat. I ate dinner on my tailgate and had a rather brave chipmunk and Canada Jay beg for food from me. It looked like they’d been conditioned for this behavior. Around 3am I heard what sounded like a wrapper being manipulated by a small rodent. I figured it was the chipmunk from last night fooling around. I thumped on the side of my truck a few times and it left, only to come back again a few minutes later.

I was finally on the trail at 5am. From my campsite I walked down CO Rd 21

I crossed Hensen Creek and changed out of my sandals and into my hiking boots. (I walked the area the night before and figured since it was a short distance to the creek I’d start off in my sandals and change after the creek to save time).

I followed the 4WD road for a very short distance and came to a fork in the road. I went left first, thinking I was supposed to follow the creek, but I ended up coming to private property with ‘no trespassing’ signs. In fact, I should have gone right and followed the road (this is counter-intuitive, but the road actually winds up the mountain).

After backtracking I followed the 4WD road for 2.75 miles, all the way to Hurricane Basin.

Note: my truck could have made it all the way to the mine, but I would have run into trouble if I’d needed to pass someone. There are only 2 passing points on this road, one at the first switchback, and one just before leaving the trees (which also happens to be a campsite, pictured below). If you choose to drive this road note other drivers coming up/down, and realize if they’re already on the road you need to let them drive the entire way before proceeding, as there’s no place to pass.

Just before making it to Hurricane Basin the road forked and I took a left

And followed the road all the way to the Golconda Mine. This area is pretty cool, and if you have some extra time I’d suggest you check it out. The mine was refurbished in 2014 but already needs more work, as nature is insane, especially above treeline. The doors open, and you can see some of the original items inside. There’s a blacksmiths’ hut as well, and a lot of leftover ‘trash’ from over a hundred years ago.

The trail to the summit starts behind the Golconda Boarding House. Well, there’s no defined trail, but that’s the way to start your trek up the mountain. Here’s an overview of the route:

The route starts out in mining rubble

And then changes to tundra. There’s a brief trail here you can pick up and follow for a bit before heading northwest up the mountain

After the tundra came the rubble. There were faint game trails that went up the rubble. On my way down I pushed in steps into the rubble and scree to make more of a defined trail.

I summited unranked Gravel Mountain at 7:10am.

Gravel Mountain:

From here PT 13688 is an easy ridge hike away

The route is obvious and easy class 2. Here are some highlights:

It’ll be obvious when you take the trail left

And a little right

I summited PT 13688 at 7:35am

PT 13688:

I had great views of the peaks I hiked yesterday

Time to head back

On the way down I did my best to establish a trail in the scree/rubble

Once at the mine I just followed the road back to my campsite

On the way down I was able to see the ‘road’ I’d intended on driving down to the trailhead. It didn’t look like it’d been used in decades. So, long story short, take 20 from Lake City, and not Engineer Pass (unless you have an OHV).

I made it back to my truck at 9:30am, making this an 8.66 mile hike with 3042’ of elevation gain in 4.5 hours.

I got back to my truck, opened the back to shuffle things around, and found mice droppings lining the edge of my sleeping bag! Ugh! At that moment I realized 2 things: 1) it wasn’t the squirrel last night making noise, and 2) the moth balls don’t work. Ugh. So. Not. Cool. A mouse had made its way into the bed of my truck and was looking around for food. At least I didn’t have any food accessible. I was a bit bummed though the hundreds of moth balls I had lining my truck hadn’t deterred a small mouse (and by the looks of the droppings it was a small mouse).

I had another day free to hike, but chose to drive home to spend it with my youngest instead (who was just accepted into her first college this week: in less than a year she’ll be off to college, and I want to spend as much time with her as possible before she leaves).

Wood Mountain – 13,682, UR 13,715 & Animas Forks Mountain – 13,740

RT Length: 6.53 miles

Elevation Gain: 2270’

After hiking Every Mountain and Cooper Creek Peak I still had some energy left, so I decided to drive up to Cinnamon Pass and get in a few more peaks today. There were a bunch of OHVs in the parking area when I arrived. Mine was the only truck/non OHV there.

