bicentennial – Page 4 – Wild Wanderer

Arrow Peak – 13,817

* I did this as part of a 2 day hike, so my mileage and elevation gain aren’t included here. CalTopo says my mileage to the top of Arrow Peak was 15.23 miles.

My son is in the Air Force and came home for some unexpected leave. I haven’t seen him in over a year, so I was thrilled to spend the past couple of weeks with him. This also meant it’d been a few weeks since I’d done any serious hiking, so it was so nice to get out hiking again this weekend. I drove to the Molas Pass trailhead and parked the night before the hike so I could start early the next morning. I’ve done this approach before for Vestal Peak, so I already knew what to expect. I drove in, parked, and walked around a bit to stretch my legs after that 6.5 hour drive. It was a beautiful day, and I kind of wished I could just start hiking now.

Here’s a look at the peaks from the trailhead

There’s limited cell service at the Molas Pass Trailhead. Unfortunately, I saw evidence of two separate vehicles having their windows smashed.

I spent an hour or two in the back of my truck relaxing, looking at topo maps, and eating dinner. I saw another hummingbird fly by, so the record held of seeing a hummingbird at every trailhead I’ve slept at so far this year. I went to bed and was up and on the trail by 2am. The trail starts at the south end of the parking area.

From there the trail is easy class 1 all the way down the 4 miles and 1700’ to the Animas river, and back up to Vestal Basin (9.6 miles total).

Just before the river there’s a creek crossing

Then a solid bridge across the Animas River

Then I followed the train tracks (very briefly) and took the obvious trail up to the Vestal Basin.

At 4.7 miles there’s a trail register (a trail register that’s legit: it actually looks like they track the pages here)

Note: I crossed this area in the dark, and it seemed as if I needed to use the log to make this part of the trek. In the dark the rocks didn’t look close enough together to cross. So instead of taking the rocks across I sat down and scooted across the log until I made it back to the trail. On my way back I realized I was wrong: take the rocks 😊

The avalanche area was much easier to pass this year than last year: there are triple the amount of surveyors’ tape markings in the area. However, I still managed get off track at the last and final crossing. I wanted to stay high on the ridge and in the dark couldn’t locate any more tape. I should have stayed lower.

At the beaver ponds I took a right behind the boulder by first going through two logs onto an unmarked trail (it seems counter intuitive, but it’s the correct path), and followed the rocks until I once again caught up with the trail.

I followed the class 1 trail up to Vestal Basin.

There are willows to contend with here, and water, which equals mud. Prepare for your shoes to get muddy (or throw rocks/sticks down to walk over the muddy areas)

There is a really good campsite in the Vestal Basin, just where you turn off to hike both Vestal and Arrow Peak. I stashed my pack here behind a tree, filtered some water, and packed only what I needed in a small sack before heading up and tackling Arrow Peak. Here’s the route to the upper basin

The creek crossing was easy. I took off my shoes but didn’t need sandals

There’s a semi-well defined trail to the upper basin, through willows to begin with, and then scree.

In the willows I lost one of my gloves. I realized it about 50 feet after I’d lost it, but wasn’t in the mood to go back and get it (I didn’t want to re-gain any elevation today if it wasn’t absolutely necessary). I hoped it would be there when I went back. There’s a cairn at the top to indicate the upper basin. Here’s an overview of the route from there.

Note: For some reason I thought Arrow Peak was class 2, so I didn’t do much research on this peak. Luckily, I’d brought my helmet, because this is definitely class 3 and requires some route finding. The first objective is to find the access area to the rib that will lead you most of the way up. There’s a cairn indicating the way. Aim for the greenery, head up and right, then left. I stashed my trekking pole at the entry point and headed up, as it was obvious I’d be doing scrambling from this point on and a pole would just get in my way.

It looks more difficult than it is. The rock is solid and grips nicely. Be sure to pick the largest rib (it’s obvious and is a good 50+ feet wide)

I followed the rib as is ascended

There will be a point where the rib will become more prominent. Stay right. It looks like going left may be doable to go left later in the year, but at this point (July 31^st) I opted to go right and that worked well (avoiding the snow).

It’s hard to tell in the picture below, but I’m following the rib. There’s a point where it’s hard to tell if you go left or right (circled in red), but you go left here and then right. If you look closely you’ll find cairns here indicating the way (they’ll be above you).

Going left you’ll see a gully on your left. It looks doable (and probably is) but it’s easier to ascend by going right. This is pretty well cairned.

Going right will lead you to a short ledge

at the end of the ledge go left (following the cairns) and then head northwest up some serious class 3-4 climbing to the summit.

I reached the summit at 10:15am, after 15.27 miles and just over 8 hours of hiking

Arrow Peak:

The trek down was much easier than the trek up, as it was easier to see the cairns and I already knew which direction I was headed. Here are the basic highlights:

Back down to the ledge, then following it to the right and then left (the cairns are very helpful here)

And then following the ridge back to the basin, sticking to the solid rock whenever possible because the scree was slippery and the rock was stable (but would have been slippery in the rain)

I made it back down to the basin, and check it out: someone (or a marmot) stole my trekking pole! I looked all around for it and was unable to find it. I had passed about 10 people on the way up/down, so it could have been one of them, but that would’ve been poor form and not cool, especially since I talked with all of them and they seemed super nice, so I’m assuming it was an animal. From the basin there’s a trail back down to the camping area

Someone had found my glove and made it super easy to find by sticking it on a branch right in the middle of the trail. Thank you!!! (they’re expensive gloves…). Then it was a quick creek crossing and I was back at my gear.

Total mileage will be with my Trinities Report, but the mileage from Molas Pass, up to Arrow, and back to the camping area where I’d stashed my pack was 17.71 miles according to CalTopo, 12.7 miles according to Strava (to be discussed in my next trip report: gotta love app discrepancies). Here’s a picture of the route from my camping area the next day (without route markings)

Here’s the CalTopo of the entire route, including the hike the next day up the Trinities.

“T0” – Telluride Zero Peak – 13,739 & Campbell Peak (UR) – 13,213

RT Length: 12.06 miles

Elevation Gain: 5417’

After climbing Mt Emma I drove from Yankee Boy Basin to Telluride and parked at the Eiler Creek Trailhead. There were already a few cars there when I arrived, and two more drove up and parked before the day was out. This was a busy 4^th of July weekend!

After today’s hike and lightning scare I decided to check the weather again for tomorrow’s hike. The forecast indicated a slight chance of rain beginning at 10am, with thunder beginning at 1pm. OK, so I needed to be below treeline by 10am to avoid the rain. Thunder/Lightning shouldn’t be a problem. I set my alarm for 3:30am. As I was going over topo maps for tomorrow’s hike my friends from yesterday drove by. I waved, they stopped, and we talked for a bit about our days adventures under a nice rainbow.

They had tents to set up and I needed to get to bed early so we said our goodbyes, I ate the rest of my sandwich for dinner, and after a glass of Skrewball I went soundly to bed. I was on the trail at 4am. The Eider Creek Trailhead is located at the north end of the parking area, and immediately splits into two trails. Take the trail to the left.

Just after this split is a nice camping spot, no more than a few yards from the parking area

I followed the class 1 Eider Creek Trail, staying right at the first junction

And left at the second to stay on the Eider Creek Trail.

This trail was very easy to follow and well marked with signs.

There was one creek crossing that was easy to rock hop across (and a rather large tree you could traverse if you preferred, but I thought it overkill).

I stayed on the Eider Creek Trail for 3 miles and then left the trail, turned right and headed north through an area filled with downed trees. This was tons of fun to navigate in the dark.

Luckily this area was short, only lasting about 100 yards, before I came to a clearing.

From the clearing I needed to gain the ridge. There are several ways to do this, and both the gully on the left and the gully on the right ‘go’. I took the one on the left, hugging the aspen trees and then ascending via tundra and clumps of bunch grass. This was by far the most difficult part of the hike: the terrain is much steeper than it looks, gaining 1650’ in less than 2 miles. It seemed never-ending.

