hike – Wild Wanderer

Hayden Mountain North – 13,131

RT Length: 6.51 miles

Elevation Gain: 3534’

I parked at the Hayden Trailhead at Crystal Lake and was on the trail at 6:45am. This is a very popular trailhead, especially during the fall color season. There’s room for about 40 vehicles if everyone parks nicely, but this area does fill up. The beginning of the trail is obvious, marked by signs and a gate.

Before you start your hike, you should take a look at where you’re going. There are plenty of game trails to get you there, but that’s just the problem: There are SO MANY game trails, it’s easy to go the wrong way. I’m sure most of them meet up at times, but it’s a good idea to know where you’re going. Here’s the overall route to treeline:

I took the well established trail around the lake, then looked for the obvious avalanche slide area. There are two or three trails that pick up here and lead you into the trees.

The hardest part about this hike is making it to treeline. I picked up the most solid game trail I could find and followed it as it switchbacked up to Half Moon Basin. Every time I came to another game trail (there were dozens) I tried to follow the most established one. I was heading west until I hit 13125’, then I headed north to treeline.

Once above treeline, the rest of the hike was straightforward, but don’t be fooled by all the game trails here as well: They don’t lead to the summit. Also, I saw a ton of deer this morning, and a few bighorn sheep, which are most likely responsible for all the trails. I followed the tundra up this drainage

At the top of the drainage I needed to get up this little ridge. There was a game trail to the left I took to get there

From here I knew I could go either left or right. I chose left to make it to the ridge, as the right side had a gully and I’m not a fan of gullies (although on my way down I saw there looked to be a game trail up the right side of the gully, so it probably wouldn’t have been too bad). Here’s what going left (west) looks like:

Now I was at the base of the ridge. I hiked up the tundra slope, then followed the ridge northwest as it became manageable scree. This was all class 2.

Now I was on top of the ridge. I turned and followed it north to the summit. This was rocky, but the route was obvious and all class 2. Stay below the ridge proper, on the class 2 terrain. I took the third gully to the right. All of the gullies went, and they are all easier than these pictures make them look.

From the top of the gully I could see the summit. It was an easy hike to get there

I summited Hayden Mountain North at 9am

Hayden Mountain North:

Hayden Mountain North was my only peak for today, so I turned around and re-traced my steps. First, the rocky section headed south, down the gully and back to the ridge:

Then the scree/talus ridge down to the tundra

I now made my way back to the drainage

And followed it back to treeline

Once at treeline I had to find my access trail. This was more difficult than I’d imagined, but I kept heading south/southeast and I came to it.

Back on a robust game trail, I followed it back to the trail I knew was below me that would lead back to Crystal Lake. A note about this trail going down: It’s steep, and I was sliding on the small rocks on the trail. While I had no problems hiking up, I had to take it slow as I descended so as not to slip and fall down.

Back on the main trail, I followed it back to the trailhead

I made it back to my truck at 6:45am, making this a 6.51 mile hike with 3534’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

T7 – 13,360

RT Length: 1.84 miles

Elevation Gain: 839’

Imogene Pass road is a difficult 4WD road (26A). Be prepared for large rock slabs and narrow shelf roads. I parked below Imogene Pass at around 12500’ at a pull off and was on the trail at 6:40am, as soon as I could see well enough to hike without a flashlight. I started by following the 4WD dirt road towards Imogene Pass. While it had recently snowed in the area, all the snow was sticking to the north slopes, so there wasn’t any snow on my route today. I’ve been in the area a few days, and I’d thought the snow would have melted out by now, but it seems to be lingering on.

At 12590’ there’s a dispersed campsite with an old fire ring. This is potentially another place to park. Here I left the road and started hiking on tundra southeast towards an obvious saddle.

This was a quick and easy hike, all class 2. Here’s my overall route to T7.

I started by heading southeast towards the saddle, staying to the left and high of the drainage.

Once I made it to the saddle I turned left and followed the ridge east. As you can see in the pictures, this hike was entirely done on tundra.

At the top of the ridge, I could see the summit to the east just a few yards away.

I summited T7 at 7:05am

T7:

This was a quick sunrise summit for me before work, so I turned and headed back the way I came, towards the ridge. I could see my vehicle below for most of this hike.

I then followed the ridge down to the saddle

Once at the saddle I turned right, and headed northwest back to the road (26A)

Once on the road, I followed it the short distance back to my truck

I made it back to my truck at 7:30am, making this a 1.84 mile hike with 839’ of elevation gain in 50 minutes.