I gathered my gear and started out at 12:30pm. I began by heading north towards Wood Mountain

Here’s an overall view of the route

As I was hiking I came across a faint road and followed it up to the ridge

The road ended at what used to be a structure. From there I just hiked up the side of the mountain

I summited Wood Mountain at 1:15pm, and while I was a little slow/tired from my hike earlier today, I couldn’t believe how easy this summit had been!

Wood Mountain:

Here’s looking back down the ridge I’d just hiked up

From Wood Mountain you can easily see the other two peaks I’d be hiking today: UR 13,708 and Animas Forks Mountain

There wasn’t a trail to follow, but this was a simple class 2 ridge hike over to UR 13,708

From the saddle, here’s looking back at Wood Mountain and up towards UR 13,708

And a good look at the ridge to Animas Forks Mountain

The rock here was loose rubble, but the ridge was easy to follow to the summit

I summited UR 13,708 at 2:15pm. Once at the summit I wasn’t sure I was actually there, so I walked the short distance north to the next point.

Once there I got out my altimeter and determined the first point was actually the highpoint, so I hiked back.

I once again stood on the summit of 13,708 and looked over at Wood Mountain and then over at Animas Forks Mountain

Here’s the route up to Animas Forks Mountain

The ridge looked like more than class 2, but if you just follow the ridge it stays at class 2, just with some added exposure.

The rock is pretty solid until the very end, where it becomes loose just before it turns to gravel

I summited Animas Forks Mountain at 3pm

“Animas Forks Mountain”:

From the summit you can see an easy way to make this hike a loop, just follow the ridge down to the road and hike the road back to Cinnamon Pass.

However, there were some mines I wanted to explore below Wood Mountain, so I decided to retrace my steps back UR 13,708. Also, when I’d taken a video at the summit of 13,708 I’d said I was at Animas Forks Mountain, and I wanted a new video with the correct name. Here’s the route back to 13,708

I re-summited UR 13,708 at 3:45pm

UR 13,708:

From here I made my way back to the 13,708/Wood Mountain saddle

Once at the saddle I followed the sand and rock gully down until I hit up with an old mining road

I followed the faint road until I came across a mine

The mine was completely boarded up, without even a gate/lock that would open. It was still neat to peer inside. It looked like they’d collapsed the inside.

I continued following the road southeast until I came across another mine, this one not boarded up

From there it was an easy hike back to Cinnamon Pass

I passed some water coming out of a pipe that didn’t look fit to filter. The water was more red in color than orange, and made me wonder if that’s how Cinnamon Pass got its name?

Eventually I connected back up with the road and followed it to my truck. My truck was now the only vehicle in the lot

I made it back to my truck at 4:50pm, making this a 6.53 mile hike with 2270’ of elevation gain and lots of time exploring mines in 4 hours, 20 minutes.

I decided to drive to the next trailhead, eat dinner, and get some sleep. It ended up being an eventful and unplanned drive over Engineer Pass.

Every Mountain – 13691 & Cooper Creek Peak – 13694

RT Length: 12.93 miles

Elevation Gain: 3987’

The Cooper Creek Trailhead is located about a mile past the Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch trailhead on 30 past Lake City. There were cars parked and camping at the trailhead, so I parked at a dispersed camping spot right next to Cooper Creek.

It was still early so I decided to take a look around. The Cooper Creek Trailhead is located in the historic town/settlement of Argentum, and there were still some old structures in the area.

It was an uneventful night. I slept soundly until midnight, when campers at the spot across from me returned from their outing. They weren’t loud, but they did wake me up. I went back to bed and didn’t wake up again until my alarm went off. I was on the trail at 5am. The Cooper Creek Trailhead is just to the west of Cooper Creek, visible from the road.

The trail is class 1 for the first 3 miles, and seems to follow an old mining road.

After hiking for 1.5 miles the trail crosses Cooper Creek, just where an overturned trailer sits in the water. It looks like it’s been there for a long time.

The trail continues to follow the creek up to the basin, passing a fresh avalanche area (there was still snow under the trees, but there was a clear path to follow)

After 3 miles of hiking along this class 1 trail it abruptly stopped. I crossed the creek and headed northeast along the mountainside, eventually picking up another class 1 trail (I’m not sure where it had started, as I crossed the creek at a couple of cairns and must have missed the trail)

The trail eventually leads to a lake in the upper basin (going left), but I didn’t follow it that far. Instead I crossed Cooper Creek one more time and headed towards an old mine to check it out. If you don’t want to check out the mine, here’s the overall route to gain the ridge.