Once on the ridge I turned left and followed the ridge northwest

From the ridge you can see both Campbell Peak (behind the obstacle) and Telluride Zero Peak

The obstacle took a little bit of maneuvering. Yes, you go right over the top, and this is class 3. I put on my helmet. These are the steps I took:

After ascending this little wall I was greeted with the crux of the route. Here’s how I climbed this point, first going to the right, and then left up the center. I placed some cairns here in key areas

The chimney has a lot of hand/foot holds, but beware: most of them are loose.

Once on top of the chimney I could see Campbell Peak. The rocks were loose but this was class 2 all the way to Campbell Peak

From Campbell Peak it’s an easy ridge hike to Telluride Zero, losing 200’ of elevation and gaining 750’ in just under a mile

This was a simple ridge hike, if a bit chossy. I stayed on the ridge direct for 95% of this part, and only dipped down when obvious to the right.

I summited Tellurize Zero Peak at 8:15am

Telluride Zero Peak:

It was a beautiful morning, so I stayed a little longer than usual on the summit, taking in the views.

Here’s the route back to Campbell Peak

And then down to the class 3 section. To get there, aim for the area that looks like a dropoff. I placed a few cairns here as well.

Here’s how to work your way back down the chimney. Here I threw my trekking pole down so I could use both hands to downclimb.

Once down the chimney I hiked down the little wall and followed the ridge to the gully. There are several gullies here: be sure to take the right one. I remembered the gully I took in because of the large rock outcropping on the other side of some aspen trees.

I was about a quarter of the way down the gully when I heard it: a loud clap of thunder to my right. I turned my head and saw a dark skies where just minutes ago there’d been blue, a flash of lightning, and heard another clap.

Where had that come from? It had been nice and sunny all morning. This storm must have built up on the other side of the ridge as I’d been hiking down the gully. I looked at my watch: 9:30am. Seriously? A thunderstorm at 9:30am? Rain had been forecasted as a possibility after 10am, but thunder wasn’t supposed to be a possibility until well after noon. This was just great. Another lesson from mother nature: mountains make their own weather. The storm looked close, and it looked to be building fast. There was nowhere for me to hide above treeline so I made a beeline for the trees.

This took an agonizing amount of time, as the storm kept getting fiercer and the terrain kept getting steeper. I could see the thunderclouds developing before my eyes. I had to be careful with each step not to twist an ankle, but wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. I made it to the end of the gully and sprinted through an open field towards the nearest trees I could find as thunder rolled all around me. Yes, I know how dumb that sounds in an electrical storm but that was my best option at the time: to get under the relative safety of the trees.

I made it to the trees, hiked about 10 yards into them for good measure, and stopped to catch my breath as the skies opened up and I started getting rained on.

I was now ‘safely’ in the trees, but had entered in a different area than I’d exited. I got out my map and compass and decided to head SSE through the deadfall, towards where the trail should be. I was thrilled when I finally stumbled upon the trail.

The trail was easy to follow back to the trailhead. The only downside? It rained the entire time. The thunder sounded kind of cool though. I felt bad for my friends attempting Dallas: this storm wasn’t giving up and I was fairly sure it would have been a miracle for them to have summited before it hit.

I made it back to my truck at 11:15am, making this a 12.06 mile hike with 5417’ of elevation gain in 7 hours, 15 minutes. Here’s a topo map of my route

As I drove back through Telluride I saw a herd of about 75 elk grazing in a soccer field. Colorado is so cool! I drove the 6.5 hours home and made my kids hamburgers for the 4^th of July and watched the city fireworks from our front porch. It rained the entire way.

Mt Emma – 13,592

RT Length: 4.48 miles

Elevation Gain: 1861’

After summiting Cirque and Gilpin it was still early in the day and the weather seemed to be holding so I decided to try and get one more bicentennial in. I drove down from Yankee Boy Basin to the junction with Governor Basin Road and took that 4WD road all the way up to Governor Basin. This is a narrow road and 4WD but luckily I only had to pass OHVs.

Originally, I parked at the top of the hill and started walking down into the basin, but when I saw other vehicles parked below I got back in my truck and drove all the way to the bottom.

Here’s an overview of the entire route:

From the parking area I crossed a small creek and followed the 4WD road.

When the 4WD road intersected with a small waterfall/drainage I turned right and headed northwest up the side of the mountain

This led me to a faint game trail that brought me around the mountain

There was a neat cave here that looks like it used to be a mine but now belongs to an animal (hence the game trail)

I rounded the corner of the mountain and Mt Emma came into view

I walked across the basin, crossing a small area of firm snow, and then continued hiking up the scree filled gully

This gully was very loose and for every two steps I took forwards I took a step back sliding down scree. I tried to stick towards the larger rocks when possible because they afforded me more traction hiking up.

Towards the top of the gully the scree changed to rocks and I did a little scrambling to gain the ridge.

Once on the ridge I turned right and headed northwest towards the summit towers, putting on my helmet as I went.

There seem to be endless ways to summit Mt Emma from this area, all class 3 and above. I summited by going right first, up a small gully and then back down another before ascending a third to summit. I took a different, more direct route on my way back. These gullies ranged from bare, solid rock walls to being filled with soft sand. Microspikes helped here. I wore them until I made it back down to tundra later in the day.

Route on the way in:

Back down another gully

And back up a third gully

As soon as I went up this last gully I could see the summit

That had been easier than I’d expected. I snapped a picture, took two giant steps towards the summit, and felt it: Zzzzzzp! Zzzzzzp! Two quick buzzes just under my helmet accompanied by a tingling sensation. Even though I’d never felt this before I instantly knew what it was: indication of an imminent strike of lightning. I was just feet from the summit but I immediately turned and bolted for the gully I’d just ascended.

Well, that was unexpected! Sure, there were clouds and mist all around me, but none of the clouds looked threatening. As I sat there in the gully, looking at the summit just a few yards away, it started graupeling. Then raining. Then graupeling again. I sat and considered my options.

I could hike back down the mountain, but as soon as I left these gullies I’d be exposed for the rest of the hike. I did not want to be the tallest thing above treeline. I licked my finger and held it in the air to test the wind and watched the clouds: the storm was moving away from me. I looked all around and no, the clouds didn’t look menacing (even though it was raining all over). I decided to sit and wait the storm out. After about 30 minutes of sitting on the summit, not seeing any lightning or hearing any thunder, I tried again.

I quickly left my spot and scrambled the last few yards to the summit

I summited at 2:15pm. I was still very scared of lightning and instead of taking the time to set up my camera I took a selfie with my cell phone and a very quick summit video. That’s a nervous smile by the way: I still didn’t completely trust the weather and wanted to get out of there.

Mt Emma:

Despite my earlier plan of taking the time to check out the conditions of the peak for tomorrows hike I didn’t spend more than 30 seconds on that summit. I quickly turned around to head back. Circled in red is where I’d spent the past 30 minutes waiting out the weather. This is also the access point to the gully I descended on my way back.

From the summit I could see a more direct route back through a different gully and decided to take that route down. It’s still class 3, but you can see your objective the entire time. I went back down the last gully I’d ascended

And east towards the small saddle

Here’s looking back for those of you who want to ascend this way (I’d recommend doing so, it’s entrance is to the left of center of the summit area)

Back on the saddle the weather looked to be improving. I found the access point and headed back down the gully.

While descending I stuck to the areas of dirt and scree. My microspikes helped tremendously. At times the scree would give way and there would be sections of 10 feet or so where all of the rocks would loosen and slide together for a few yards. At one point my leg became buried in scree past my shin. My shoes had so much scree in them I had to take them off and shake them out twice before making it to the bottom. Tons of fun!