Also, there’s an old mine to check out while you’re there close to where I parked, and several other old relics in the area. A lot of abandoned mines, equipment, poles, old trolley carts, and other artifacts. If you take the time to drive all the way up here, you might as well enjoy some Colorado history as well, and maybe get in a few other peaks? There are several 13ers and more to choose from.

On to the next trailhead!

Keller Mountain – 13,080

RT Length: 11.89 miles

Elevation Gain: 4086’

I parked at the Rock Creek Trailhead at 5am, and the parking lot, which holds about 20 vehicles total if everyone parks nice, was already full. I’m guessing all the vehicles were from weekend backpackers (I arrived on a Sunday morning). The drive in is mostly 2WD on a dirt road, but you’ll want high clearance for the last quarter mile or so. I saw someone trying to head down in a Honda Odyssey who was having major issues (although it was probably just the driver, not the vehicle).

I was on the trail at 5:30am. The trail starts at the east end of the parking area.

I followed this trail for 2.3 miles, headed west, and staying straight at the first junction to stay on North Rock Creek Trail No. 46.

After hiking for over 2 miles on this class 1 trail, I turned right, and started bushwhacking northeast to the ridge. There were a lot of downed trees in this area, so navigation was an adventure. I just kept heading northeast, gaining 760’ of elevation in .7 miles as I made my way to 10900’

At 10900’ I came across a well-established game trail, and followed it west towards treeline.

At 11400’ the trail fizzled out, but the route was obvious. I was headed southwest, following the ridge to treeline.

At treeline my next goal was to ascend the tundra and then rocky slope, still headed southwest. The rocks here were solid, and easy to navigate. I just kept following the rocky, class 2 ridge.

If you get here and think “Wow! That was almost too easy!” it’s time to strap on your helmet, because you’re only at PT 12847, and the rest of the route is about to get class 3. Here is the real summit of Keller Mountain, a mile off in the distance and a fun ridge to get there.

First, I had to get around this point. Going up is straightforward, and I stuck to the ridge. Going down, however, was a bit more challenging in the route-finding department. You can go directly up and over this class 3 ridge, or descend to 12750’ and keep this section class 2 by skirting the ridge.

I took the ridge on my ascent, and skirted it on my decent. Here are some pictures of this ridge. At times I dipped down to the left (never to the right) to ascend on rocky tundra.

The descent off this ridge was a little more challenging, as there were gullies to navigate that had recent rockfall, and were unstable. I stuck to the left side of the ridge all but in one obvious spot, where I dipped to the right and re-ascended to this small saddle.

Now the real fun begins. There are several more gullies to navigate, but luckily here, I found a few cairns. Once again, I stayed to the left of the ridge. I kept wanting to head back to the ridge, but found the gullies and large rock outcroppings kept keeping me about 50 feet below the ridge proper, so every time I’d make it to the ridge, another gully or rock outcropping would pop up and I’d have to descend again. Here are some pictures of my route along the ridge (red circles are cairns).

Here’s a picture of the final gully, the only one filled with scree. You’ll see a cairn off in the distance here on the tundra ahead of you on the hillside, but don’t aim for it (circled in red). Go around the rock outcropping and ascend the gully instead. It keeps you from some sketchy stuff below.

At the top of this last gully I turned left, and followed the ridge west, and then southwest to the summit of Keller Mountain. This part was all class 2. There was no summit cairn, but there was a summit register here

I summited Keller Mountain at 9:15am

Keller Mountain:

Here’s a look back at that ridge, and the route I took to get to the summit. Notice how you don’t want to dip too low on the ridge, due to the chasm below.

This was an out and back hike for me, so I headed back to the false summit, and descended the ridge back to the gullies

By now I’d had enough of this fun ridge route finding and decided to stay at 12750’ and skirt this part of the ridge, keeping the rest of the hike class 2.

Back on the ridge, I followed it to the top of PT 12847

And then back down to treeline

Once at treeline, I followed the ridge northeast until I came back to the game trail, then followed the game trail to 10900’

At 10900’ I turned and headed southeast down the hillside, aiming for the North Rock Trail No 46 I knew would be below, bushwhacking through grass taller than I was and tons of downed trees.

Back on the trail, I turned left and followed it just over 2 miles east/northeast back to the trailhead.