The creek crossing was simple

The mine was filled in, but there were some pieces of equipment lying around.

I turned around and noticed 2 tents set up along the trail that leads to the lake and a couple other 13ers in the area. It was just starting to get light so I decided to be quiet as I gained the ridge. Eventually I found a trail here that led to the ridge as well (it actually goes up and over and down into the basin on the other side of the ridge)

Once I gained the ridge I turned right (east) and followed the ridge towards a false summit.

After reaching the false summit it was a half mile hike along the ridge to the actual summit. This was class 2, with no real obstacles to overcome.

I made it to the summit of Every Mountain at 7:55am

“Every Mountain”

Here’s a look back at my route in

Here’s a look at the route over to Cooper Creek Peak

This was another easy class 2 ridge hike without any difficult obstacles. At times there is even a trail. Actually, there are quite a few game trails here.

I summited Cooper Creek Peak at 8:50am. It was very, very windy.

“Cooper Creek Peak”

Because it was windy it was also cold, so I didn’t stay long on the summit. Instead I headed back down to the Every Mountain/Cooper Creek Peak saddle and from there down into the basin

Here’s the overall route

I hiked down the grassy slope, aiming for the creek. I then crossed the creek and stayed a little high to avoid the muddy areas

The creek didn’t look like it had water fit for filtering

Still, I followed it back to the trail

Here’s a look back at my way down the basin

And the route back on the class 1 trail

Back across the creek

And back to the trailhead. On my way out I noticed a trail register I hadn’t seen on my way in

I made it back to my truck at 11:10am, making this a 12.93 mile hike with 3987’ of elevation gain in 6 hours, 10 minutes. Here’s a topo map of my route:

It was still early and I wasn’t yet tired, so I decided to drive to the next trailhead and get in a few more peaks for the day…

West Trinity Peak – 13,765, Trinity Peak – 13,816 & East Trinity Peak – 13,745

* I did these peaks with Arrow Peak as a weekend hike. CalTopo put the entire route at 41 miles, 10511′ of elevation gain, Strava gave me 30.9 miles and 15795′ of elevation gain. Either way, it was a good workout (see photos at end). Approach directions can be found here.

After hiking Arrow Peak I decided to get a look in the daylight at the approach to the Trinities. I continued southeast along the same trail I’d hiked in on until I came to the area where I was supposed to begin the ascent up to the Trinities

However, when I got there I noticed there wasn’t a place to set up camp, and the area had a lot of water. I couldn’t find a good place to cross the water without getting seriously wet. I did not want to start a hike early in the morning wet and cold.

I thought about the route for a minute, went through some pictures I’d taken earlier in the day from Arrow Peak, and decided to continue along the trail for a bit to see if I could find a better spot to set up camp, and a better entry point. This hike is a loop, so I just continued heading southeast. The trail became more and more faint as I hiked along

After hiking for a mile and a half I came to the area I intended to spend the night at 11,970’. There were waterfalls here, a creek, willows, and a few trees.

I set up a bivy under a tree, filtered some water, ate an early dinner, and jotted notes down in my journal.

There was a 20% chance of rain today, and wouldn’t you know it? It started to rain. Also, the clouds looked like they were going to attack me.

Luckily the rain stopped and I decided to head over to the creek again. This creek looked much easier to cross then the marshy area, but in the interest of not needing to change out of my hiking boots and into my sandals tomorrow morning (thus eliminating unnecessary gear) I decided to build a rock bridge over the creek. I put on my water sandals and got to work. It was my intention to hike up this side of the mountain and connect with the proper trail once in the basin. I wasn’t 100% sure the route ‘went’ but it seemed like a better option than ascending from below. I figured it this didn’t work I’d turn around and start with East Trinity instead, and get wet on my way out.

When I was done making the rock bridge it was still too early to go to sleep. There wasn’t much to do so I relaxed, enjoyed the view, and broke out the whiskey. Before the day was out I had about 16oz of whiskey (I knew because I’d placed it in a marked sports bottle. Also, I have a high tolerance for alcohol and don’t get hangovers so this isn’t out of character for me). I saw a group of hikers come over the pass and head towards me. They were doing Vestal tomorrow and were looking for a place to camp for the night. I told they they’d have better luck near the approach and they were off. Not long after that I went to bed. It was still early, but it had been a long day. Whiskey puts me to sleep.