I retraced my steps out of the basin back down to my truck

The small waterfall/creek/runoff is a great visual for how to make it back to the 4WD road

I made it back to my truck at 3:10pm, making this a 4.48 mile hike with 1861’ of elevation gain in 3 hours (including the half hour spent waiting out the weather). It was raining as I made it back to my truck. Here’s a topo map of my route

On to the next trailhead!

Cirque Mountain – 13,686 & Gilpin Peak – 13,699

RT Length: 11.1 miles

Elevation Gain: 4382’

I’m kind of liking this ‘work from home’ thing that’s been going on for the past few months. Today I had a zoom meeting I attended at a Starbucks and then I was off to the Yankee Boy Basin (which I considered an appropriate place to spend the 4^th of July weekend). The road to Yankee Boy Basin is easier than I remember. It’s only 4WD for the last mile or so. There’s a little bit of exposure but the road is plenty wide enough to pretend it’s not there.

I arrived at the trailhead and backed into a spot near the bathrooms (P.S. bring your own TP).

I got out and took a look around at the route I intended to take while it was still daylight. I was pretty sure I wanted to hit Cirque Mountain first, and then cross over to Gilpin Peak. Everything is different in the dark and a good visual in the daylight is helpful.

While I was looking around I heard a couple talking about Mt Sneffles. I went over to ask if they’d seen any snow on Cirque Mountain/Gilpin Peak while hiking. They were staying the night at the trailhead too, climbing Teakettle in the morning. We struck up a conversation and ended up exchanging beers and candy and 14er stories and caps full of whiskey. About an hour later two more of their friends showed up and we huddled around my truck as it rained a bit. When the rain stopped, they went over their gear and practiced some rappelling. They allowed me to tag along. I ended up calling it a night really early (I get up at 3am to work and get tired early in the evening). I’m sure I forgot to say it, so I’ll say it now: It was really nice getting to meet you all! Also, I will never be able to hear the word ‘traverse’ again and not say it twice @climbingcue, @dwoodward13, @hikesingeologictime, & @tallgrass!

I woke up at 3:30am, hit snooze once because I was really warm in the bed of my truck. I was ready to go a little before 4am. Tallgrass came to say goodbye and good luck. I was still groggy (I don’t wake up until about an hour into a hike). Thanks for the beer Tallgrass! I started by following the 4WD road northwest.

After hiking for almost half a mile I turned right and followed the small ridge up to the saddle of Kismet and Cirque.

The trail eventually narrowed and I went up a low flowing waterfall type gully

And then followed the scree filled gully to the saddle. All snow was avoidable.

At the saddle I turned right (east) and followed the ridge. Note, the point on the right isn’t a ranked peak. It’s easily bypassed by a trail to the left. I climbed it on my way back just to get in some added elevation and for the views.

I picked up my pace here because it looked like I could make it to the summit for the sunrise. Wow, that part of the hike hadn’t taken as long as I’d anticipated.

There was some choss and a chimney to climb. I put on my helmet and worked my way up.

There was some route finding for the last little bit as well as some easy scrambling

I summited Cirque Mountain at 5:45am

Cirque Mountain:

I made it a few minutes before sunrise and decided to stay to enjoy the show. It didn’t disappoint.

I also had some great views of Teakettle and Potosi to the southeast

I headed back the way I’d come, and decided to summit the small point and then head back down the gully

I didn’t go all the way down the gully. Instead when I hit tundra I turned right and headed west until I reached a small pond.

At the pond I hooked up with the Wrights Lake Spur trail and followed it until the first switchback.

Right about now it started to rain. I looked back on Teakettle and thought about my new friends hiking up there. I hoped they were staying dry.

The trail was an easy to follow, class 1 trail. At the first switchback I left the trail to continue heading west towards the saddle. There was a little bit of snow to contend with here so I put on my microspikes and walked across.

At this point I could see there was a gully I’d have to ascend that was still holding a little bit of snow at the top

Once on the saddle I followed it south. On the ascent I made the wrong choice and tried to ascend directly up the gully. This got me onto very loose, chossy terrain and took me longer than necessary to figure out. The rocks were the size of toasters and none of them were stable. Large sections would move below me at a time, taking me with them. On my way down I found a better route, so I’ll describe that route here.

From the ridge, dip down to the left to go around this first obstacle

Next, hug the area where the snow meets the rock. I’m pretty sure there’s an actual trail here under the snow

From here I’d wanted to ascend directly up the gully. DON’T DO THAT. Instead, try to make it as close to the ridge as you can

At the small saddle there was snow to contend with (a lot more snow than the pictures suggest). Glad to have brought my ice axe and crampons (something I do on every hike I don’t have beta on) and got to work kicking in steps and climbing over the snow. There was probably 30 feet worth of work to do over the snow at its narrowest point.

At the saddle I sat down to take off my crampons. From here it was a short trek to the summit, after first going over a false summit. This was all class 2, but I kept my helmet on.

I made it to the summit of Gilpin Peak at 9:30am. It was lightly snowing.

Gilpin Peak:

Here’s a look at the route I took out the basin from the summit

I turned and headed back over the false summit and headed back to the saddle

Because I’d already kicked in steps I made the decision to put on microspikes instead of crampons to go down the snow. This was a bad idea, but I didn’t realize it until I was already too committed. I made it down the snow safely, but I was shaking as I did so: crampons provide much more stability than microspikes (duh) and I wasn’t very stable on the downclimb. I relied a lot on my ice axe.

Here’s looking at the ridge back down

I re-crossed the snow below, this time without traction: I boot-slid my way across much of the snow.

I made it back to the trail and there was a family standing there, waiting for me. There was a mom and dad and grandparents with 6 kids who all had to be under 10 years old. They’d been watching my descent, and the father asked if I would show the kids my gear (crampons, helmet, ice axe). The kids were fascinated with the equipment, and proudly told me they were hiking to the lakes. I wished them luck and was on my way.

After making it to the pond I followed the class 1 trail above Sneffles Creek until I made it to a road, and followed the road back down to my truck.

Just before making it to the road I passed what I thought was a trail register. I opened it and found one of the most confusing maps ever! Not only did it not correspond with the visual direction of the peaks, north was at the bottom. This map is going to get a lot of people lost.

I passed a jeep that had gotten stuck. Everyone pitched in to get her un-stuck.

It was easy to follow the 4WD road back to where I’d parked my truck

I made it back to my truck at 11:15am, making this an 11.1 mile hike with 4382’ of elevation gain in 6 hours, 15 minutes.

I still had plenty of time left in the day, so I decided to drive to the next trailhead and attempt another mountain.

Alamosito – 13,466, Vermejo Peak – 13,723 & Purgatoire Peak – 13,676

RT Length: 9.74 miles

Elevation Gain: 4828’

First of all, I’d like to recommend doing this hike backwards from the way I took the hike: Route finding is easier and it’s much more straightforward; You’re above treeline almost immediately and have great visuals of all the peaks/route.

Secondly, Cielo Vista Ranch makes special arrangements for people to hike these southern peaks and because of this they require you to hike (or at least drive in and camp) as a group. They wouldn’t give me a reservation to go solo, so every month since December I emailed Carlos asking if anyone else was hiking and if I could tag along. I’d get a response saying he’s “look into it” and then he’d go silent. Thank you Rose for putting the ask out there and letting me tag along on your reservation!

We all met at a special entrance to the ranch and around 5:30pm. Carlos met us at the gate and had one of his guys drive us 7 miles up a dirt road to our campsite. This is a 4WD dirt road, and while 4WD wasn’t necessary the entire drive it did come in handy once or twice. Carlos gave us each his business card and asked that we text him when we exited the property the next day. At this point I view Carlos as a celebrity. I mean this in a positive way. Yes, he’s charging us all out the nose, but at least he’s nice about it. Also, he’s known by his first name.

Here’s a topo of the road we took. These roads are not shown on maps (CalTopo). I made a GPX file on the way back, which came in handy because there aren’t many ways to get lost on this road but I always seem to find them (I backtracked twice). We’d noticed on the way in the GPX file(s) we had were correct, but the road they took us on switched back and forth between the two files (apparently some of the roads are now washed out and impassable). Also, TONS of moths. Like, Biblical plague amounts. We had our Miller Moth season last month: Cielo Vista is experiencing it now.