I made it back to the trailhead at 12:30pm, making this an 11.89 mile hike with 4086’ of elevation gain in 7 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

Wildhorse Peak – 13,271 and Blackwall Mountain – 13,077

RT Length: 12.45 miles

Elevation Gain: 3722’

I took CR 20 out of Lake City, turned right at the North Henson road near Capitol City, and parked off 870 at 11200’ at an unnamed trailhead with parking spots for 4 or 5 vehicles. This is also where the porcupine and marmot and pine marten chewed my wires last week, so make sure your vehicle is rat taped. Click here if you want to see pictures of the damage done to my vehicle last week.

I was up and on the trail at 4:30am.

This trail starts out easy to find and easy to follow. I followed this trail for half a mile, until I made it to a gulch just below treeline

Once here, I turned right and ascended this small ridge. It doesn’t matter where you ascend, this whole area will get you to the right area. There are several drainages you can use to ascend.

Once on top of this little ridge I was headed west, through treeline.

This is a big meadow. Just keep heading west, towards these two small trees. The trail here looks like a drainage ditch. If you see a ditch heading west, follow it.

At the top of this ridge I turned left, and found a game trail that would take me west, towards American Flats.

Here the trail got ‘iffy’, as it turned into a kind of mining road that hasn’t been used in several decades. I followed it as I passed American Lake to my left. After hiking for a total of just over 3 miles, and at around 12290’ of elevation, I left the trail to head northwest towards the saddle of Wildhorse Peak.

There was no trail, but the route was obvious on rolling tundra. I kept heading for the base of Wildhorse Peak.

Here are a couple of views of my route up to the summit of Wildhorse Peak. This is a choose your own adventure kind of hike. I chose to stick to the ridge as much as possible.

I started out by heading northwest up the tundra. Most of this hike is on tundra, and it’s all class 2. If you find yourself in class 3 territory, you’re making it too difficult.

As you near the top, you’ll come to a couple of gullies. DO NOT take the rocky one (the first one your come to). Well, you can, but you’re making the hike more difficult than you need to.

Instead, head a little further northwest along the ridge and ascend on the tundra.

This will lead you to almost the summit, which is rocky. The true summit is to the left, on an airy but class 2 catwalk to the summit. Also, there was a skull on the summit

I summited Wildhorse Peak at 6:45am

Wildhorse Peak:

The early morning light and a dirty camera don’t do this picture justice, but I could see Blackwall Mountain to the northeast. From above, this was my overall route to get there.

First, to descend back the way I’d come, making my way back towards the saddle.

When I was almost to the saddle I noticed a gully to my left that still had snow in it, but was easy to downclimb. I downclimbed this gully (no, not the upper gully, but the lower one), and headed north towards a saddle.

Looking back, you can see the gully I downclimbed. There is an upper one you can downclimb as well, but when I looked down it, it looked like slick rocks covered in kitty litter, and I didn’t think it was worth the effort.

Next, I was headed here, to this small dip in the ridge

I turned left, and headed north, to the saddle

This is choose your own adventure, but I tried to stay level at 12630’ to re-gain the ridge. I went to the right of the large rock outcropping

I could see Blackwall ahead of me and walked to the saddle.

Now I turned right, and descended 400’ into the basin

Instead of ascending via the rock rubble, I decided to take a grassy gully instead. I had to descend a little more than I would have liked, but the easier terrain made up for the loss in elevation. From the bottom of the gully to the summit of Blackwall I gained 791’ of elevation in half a mile.

Just as I was nearing the top of the gully, I saw a bear running around. Of course, it was running away from me… It was a blonde black bear with dark socks. Curious coloring for a black bear.

Bear Video:

The true summit isn’t the large rock formations you’re seeing to your left, but rather just northeast of the grassy gully. I ascended out of the gully to the right, and saw where I’m sure that bear had been sleeping overnight. No scat or footprints in the area, but fur on the rocks.

It was a short tundra walk to the true summit

I summited Blackwall Mountain at 8:45am

Blackwall Mountain:

Those were the only two peaks I planned on summiting today, so I made my way back much the same way I hiked in. First down the gully

Then over to re-gain 400’ of elevation I’d lost to this saddle.

From the saddle, I headed southwest towards Wildhorse

Then crossed the upper basin, aiming for a game trail I could clearly see in the distance.

I turned right at the ridge, and aimed for the base of Wildhorse

Once there, I aimed southeast and headed towards American Lake, where I knew there was a trail I could pick up that would lead me back to the trailhead.

