Tag: mountains

T8 – 13,315 and Hayden Mountain South – 13,211

RT Length: 7.61 miles

Elevation Gain: 3137’

On my way down from Imogene Pass, I parked at the Junction for Richmond Pass and Imogene Pass near the Richmond Trailhead at around 10950’.   There’s a nice dispersed campsite here (but when I arrived it was already taken).  This hike is entirely class 1 or class 2. 

I was up and on the trail at 6:30am.  I followed the 4WD road all the way to 12600’

At the first and only junction I came to, I turned right and followed the road that said it led to the Richmond Trail, which I never found the entrance to on either my way up or my way back down (which is why I didn’t take the trail all the way back to the 4WD road on my return… that and there was a private property sign down below and I didn’t want to make a mistake there).

I continued following the road to treeline, where it became very rocky.  If you have a 4WD vehicle you can drive up this road, but there will be a rather large rock in the middle of the road above 12000’ that’s difficult to navigate around. 

After 2.7 miles of hiking, at about 12600’ I left the road, and headed southwest on tundra.  This is where I was going. 

From there I came to an obvious drainage and headed towards it.

At the end of the drainage I gained the ridge, mostly on tundra. 

After gaining the ridge I turned left and headed southwest up solid shale and game trails.

At the top I turned left, and headed south to the summit

I summited T8 at 8:15am

T8:

From the summit of T8, looking northeast I could see Hayden Mountain South

To get there I first re-traced my steps back to the 4WD dirt road

Once back on the road, my next objective was to make it to the saddle.  This is the overall route I took:

I was able to do this entirely on tundra and game trails, avoiding the rocky sections to the left.  I chose to stay high on the tundra to keep me level with the saddle.

From the saddle, I could clearly see the Richmond Trail. 

At the saddle I took the trail that headed along the east side of the ridge north.  This is a class 1 trail that will lead you almost all the way to the summit.  It has some ups and downs, but it’s easy to follow and keeps you below the rock formations.

The trail was even easy to follow up the talus.  I continued following it until I hit the ridge at 13130’.  There’s a cairn here.  I turned right at the cairn and followed the short ridge east to the summit.

I summited Hayden Mountain South at 10:45am

Hayden Mountain South:

From the summit I headed east back down to the trail

Then I followed the trail down the scree, and back down part of the ridge.

At 12785’ I found a side trail that would lead me back to the Richmond Trail on the east side of the ridge, just below the pass.  It looked like it went (it did) so I decided to take it.  It’s a game trail, but solid.

Now on the Richmond trail, I turned right and followed it west to 12220’

At 12220’ I left the trail, and headed southwest towards the 4WD road I could see in the distance I’d hiked in on. 

Back on the road, I followed it back to my truck

I made it back to my truck at 10:45am, making this a 7.61 mile hike with 3137’ of elevation gain in 4 hours, 15 minutes

On to the next trailhead! But I would have to wait a while.  There was a train of about 20 (or more) Jeeps heading up to Imogene Pass, so I waited while they made their way, stopping to take pictures as they went.

Goat Peak – 12,987 and West Elk Peak – 13,040

RT Length: 19.82 miles

Elevation Gain: 4778’

While this trail looks long, it’s actually quite easy.  The elevation gain is gentle, and the views are amazing.  It looked like fall below treeline, and winter above, which was a neat contrast. I parked at the upper Mill Castle Trailhead.  The last mile and a half or so require high clearance, but a 2WD should make it.  If not, there’s a parking area below with vault toilets and plenty of parking.

I was on the trail at 6:30am.  The trailhead is obvious, and as with most of this hike, it starts to the west.

The trail (Mill Castle Trail) starts by going through a gate to what used to be a 4WD road, then changes to a trail.  There aren’t any junctions to this trail, so I followed it west as it paralleled Mill Creek.  There are several creek crossings, as I was hiking up through a drainage, and runnels were entering into the creek from both sides.  It felt as if I was gaining and losing elevation most of the time until I made it to treeline. Every time I’d switchback up a hill, I seemed to head back down for another creek crossing.  It was almost 7 miles to treeline.  On a positive note, the trail was easy to follow, and it was nice hiking in the trees, listening to the birds and squirrels go about their day.

At treeline the trail went through some willows, then west into Mill Basin.

Once in the basin, the trail switchbacked to the right, up to Storm Pass.