Here’s a picture of where we parked our vehicles and camped for the night, around 11,750’

We all sat and chatted for a bit. I kept thinking to myself I should go look at the route I’d intended to start out on while it was still daylight, but I had a couple glasses of whiskey and I fear I was a bit too chatty. You see, I’m used to drinking alone (that sounded bad) but what I mean by that is when I usually hike/camp/etc. alone I have a few drinks, scope out the beginning of the route or at minimum where the trail starts, and call it a night. Early. Instead here I was, talking to people at camp. It was so nice to have like-minded people to talk to: we understood and appreciated each other’s mountaineering experiences and goals. That’s so much more refreshing than my mom freaking out every time I bring up hiking because she thinks I’m going to die. We discussed our intended routes for tomorrow and I decided to take the opposite route as the others so I’d be able to do it solo. I didn’t get to bed until a little after 9:30pm, and I never got a good look at the route I intended to take.

I woke up at 3:30am and decided I wasn’t ready to get up yet so I slept a bit more. I was way too comfortable. The third time my alarm went off I figured I’d better get going. I woke up, gathered my gear, and was off. My plan was to head northeast around the mountain and pick up a trail in the basin to the north of Purgatoire. After hiking for about a quarter mile I came to a rocky area that didn’t look passable in the dark. Well, it might have been, but at that moment my flashlight went out and I couldn’t see a thing (I later confirmed on the hike both visually and after talking with others telling me they’d turned around there as well that that route’s not passable). I decided to retrace my steps and try again.

Back at my truck I saw the others getting ready; their headlamps glowing inside their tents/trucks. I got a new flashlight from my truck (a headlamp: I’m not fond of headlamps as they make me dizzy but it was better than nothing). I restarted my tracker and was on my way, following the 4WD dirt road as it wound around the mountainside, losing about 450’ of elevation in the process (which was what I’d been trying to avoid by going around the mountainside first. Oh well).

After about a half mile my headlamp gave out. Great. Two flashlights out in the same hour. Who would have guessed? At least I was just following a dirt road and the sun would be rising soon. I’d just make a lot of noise to scare the larger critters who may be hiking with me this morning away.

I heard a loud noise ahead of me. An animal had been startled by the noise I’d made, ran through the deadfall for about 20 feet and then stopped. Knowing some animal was standing still ahead I made a lot of noise with my trekking pole. It didn’t budge. I slowly hiked forward and noticed whatever I’d scared into bolting for a little bit I’d scared pretty badly: I could tell by the smell.

The animal was still there, and now I could hear it breathing. I made noises again but it didn’t move. I was worried it may be an injured animal and wanted to know what it was, and obviously I didn’t feel comfortable turning my back to it. In the dark I got out my phone and decided to take a picture (thinking the flash would go off and I’d be able to see what it was, even if the photo didn’t turn out. Note: Later in my hike I realized I could have used the flashlight app on my phone, but since I’d never used it before the thought didn’t come to mind until later).

I took a picture and the beast in front of me was…. a cow. Yep, a cow, and the first of many I’d see today.

Well, that was anticlimactic! I’ve raised cows before (both dairy and beef) and I know how to handle them. I clapped my hands, waved and shouted “Move on!” held my walking stick parallel to the ground and advanced forward. The cow turned, moved out of my way, and I continued on. I saw about 10 more cows before it got light, but knowing what they were I didn’t have a problem with them anymore.

I followed the dirt road for about 1.25 miles until it came to a 3 way divergence. I randomly took the middle road as it looked to be heading in the direction I wanted to go and it turned out to be the right one.

I continued east through the trees, encountering more cows, until I made it to the basin. The sun was now up and my anxiety level dropped. There were still tons of cows, but now I could see them, as well as cow trails and ATV trails. I followed the ones that went east.

Once out of the trees I could easily see the path I wanted to take to summit Alamosito. (Note, some routes tell you to take the saddle and drop down into another basin and then gain another saddle, summiting Vermejo first then backtracking to Alamosito. The way I went just made more sense to me, but several routes all ‘go’. Alternately you could gain the Alamosito/Purgatoire saddle and summit from there as well).

This was straightforward, except for these cows who didn’t seem to want me to pass. I made noise and told them to “get along” they just stared at me. One even lifted its hind foot and stomped a few times, kicking up dust. I got the impression they were expecting something from me. Even the calves had ear tags, so they’re used to humans (at least in some part). I passed them to their left and they went back to grazing.

Here’s a look back from the saddle. I’ve circled the campsite in red, and the area that cliffed out in yellow. Note: Everyone else just went straight up the ridge to start (a better choice to begin). My route to the saddle is in orange.

From the saddle I turned right and headed east. This was a very straightforward ridge hike. In fact, they all were today.

I summited Alamosito at 6:45am, after 2 hours and 3.3 miles of hiking. There was a summit register in a glass jar buried in the cairn.

Alamosito:

I turned north and headed down the ridge to the Alamosito/Vermejo saddle

There was some rubble to contend with on the way down, but all class 2

From the saddle I turned right and headed east up to the summit of Vermejo Peak (that’s a false summit you’re looking at here). There was some rubble here as well

At the top of this easy ridge walk there was another .3 miles to go before making it to the summit, also an easy trek that reminded me of Ireland: the tundra was green and there were lots of black and white rocks. The picture doesn’t do that justice.

I summited Vermejo Peak at 7:45am. From Alamosito to Vermejo it’s just over a mile and a half of hiking. There was a summit register here as well (one of the pipe ones I can never open because: Raynauds).

Vermejo Peak:

There were great views of Red Mountain A and Culebra from the summit

I turned and headed back the way I came, towards the saddle and back up to Alamosito

From the saddle there’s a great view of both Purgatoire and Alamosito

From the saddle I made my way back up to summit Alamosito

I re-summited Alamosito at 9am and looked over at Purgatoire Peak

This was another easy ridge walk. Rubble turned to tundra as I made my way towards the saddle

Here’s looking back at Alamosito and Vermejo Peak from the Alamosito/Purgatoire saddle

The rest of the ridge to the summit of Purgatoire was straightforward

I summited Purgatoire Peak at 10am

Purgatoire Peak:

There was a summit cairn, and also this thing. I’m not sure what it is? I could probably look it up, but, thoughts?

I turned west to head down the way I should have headed up, back over this unnamed point (which has about 260’ of elevation gain from the saddle, and tops out at well over 13K)

Here’s looking at the route from the morning when I was hiking up Alamosito

It starts out as a simple ridge walk on tundra, dotted with rocks the size of toasters, and once at the saddle it looked like there may be some scrambling involved, but there’s actually a game trail to the left of the ridge that makes the ridge easy to follow

Here’s a look at the route from the saddle towards Purgatoire Peak

From the top of the point there’s a tundra ridge to walk down, and just a little bit of forest to go through before reaching the road. As long as you aim for the road you’ll be fine, as you can follow it to the campsite. Yes, I should have hiked the couple hundred feet up this last night: it would have made the entire route more obvious.

Here’s a look back from treeline on the point you need to ascend if heading this way

Once you’re in the trees navigation can be a little difficult. Just keep aiming west and you’ll hit the road. Oh, and you can’t see them in these pictures, but there were moths everywhere! Thousands of them swarming around. They apparently appreciate the elevation / pines today.

I made it back to the 4WD road we drove in on and followed it back to my truck. I arrived back at my truck at 11:45am, making this a 9.74 mile hike with 4828’ of elevation gain in 7 hours (not counting my early morning false start).

I got back in my truck and followed the road back to the gate. The route was much easier on the way down than on the way up. I unlocked the gate, re-locked it, drove through, and text Carlos to let him know I’d exited the property. Also, the lock was much easier to figure out than the one that was there when I hiked Culebra (but to be fair, it was also the first day they’d implemented that system).

