Hope Pass – Wild Wanderer

Aztec Mountain – 13,310, Grizzly Peak C – 13,700, McCauley Peak – 13,555

RT Length: 49.5 Miles (CalTopo) 42.61 Miles (Strava)

Elevation Gain: 9166’ (CalTopo) 13428’ (Strava)

Day 1: Approach, Columbine Lake, Aztec Mountain

After quite a long drive I made it to the trailhead around 9pm. Just before Vallecito campground there’s a sign indicating trailhead parking is to the left. I parked, and was surprised I had cell service. There were several horse trailers in the parking area, and a few vehicles.

I tried to get some sleep, but my nap earlier in the day had lasted longer than it was supposed to (my alarm didn’t go off, and 30 minutes turned into 3 hours). So, I read a bit, made a few phone calls, and got to bed later than anticipated. I was up and on the trail at 2:30am. The trail starts at the northeast corner of the campground. I started and ended the hike in the dark. Also, I had my new camera with me, and was interested in how the pictures from today would turn out.

This is a class 1 trail that goes north without any junctions, so it’s difficult to get lost/off track. I crossed the first two bridges (there are actually 3 if you consider the one that leads you out of the campground but doesn’t cross Vallecito Creek), but made it to the third bridge while it was still dark. I couldn’t see across the river, and I didn’t want to cross without a visual, so I laid out my sleeping pad and took a nap for 30 minutes until it got light enough for me to see, then I put on my sandals and crossed the river. I’m glad I waited until daylight: crossing wasn’t too difficult, the water only went up to my knees, but there were pockets/pools where I could have sunk in the water much, much further. My advice is to cross this creek (river?) in the daylight.

I continued hiking along the class 1 trail, but the stream crossing was causing me to have a Raynaud’s attack. Surprisingly, it was in my hands and not my feet. I kept pumping my fingers and balling my hands into fists, willing them to warm up and stop burning (yes, I realize that was a juxtaposition). My fingers burned for another 2 hours. I should have stopped and warmed up some water to revive them, but instead I continued hiking until I came to the Vallecito/Johnson Creek Junction. I made it to the junction after hiking for 10.3 miles, and continued left (west) towards Johnson Creek

This led me over the 4^th bridge, where I continued heading west, up into Vallecito Basin.

Just as I entered the Vallecito Basin I came across a moose. She was just as surprised to see me as I was her. She was the size of a horse, adorable, and reminded me of a puppy dog, but I gave her space. After the initial inquisitive look she gave me she pranced off to the trees and watched me timidly as I hiked away.

I continued on, up a thousand or so switchbacks, through the Vallecito basin to Columbine Lake.

It took me 18.5 miles to make it to Columbine Lake. I made it there at 1pm and decided to sit and take a break for a while. It was here I realized my biggest mistake of the weekend: I didn’t have any chapstik. My lips would be burning until I made it back to the trailhead (and especially after each shot of whiskey). I snacked on a packet of tuna, filtered some water, and considered my options. I’d wanted to hike Grizzly and McCauley today, but I didn’t think I had enough time to make it back before the sun went down behind the mountains. I need to be in my bivy before the sun sets, so this was a serious concern for me. But I wasn’t tired yet. I decided instead to leave my large pack here, take just what I needed in a small pack, and summit Aztec Mountain this afternoon instead.

Here’s an overall view of the route I took to the ridge to Aztec Mountain, as seen from Hope Pass the next day

From Columbine Lake I turned and followed the trail northwest towards Columbine Pass, then turned left when it hit trail 541 (no signage, and in fact I had to wing it for a bit as the trail didn’t quite go through, but it was obvious from below where the trail was and I just aimed for it) and headed south.

I followed trail 541 for .7 miles, and then left the trail and aimed for this grassy area. My goal was to gain the ridge, and this seemed the best place to do so, as I could see a path on tundra/scree up to the ridge. After hiking up and down this is the route I’d recommend to ascend the ridge.

The terrain here is steep, and it was slow going, but I was able to ascend the ridge

Once on the ridge I was at a bit of a saddle. There is no need to head right (north) to gain this point, as it’s not ranked and you’ll just need to head back down anyway. Instead, skirt the point by heading west.

This will bring you to the ridge that will lead you to Aztec Mountain. This ridge doesn’t ‘go’. Staying low is the better option here. Here’s an overview of the path you’ll want to take

Staying low keeps this class 2. The final gully is easy to access, and the final scramble to the summit is straightforward

I summited Aztec Mountain at 3:15pm

Aztec Mountain:

Here are some pictures of the way back down to Columbine Lake

I was chasing the sun, trying to make it to the lake before the shadow of the mountain made it there and cooled everything down. Between the shadow and I it was pretty much a tie, so I gathered my gear and hiked a bit further into the sunshine and set up camp for the night.

I made it back to Columbine Lake at 5:15pm, satisfied with my choice to hike Aztec Mountain today instead of Grizzly and McCauley. I was spending the night at 12,300’, with a great view of Columbine Lake. I went to dry out my feet but my sandals were still wet from this morning (I’d forgotten to take them out and place them in the sun when I left for Aztec). I ate dinner, filtered some water, heated the water in my jetboil and filled my Nalgene with warm water for the night. I looked around for my extra pair of socks but couldn’t find them, so I guess my feet weren’t going to dry out tonight. I placed the water bottle at my feet and looked at my tracker: it said I’d done 20 miles today. Not bad. I snuggled up in my sleeping bag and bivy and looked over at Grizzly Peak. I thought about the approach tomorrow, jotted some notes down in my journal, put on all the clothing I had with me, and called it an early night.

It was a long night. A long, cold night. I was warm in my bivy and sleeping bag. Halfway through the night I felt something sniffing my ear. Seriously. It felt like a dogs’ muzzle and startled me awake. From inside my bivy I flailed my arm at it, unzipped my bivy, and looked around. There was no moon but the sky was bright with stars. I could see the mountains and the lake and rocks and tundra, but no animal. It hadn’t made a noise when I’d touched it, but I’m guessing it was a fox or a coyote with an ear fetish. The air is thin at 12,000’. A few hours later I woke up, noticing breathing was more difficult than usual. To breathe better I quickly opened my bivy to get in a few gulps of air. Not only did this not help with my breathing, but when I put the bivy back over my head the condensation from my breath had turned to ice. Wonderful. Note to self: don’t unzip the bivy.

Day 2: Grizzly Peak C, McCauley Peak, Descent

The morning couldn’t come soon enough. Just before first light I re-heated the water in my water bottle, packed my gear and was on the trail with just the essentials, leaving my big pack at the lake. I took the same trail I’d taken to summit Aztec, but at the junction with trail 541 I went right and followed the trail towards Hope Pass. Here’s an overall view of the route from yesterday’s hike

This part of the hike was on a nice trail, and when there wasn’t a trail there were great cairns. From Hope Pass I got a good look at Grizzly Peak C, and the route I wanted to take to gain the ridge. Here’s the overall route I took, aiming for a gully and rock rib that ascends the mountain

I didn’t descend to Hazel Lake, but instead stayed high, aiming for the grassy slopes below Grizzly’s ridge. There are several ways to do this

From there I aimed for the obvious gully/notch/access point (not sure what to call this?)

This gully/notch/rib is easy to follow to the ridge. Stick close to the wall and follow it southeast as it hugs the mountainside. It starts out as class 3 but after the initial solid gully it becomes class 2. I was pleasantly surprised to find cairns here.

Here’s the last bit to gain the ridge. Aim for the notch (there are cairns here too). The last part of this is class 3.

I went through the notch and found snow on the other side. This wasn’t unexpected, as I’ve spent the past 3 weekends in this area and knew north facing terrain was holding snow. What was unexpected was the amount of snow, and how it all lined the trail. It ranged from non-existent to 3 foot drifts, and from bulletproof to sugary. What’s important for the reader to know is there are multiple ways to summit Grizzly Peak, and tons of cairns to prove it, so I was able to get creative these last 250’ or so to the summit. I rock hopped where necessary, kicked in steps, and created trenches to get to the summit, always heading up and east. Here are some highlights.

The last bit to the summit was luckily snow-free, and class 3-4 (the chimney was class 4)

As I made it to the summit I wasn’t sure if the true summit was left or right. I went right and luckily chose correctly (there was a summit register beneath this point).

I summited Grizzly Peak at 9:15am. I know some of you are wondering, did I did I sit at the top of the summit point? The answer is no. The point was too pointy to sit directly on top of, but I did climb up the summit boulder, sat on it about a foot from the point and touched the top, so I’m calling it a summit. You can sit wherever you’d like. I also didn’t take the video from the point, as I do a 360 degree video and wasn’t about to attempt turning in a circle while standing on the point.

Grizzly Peak C:

Time to head back down. I down climbed the chimney and headed back, retracing the steps I’d left in the snow to the notch

I made my way back down around the side of the mountain to my entry point

My next objective was McCauley Peak. I could clearly see the line I wanted to take, up the grassy slopes to the Grizzly/McCauley saddle. Staying high didn’t cliff out, but there was one class 4 downclimb required in the area circled in red. If this scares you, you can just go lower initially (the dotted line) and re-gain elevation.

I gained the saddle and headed south along the ridge. This was all class 2

From the top of the ridge I could see the rest of the route. There were cairns here indicating I should go low, but the route was no more than class 3 sticking to the ridge. Here’s an overview of the route I took

The summit is actually the southernmost point. I rounded the west side of the mountain and found a gully to ascend (note: all gullies here ‘go’).

There was one class 3 move and then it was all class 2 to the summit

I summited McCauley Peak at 11:30am

McCauley Peak:

It was a beautiful day! The predicted winds never materialized, so I stayed a little longer on the summit than usual. Then I headed back down the gully and over the ridge

Here’s the overall route back to Hope Pass

And the route from Hope Pass back down to Columbine Lake (and my stashed gear)

I made it back to my gear at 1:30pm. I mulled it over, and decided instead of sleeping here tonight I was just going to hike as far back as possible, stopping along the way if need be (there are tons of camping spots along this trail). I consolidated my gear and was on my way back down the basin towards those thousands of switchbacks.

Back down to Vallecito Creek and its bridges (or lack thereof). This was much more enjoyable in the daylight. I was able to appreciate the creek and its depth, and even saw dozens of trout swimming in the deeper pools.

I followed the class 1 trail back to the trailhead, following the creek, and passing a hunters’ camp along the way. The mules said ‘hi’ as I trekked by. There were no people to be found.

The whole way back I was prepared to stop and camp, but I was making great time so I just kept going. I mean, I really, really needed that chapstik. About a mile from the trailhead my camera stopped working. It wasn’t until I made it back home I realized the battery had somehow fallen out. This was weird because the door was still closed, and I only realized it was gone when I opened it to take out the flash card. Luckily I have a spare. I made it back to the trailhead at 8pm, and found my extra pair of socks sitting nicely in the passenger seat. I have very different numbers for my stats looking at CalTopo and Strava. I usually go with CalTopo for numbers for consistency sake, but I’ll just leave these here for you to decide which are more accurate, along with a few topo maps of my route.

Hope Mountain A – 13,939 & Quail Mountain 13,465

RT Length: 10.6 miles

Elevation Gain: 5200’

Hiking/climbing over the next few weeks are going to be tricky since I’m taking my survival troop camping on the weekends (which is always a blast!!!). Today I needed to be back home by noon so I got out my spreadsheet to look for a hike that was: 3 hours or less driving distance, around 10 miles of hiking, and didn’t require much route finding (because I didn’t have time for that today).

I love spreadsheets! They take some initial time to set up but make narrowing down this kind of information so much easier. After finding 4 different Centennials that met my criteria (it’s great having so many options open!) the one with the ‘best’ weather was Hope Mountain A: 50% chance of rain from 3am-9am with 40% chance of thunderstorms after 9am. I liked those numbers, I’d just need to pack extra rain gear.

I made it to the 2WD trailhead at 3:15am. The road is in excellent condition with great signs. There was only one other vehicle in the parking lot when I arrived (and it was still there when I left). The parking area could comfortably hold about 10 vehicles.

The trail was indeed excellent: no route finding necessary until I made it to the Hope Saddle. There weren’t many signs, but they weren’t really needed either.

The beginning of the trail began with solid elevation gain that never quit. It was a nice steady climb through heavily wooded areas of aspens, and after Sheep Gulch switching to small pines and then quickly to alpine tundra. It was a perfect night to see wildlife, yet I didn’t see any tracks so I didn’t expect to see any animals (I didn’t).

As soon as I hit an elevation of 12000’ the switchbacks began. These weren’t the kind of switchbacks that wear you out, but instead the kind that make the hike more enjoyable as they weave up the mountainside.

The hike this far had a lot of elevation gain, but the gain had been steady and hadn’t tired me out. I made it to Hope Pass and thought to myself it was still way too dark. I must have been hiking faster than I’d anticipated. I looked at my watch: Yep, it was only 4:30am. I’d hiked 3 miles with 2700’ of elevation gain in an hour. I was going to need to slow down if I wanted to get pictures from the summit. At the Hope Pass saddle between Hope Mountain A and Quail Mountain there was a cairn with prayer flags.

I couldn’t see Hope Mountain because it was still dark out, but I knew once I made it to the pass to turn left and head up the first ridge. The route was supposed to be easy to figure out and visible from the top of this first ridge, but since it was still too dark to see I couldn’t tell. There was no route from the pass to the summit: no dirt path and certainly no cairns. My flashlight kept going in and out (I need a new one) which was a little frustrating but I’d needed to slow down anyway, so spending time hitting it against a rock to re-light it every time it went out seemed like time well spent.

Here’s the route I took:

7 Hope Ridge

That ridge was FUN!!! This is rated as a 2D hike, and I hadn’t brought a helmet, but it would have been nice, especially if others had been on the mountain as well. The ridge had some exposure and would be a great training hike for someone to take before tackling some of those class 3 14ers. I hiked the entire ridge in the dark, so my advice to someone doing the same is to stick to the ridge, and if you must leave the ridge go to the left.

The ridge took me about an hour to climb, which gave me lots of time to think. My mind drifted to 14er firsts. I know some people don’t appreciate the idea of any more “firsts”, but I think they’re fun and encourage people to get outside, and while I don’t plan on attempting any, there are a few I’d like to see: The first person to summit them all in the dark, the first person to spend the night on every summit (has this been attempted/done?) and my favorite, the first to stand on every summit without actually hiking (I’m thinking this one would involve a helicopter, rope, and tons of money). In any event, the topic took up my mind as I climbed the ridge. Here’s a look up and back from halfway up the ridge. To the left is Hope Mountain A, and the right is Quail Mountain.

At about 13000’ the loose rock began. In this picture you can see there’s a false summit

This is where it got a bit sketchy in the dark: those gullies were loose! All rocks the size of microwaves or smaller were very unstable and just waiting to find their way lower down the mountain. I tried not to touch the larger ones.

The trick here is also to stay to the left (the right drops off into a couloir). But as soon as you get up those loose rock gullies you’re met with a nice gentle but rocky slope past a false summit to the true summit. I summited at 5:45am. Here the sun was just beginning to rise and I got a summit photo

12 Hope Mountain A 13933

I also took a good look around. Yep, it was going to rain. Hmmm… I was still debating hiking Quail Mountain today, but those clouds didn’t look friendly. I guess I was just going to have to skip it and hike it another day.

As I started descending Hope Mountain A it started spitting rain. Nothing much, not enough to put on rain gear or anything, but then the graupel began and I decided to hike a little faster. The graupel only lasted about 2 minutes however, and then was gone. I took another look around me

The sun was rising and Quail Mountain was looking really inviting. Since the rain was behind me I decided to keep looking ahead and not make a decision about hiking Quail until I made it to the pass. In the daylight the ridge was much easier to navigate. This time if necessary I just stayed to the right, but I mainly took the ridge.

I made it back to the prayer flags at 7am and took a look around. All signs of rain in the next two hours were gone, so I decided to attempt Quail Mountain. This 13er didn’t have a trail either. Here’s the route I took

16 Quail Route

The beginning started with scree, and due to the elevation gain you couldn’t see the summit for most of the hike, so I just aimed for the first bump and began hiking.

There were multiple ‘social trails’ towards the middle of the mountain. The ones to the lower right (where the mountain has red dirt) were on loose scree so I stayed to the upper right on a light but sturdy semi trail through the tundra (stick to where it’s green and you’ll be fine). It became more and more stable as I ascended and then abruptly ended at the first bump

From here I followed the slight ridge up and over the false summit to a small saddle

And just like that, I summited at 7:30am.

20 Quail Mountain 13461 August 3 218

From the summit of Quail Mountain I could smell smoke from the nearby fires. It wasn’t overpowering, and reminded me of campfire off in the distance. It also didn’t last very long, and I could only smell smoke when the wind blew strong.

If you’re thinking about hiking Quail Mountain after Hope and the weather’s nice my advice is to just go for it! It only took me half an hour to climb the 950 feet in elevation gain, and the views were incredible! There were a few small and abandoned cabins (mines?) at the summit.

I turned to head back and got a great view of Hope Mountain A and the small ridge I’d followed to the summit of Quail. Going back I followed the mountain to the right

This is another one of those mountains where microspikes are useful on the way down to navigate through the scree. I made it back to Hope Pass at 8:10am and started my way back down the switchbacks. Here I saw the only 3 other people I’d see today: a group of men who looked like they were thru hiking.

The hike through the aspens reminded me once again of why I hike: solitude, beauty, nature, and time to think. I saw a couple of ptarmigans on the trail, but otherwise no wildlife. I made it back to the trailhead at 9am, just as it started to rain, making this 10.6 mile hike with 5200’ in elevation gain in 5.5 hours. Perfect timing to make it back by noon!

On the way out I noticed there was still only one other car in the parking lot at the Sheep Gulch Trailhead I was at, but as I passed the Missouri Gulch trailhead on my way out it was overflowing with cars and there were several passenger vans there guiding groups. I know the trail there goes to 3 different 14ers and several other hikes, but I think it’s safe to say I’m going to have no problem getting used to this less crowded 13er thing!