Back on the trail, I followed it east towards the basin I wanted to descend

When I found my two trees at the top of the ridge I turned right, and descended east into the basin, following the trail/ditch

Then descended southeast down the small ridge, and back to the trail

Then took this trail the short distance (half a mile) back to the trailhead

I made it back to my truck at 11:30am, making this a 12.45 mile hike with 3722’ of elevation gain in 7 hours

On to the next trailhead!

ST Bear Creek Benchmark – 13,140 and Cow Benchmark – 13,116

RT Length: 16.06 miles

Elevation Gain: 3570’

I parked at the end of North Fork Henson Road off CR 20 in Lake City at about 12000’. This is a couple of miles past the Matterhorn/Wetterhorn trailhead, and 4WD. There are parking spaces here for 3-4 vehicles, if everyone parks nicely. This is also where the porcupine and marmot and pine marten chewed my wires last week, so make sure your vehicle is rat taped. Click here if you want to see pictures of the damage done to my vehicle last week.

Knowing the high potential for thunderstorms today after noon, I was up and on the trail at 4:30am. The trail starts out easy to follow, heading southwest.

After hiking for half a mile, I came to treeline, and an upper basin. I turned right, and followed a drainage northwest past treeline.

Sorry for the lack of pictures at this point, but I was in a thunderstorm, experiencing hail and rain when I took these pictures, so they’re few and far between. I was headed for the ridge. For a better initial route description, see my Wildhorse and Blackwall trip report, where I wasn’t caught in a thunderstorm.

There are faint trails here, but they mostly look like drainage ditches. Follow those.

At the top of this hill a fairly good game trail appears. I followed this west all the way to American Flats and the first junction I came to, which was about 3.5 miles from the trailhead.

This junction is significant, as I’ll be returning here later, and not on a well-defined trail. Like so many trails in this area, they aren’t really trails but more of ‘suggestions’, where you follow your best judgement to get to the next post or cairn, and celebrate if you find a game trail.

From this junction I headed southwest, following posts and cairns towards ST Bear Creek Benchmark.

I aimed for the saddle, then started climbing the ridge. This was all class 2 on easy terrain.

Then the fun started. At the end of the white sand/scree the choss began, and it didn’t let up until the summit. This can all be kept class 2, but be prepared for a lot of loose choss and rolling rocks. I found once I started ascending the ridge, staying to the right gave me game trails to follow. First, I entered the ridge here

Then ascended, staying to the right as much as possible to avoid the gullies to the left, following game trails.

I summited ST Bear Creek Benchmark at 7am

ST Bear Creek Benchmark:

Way off to the northwest I could see Cow Benchmark, my next peak of the day

To get there, I was going to need to descend the way I’d ascended, and head back to the saddle.

There is no good, fast, or easy way to get to Cow Benchmark from here. I decided to take the ridge, which included a lot of elevation gain and loss. I aimed for the ridge, and followed it northwest

Here are some pictures of the ridge. It’s all class 2, and goes for about 1.5 miles. I cut across the last section (I’d had enough elevation gain and loss by this point)

Here is where I skirted PT 12976 and just headed for the saddle, which just gave me another ridge to climb

This rocky outcropping looks scary, but this can be kept class 2 by skirting it to the left, entering a rocky area, staying at about 12730’, and skirting around to the ridge. This is choose your own adventure, but the route is obvious.

This brought me to the final ridge.

Here’s my suggested route to summit the ridge

However, the ridge does go at class 2/easy 3. Here are some pictures of the ridge, should you wish to climb it.

The final push to the summit was steep, but full of tundra. Also, there’s a false summit, but that’s ok because the real summit isn’t too far away, and it’s a relatively flat walk to get there.

Also, there’s a benchmark, and a marker to let you know where the marker is…

I summited Cow Benchmark at 9:30am

Cow Benchmark:

And now to head back. I turned and re-traced my steps back down to the ridge

This time, I followed the ridge proper

Instead of descending the way I’d ascended, I went left here, descending into the basin. I knew Horsethief Trail was on the other side, that would eventually lead me back to that junction I pointed out earlier. To I left the ridge, descending to the left

I then looked for the trail on the other side. When I found it, I tried to lose as little elevation as possible to pick up the trail on the other side. I’ve circled where the trail is

I skirted the mountain, and made my way towards Horsethief Trail

Here’s a view of how I descended Cow Benchmark back to the trail

Back on a trail, I followed it 2 miles to the junction with American Flats. However, please remember what I said earlier… about trails being more of ideas than paths in the dirt. There were times I had to look for posts, or presume which way to go. Note, if you have the option, stay high instead of taking a trail that leads low.