Here’s a topo map of my route, as well as the drive in.

It was still early in the day. I ate a sandwich as I drove the 3 hours to the next trailhead during a thunderstorm.

Northwest Pole – 13,660, Pole Creek Mountain – 13,716 & PT 13,573

RT Length: 19.67 Miles

Elevation Gain: 5926’

I drove up to Carson Pass a few days before and slept in my truck, hiking Bent Peak the first day, and Carson Pass, Tundra Top, Cataract Peak, and PT 13581 the next. For details on the drive in, please see this post: Carson Pass.

I woke up before my alarm again today, but not because I was well rested: I was cold! As I turned on a light I realized I only had half of my blankets covering me. There wasn’t any wind last night, and when I looked outside I could see tons of stars. The clear skies had made for a cold night. I jumped in the cab of my truck to warm up and get ready for the day, noticing it was 32 degrees outside (as compared to yesterday morning’s 43). It was amazing what difference a few degrees makes.

I turned the truck on to turn on the heat and was once again disappointed to notice my ABS and Traction lights were still on, as well as my 4WD light still blinking. That was going to haunt me all day.

I was on the trail by 3:30am, and it was so cold I turned back at one point, intent on sitting in my truck a little longer, but I immediately turned back again: I’d knew I’d warm up a bit once I started moving. The weather forecast was better for today, but I still wanted to get an early start. I followed the 4WD dirt road 821 to the class 1 Trail 813 as it lost a total of 400’ as it wound down the canyon, and then gained almost 1000’ to the top of the pass.

There was one small section of snow to cross, but luckily the elk had already done a great job blazing the trail.

Once at the top of the pass I continued along the trail, dipping down into the basin, losing another 700’ of elevation.

After hiking for a total of 5 miles at this junction I turned and followed 822 southwest to the base of the Northwest Pole Ridge.

In the basin I left the trail and headed for the Northwest Pole Ridge

My goal here was to gain the ridge and follow it to the summit of Northwest Pole. Here’s an overview of the route:

And what it looks like gaining the ridge (yes, tons of elk out there today). Also, the basin was marshy, but since it was so cold and early in the morning it was frozen and crunchy. There were ribbons of water that I hopped across. I wouldn’t want to pass this area when it’s soggy and wet.

Once on the ridge it’s easy to see the snow free path to follow, all on tundra. This is all easy class 2

From the top of the ridge you dip down a little bit and then back up on loose rock

The crux of this climb comes at the very end. I spent some time trying to figure out how I wanted to summit. At first I tried to gain the block at the area where all the bird droppings were, but it didn’t look like it was the easiest way. Next I tried summiting up a chimney, but about halfway up I knew I’d need rope to get back down (I’m short) so I stopped and looked for another route. In the end I was able to summit by going up the area with all the bird droppings, just from a different angle. There is a lot of exposure here and small scree on the rocks, making it slippery and a fall dangerous.

Here’s the route I took:

I aimed for the bird droppings. Here’s what that looked like from a couple of different angles.

From there I traversed along the exposed edge towards the summit.

It looks easy, but this is the exposure, and yes, it included a trust jump (once again, I’m short, it could have been more of a long lean for someone over 6 feet tall, but I had to jump). Here’s looking back on the jump area (it’s too difficult to see in a picture coming from the other way, but this picture offers a good look back on the ridge too)

I summited at 9:45am

Northwest Pole:

Here I am getting ready to jump the area on the way back.

And from the top where the bird droppings are back down. Yes, it’s as steep as it looks

Back on solid ground I took a picture of the summit block and how I traversed it. I circled where I jumped.

Time to head over to Pole Creek Mountain. Here’s an overview of the route from Northwest Pole

I descended east towards the basin, first on loose rock that gave way to tundra, losing 850’ of elevation, crossing a stream, and heading back up towards Pole Creek Mountain.

Here’s looking back at Northwest Pole

I continued southeast towards Pole Creek Mountain. Here’s how I ascended; the snow was easy to avoid, and I used it to track where I wanted to go:

After ascending the ridge I aimed for the access gully, which had snow but enough dry areas to pass easily without traction

Then I just followed the ridge south towards the summit

I summited Pole Creek Mountain at 9:45am, after almost 10 miles of hiking

Pole Creek Mountain:

I headed back the same way I’d come in, following the ridge and then going back down the small access gully. Everything looked totally different on my way back and I second guessed myself a few times, but keeping Northwest Pole in sight helped.

Once back down in the basin between Pole Creek Mountain and Northwest Pole I wanted to stay high on my way back out to avoid the snow below Pole Creek Mountain to the east

I headed north, and then east around this small peak.

There was some snow here, but elk in the area make a great trail and traction wasn’t needed

I rounded the east side of the small peak

And unexpectedly came across a small herd of elk! This was so cool! I’ve heard of elk doing this, but I’d never actually seen it before: the mama elk were laying in a circle, with the babies laying down inside and two sentries standing guard. I saw them a split second before they saw me (the wind was blowing towards me, so they hadn’t heard/smelled me) and I was able to get a picture before they took off

As soon as one of the elk standing guard saw me I could almost hear him say:
“See? This is why we always employ the safety circle! Always! This is not a drill! Move! Move! Move!”
And they were off and down the hillside, out of sight.

Well, that had certainly been a neat experience! I continued rounding the peak and then made my way down the hillside, all the way to the basin floor. Here’s an overview of the route I took

And looking back, here’s the route I took down into the basin. For obvious reasons I’m now referring to this as “dementor ridge”

Once in the basin I was at the lowest elevation I’d be at all day, and still had a lot of hiking left to do. I aimed northeast until I hit a trail, and then followed it up. This was trail 822 that would bring me back to Trail 813 (if I chose to go that route). This was actually easier than it looks because there are a lot of good elk trails in the area, passing through the willows.

I followed the trail to a sort of a saddle, and stopped to think

From here the trail obviously dipped down once again, losing several hundred feet of elevation before reconnecting with Trail 813 and gaining the pass, then dipping back down into the basin and up again out. Here I was, sitting directly below PT 13580, a ranked 13er that I’d want to hike sometime in the near future, but in which I dreaded that drive into Carson Pass that would be necessary again next time. It was still early in the day and the weather was great. I decided to just summit PT 13580 now while I was in the area. I’d done some scouting yesterday and today, and I was sure the route from the summit of 13580 back to the pass ‘went’ easily and would be snow free. I turned right and headed east up the mountainside. This was a very straightforward hike up tundra

At the top the tundra turned to rock, all class 2 and easy to navigate

At the top of this rocky area was the summit. I summited at 2:15pm

PT 13,580:

Here’s a look back at the route

Now I decided to stay high on the ridge and aimed north, following the ridge towards the peaks I’d climbed yesterday

And then back down to the pass and trail 813

The hike out was uneventful. It was a beautiful day and I just followed the class 1 trail back. Oh, and I saw the moose again, in the same spot as yesterday.

I made it back to my truck at 4:15pm, making this a 19.67 mile hike with 5926’ of elevation gain in 12 hours, 45 minutes. Here’s a topo map of my route:

When I made it back to my truck I noticed a marmot running out from underneath. Great. I decided it would be best to try to drive my truck down today in the daylight in case I got stuck, but because I also didn’t want to encounter other vehicles (if possible) I decided to eat dinner first and take my time. Also, I wasn’t even sure yet my truck would drive.

When it was time to go I was able to get the truck to move and tried to see if I could get 4WD to engage by driving the truck around for a bit, but that didn’t work. So I decided to just go for it and head back down the road, going as slow as possible. I probably maxed out at 2mph. When I got to about a mile from the end of the 4WD road I saw another vehicle turning around. It took them 20 minutes to do so, and by this point I was feeling pretty confident about my truck.