I woke up well before my alarm. It was still dark out but there was a full moon and I could see the mountains clearly. I saw shooting stars and thought to myself how lucky I was to be here right now. I was actually warm (that’s rare for me when I backpack) and I didn’t want to get up. I also didn’t need to for a while. I watched clouds come in and started to worry: there was a 40% chance of rain after noon today and I didn’t want to get stuck in the rain while on the traverse. I’d heard from other hikers yesterday it took about 8 hours to complete. I did some math in my head and decided to get up and get going. The last time the weather had said 40% chance of rain after noon I got caught in a thunderstorm at 9:30am.

I’d prepped most of my gear last night, so this morning all I had to do was roll up my sleeping bag and put away my bivy sack and ground cover. I filtered some more water and I was off. (side note: I’ve had the same water filter since 1998, and wouldn’t you know it, they’ve improved since then? This week I bought a gravity bag water filter, and it’s AMAZING! I can fill my entire water bottle in 2 minutes, and since there’s a lot of water in the area I convinced myself to drink as much as possible this weekend. Normally I don’t drink while hiking, but this weekend I filled up my Nalgene 3 times!)

It was just beginning to get light out when I set off at 5am. I hiked straight up the side of the mountain, and when I reached the top I was thrilled to see my idea had worked: the route easily connected with the trail (there wasn’t a trail exactly, but the routes lined up and I was now going in the right direction).

There were several headlamps already shining on Wham Ridge. Looks like they got an even earlier start than I did. Smart. I was a little worried about the cloud cover. I could see rain in the distance and the clouds were forming fast. I told myself I’d keep going until I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t feel my real point of no return would come until I summited West Trinity and decided to either head back or continue on for the day.

I dipped down a bit into the basin and headed south towards the ridge. There seemed to be a couple of options to ascent the ridge. I chose the gully directly in front of me.

The gully started out with large boulders and ended with scree. I took it slow and kept an eye on the weather.

At the top of the gully I turned left and headed east to the saddle. This was a very simple trek that followed a faint trail behind the ridge.

The first part of this trek was simple and straightforward as I hiked up the ridge

Then it became more tricky. There were no cairns here. I stayed on the south side of the mountain and continued climbing east. I encountered a series of class 4 gullies and took them up. There were several gullies and they all seemed to ‘go’. (Side note: when I got home I pulled up 4 different GPX files of this route and none of them lined up in this area, so it seems there are several ways to climb this part).

The gullies eventually brought me to the ridge, which I followed to the summit

I summited West Trinity Peak at 8am

West Trinity Peak

The weather looked like it would hold so I made the decision to continue towards Trinity Peak (also, I didn’t want to downclimb those gullies! Definitely do this traverse west to east if you’re not a fan of downclimbing gullies, as the gullies don’t quit and you’d have to downclimb every one of them heading east to west).

I continued southeast towards the West Trinity/Trinity Saddle

Instead of following the ridge, take the gully down. It’s class 2 and leads you to the saddle. You won’t be losing any unnecessary elevation.

Interestingly, there were cairns between West Trinity and Trinity Peak. This is interesting because they would have been useful elsewhere, but were only present for this short section.

Don’t stick to the ridge, but follow the cairns as they skirt the south side of the mountain

The cairns (circled in red) were very helpful here

They led me to a class 4 chimney. Climbing today seemed extremely easy. It was really nice to just hike with a flimsy drawstring pack instead of my normal backpack. The difference in my climbing ability was amazing. I wasn’t off center and pulling myself up was a breeze.

At the top of the chimney you’ll want to keep heading right towards the ledge, but DON’T DO THIS!!! I did, and I can tell you that ledge is super scary (but doable if you hug the ridge: there’s less than a foot of space to walk on and not much room when the boulders bulge out). However, you’ll need to do it twice because it doesn’t go anywhere and cliffs out.

Instead, go left and you’ll once again find cairns that will lead you north and then east to the summit

I summited Trinity Peak at 9:25am. It took less than an hour and a half to get from the summit of West Trinity to Trinity.