It was 2 miles on the Horsethief Trail heading southeast to get me back to the junction, losing the trail several times and looking for a cairn or post to follow.

At the junction I turned left, and followed the trail east back down to the trailhead. Sorry for the lousy pictures… I know to be down below treeline before noon, but it was 11:45 and I was 15 minutes from treeline when the sky let loose, and it started raining and hailing. (Forecast said to expect storms between 12pm-1pm, so they weren’t far off, just a little bit early…)

Once back in the lower basin, I turned left and followed the trail half a mile northeast back to the trailhead.

I made it back to my truck at 12pm, making this a 16.06 mile hike with 3570’ of elevation gain in 7.5 hours

Mount Moss – 13,194 and Lavender Peak – 13,327

RT Length: 10.58 miles

Elevation Gain: 3604’

Once again, this wasn’t the peak I’d planned for today. In fact, due to my carelessness with my new truck and forgetting to wrap the wires with rat tape, I had a 2am encounter with varmints and had to abandon a days worth of hiking (where I’d hoped to get in 5 ranked 13ers). Not to bore you, but if you want to hear the story and see video footage, click here to find out what creature got stuck inside my truck, and the damage they did. Also, rat tape your wires people.

So, after an 8 hour detour, I found myself at around 9800’, at the base of the Tomahawk Mine, parked off road 124 and 798 near Mancos. I was up and on the trail at 6am

I followed road 798 for about 1.5 miles northwest.

After about 1.5 miles I came to a junction, and turned left. You can continue on the road here, as it will eventually get you to the same place, but I wanted to see the Tomahawk Mine. If you’d like to see the mine, turn left here, and follow the road.

The road will quickly end, but a trail will pick up to the right. It will take you to Tomahawk Mine.

If you look closely, to the left of the mine is a trail that will lead you north, back to the 4WD road.

I turned left, and followed this road northeast until Little Kate Mine.

At the base of the mine, just as the road switchbacks to the right, I ascended a scree game trail northeast to treeline. The trail is obvious, and splits and comes together a few times, but I generally headed towards treeline.

At treeline I headed west, towards Tomahawk Basin. There’s kind of a trail here, but it’s really faint.

Now I needed to ascend into the upper basin. There are several ways to do this (I went up a different way than I descended), but you basically want to get above the waterfall. If you take the route I’ve outlined, there will be a faint game trail to the top, but you may need to search a bit to find it.

I followed the creek as it headed west. There is a faint game trail, but eventually it goes away. Just keep heading west.

Now in Tomahawk Basin, my next goal was to gain the ridge. This was extremely steep. I gained 665’ of elevation in .3 miles. Luckily, the terrain was easy to navigate. Here’s the route I took.

And some pictures of the hike to gain the ridge, staying mostly on tundra.

Once on the ridge I took a little break and put on my helmet. There was a short class 3 section and some scrambling to do from here on out. I headed north, following the ridge and then dipping down to the left. It should be noted the ridge goes at class 3 most of the way, after the initial drop off to the left and re-gaining the ridge, but to make it easier there are game trails to the left of the ridge that I followed most of the time. It should also be noted the rocks here are loose, so watch your footing.

I summited Mount Moss at 9:30am

Mount Moss:

From Mount Moss I could see Lavender Peak to the northeast

It’s a really good idea to take a good look at the route you’d like to take now, as when you’re below the summit it can be difficult to figure out where you’re at. The summit of Lavender is the point furthest west. This is the route I took to the summit, which was mostly class 3, but included a class 4 chimney.

First, I descended to the Moss/Lavender saddle. Once again, lots of large, loose rocks.

From the saddle, I ascend the ridge to Lavender to just below the gullies, at around 13125’

Next, I traversed west, looking for the gully I wanted to ascend.

This is the route I took to ascend the gully. There’s a difficult 3/easy 4 chimney to ascend, just below a cool looking cave. Ascend straight up to the cave, to right around the cave, and the summit will be to the left.

And some pictures up the gully.

Once you get past the cave, the summit is to your left

It’s an easy trek to get there, up a small ramp

I summited Lavender Peak at 10:45am

Lavender Peak:

https://youtu.be/43cOnNWBiVM

And now to head back down. Here are some pictures of my way back down the gully. I turned and faced the mountain for much of the trek down.