I made it back to the 36, kept trying different things to get my 4WD light to stop flashing and realized it was hopeless. I drove home and the first thing the next morning went to the dealership. The diagnosis: rodent damage. One of those darn marmots, chipmunks, pikas (etc.) had bitten through the wiring. Luckily it was fixable, and I was out of there within a few hours. They put rat tape over the wires to hopefully prevent this from happening again. I’d never heard of rat tape before, but it sounds like it should be on all wires.

I consider myself lucky: after years of leaving my truck in the backcountry this is the first time I’ve ever had this issue where it’s caused concern. I’ve chased some porcupine’s out from underneath my truck before, but that was before any damage was done.

I’ve done some serious thinking about the issue, and I think a physical barrier is the only way I’m going to keep rodents out. So here’s my idea: tomorrow I’m going to Home Depot and buying a large tarp and some bungee cords. When I park at the next trailhead I’m going to lay out the tarp, drive over it, and then secure it around my truck with bungee cords to prevent critters from getting underneath.

This is just a thought at this point, but something I hope to implement and test soon.

PT 13626

RT Length: 8.14 miles

Elevation Gain: 4197’

I am so glad I drove to the trailhead when it was daylight! I didn’t have good directions: google maps stopped at Alpine Lake and when I CalTopo’d the drive from there I unknowingly set my route through private property (that wished to remain private). So I drove around for a bit and eventually found a road that went straight to the Alpine Cemetery Trailhead:

Directions to Alpine Cemetery: From 162 turn right onto 292B, and then take your third right onto 292B. It’s the street that has a sign that says “dead end”, which I chuckled at because it ends at a cemetery. It’s also the only street in the area that’s a dead end.

There’s room for a handful of cars at the dead end.

I parked my truck and took a look around. The trail started at the east end of the parking area and wove through the Alpine Cemetery to begin. Yes, I was extra glad I came here while it was still light out, as I was able to locate the beginning of the trail and walk it in the daylight (tomorrow I’d start in the morning when it was still dark). I also discovered there were tons of tiny worms hanging on threads from the trees. This was also something I was glad to know: they’d be no fun walking through in the dark through the cemetery, but at least I’d know what they were. I’d be hiking and using my trekking pole as a web catcher through here. There was a sign telling the history of the cemetery at the trail entrance. It looked like the ‘headstones’ were all re-done a few years ago, and already deteriorating.

Oh, and there are graves that go right up to the road. That’s my truck, and circled is a gravesite.

I walked around the cemetery for a bit, then headed back to my truck to make dinner.

When I spend the weekends hiking and sleeping in the back of my truck I try to make meals as easy as possible, mainly because I just don’t get hungry when I hike so it’s worthless to spend a lot of time preparing them. Today I’d hiked 18 miles with 7100’ of elevation gain and I wasn’t hungry. But I knew I had to eat for tomorrow’s hike of PT 13,626 so I heated up dinner anyway. Yesterday I’d cooked some brats on the grill and put one in a ziplock bag for today. I filled my JetBoil with water, put the brat inside to heat it up, and got a glass of wine. As soon as the water was boiling I picked up the brat with a fork and poured the water into a Cup Noodles container to warm up the rest of my dinner.

I took a bite out of the brat. Nope, I wasn’t hungry. Ugh. Hearing a noise I turned around and saw the largest Golden Retriever I’ve ever seen trotting over to me. She sat down in front of me and smiled. Three high school aged girls came up behind her and asked me if she was my dog.

Me: “No, sorry, I don’t have a dog”

Girls: “We didn’t think so but we thought we’d check. Her collar says her name is Molly and she has the same last name as the sign in front of a house down the street, so we’ll take her there”

Me: “Good idea. Good luck!”

The girls called for Molly to follow them but Molly had gotten wind of my brat and wasn’t budging. She sat there and looked at the sausage longingly. Molly wasn’t my dog, and even though I didn’t want the brat I didn’t feel right giving it to her because I didn’t know her diet, so I did the only thing I could do: I ate it as fast as I could. I probably finished it in 30 seconds and in 4 bites. Now I really felt sick. To add insult to injury when I was done eating Molly didn’t turn and walk away: She rolled on the ground, shook back and forth and asked for belly rubs.

It took the girls a solid 5 minutes to get Molly up off the floor and to walk with them towards her owners’ house. I tried but was too full to eat my cup noodles, and after 3 bites pretty much wasted the rest. It’s weird how I can burn thousands of calories on a hike but can’t force myself to replenish those calories afterwards without feeling like I was going to throw up. A couple hundred calories wasn’t going to do it for tomorrow, but oh well; it would just be a slow day.

I’d wanted to make this an early night, but after jotting down some trip notes from today and making dinner and walking around it was getting late. After slapping the third mosquito I closed my truck and sat in the back with the doors closed. I lit a candle, writing by candlelight. I have lights set up I could have turned on, but candlelight just felt better. Ambiance = candlelight in a cemetery. Trust me.

I was finally ready to go to bed around 9pm. I blew out the candle and set up the curtains over my back window and noticed some of the graves had solar powered lights outlining them. Oh great: So now even in the dark I’ll know where the graves are (that’s sarcasm). I really didn’t think this whole “sleep at the cemetery trailhead” thing through. I went to bed wondering if I knew any good cemetery songs? I’m a Girl Scout Leader and have a song for every occasion, but currently I was drawing a blank.

Interestingly that night I slept at the cemetery was probably the most peaceful night I’ve ever had sleeping at a trailhead. You could say I ‘slept like the dead’. Seriously: no noises woke me up in the middle of the night, no wind, no animals, no chatter from dispersed campers. It was great!

I woke up at 3:45am and was on the trail by 4:15am. This was my second attempt of PT 13,626, the first one foiled due to snow in the basin and a lost water bottle. Also, I took a different route on that hike.

The trail starts at the Alpine Cemetery sign and winds around the cemetery, following a crumbling trail outlined by tree branches.

The trail is a bit rough to start but there are signs that while they aren’t the most elaborate, indicate the way

After you get past the cemetery the trail narrows and is more defined. The trail changes from pine trees to chaparral to aspens as it hugs the south side of the mountain, gaining elevation for 1.3 miles until turning left and heading north up Grouse Canyon. The trail is a little overgrown but easy to follow. I kept thinking “This route is SO MUCH EASIER than the last route I’d tried to summit PT 13,626. So. Much. Easier.” Images of bushwhacking and ticks and tons of compass time flashed through my head and I wondered why last time I’d chosen the route with no trail?

After hiking for 1.6 miles I encountered a small avalanche area, easily crossable

I hiked for about a tenth of a mile more and the trail stopped in a larger avalanche area. From here on out there was no trail to the summit. However, there is a creek. If you follow the creek it will take you through to the basin. I ended up crisscrossing it several times when there seemed to be more of a trail on one side or the other.

Here are some pictures of the route up the valley

After hiking for 2.7 miles the drainage curved to the right (east) and I followed it up to the basin. This looked like a dry creek, but was probably due to snow runout

This brought me to treeline, and rocks. I stayed high and left here and didn’t regret it, but you could also follow the drainage to the right all the way up to the basin.

The rocks turned to tundra

There are multiple ways to summit here. You can keep going northeast and follow the ridge to the summit or go straight up the face (northwest). This is all class 2.

I decided to go straight up the face. This was steep but easy to navigate, with a lot of tundra and stable sand in the gullies.

I started encountering a little bit of snow as I made it to the top. Easily avoidable snow as I just stayed to the left

There was a cornice at the top

I headed towards the smallest part of the cornice to investigate. I took off my pack and decided to put on microspikes and get out my ice axe. I realized halfway up the snow crampons would have been a better choice but I was already committed and the spikes held. Also, here it started snowing.

When I got to the top I turned right. There was still a little more snow to contend with before reaching the summit, but the summit itself was dry

I summited PT 13,626 at 7:30am. It was lightly snowing and cold and very windy. The forecast had mentioned thunderstorms after noon but said nothing about snow this early in the day. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Yes I was. Cold. I felt cold.