Trinity Peak

Here’s a look over at East Trinity Peak

I took the gully down to the saddle of Trinity/East Trinity

The entire time I was descending I kept my eye on East Trinity, looking for the best way to ascend. It looked to me like the best option would be to keep towards the center until the end, where I wanted to summit towards the left to avoid any difficult traverse there may be if I topped out on the right (side note: there didn’t appear to be any difficulties if I’d chosen to summit to the right instead). You can’t see it in this picture, but at the very top there are two chimneys to the left. Take the one on the right (I cliffed out about 10 feet from the summit and had to retreat and find a different route).

At the saddle there was a gully to cross before heading up

Once inside the gully the rock was surprisingly stable, but there were a lot of large rocks that were easy to kick down, so if you’re hiking with a partner be careful not to dislodge rocks.

The only time I had trouble was when I got towards the top. Like I said before, stick to the left, and then choose the gully to the right.

This was class 4 climbing.

To my left I saw another ‘kissing camel’ formation. The cool thing about this one is it includes a heart

After taking the wrong route, cliffing out and backtracking, I headed a little more south and found an area I could climb and make it to the ridge

I was thrilled when I topped out and could see the summit an easy hike away!

I summited East Trinity Peak at 10:30am. It had taken me less than an hour to make it to East Trinity from Trinity.

East Trinity Peak

Here’s a look back at Trinity Peak. I was talking with someone on my hike out who told me she’d attempted the traverse a few years ago, but couldn’t find a way to summit Trinity Peak. They’d ‘missed the peak’. If you’re unable to find the access points, or want to keep this part of the hike class 2 (or easy class 3), just make your way to the Trinity/East Trinity saddle and hike back up the gully to summit Trinity Peak (shown below)

Time to head back down. The ridge down from East Trinity was straightforward.

With a couple of surprisingly steep sections

I made it to the saddle and scree-surfed down the gully to the lake

I skirted the right side of the lake and headed back down to my camping area

Here’s a look back at the route I took down from the East Trinity ridge

I made it to my stashed gear at 11:22am. The traverse had taken me just under 6.5 hours to complete. Notes on the traverse: It’s very committing, there’s a lot of route finding, and I felt in the route I took there were a lot of class 4 moves. I got a lot of good scrambling practice in, and honestly wish I would have attempted this traverse earlier: I felt like I leveled up in my class 4 climbing skills, and I was deliriously happy with this hike. And the weather had held! Woot!

I filtered some more water, took off my shoes to air out my feet, and ate a couple of sliced mangoes (my first food of the day: I get nauseous when I eat and hike but figured I needed some calories for the way out).

Time to head out. I found a stick that made a great trekking pole to replace the one I’d lost yesterday and headed out the same way I headed in, after about a mile of wading through willows and water to find the trail.

Connecting back up with the class 1 trail that would lead me to the beaver ponds, through the avalanche area, straddling the creek and bringing me back to the Animas River. I saw a ton of people on the trail, and talked to every one of them.

Once at the river I crossed the bridge and sat down for a while to rest before tackling the 4 miles and 1700’ of elevation gain back up to Molas Pass. I took off my shoes and soaked my feet in the river, filtered more water, and tried to eat a packet of tuna (I ate half). There were CT hikers across the river from me. They shouted and asked if I minded if they bathed. I’ve been there, and I didn’t care. They seemed overjoyed at the idea of a bath, and I wasn’t going to deny them that gift.

There were mosquitoes and fleas here so I didn’t stay long. I packed my gear back up and started switchbacking up the mountain to Molas Pass

I left my newfound trekking pole at the information sign and made it back to my truck at 6pm. It had taken me about an hour and 45 minutes to hike those 4 miles and 1700’ from the river. I got different mileages/elevations from Strava and CalTopo for my triup, so I’ll leave those here.

In the end, I was thrilled I’d decided to hike today! Sometimes it’s really difficult to get started, but once I’m going I’m really enjoying myself, and the sense of accomplishment I get from summiting peaks and challenging myself is amazing.

Also, I’ve done this approach as a day hike (with Vestal) and this time backpacking for Arrow and the Trinities. For me a day hike is absolutely the way to go: The extra weight made the trek in and out so much more tiring than it needed to be. Long days don’t bother me. Everyone’s different, but I much more enjoyed the hike in and out from Vestal than I did this time.