Safely down the gully, I made my way back to the Moss/Lavender saddle

Having no desire to summit Mount Moss again, I decided to traverse below the summit, staying at around 12900’ to get to the ridge

Once on the ridge, I followed it south to my entry point

And then back down into Tomahawk Basin

I made my way back to the scree trail

Then followed it back down to the 4WD road.

I followed the road a little more than 2 miles back down to the trailhead

I made it back to the trailhead at 1:30pm, making this a 10.58 mile hike with 3604’ of elevation gain in 7.5 hours

On to the next trailhead!

Union Mountain – 12,313 and Jacque Peak – 13,212

RT Length: 12.45 miles

Elevation Gain: 3551’

I didn’t summit the way I’d intended. The place I’d wanted to park and hike had a bunch of “No Parking” signs, and there wasn’t another good place to park for miles, so I turned around and headed to the Copper Mountain Ski Area. I found a parking spot just under the lifts, and before entering Lewis Ranch, but there was a sign that said “Tow Away Zone from 10pm-6am”, so I waited around until 6am, and hit the trail from Copper Mountain Ski Area.

I’d planned on hiking up the road for as far as I could get, but as I started heading up the road, I noticed several pieces of large equipment being driven up the road ahead of me (think cranes, bulldozers, etc.). It’s been my experience that when these vehicles are in operation, the operators tend to ‘kindly’ ask you to leave the area (or escort you down). Being a solo female hiker who’s encountered this type of thing before, I don’t like to get into these types of situations. Instead, I went with Plan C: I’d hike the Colorado Trail for as long as I could, then start ascending ski runs. So, if this isn’t the conventional way to summit Jacque Peak in the summer, please forgive me, as it was my third option.

I left the parking area at 6am, and headed west toward the ski lifts.

I walked through this gate, and started following the dirt road as it wound west and then southeast.

I quickly came to the junction for The Colorado Trail. It’s on the right side of the road, and clearly marked. I turned right.

I followed The Colorado Trail for just under 2 miles, staying on The Colorado Trail at junctions.

When I came to the Fairway Ski Run, I left the trail, and headed southwest up the run. For those of you skiers out there, or anyone with a map of the runs, I took Fairway to Roundabout to Soliloquy to the ridge. There were nice game trails to the hikers left of the runs that I was able to follow to stay out of the willows. I just kept following the runs up and southeast. Here are some pictures of the route:

When I came to 11600’ there was a big dirt pile and a bulldozer moving the dirt. Not wanting to get in their way, I turned right and headed up the ridge, following the road south to the ridge.

Then continued following the ridge south towards Union Mountain, which is just to the west of the last ski lift.

I summited Union Mountain at 7:30am

Union Mountain:

From Union, you can clearly see Jacque Peak looking to the southwest.

As you can imagine, this was a straightforward ridge hike to the summit. From Union, I gained about 900’ to the summit of Jacque. There were a few rocky areas in the beginning, then tundra, then more rocks. All the rocks were loose, so watch your footing, especially as you near the summit. This was all class 2, with no trails.

Oh, and there’s a false summit

I summited Jacque Peak at 8:40am

Jacque Peak:

I turned and headed back down the ridge.

But I didn’t descend entirely the same way I ascended. Instead, about halfway along the ridge between Jacque and Union, I turned left and headed north down the West Ridge Traverse Route. I took West Ridge Traverse to Soliloquy to Roundabout, then Fairway to The Colorado Trail. It sounds daunting, and at times the runs get narrow, but I just followed the wooden posts initially, then the Ski Area Boundary signs and little pieces of pink surveyor’s tape heading down and south (there are signs every 30 feet or so), staying on game trails to the right of the runs. And you don’t need to take the same route I did. As long as you’re headed down on a ski run, it’ll take you back to the lifts.

I made it back to The Colorado Trail, turned right, and followed the well marked trail back to the dirt road, then back to my parking spot. The lifts were running on my way down, carrying visitors/hikers to the top.

I made it back to the trailhead at 10:45am, making this a 12.45 mile hike with 3551’ of elevation gain in 4 hours, 45 minutes.

On to the next trailhead!

Mount Valois – 13,173

RT Length from City Reservoir: 6.75 miles

Elevation Gain from City Reservoir: 2310’

RT Length from Endlich Mesa Trailhead: 21.45 miles

Elevation Gain from Endlich Mesa Trailhead: 5078’

The approach to City Reservoir is a total of 7.35 miles and 1220’ of elevation gain (but also over 1500’ of elevation loss) from Endlich Mesa Trailhead and City Reservoir. You can view the approach to the saddle here.