Once at Storm Pass, I could see unranked 12er Goat Peak to the west, and West Elk Peak to the northwest.

I followed the ridge west on a class 1 trail towards Goat Peak.  I’m assuming the entire trail to West Elk Peak is class 1, but there was snow on the rest of the route, so I’m not entirely sure.  If anything, it’s easy class 2. The snow was solid in the morning, so the terrain was easy to navigate.  Here are some pictures of the ridge to Goat Peak

This was a bit of a false summit. Here’s the true summit of Goat Peak

I continued following the ridge as it became rocky.  Still class 1 or 2, depending on snow.

From the summit of Goat Peak I followed the ridge northwest to the summit of West Elk Peak on easy terrain.  I did not see any evidence of a trail here, but it could have been covered in snow.

I summited West Elk Peak at 10:45am

West Elk Peak:

West Elk Peak was my main goal for the day, so I turned around and headed back towards Goat Peak

However, on my way back I could see a faint trail under the snow that skirted Goat Peak to the left, so I took that back to the ridge.  I’m not sure if this is an actual trail or a game trail, but it went.

There were some game tracks about half way through skirting the peak, which I followed to the ridge

Once back on the ridge, I followed it east towards Storm Pass

I then picked up the Mill Castle Trail and followed in down the switchbacks, back into Mill Basin

And then all the way back to the trailhead

29

I made it back to my truck at 2:30pm, making this a 19.82 mile hike with 4778’ of elevation gain in 8 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

Brown Mountain – 13,347

RT Length: 1.02 miles

Elevation Gain: 425’

I parked at the Gladstone Mine off 110 outside of Silverton and contemplated my options for the hike the next day.  The weather forecast was calling for rain and snow the next morning but amounts and times were varying.  I don’t like driving up 4WD roads.  It’s not the driving, it’s the oncoming drivers I don’t like.  Most are nice, but a few are jerks and make passing people an experience.  I decided to spend the night in my vehicle at the junction with 110 and 10 outside of the Gladstone Treatment Plant near Gold King Mine and make my final hiking decision the next morning.

I woke up at 4am the next morning to clear skies, but it was cold and windy.  I warmed up in my truck for a bit before starting my hike.  I got about 100 yards into the hike and said “this is too windy for me!”  and hiked back to my truck to warm up.  The wind chill was bitter cold.

The past few weeks had been difficult for me mentally.  I’d done a lot of backpacking and had to turn around on a lot of peaks due to weather.  I homestead (basically, if I don’t raise it, shoot it, or grow it, I don’t eat it), and I have difficulty eating while hiking/backpacking, meaning while I get a lot of protein, I don’t get a lot of fat in my diet. 

Last week my husband got 2 elk, so I took a break from backpacking to help him process the meat.  When he saw me again after being gone for a while he mentioned I’d lost about 10 pounds, and needed to put on more weight.  To put it in perspective, I weighed 105 pounds before and was down to 95 pounds.  At 5’4”, this isn’t a good thing.  I don’t have the fat reserves to keep me warm, which is a major problem with my Raynaud’s.  I tried to bulk up when I was home, but I wasn’t able to gain 10lbs in 2 days. 

Losing weight and having a handful of failed summits that I should have been able to climb (darn weather!) put me in a moody mental state.  So, this morning I was unconsciously looking for any excuse to just go home, and the cold, windy, and potentially snowy weather was giving me that excuse.  I knew the wind was blowing in a storm that would hit full force later that day.  That’s why I chose something easy for today:  I didn’t want to get stuck in a storm.  I sat in my truck for a bit trying to will myself to get out and hike when I decided to just drive up the dirt road to see how bad it would be.  After all, it was now 5am, and I’d most likely be the only one on the road. I headed up 10:

For those of you wondering, the road isn’t that bad.  It’s doable in a high clearance 2WD with a capable driver.  I followed the road 3.68 miles north to an unnamed pass at 12900’ to the east of Lake Como. (For those of you hiking this, it’s 2419’ of elevation gain). This is a bit of a shelf road in areas, but it’s wide and there are plenty of places to pass oncoming vehicles.

