Tag: homestake peak

Homestake Peak – 13,209

RT Length: 13.33 miles

Elevation Gain: 3363’

The road was nicely plowed from the Crane Park area to the trailhead, so I continued driving up the road and parked at the beginning of Trail 100.

I was the only vehicle in the lot, and it was supposed to snow this afternoon, so I didn’t anticipate a lot of people on the trail today.  I put on my snowshoes and started out.  The trail starts by heading northeast for a third of a mile before turning onto the trail that leads you to the 10th Mountain Division Hut.  I took the winter route.

I followed the trail for about a mile to a junction, losing elevation as I went.

When I made it to this junction it was dark and I misread the sign.  I ended up continuing straight and it wasn’t until I crossed the second bridge I thought to myself “I don’t remember crossing any bridges when I did this trail last time” and realized I should have turned right at the junction, instead of continuing to follow the Colorado Trail.  This mistake cost me a mile of hiking.  So, long story short, turn right here and follow the 10th Mountain Division hut signs, and if you come to any bridge, you’ve gone too far.

This put me on a 4WD road that took me to a marshy area, covered in fox prints.  Here the snowmobile tracks ended and I’d be trenching the rest of the hike.

From the marshy area I followed the blue arrows to the 10th Mountain Division hut.  The arrows are conveniently placed along the trail every 20 yards or so.  When the trail is covered in snow and just when you aren’t sure which way to go, you find another blue marker.  These were extremely helpful, as I was trenching at this point (and for the rest of the hike).  There were tons of rabbit tracks in the area on the recent snow.

Just as I made it to the 10th Mountain Division Hut I came across what looked to be a recent ski trench.  Even though it was earlier than I’d planned on heading west I turned left and followed the trench (I was getting tired of trenching).  This trench led me to a bunch of skis standing in the snow. 

I didn’t see anyone with the skis, and I knew I’d hiked too far following the trench (hopeful it turned and headed to Homestake’s ridge, which it didn’t), so I backtracked and found a low rib to hike up and follow northwest to the upper basin.

At this point I was frustrated: I was in a bad mental attitude I had to kick myself out of.   Due to a recent conditions report I expected there to be a trench to treeline, and there wasn’t.  I was having trouble finding any semblance of a trail, and the trenching was getting tiresome.  I kept trudging along and backtracking, telling myself I’d only stop if the snow became more than I could handle (usually for me this means postholing past my waist).  Also, this was my second attempt at this peak, as the last time I was here the snow was too soft to trench.  I didn’t want to come back a third time if I could help it.  I knew I was off the typical trail, but I also knew I was headed in the right direction, and I had the added benefit of being able to follow my tracks on my way out.

Once in the upper basin I turned left and followed a rib to the ridge. 

Here’s the access point to the ridge at treeline

And a picture of the beginning of the ridge

Once on the ridge I turned right and followed it northwest to the summit.  This looks like a great place to do some skiing!  Here’s the overall route

This ridge was about a mile of steady elevation gain.  The snow was firm but the wind was picking up.  Here are some pictures of the hike to the summit

Towards the top everything was windblown and the snow became sugary.  I was slipping and sliding a bit, but other than my snowshoes, no other equipment was needed.

I summited Homestake Peak at 9am (there’s a benchmark at the summit)

Homestake Peak:

The wind kept picking up, bringing in the Albuquerque Low we’re expecting tonight and through the weekend. I was cold, so after leaving a summit register I hurried back down the ridge.

Check out the wind

Here’s a look down the access point to the ridge and my trek down.

The wind had blown some of my tracks in, but I was able to still follow them back to the ski trench

I took the ski trench back to the hut, and then followed my tracks back to the marshy area

Once back in the marsh, just before the 4WD road I could smell a fox (they have a strong scent too, similar to a skunks, just more mild).  I looked around and saw one prancing about 100 feet away. She was a magnificent red fox, quite large and all fluffed up due to the cold, making her look even bigger.  She stopped only briefly to glance my way, and then carried on.  I watched as she pranced through the willows and disappeared into the trees.  No pictures:  I just decided to enjoy the experience, as I knew pictures wouldn’t turn out anyway from this distance.  All those tracks must have been hers.

At the end of the marshy area I came to the snowmobile tracks that led me back to the junction to the trailhead

I turned left at the trail indicating Crane Park and followed the trail to the trailhead.  This was actually the most difficult part of the hike, as my thighs were tired from trenching earlier, and at this point every step I took included 5 pounds of snow sticking to the bottom of each snowshoe.  I trudged here slowly, using my trekking pole to knock off excess ice and snow every few feet.

I could hear the wind screaming through the trees.  Yep, the storm was coming in. I made it back to the road, and followed it to my truck

I made it back to my truck at 11:45am, making this a 13.33 mile hike with 3363’ of elevation gain in 6 hours, 45 minutes.  Note, as you’ll see from my topo map, I made a few wrong turns and did some backtracking.  I’d still recommend this overall route however (minus the wrong turns and backtracking).

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.