PT 13,626:

There was a nice summit register under the cairn. As always, I didn’t open it. Here’s a picture of the route I took in this time (taken from the route I attempted last time. Unfortunately, the way I came today didn’t afford any good views of the peak)

This wind was insane. And cold. Time to head back down.

I took off my microspikes and headed back down to the basin, following the same way I went in

Staying high and then dropping down into the drainage, following it down

Until I reached the avalanche area and once again found the trail

The trail was easy to follow back to the trailhead

I made it back to my truck at 10am, making this a 8.14 mile hike with 4197’ of elevation gain in 5 hours, 45 minutes. Here’s a topo map of my route:

Pt 13500 & Twining Peak – 13,711

RT Length: 5.39 Miles

Elevation Gain: 2443’

After summiting Sayres Benchmark I noticed the day was still nice and I had plenty of time to spare so I drove to Independence Pass to try my hand at Twining Peak. I’ve already been here once this year after another hike, but the conditions weren’t… favorable. Lots of wet marshy mush to get through to the good stuff, and I don’t like hiking with soggy socks.

When I got to the Independence Pass parking area I backed in my truck and took a look around. Yep, it was still marshy.

The weather looked good, and I could see a clear line to the ridge. I decided to gather all my gear (crampons, ice axe, snowshoes, new socks, etc.) and hit the trail. I walked west along HWY 82 until I reached this sign, which happened to be where the snow ended. From here I turned right (north) and headed for the ridge.

Yes, this was still marshy, but I could avoid the snow and getting my feet wet with careful navigation. I aimed for the ridge, intending to see what the basin looked like before determining if I would summit first via the 13500/Twining saddle or go over 13500 instead.

When I made it to the ridge I looked over at Twining Peak. If it were earlier in the day I would have crossed the basin and gained the saddle first (as outlined below).

However, it was now almost 2pm and I knew that snow was soft. Yes, I had snowshoes, but no, I didn’t want to posthole with them through the basin. So instead I turned right (northeast) and followed the ridge to 13,500. This was all class 2

There seemed to be a bit of a trail in areas that went straight up through the snow. I didn’t want to do that so when I encountered snow I just went around it. This is an easy ridge to follow.

There was a little bit of rock hopping, all class 2, and easy fun. The boulders are big and pretty stable. Just hug the ridge to the left and don’t try to go straight over the ridge and you’ll be fine.

Here’s the last bit to the summit

I summited at 2:15pm

Pt 13,500:

There wasn’t a summit register. Turning northwest I could see my path to Twining Peak

This was an easy ridge walk, with a little easy rock hopping and the snow was totally avoidable

The tundra changed to rocky terrain

There was some snow on the last section. I decided to drop to the left and find a gully to summit, but I wouldn’t recommend that route: the gully was loose and on my way back I found out the snow was actually solid near this boulder, so I should have just summited by walking across it.

Summit of Twining Peak

I summited Twining Peak at 3pm

Twining Peak:

The weather was starting to turn; I could see rain showers all around so I didn’t stay long on the peak. I put on my jacket and headed back down, this time going over the snow and large boulder I’d gone around on my way up.

And back down the ridge, sticking to the right to avoid the snow

I re-summited PT 13,500 as it was lightly snowing. There was a young man at the summit who was super excited: this was his first 13er! He’s never gotten this far before on this peak, and he was excited. He wanted to know what all the peaks were that we could see, and I obliged him for a bit. Also introduced him to 14ers.com because he’s interested in tackling more 13ers and 14ers (please be nice).

I headed back down the ridge

Unfortunately, at about this time I saw a flight for life helicopter whiz by. Never a good sign. Later, as I was driving back down HWY 82 I saw a police officer and a tow truck driver putting a motorcycle on the back of the tow truck, lots of lights flashing, no other vehicle/animals involved. Ouch. I sincerely hope everyone is ok. Also, the accident happened in a straight area of the HWY, so I don’t think HWY curves were involved. In any event, please adventure carefully!

I took a slightly different path on my way down than I did on my way up, as I could see a clearer path that avoided marsh/snow

I eventually came upon a trail, but it led to snow/marsh, so I avoided it and went back down the ridge

The nice thing about this hike is you can see your vehicle for most of it, and at a minimum HWY 82, so it’s difficult to get lost. I just aimed for the road, avoiding the snow/mush

Here’s an overview of my hike up to the ridge and back down more to the center (after realizing the basin wasn’t something I wanted to experience today)

I made it back to my truck at 5:45pm, making this a 5.39 mile hike with 2443’ of elevation gain in 3.5 hours. Please don’t judge the time: I’d already hiked 12.5 miles and 4652’ of elevation this day and I was a bit tired; this hike can most likely be done faster.

Here’s a topo map of my route

OK, on to the next trailhead!

Sayres Benchmark – 13,746 & PT 13,440

RT Length: 12.61 Miles

Elevation Gain: 4652’

I drove to the La Plata Gulch Traihead and then took 391 for a little over 2.5 miles to a junction with 382, 391, and 392, where I parked my truck. This is an easy 4WD road in, with a few water holes to navigate.

I parked at what looked to be an avalanche runout area.

Initially I’d intended to make this a loop and incorporate Unnamed 13,300F and PT 12,601, but the area that I’d exit the hike as a loop with had a lot of “no trespassing” signs, so I decided early on just to make this a 2 peak hike.

At 5am I gathered my gear and headed southwest, following 392, passing some dispersed campsites and wiki-ups.

I crossed a bridge and turned right, following 392. There are more dispersed campsites here. The dispersed campsites make it a little difficult to follow/see the road.

In the dark I ended up going too far south on 382, missing the obvious 392 sign, and the not so obvious road. Turn left at this sign, even though there’s no road.

And pass through a gate, now following the 392 4WD road.

Almost immediately I came to a creek crossing that required me to take off my shoes and get out my sandals. The creek was cold (especially at 5am) but the water only went up to my knees in the deepest of places.

Shoes back on, I followed the 4WD road. “4WD Road” is a bit of a misnomer. This was probably a road decades ago, but it has gone into disrepair and hasn’t been used for quite a while. It’s easy to follow, but overgrown in many areas with willows, aspens, and even 10+ foot pine trees.

At 11,950’ I came to a small cabin with a great view.

I peered inside: someone had left a peanut bottle full of trail mix (peanuts and M&M’s?) on a shelf. It was dark and cold inside and I’ve seen horror movies so I didn’t take the bait. I turned around and considered my options. Here the road still had some snow/ice covering it, but early in the morning I could walk across it when necessary without traction. On the way back I was able to see dry spots to navigate down and avoided the snow.

My options were to either take the road or follow the ridge. I decided to take the road up and follow the ridge back down. I wasn’t disappointed. I also placed a cairn here to show where you leave the trail to follow the ridge (even though it should be obvious).

The road really didn’t have much snow on it after I passed this point and was quite easy to follow all the way to the saddle. Several times I intersected with the ridge route as I followed the road.

From the ridge you can see the road, and the path you take to get to Sayres Benchmark

I was really glad I decided to take the road up. Not because it was easier than the ridge, but because it was here I saw some elk. My favorite were the calves, suckling breakfast until they noticed me and their mamas decided it was time for them to leave.

Elk:

Following the road to 13275 feel of elevation I then turned right (south) and followed the ridge, losing 300 or so feet of elevation as I made my way to the saddle. I decided to just follow the ridge, even though it meant going up and down in elevation a few times. (This is all class 2)

There was still some snow on the ridge. I made the 50/50 decision to stick to the right of the ridge and wasn’t disappointed, as later I could see the ridge to the left was impassable due to snow.

I stuck to the right of the snow

Towards the top the tundra gave way to rocks

The top of this is unfortunately not the summit of Sayres Benchmark, even if it looks like it is from far away. Nope, when you get to the top of the ridge turn left (northeast) and hike to another small saddle and then up to the summit of Sayres.