I awoke from my campsite at City Reservoir and was on the trail at 7am. I followed the Endlich Mesa Trail towards Lake Marie.

When I reached the south end of the lake, where a stream flows out, I crossed the stream

After crossing the stream I headed northeast towards the ridge and the rocky outcropping. The ridge actually has a lot of route finding, so I’ll do my best to explain how to navigate it. This is all class 2, with route finding below treeline.

At the first rock outcropping, head for the tree that’s cut in half at the top of the rocks

Next, ascend this small gully

And continue heading northeast

You will eventually come to this wall. If you navigate around to the left, you’ll find a grassy ramp to ascend. Ascend, then walk back towards the wall to navigate around the rocks.

After going east around the large rock face, again head northeast along the ridge. You’ll encounter another large rock face. This time, go right, and ascend a grassy gully.

Now you should be looking at the rocky ridge, but at least you’re above treeline. I pretty much stayed to the center of the ridge, and kept heading northeast, following the ridge. If you have an option to go left on grassy slopes, do that.

From here on out, this is a straightforward hike. I climbed northeast up this class 2 ridge to a rather large cairn.

From there I headed east towards this large cairn, but I could have just kept heading northeast along the ridge.

From this second large cairn I followed the ridge towards Mount Valois. It may look daunting, but it’s all class 2. The ridge goes, but if it feels sketchy there’s a way to drop down to the left and use game trails.

Here are some pictures of the ridge.

Then it’s an easy rocky tundra walk to the summit

I summited Mount Valois at 7:45am

Mount Valois:

Now to head back to City Reservoir. I retraced my steps back down to the ridge

Then across the ridge

Here are some pictures of the route back down to Lake Marie

Back down the gully

And across the rocky ledge

Then southwest towards Lake Marie

I crossed the stream, and headed south on the Endlich Mesa Trail back to City Reservoir.

I made it back to City Reservoir at 9:30am, making this a 6.5 mile hike with 2310’ of elevation gain from City Reservoir in 3.5 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

PT 13022 and Window Peak – 13,158’

RT Length (from basecamp): 1471’

Elevation Gain (from basecamp): 6.88 miles

Note: there’s a long approach for these peaks, so I decided to make this a backpacking trip. I found a great basecamp for the Rio Grande Pyramid 13ers (and others). The approach is about 10 miles and 3100’ of elevation gain, coming from Thirtymile Campground. The approach can be found here.

I’d hiked up to 12210’ the day before, summited some peaks, and spent the night at my camping spot, so I was able to get up early and refreshed the next morning to hit the trail at 5:30am.

This time, I was heading southwest on the Continental Divide Trail.

This trail was easy to follow, and well established. I followed it for just under 2.5 miles to the saddle of 13022 and Window Peak.

From the saddle I turned left and headed towards PT 13022. I did not follow the saddle, but instead cut across to the rocky basin.

There wasn’t a trail here to the summit, and it looks like a viable route changes from season to season due to rockslides, etc. This is the basic route I took to the summit, and back down. The solid line is the route I took up, the dotted line is the route I took down. I’d recommend taking the route I took down both ways. The climbing here was class 4. In fact, I saw a (very old) anchor set up along my route, so people at one point at least used ropes to descend.

First, I made my way up the rocky basin.

Then I headed towards and up this rocky ramp

At the top of the ramp is where it really got interesting. There were a few cairns here, but as I said earlier, it looks as if the route changes. I scrambled my way up to the ridge, had about 20 feet of ridge climbing, then had to descend to find a viable route east.

Ahead of me there was a rock perched atop a spire that looked like a cairn, and I assumed this was the summit. Here is where I was aiming.

I did my best to follow game trails and cairns where I could find them, staying below the ridge, doing my best not to fall down the loose gullies, making my way east. Yes, there were times I had to crawl around rocks with serious exposure to avoid climbing the ridge. I did not feel the ridge ‘went’.

Here’s that anchor I was talking about

I kept aiming for the cairn

I made it to the cairn, scrambling up some class 4 rock to get there, sat and took a video.

I turned and looked to the west, and it seemed as if the point just a few yards away was higher, so I scrambled my way over there as well.

When I got there, I found a summit register (which I couldn’t open) so I’m guessing it’s the true summit, although both points looked to be of equal height.

I summited PT 13022 at 7:30am

PT 13022:

Now to make my way down. On my climb up I had a better view of the mountain, and found a gully I thought looked safer to descend. I downclimbed from my perch and started out by heading back the same way I’d summited, west.

Hey look! A cairn!

Just for perspective, here’s a photo of where I left my trekking pole. I scrambled around this rock to get back there. If you look closely, you can see a cairn on the rock to the left of the trekking pole. This was the crux of the route for me, both in and out.

I continued west, found a gully that looked stable-adjacent, and headed down.

Here’s looking back up at the gully I descended

And now to head back down the rocky basin and make my way back to the saddle with Window Peak.

Window Peak isn’t ranked, but I needed an easy win, so I headed north, and followed the grassy slopes, which changed to rocky slopes, to the summit of Window Peak

There was a bit of a false summit here, so I just kept following the ridge

There were also some pretty cool rock formations along the way

I summited Window Peak at 8:50am

Window Peak:

I wanted to hike to the actual window, so I continued north along the ridge, descended a grassy gully until I was at 12900’, and then traversed north to The Window.

Now to head back to my campsite. This was actually fairly easy. There was a solid trail that descended from The Window, which eventually went away. I followed the trail as far as I could, then just aimed east for the Continental Divide Trail, which I could see located by the pond in the distance.

Here’s a view of Window Peak

And my route back to the trail

Back on the Continental Divide Trail, I followed it northeast back to my campsite.

I made it back to my campsite at 9:45am. This was a 6.88 mile hike with 1471’ of elevation gain from my campsite at 12210’.

On to the next trailhead!

Fools Pyramid – 13,290 and PT 13274

RT Length (from basecamp): 1858’

Elevation Gain (from basecamp): 5.12 miles

I took some time to set up my campsite, and was on the trail again at 8:30am. From my campsite near the Continental Divide Trail I headed northwest. Maps show a trail here (Skyline Opal Lake Trail), but it was difficult to find. Much of the trail was overgrown with willows and grass, so when I couldn’t find a trail, I kept heading northwest, and eventually found it again.

This is the overall route I took to gain the saddle between Rio Grande Pyramid and Fools Pyramid:

There is a point where you have the option to go east through the willows, or north on the gravel. It’s a difficult junction to see, but if you see it, go north (it’s the way you’ll want to go anyways, because it’s a more defined trail. Here are some pictures of the route to the saddle

Once at the saddle, I had a clear view of Fools Pyramid

As you can imagine, it was an easy class 2 tundra walk to the top, with some rocks thrown in. Here’s the overall route I took, heading straight for the ridge and then climbing the ridge to the summit:

I summited Fools Pyramid at 9:30am

Fools Pyramid:

To the northeast I could see PT 13274

This looks daunting, but the route can be kept class 2 if you skirt the ridge. Here’s the overall route I took:

First, I headed north towards the Fools Pyramid/PT 13274 saddle

At the saddle I skirted the crumbly rock formations to the right, dropping down to about 12990’

Then I found a gully and re-gained the ridge.

I then followed the ridge to the summit. Even though it’s rocky, this can be kept class 2. If you’re in class 3 territory, you’re trying too hard. Here are some pictures of my route to the summit. I stayed to the right of the ridge the entire time.

I summited PT 13274 at 10:30am. Funny story, I didn’t realize I’d lost one of my lenses until about 20 minutes after taking this picture. I later found and replaced the lens (which had popped out in my pocket).

PT 13274:

From the summit, here’s looking back on Fools Pyramid and Rio Grande Pyramid

I was making this a bit of a loop. From the summit of 13274, this was my overall route to the saddle to the south. This was choose your own adventure, but the route was obvious.

I found a lot of game trails here to get me down into the basin. I lost 770’ of elevation heading down into the basin, then re-gained 340’ of elevation up the saddle.

From the saddle, here’s a look back at my route down from PT 13274

The saddle was wide, so I headed a bit to the right, staying on the tundra.

From the here, I could see my campsite to the southwest.

There are several ways to make it back down into the basin. I considered just staying parallel with the ridge at about 12600’ and picking back up the trail I came in on at the saddle of Rio Grande Pyramid and Fools Pyramid. There are no established trails here, but I knew the Skyline Opal Lake Trail was directly below me, so I decided to do my best to make it back down to the trail. If you look closely, you’ll see the trail below you.

I headed east and south down the slope to find the Skyline Opal Lake Trail

Now on an established trail, I followed it as it hugged the side of the basin, losing it every once in a while and finding it again through the willows.