grizzly gulch – Wild Wanderer

Whitecross Mountain – 13,542

RT Length: 7.45 miles

Elevation Gain: 3288’

Once again, just like with Sundog, I was staying near the Cooper Creek trailhead, to both give me added miles and also more peace and quiet. I waved to my neighbors camping across the way, but they didn’t seem up for conversation. No worries: I put together a trip report and made it an early night. I was on the trail at 4:30am.

I made it to the Redcloud/Sunshine trailhead before 5am, and once again, it was bustling with hikers getting ready for their day. Surprisingly, none of them made their way over to Handies Peak. I turned right, and took the Grizzly Gulch trail up into the basin.

There was an information board, a bridge to cross, and a register to sign.

If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you’ve already hiked Handies Peak and know the approach. If not, it’s an easy, well maintained, class 1 trail to the basin.

At around 11860’ of elevation, I turned and left the trail. It was just over a runnel crossing, and before a section of willows. I headed northwest, up to the ridge of Whitecross.

Here’s my overall route. Please note, the actual summit is hidden.

And some step-by-step photos. Initially, I skirted the willows to the right

Then I found a large boulder, and skirted it to the left. (It was the only boulder in a sea of tundra, and difficult to miss).

In times without snow, I’d just aim for the ridge. However, there was a cornice lining the ridge, so I stayed under the snow. This worked well.

The tundra was steep. On the way down I’d use microspikes for tractions, but none was needed on the way up. I kept aiming for the rock outcropping, careful to skirt the messy areas.

Once again, in a year without snow, it would be prudent to take the dotted line. Today, I took the solid line up a side gully.

I was aiming for these three spires

The gully was a mix of tundra and scree

When I got to the top I turned left, and realized this had been a false summit. The true summit is just a little bit to the northwest.

I cursed myself for leaving my ice axe in the car. I put on my microspikes, lowered my trekking pole to the size of an ice axe, and hoped the snow was solid. It was! I was able to easily make my way across. Here’s my route:

I was lucky the snow was in perfect conditions: A fall wouldn’t have been fun.

Once past this area, it was a quick walk to the summit

I summited Whitecross at 7:15am

Whitecross:

From the summit you could see Handies Peak, and the ridge. It was starting to snow lightly, and remembering the last time I was in the area, and got caught I several storms while climbing Handies Peak, I decided to head back.

Here’s my route off the summit

The area with snow was sketchier on the way down than it had been on the way up, as there was a bit of downclimbing and a trust move involved. Luckily, the snow was the perfect consistency. My main concern would have been to have fallen through/postholed, but that didn’t happen this early in the morning.

And now to head back down the gully

I kept my microspikes on for this part, and all the way until I made it back to the trail. It was pretty straightforward. Here’s my route:

When I made it to the trail I took off my microspikes as it started to snow a little harder. I followed the trail back to the trailhead

I made it back to the trailhead, and followed the road back to my truck.

I made it back to my camping spot at 9am, making this a 7.45 mile hike with 3288’ of elevation gain in 4.5 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

Sundog – 13,437

RT Length: 8.1 miles

Elevation Gain: 3219’

Normally you’d start this hike from the Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch trailhead, the same one as used for Redcloud and Sunshine Peaks, but it’s Memorial Day weekend, and I knew that trailhead would be crowded. Also, I’ve had porcupines visit me there in the middle of the night, interested in the wires underneath my truck. Instead, I parked a little over half a mile further up the road, near Cooper Creek. Not only did I have the site to myself, but I got to hear the creek rushing by as I slept.

After an early night, I was still hesitant to get out of bed at 4:15am. It took willpower, but I was on the trail by 4:30am. As I passed the Silver Creek trailhead there were dozens of headlamps indicating busy activity. I cruised by, and started up the trail.

At the top of the hill was a trail register I need of repair: The top isn’t fastened to the base. As per usual, I didn’t see the register on the way in, as it was off to the side and didn’t have anything reflective indicating it was there.

So, I didn’t sign the register, and instead followed the trail as it paralleled Silver Creek. The trail was very well maintained, with just a few downed trees here and there.

At around 11300’ of elevation, I left the trail to head down towards the creek. I left the trail where an obvious, and massive, avalanche had occurred a few years earlier. There was a faint trail closer to the creek.

My goal was to cross the creek and head up Sundog’s north ridge. I crossed the creek near some willows, on a few logs that seemed to have been placed for just that purpose. On my way in, and on my way out, these logs were coated in ice, which made the crossing interesting.

Safely across the creek, it was time to follow the ridge by heading south. The ridge was easy to follow, but there was some initial avalanche debris to navigate.

I noticed all the trees seemed to be leaning up, not down, which I thought was odd, until I looked behind me. It was obvious a large avalanche had occurred on the opposite mountain, which crossed the creek, and knocked over trees several hundred feet up the ridge I was now on.

I continued following the ridge to treeline.

Just before treeline I came to an outcropping, which I maneuvered by going to the right, staying at its base.

Now at treeline, I continued to follow the ridge

As soon as the talus and scree started, it didn’t quit. There were a lot of game trails all the way to the summit, none of which were consistent.

Now is a good time to note the false summit

I followed the ridge to the summit. The ridge was straightforward, the only surprise coming at the end.

Just before the summit, I climbed up a class 2+ gully. The rocks were loose, and microspikes helped. I left behind my trekking pole and started climbing up.