There was more snow here than I would have liked, but it was firm this early in the morning. I decided against putting on spikes or crampons and just hiked across.

After this small saddle I picked one of the many dirt filled gullies and climbed to the top

I summited at 8:40am.

Summit of Sayres:

There was a benchmark that I’m pretty sure is off by 1000’ or so…

There was a summit register, but as always, I didn’t open it. Time to head back the way I came. I turned back and headed towards the small saddle, retracing my steps. Here’s an overview of the route to PT 13460

I was glad the snow was still firm enough not to need traction. Today there was minimal exposure as well.

Here’s an overview of the route back to PT 13,430 (not considered ranked or unranked)

Notice the snow? It’s good here to stick to the left (west side)

Here’s a visual of the route to the top of PT 13,430

I took the road to the ridge, turned right (northeast) and once I was on the ridge the ground turned sandy for a bit, but mostly it was crushed rock.

Here’s a view of PT 13,460 from PT 13,430

Here’s the route I took to get to PT 13,430. I tried to stick to the ridge, but when that wasn’t possible I dipped to the left. This is all class 2, maybe easy 2D (if that can be a thing?)

Here you dip down to the left and climb back up through a short gully

The final trek to 13,460

I summited PT 13,460 at 10:20am. There was as a summit register here.

Summit of 13,460:

Here’s looking back at today’s peaks

I made my way back to PT 13,430, retracing my steps. Here’s an overview of the route back down from the ridge before PT 13,460. You can clearly see the road at the end of the ridge. I circled where my truck is parked.

The ridge started out as rubble and turned to tundra before making it back to the road

Here’s looking back at the ridge. While hiking the ridge I ran into another hiker! I hadn’t expected to see anyone at all today, and as we passed I was thrilled to see she was another female solo hiker. It’s nice to see other women out rocking the mountains. We talked for a bit. I was probably a bit clipped because I had other plans for today and wanted to keep moving, but she did too so after chatting about the weekend weather around the state and other peaks for this weekend we were both on our way.

I followed the road back to the creek crossing, through the gate, turned right, and followed the trail back to my truck. I kept my sandals on after the creek crossing, since it was such a short distance and I’d be changing back into them when I was done anyway.

I made it back to my truck at 12:30pm, making this a 12.61 mile hike with 4652’ of elevation gain in 7.5 hours.

Since it was still early, the weather seemed to be holding up, and I wasn’t yet exhausted I decided to drive over to Independence Pass and see if I could hit a few more ranked 13ers today. As I drove out all of those empty dispersed camping spots were full.

Mt Parnassus – 13,580, Bard Peak – 13,641 & Woods Mountain 12,940

RT Length: 10.25 miles

Elevation Gain: 4965’

This was my third attempt going for Bard Peak. The first time I made it as far as Parnassus, but the wind and cold temperatures (and Raynaud’s) prevented me from going any further. My second attempt was from the Berthoud Falls area, and the snow just wasn’t cooperating. Imagine my surprise when I found out today this is actually an easy trail when not in full winter conditions!

I parked at the Herman Gulch trailhead and was on the trail by 4:30am. This trailhead has tons of parking, but beware: it fills up fast. There was a full moon and I could see by looking at the mountains I wouldn’t be needing snowshoes today, so I left them in my truck.

The trail starts in the middle of the parking area. I took the Herman Gulch trail to begin, which is just behind the information signs.

After hiking .2 miles I turned right (east) at this junction to follow the Waterous Gulch Trail.

This trail is an easy, class 1 trail all the way to the basin. Last time I was here the area was covered in snow and I had no idea there was a trail that went that far. Today the hike was easy! No real route finding below treeline.

After hiking for about 1.5 miles I came to a creek crossing in Waterous Gulch, crossed the creek on an icy log by sitting down, straddling the log, and shimmying across (due to the ice I would definitely have slipped if I’d tried to cross standing up). I turned left and headed north through the gulch on a great trail (still the Waterous Gulch Trail).

Starting here there was snow on the trail, but just enough to be annoying: I could still figure out where the trail went

I crossed a small stream and continued on the trail. Note: You can also choose to go right and not cross the stream here and take a parallel trail that leads you to the exact same place as the Waterous Gulch trail. I stayed straight here and continued to the end of the gulch on the way in and took the parallel trail on the way out. They were similar, but the one that follows the gulch also follows the stream, which was nice.

I followed the class 1 trail to the end of the gulch, and after 2.2 miles of hiking turned right and continued following the trail up to the saddle of Woods/Parnassus. There are a lot of ways to gain the summit of Parnassus. Last time I hiked further south, avoiding the saddle, and I would not recommend that route. Instead, take the easy gully and aim for the saddle and go as far as you can before turning right and heading southeast towards the summit. This is where the intense wind started and didn’t stop. Forecasted winds were 17-24mph, but those winds don’t knock you over. For the rest of this hike I was using my trekking pole for stability, hiking sideways into the wind.

The trail stopped here somewhere under the snow. I paralleled the snow to the saddle

At the saddle I turned right and headed southeast towards the summit of Mt Parnassus. This is an easy hike on tundra.

The terrain gets a bit rockier near the top.

The summit is relatively flat. I summited Mt Parnassus at 6:40am, after just over 3.5 miles and 2 hours of hiking. Since this is my second summit of Mt Parnassus I’ll spare you the selfie and let you watch the summit video instead.

Mt Parnassus:

Bard Peak is just over a mile east of Mt Parnassus.

There’s a bit of a trail from Parnassus to Bard. I followed it where I could. It was faint, so sometimes I lost it, but mostly followed the ridge. It’s important to follow the ridge when snow is present. This ridge is easy class 2 ‘scrambling’. Just watch for loose rocks. I could see a faint trail go to the right of the ridge (south), but it became covered in snow and would have been difficult to cross. Here’s an overview of my route

And some close-ups in order:

When I got to this section I did not feel comfortable traversing without crampons and my ice axe (luckily I had both). I sat down, strapped on my crampons, and crossed the snow. The snow was slippery at this time in the morning (not mushy, more like icy). You could probably traverse this section with just microspikes if you were here at the right time of the day.

Because I could I kept the crampons on until the last of the snow.

Here’s looking back on the section you want to avoid, and the reason I stuck to the ridge. You can also see a slip here would take you a ways.

After taking off my crampons and putting them away I headed up to the summit of Bard Peak, keeping close to the ridge

I summited Bard Peak at 7:50am, after 4.7 miles of hiking.

Bard Peak:

There was a broken summit register and a benchmark on the summit

Now to head back to Mt Parnassus. I backtracked down to the saddle, put on my crampons again, got out my ice axe, and crossed the snow.

It was easy to avoid the snow on the rest of the way back to Parnassus

From the summit of Mt Parnassus I descended the way I’d summited, back down to the Woods/Parnassus saddle

When I made it to the saddle I still wasn’t tired so I decided to summit 12er Woods Mountain as well. This summit doesn’t require much guidance: it’s an easy tundra stroll to the top. This added 460’ of elevation gain to the hike. This is where the wind became the most intense (yes, it was still blowing). It was so windy I was hiking sideways with each step, and had to over-compensate each step to stay in a straight line, crisscrossing my steps as I went.

I reached the summit of Woods Mountain at 9:40am. I’ll spare you the selfie of this one as well, since I’ve already summited this peak. Here’s the summit register and a video

Woods Mountain:

This wind was insane! Time to head back down to the saddle and back down to the gulch

I followed the trail back down the gulch, over the log bridge, and back to the trailhead. This is where I started seeing a lot of other hikers. When I made it to the trailhead the large parking area was completely full.

I made it back to my truck at 11am, making this a 10.25 mile hike with 4965’ of elevation gain in 6.5 hours. Here’s a topo map of the route:

I felt really good about the hike today: The weather had been warm, no clouds, not much route finding, and when I made it back to my truck I wasn’t even tired yet. The only thing that could have been better was the wind. It’s amazing how good conditions can change the outcome of a hike!