There was a parking area at the pass, so I parked and sat in my truck, waiting for the sun to come up.  I could hear the wind howling all around me, shaking my truck back and forth.  I wanted to use the restroom and tried to open my truck door.  The wind immediately slammed it shut.  My mind said: “not today” and I drove halfway back down the road, intending to just head back home.  In the time it took me to get halfway down the road I’d talked myself into driving back to the pass.  After all, it had been dark and I didn’t even have a visual of the peak yet.  The least I could do was get a visual, and then decide.  So, I drove back up to the pass.

I sat there and waited for the sun to rise and the wind to die down.  As soon as I could see the mountain, I realized it would be a very quick and simple summit from this saddle.  I told myself the only reason it was so windy was because I was on the saddle:  As soon as I ascended, the wind would stop.  Surely I could brave the suck for a few minutes?  At 6:35am I left my truck and headed up the ridge. 

This is a very straightforward hike, entirely class 2.  I ascended the tundra to the ridge, turned left, and ascended the shale and then tundra again to the summit.  

Halfway up the ridge I came to a game trail and followed it west.

Once on the ridge, I turned left and followed it south to the summit. It started out as rocky, then turned to tundra.

The summit is marked by an obvious cairn.

I summited Brown Mountain at 6:50am and could not feel my fingers. As you can hear in the video, the wind never let up, but once I got started I kept telling myself I’d be a fool not to finish because the summit was RIGHT THERE, and I’d be in sight of my truck the entire time.  I may be frozen when I made it back to the truck, but at least I could turn the heat on. 

Brown Mountain:

I didn’t stay too long at the summit.  I turned around and headed back the way I’d ascended, my truck below in sight the entire time.

I made it back to my truck at 7:05am, making this a 1.02 mile hike with 425’ of elevation gain in 30 minutes. If you start from Gold King Mine it’s 8.38 miles with 2844′ of elevation gain.

Then I drove back down to Gladstone and Gold King Mine. In any event, long story short, hiking is very mental. Knowing how to talk yourself into a hike is a great asset, especially when you’re not ‘feeling it’, as long as you have a backup plan and don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation. It’s always the right decision to turn around and go back, but sometimes you need to dig deep and push on. I needed an easy win today for my mental state. Once again, easy hike, but it would have been easier to have just given up and gone home.

On to the next trailhead!

Sheep Mountain – 13,304 and Greenhalgh Mountain – 13,228

RT Length:  8.97 miles

Elevation Gain: 2714’

I was parked at Stony Pass, and was up and on the trail at 6:30am, heading east towards the CDT. 

I followed the CDT north for 2.2 miles.

At the junction with Moose Gulch, I turned right to stay on the CDT, and continued on the trail until I made it to 12800’.

After passing a small pond to my right, at around 12800’, I left the CDT and followed the tundra ridge southeast.

I kept following the ridge, and eventually I could see Sheep Mountain to the southeast.  The ridge eventually became a mesa, and the route to the base of Sheep Mountain became obvious. 

I needed to get to the ridge, and did so on tundra mixed with scree.  This is the overall route I took to get to the ridge

Once on the ridge, I turned left and headed southeast up the ridge.  This is where the terrain changed to small talus.  It was very loose.  The further you climb, the steeper and looser it will be, but you might encounter a game trail to follow. 

At the top is a wide, flat expanse, full of holes about 5 feet wide.  I kept heading east, towards the summit.

The rest of the route to the summit can be done on the ridge proper and kept at class 2.  The only difficulty here is the talus, scree, and exposure that might make it feel more difficult. 

I summited Sheep Mountain at 8:20am

Sheep Mountain:

My next goal for the day was Greenhalgh Mountain, to the east

I continued along the rocky, class 2 ridge east

I followed the ridge east, until I came to a dropoff of sorts.  Visually, it looked like the scree was continuous and went all the way to the rocks at the bottom.  However, that was not the case.  I ended up descending about 100 feet on scree, and then everything was loose talus, and steep, so I made my way climbers right to the ridge, and descended that way.  If I were to do this again, I would have just taken the ridge to the right.  It goes at easy class 3, and there’s talus, but it was much more stable than the talus below the scree.  Also, EVERYTHING moves here.  More info/pictures to come on my return route of this area.

From the bottom of the ridge, I headed northeast towards the Sheep/Greenhalgh saddle on class 2 terrain.

Then I ascended the ridge to the summit of Greenhalgh Mountain. This part of the route was actually very enjoyable, on class 2 terrain, with rocks that stayed put and didn’t roll.

I summited Greenhalgh Mountain at 9:20am

Greenhalgh Mountain:

In order to get back to the trailhead, I was going to need to descend Greenhalgh and then re-ascend Sheep Mountain, so I turned around and made my way back to the Greenhalgh/Sheep saddle.

At the saddle, I then aimed for the left ridge of Sheep Mountain.

Once there, I ascended the LOOSE rocks up to the ridge, then followed the ridge to the summit.  The rocky area went at easy class 3, and is more stable than it looks.  In this picture you can see the scree to the center.  That’s the way I came down, and I don’t recommend that route. Instead, stick to the ridge.

I then turned left, and re-summited Sheep Mountain, following the ridge west,

Then it was back across the hole filled rock field mesa

And back towards the tundra mesa I’d hiked in on.

However, when I got back to the tundra mesa, instead of heading back towards the CDT, I turned left and headed towards Stony Pass.  I could see the road in the distance, and was able to hike down the entire slope on tundra (except for a brief rocky section where I took a game trail), avoiding the willows.

Back on the road, I followed it northwest back to Stony Pass

I made it back to my truck at 11:30am, making this an 8.97 mile hike with 2714’ of elevation gain in 5 hours.

I spent the rest of the day playing Trail Angel for CDT and CT thru-hikers.  I met a ton of really cool people from all over the world, gave them snacks, water, and beer, let them re-charge their devices, and had some great conversations. What upset me though, was the Colorado Trail hikers told me I was the first person they’d seen doing trail magic on the trail.  Considering they probably only had 2 days left of a 30 day or so hike, this upset me.  We can do better Colorado!  If you have a free weekend next summer, I’d encourage you to do some trail magic.  You won’t regret it! 

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!

PT 13,094 and Sunshine Mountain – 13,329

RT Length: 8 miles

Elevation Gain: 3171’

I parked at MM 14 off CR 20 in Lake City, just before the turnoff for 22, at 10900’. 

I was up early, but it rained until about 6:15am, so I was on the trail at 6:30am.   As you can see by looking at the topo map,  I didn’t ascend the same way I ascended, mainly because it was terrible.  Down wasn’t great either, but a bit more manageable.  I’m going to describe the route to ascend how I came down.  Note:  There are tons of mining roads in this area, and they don’t all meet up. 

From my parking spot, I needed to be here. 

The best way to do this is climb to the left of the gully, navigating through the aspen trees to treeline.    This is choose your own adventure quest, but it doesn’t last long, and is manageable if you have good route finding skills and can follow game trails. 

It’s important to note I passed 2 different mining roads before I hit the one I was looking for, at about 11600’

I followed this road as it curved around the mountainside north.  The road was overgrown, and lost in places, and intersected with a lot of other roads.  I just kept turning left if there was an option, heading north.

Once in the upper basin, I could clearly see PT 13093.  This is the route I took to get to the ridge. 

I walked the mining road for a while, and then it turned into a game trail.  This is a good game trail I followed east until I came to a sketchy part.  You’ll know it because the dirt turns black.  Here I turned northeast and aimed for the ridge, using fainter game trails.  (On my way down I realized this game trail probably goes all the way to the saddle, but I felt confident in my decision to turn and head for the ridge here. 

I made my way to the ridge

At the ridge, I could see PT 13093 to the northwest

The terrain here was very rocky, and those rocks were loose.  This is how I started my climb, avoiding the rock slab and climbing it to the right

From here, it was a rocky climb northwest along the ridge to the summit.  This was all class 2

I summited PT 13094 at 7:30am

PT 13094:

My next objective was Sunshine Mountain, to the northeast

After the initial downclimb off 13093, this was a simple ridge hike on tundra.  This is the overall route I took:

First, I downclimbed the rocky section

Then headed towards the sunshine/13094 saddle

From there I picked up a solid game trail that led me to the ridge, then down to the saddle.

From the saddle I followed the tundra east 570’ towards the summit. 

There was a short rocky section towards the summit, with tons of game trails to the right to keep it class 2, but honestly, going over the rocks is probably class 2 as well. 

I summited Sunshine Mountain at 8:45am

Sunshine Mountain:

I turned and made my way back down the tundra ridge, and to the saddle

I made my way towards the left side of PT 13094.  Here’s a little hint to help you descend:  There’s a wooden post sticking out of the ground about 20 feet after you should descend.  Use this as a visual for where to start heading down the side of the mountain.