At the top of the gully was more ridge (this is a false summit)

That led to the real summit

I summited Sundog at 7:15am

Sundog:

And now to head back. It was a nice day, but windy, so I didn’t stay too long on the summit. I turned and headed back the way I’d came:

It was a long ridge!

The scree filled gully was easier to navigate on the way down

Then I followed the ridge to treeline

Once at treeline, I continued to follow the ridge, aiming for the avalanche runout, and Silver Creek below

I went left this time around the rock formation

And navigated the avalanche debris to the creek

I crossed the creek on the same logs, interested to find they were still covered in a layer of ice.

I easily picked up the trail on the other side, and followed it back to the trailhead.

I then walked up the road to my truck, parked about half a mile away. I made it back to my truck at 9:30am, making this a 8.1 mile hike with 3219’ of elevation gain in 5 hours.

Oh, and I found a stash of 8 track tapes near an old, abandoned mine. I wonder if they’re still good?

On to the next trailhead!

13,795 (attempt)

RT Length: 5 miles

Elevation Gain: 1948’

Note: My successful summit of this peak can be found here.

I never should have attempted this hike today, but the weather was clear and my beta told me the mountains in this area were snow free. There are so many 13ers in the San Juans I wanted to knock another one out before the snow sets in again. As I was leaving the house around midnight my daughter asked me if I’d take her to the school musical that night at 7pm. I did some mental math and figured I’d have plenty of time to climb this 7.5 mile peak and be back in time to take her to see the musical.

I drove in the dark to the Grizzly Gulch trailhead, a little surprised to see so much ice on the 2WD dirt road in

There was one other vehicle in the lot when I arrived. I’m guessing they were headed to Redcloud/Sunshine today. Last time I was here I’d had a porcupine visit me in the middle of the night, making noise in the gravel below my truck as he tried to get up inside.

It was getting light as I put on my gear. From the parking lot it didn’t look like I’d need microspikes or snowshoes, but I decided to bring them anyway. I was on the trail at 6:30am. The trail starts at the west end of the parking lot and then crosses a bridge and heads southwest on a well defined trail.

Well, it would have been a well defined trail if there hadn’t been so much snow! Not enough in the beginning to put on spikes/snowshoes, but way more than I’d anticipated.

It was immediately obvious no one had been on this trail since the last snow, which had to have been over a week ago. What was curious was how soft and sugary the snow was after sitting for so long. There were also tons of animal tracks visible in the snow, mostly fox and moose, and they’d been here recently by the signs of urine and scat on top of the snow.

Last time I was here I’d seen a moose, so even though I never ended up seeing one I was extra vigilant today. I went in and out of the trees several times and noticed much less snow in areas without trees. This gave me hope for the rest of the trail above treeline. Of course, most of the snow in these areas was only on the trail itself.

When I made it to treeline I was disappointed to find quite a bit of snow. It wasn’t the snow that bothered me, it was the type of snow: all sugary with very few areas that were consolidated. The drifts were the worst! 4+ feet of sugary snow that didn’t respond to snowshoes made for difficult traversing. I put on my microspikes. Here’s the path I took to the middle of the basin

There was a stream that needed crossing. It was partially covered in snow/ice and I couldn’t tell how wide or deep it was. It took me several minutes to find a good area to cross where I wasn’t worried about falling in.

After crossing the creek I located a faint trail on the side of the mountain and worked my way towards it. The trail was only visible because it was covered in snow. The walk to the trail took a long time because I was postholing with every step.

Climbing up the hill should have been easy, but the snow was still sugary and the talus below unstable. Rocks rolled with every step I took, so I took them slowly

There were several large areas of snow directly on the trail that were not passable. I tried making a bridge in the snow but it wasn’t consolidated enough to hold my weight. Stomping it down did not create a trail so I had to descend on the talus to find a stable route.

Oh, and I met a few ptarmigans

Here’s another view of the ascent

All of this careful footwork meant I was going slowly. I was really excited when I made it to the top of the headwall, as I knew I’d have a view of the rest of the route to the ridge and I was hoping to find it snow free.

It wasn’t. Here’s the route up to the ridge

I continued for about 20 yards, trudging through sugary snow that went up to my thighs and mentally did the math. This hike had taken me about twice as long as it should have to this point, mainly due to the condition of the snow. I had 1.5 hours left before my turnaround time and looking ahead of me the snow in the gully areas looked similar to the snow I’d already had to avoid to get this far. Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid the snow ahead of me. There was a small lake out there I couldn’t see and I was worried I’d break through the snow and ice and fall into the lake. I grudgingly made the decision to turn around and head back home. That would give me time to make dinner and shower before the musical tonight. I was super bummed because it was a 6 hour drive out here and the day felt wasted, but I also knew I’d had bad beta and couldn’t have anticipated these conditions. The snow needs to consolidate before it’s safe to hike here. Here’s the path I took back:

Postholing the entire way…

In this picture you can see moose tracks and the trail I needed to make my way back to

I followed the trail where possible

Aiming for the creek and the trail out

Here’s looking back at my tracks

Getting through the willows is the hardest part, especially in sugary snow

Isn’t it fun when the only snow is directly on the trail?

The creek was almost frozen

I made it back to the trailhead at 10:30am, surprised to see another vehicle in the lot. This hike ended up being a little over 5 miles with 1948’ of elevation gain, done in 4 hours. I’d been hiking at close to 1 mile per hour this morning, which is considerably slow considering I average 2+mph normally. The good news is I made it back home in plenty of time for the musical. I’ll be back either in spring or summer, when the snow’s either consolidated or gone. Here’s a look at my route: