Tag: coyote tracks

Mt Princeton in Winter – 14,197 and Tigger Peak – 13,300

RT Length: 15.4 miles

Elevation Gain: 5615’

There was a fairly recent conditions report on this peak, I so I chose it figuring there’s be a trench to treeline.  I had some appointments I needed to be back home by 4pm for, and this seemed like a logical choice for today.

I arrived late, as I woke up to 6 inches of snow at home and had to shovel my driveway before leaving the house.  The roads were icy so I took the drive slow.  I pulled into the parking lot just before 5am and was surprised to find a fresh layer of snow on the ground.  The entire lot was covered, and there were no tracks from any other vehicles.  I parked near the entrance and put on my gear.  I was on the trail by 5am.

The trail starts at the west end of the parking area.  There’s a bathroom and plenty of parking and excellent signage.

I followed this road (Mt Princeton Road/322) as it switchbacked up the east side of the mountain.  I was the first one making tracks, and wore my microspikes the entire day (but lugged along snowshoes).

I continued following the road 3.3 miles to the communication towers

At the towers I turned left and followed trail/road 322A

This is where the snow started getting deep.  There wasn’t a visible trench, so I postholed a bit, but was stubborn and didn’t put on my snowshoes.

I was still following the road, but there was a lot of snow in this area.  The drop-offs were steep (better pictures later, just be aware of avy danger here).

I followed the road to treeline, and then gained the ridge to the right (continuing on this road will take you to the Lucky Mine, and another access point to summit Tigger, but I found the snow was too steep covering the road and decided against that route)

Once on the ridge it was windblown, and I could easily see the summer trail. 

At this point, what I should have done was gone straight up and over Tigger Peak. 

But the trail looked easily to follow, and the mountain looked windblown, so I continued to follow the summer route.  Here’s the overall summer route

As I said earlier, I was following the mostly bare trail.  I crossed a couple of slide areas without difficulty, and then came to one that gave me pause.  I could see remnants of old footprints/tracks in the snow further ahead, but I did not feel comfortable crossing this section this morning, even though I had my ice axe and gear. A slip would have been too costly, especially since I hike solo.

I decided instead to change direction immediately and head south to the ridge, rock hopping to the top.  Most of these rocks were large, and luckily, few of them moved.  The snow in-between the rocks was troublesome at times, and I postholed to my waist, but I felt more comfortable with this route.

Once on the ridge I followed it northwest to the summit.  There were several social trails here, but staying on the ridge proper, or going slightly east worked well.

I made it to the summit at 10:45am

Mt Princeton:

It was a gorgeous day above treeline!  However, I had plans and needed to bet back down.  I decided to head back over Tigger Peak.  Circled is the small slide area I wished to avoid

Here are some pictures of the ridge to Tigger Peak, complete with a few small false summits

From Tigger Peak, here’s looking at the descent point

I continued hiking the ridge, and then started the longest part of my day:  rock hopping back down to the trail.  I just had to head northeast, and I could see the trail in front of me, but a lot of these rocks moved and progress was painstakingly slow.  Here’s the route

From there I picked up the trail and followed it back to the road

And followed the road back down to the trailhead. 

Here are some better pictures of how steep some sections on the road were

Something cool:  I was the first to make prints on my way in, but on my way out I saw coyote prints following my tracks.  Some of the prints were directly in my footsteps.  Looks like I had a stalker.

The snow on the road became slushy as I descended. 

It was downright muddy by the time I made it back to my truck

I didn’t see another person the entire day, which was a shame because it was a perfect day to be above treeline!

I made it back to my truck at 2:45pm, much later than I’d originally anticipated.  Luckily, I had cell reception and could call my appointments and move them to 6pm.  This ended up being a 15.4 mile hike with 5615’ of elevation gain in 9 hours, 45 minutes.

You can buy the Mt Princeton summit sticker here

10th Mountain Division Hut

RT Length: 9.06 miles

Elevation Gain: 1456’

This trip started out as a summit attempt on Homestake Peak, but it ended with an unexpected trip to the 10th Mountain Hut. 

Weather all over the state either had high avalanche danger or high winds, so I settled on hiking Homestake Peak today, with a frigid forecast but only 5-10mph winds and no cloud cover.  Or, so I thought.  I arrived at the trailhead and put on my gear, including snowshoes, inside my truck.

There were some cool signs in the area

I was on the trail when it was still dark, and noticed tracks coming towards me, presumably made earlier in the night.  I’m guessing they’re coyote

I followed the well-marked trail, using the blue diamond route

And then following the route to the 10th Mountain Hut (still blue diamond/arrows). 

Here I was following the Colorado Trail.  It was just a for a short time, but still kind of cool to be back on the trail for a bit.

The trail was easy to follow until I came to a meadow.  I was supposed to take the route outlined below, but the snow was too soft in the willows. 

I ended up zig zagging back and forth, trying my best to follow deer/elk tracks.  I kept falling into invisible streams covered in several feet of snow.    At one point my phone froze and I was unable to unlock the screen to see where I should have been going.  My stylus wasn’t working in the cold either.  Several times I sank up to my chest in snow, and after the third time getting my snowshoe caught in debris that immobilized me I decided to call it and head back to the trail.  I wanted to try to find another way to summit:  the conditions in the marshy area were just not safe. I could see myself twisting an ankle or breaking a leg on this route.  Here’s my route out of the willows. 

I didn’t want my day to be over, so I decided to follow the tracks to see where they led.  They continued to follow the blue diamonds. 

Right about now the sun was beginning to rise, and I could see it wasn’t going to be a cloudless day.  The clouds made for a beautiful sunrise though!

As the sun rose the wind picked up.  I could see snow swirling all around me, which was pretty cool.  I also knew I needed to be more to the southwest if I wanted to attempt Homestake Peak today, but every time I tried to cross the snow and head southwest I sank up to my chest in the snow.  That snow was seriously deep, and sugary.  I’d need skis to attempt a safe crossing (I don’t own skis). 

I could also tell the clouds were increasing, and by looking at how fast they were moving, they weren’t going 5-10 mph (more like 40mph or so).  Here the well trenched trail ended, but I could see a faint line of where it had been a few days ago and decided to re-trench the trail to see where it went. 

I came to a small sign, stating no snowmobiles were allowed past this point, and continued heading northwest.

Just after the sign I came to the 10th Mountain Hut!  So cool! 

I wanted to take a look around, but as I got closer I could see people moving about inside and decided to leave them be.  They looked like they were packing up to head back out.  They must have trenched in on Friday, and I’m sure they’d be excited when they noticed I’d re-trenched their way out. 

Heading back was easy, as I just followed my tracks

I made it back to my truck at 9:15am, making this a 9.06 mile hike with 1456’ of elevation gain in 4 hours

Here you can see my intended route (bottom) and the route I actually took (top)

As I drove home the winds became more intense.  There were semis parked on the side of I70, waiting out the wind.  Yes, it had been a good idea to switch directions today.  While any day out hiking is a great day, I wasn’t happy with today’s stats, so after making it home I hopped on the treadmill.