Back on the game trail, I turned right and followed it back to the mining road.

Then I took the mining road back to about 11600’

From here, I could see my truck parked below, and just made my way back to it, bushwhacking the entire way.

I made it back to my truck at 10:30am, making this an 8 mile hike with 3171’ of elevation gain in 4 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

Darley Mountain – 13,275, Engineer Mountain – 13,225, Seigal Mountain – 13,281

RT Length: 11.44 miles

Elevation Gain: 3236’

I decided to park off CR 20 just part MM 15 on the side of the road.  I could have camped at Golconda Mining Complex, but since I only needed a parking spot, not a campsite, I decided to park here.

I was up and on the trail at 5:30am.  I began by following the road towards Engineer Pass.  This is a 4WD road, but easy to follow.  From my parking spot, it was about 2.75 miles to Engineer Pass. 

Just before reaching the pass, and just as the sun was rising, I came upon a herd of about 500 sheep.

They all moved and baa’d as I hiked past them, towards Engineer Pass.

My first peak of the day was Darley Mountain.  From Engineer Pass, I turned right, and headed north along the ridge towards Darley.  This was all class 2, but full of loose scree and choss.  Oh, and several false summits.  I stuck to the ridge.  Here are some pictures of the ascent.

At the first false summit, I stuck to the right, following the ridge on game trails.  There were game trails all the way to the summit.

From here, you can see the next false summit. I continued following the ridge.

And now, the next false summit.  This was much the same as I’d encountered before, and I kept following the class 2 ridge.  This is probably the biggest false summit of the peak.

This is where it gets interesting.  This is all still class 2, but very loose scree and chossy.  Microspikes helped here, especially on the way down.  There are plenty of game trails to follow here.   Also, this isn’t quite the summit yet.  Here’s the route I took, following the ridge to get there.

You’re going to want to summit this blob, but it’s not the true summit. The true summit is to the left/northeast.  There are game trails here to follow as well, mostly sticking to the ridge direct, but a few go to the right, and are obvious. 

The last bit was rocky, but still class 2

I summited Darley Mountain at 7am

Darley Mountain:

I turned around, and headed back to the Darley/Engineer saddle, using the same route to descend as I had to ascend.

Safely back at Engineer Pass, now I wanted to summit Engineer Mountain.  I continued following the 4WD road southwest, as it continued to ascend in elevation to a junction.

At 12970’ I turned left, and followed a very steep 4WD road (closed to 4WD vehicles) east towards the summit.  The summit has a class 2 boulder, no more than 5 feet wide.

I summited Engineer Mountain at 8am

Engineer Mountain:

To the southeast is Seigal Mountain

I could see a dirt road in the distance, and headed south to this road.  When on the road, I followed it east to the Engineer/Seigal saddle, descending about 460’ .

Once at the saddle, I followed the road southwest up the ridge, but eventually the road ended and a slight trail began that ended as well.  It was a class 2 tundra walk to the summit, fairly straightforward.  It got a bit rocky at the very end, still class two, with a tundra workaround to the right. Here are some pictures of the route to the summit of Seigal.

I summited Seigal Mountain at 9am

Seigal Mountain:

I was making this a kind of loop, so I headed back down to the Engineer/Seigal saddle.

At the saddle, I headed a little further north, and found this road that topo maps said would lead me east towards Schafer Gulch.

I followed this road, and yes, it led me in the correct direction, but what maps couldn’t tell me was this was an old mining road that hadn’t been used in years.  So many years much of the road was destroyed due to avalanches or rockslides and due to the road being “closed” to vehicles, much of the road is now grass and flowers.  However, enough of the road was intact for me to figure my way down.  I headed east, following the road when I could, heading towards the obvious 4WD road in the distance paralleling Schafer Gulch when I couldn’t.

If you lose the road, you can just head east on the tundra until you reach the 4WD road.  It’s steep, but it doesn’t cliff out here.

I was now on a solid 4WD road, and followed it north back towards CR 20, turning left at a junction where right went to someone’s dwelling.

I crossed Henson Creek, and followed the road through Golconda Mining Complex back to CR 20

Then followed CR 20 northwest towards my truck.

I made it back to my parking spot at 10:30am, making this a 11.44 mile hike with 3236’ of elevation gain in 5 hours

On to the next trailhead!

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!

Amherst Mountain – 13164, Organ Mountain – 13,040, Peak Twenty Two – 13107, Sheep Mountain – 13,073

RT Length from Endlich Mesa Trailhead: 28.2 miles

Elevation Gain from Endlich Mesa Trailhead: 7263’

RT Length from City Reservoir:  13.5 miles

Elevation Gain from City Reservoir: 4495’

The approach to the saddle between Emerson and Peak Twenty Two is a total of 11 miles and 3250’ of elevation gain from Endlich Mesa Trailhead and City Reservoir.  You can view the approach to the saddle here. 

From the saddle of Emerson and Peak Twenty Two, I continued following a scree-filled game trail northeast skirting the east side of Emerson, losing 450’ of elevation as I wound my way towards an upper basin.

Here you can see Amherst and Organ

I continued following this trail until I kind of lost the trail, then stayed at about 12400’ of elevation as I made my way towards this gully

I aimed for this gully, and ascended it. 

At the top of the gully I could see the saddle between Amherst and Organ.  You can aim for the saddle, or just turn left and ascend Amherst.  I aimed left, and ascended 800’ on very steep tundra terrain, which eventually gave way to rocky class 2 terrain. 

At the top of this rocky area I looked right, and it looked like the area to the right was higher than I was, so I continued following the ridge north.

But when I got to the other side, it looked like where I had been was the highpoint, so I headed south back to the other side.

 My altimeter gave both points equal height, and there wasn’t a summit register, so I’m not entirely sure which is the true summit.  There was what you could call a cairn on the first summit.  In any event, they are both easy to tag.

I summited Amherst Mountain at 9am

Amherst Mountain:

From the summit I could see Organ Mountain to the northeast

It looked like it would be a simple ridge hike, so I headed down to the Amherst/Organ saddle.

From the saddle, this is the route I took to the summit, aiming for the ramp to the right.  This initial part was all class 2 on either scree or tundra.

Once reaching the top of the ramp however, it became choose your own adventure, with some short class 3 climbing included at the very end.  I hopped over a few rocks, and could see the summit boulder to the north.  Climbing this was class 3, and a little airy, but easy access was found to the right of the summit block. 

The summit block

I summited Organ Mountain at 10am

Organ Mountain:

I turned around and headed back down to the Amherst/Organ saddle.

From the saddle of Amherst/Organ I made my way back over this gully, then descended to around 12400’ as I wound my way back around the basin and up to the saddle of Emerson/Peak Twenty Two.

Now to head over towards Peak Twenty Two.  From the saddle, I turned left and headed southeast towards Peak Twenty Two. I bypassed most of the ridge, and instead took a grassy gully towards the summit.  Here’s the overall route I took to gain the summit.

This part was easy.  I just followed the tundra line up the ridge.

At the top of the tundra I thought I’d be at the peak, but I turned right and could see a rocky formation in front of my.  I descended a few feet to the right, and skirted the rocky area.

I then found a ramp and climbed up. 

This is where it became class 3, or maybe class 4 depending on which route you take.  There are two more rocky ramps you can ascend. One to the right, and one to the left.  I looked at both, and liked the one on the left better.  They were both very exposed and required scrambling, but the one on the left felt “less” exposed.  Here’s the ramp I took:

I summited Peak Twenty Two at 11:45am

Peak Twenty Two:

I could see sheep mountain to the south, but first I was going to need to descend the way I’d come and head back towards the grassy access ramp. 

I gingerly left the summit, and headed back towards the grassy ramp.

When I’d descended to about 12800’ I turned left and headed south towards Sheep Mountain.  This peak was much easier to ascend, all class 2, with a few game trails thrown in.  This is the route I took to gain the ridge:

And some step by step pictures, first heading south along the tundra, then looking for a grassy ramp.

I then dropped a little in elevation, and gained the gully to the ridge.

Once on the ridge, it was very flat.  I aimed east and up towards the summit.

I summited Sheep Mountain at 12:30pm

Sheep Mountain:

Now to head back to the Emerson/Peak Twenty Two saddle.  I descended back down the gully, then headed north towards the saddle.

Round trip from the Emerson/Peak Twenty Two Saddle to Amherst, Organ, Peak Twenty Two, Sheep, and back to the saddle was 6.57 miles with 2550’ of elevation gain.  From City Reservoir, it was 13.5 miles with 4495’ of elevation gain.