Tag: Mt Spalding

Warren Peak – 13,307 – Rogers Peak – 13,391 – Mt Spalding – 13,863 – The Sawtooth – 13,520 – West Evans – 14,257 – Mt Evans – 14,268

RT Length:  10.28 miles

Elevation Gain:  3263’

The permit system was simple, especially for Summit Lake. I bought it the day before, and there were 23 spots left for entry between 8-10am, the time I picked since it was the earliest. There were two other vehicles in the parking lot when I was on the trail at 4:45am. 

I was headed northeast, to the summit of Mt Warren.  This was simple, class 2, and straightforward.  Except it was dark and the rocks were slippery because of the rain.  Here’s the route I took.

After hiking northwest for .75 miles, I summited Mt Warren at 5:10am

Mt Warren:

I continued following the ridge northwest, to the summit of Rogers Peak.  This was also class 2

The summit of Rogers Peak is the top of this rock. 

I climbed up it (not difficult) but took the video from below. 

I summited Rogers Peak at 6am

Rogers Peak:  

Now to re-trace my steps back to Summit Lake.

I re-summited Mt Warren, and continued southwest towards Summit Lake

Once at Summit Lake, there was a class 1 trail that let me up to the summit of Mt Spalding

While this was class 1, there were a couple of quick class 3 scrambling moves.  Large cairns made the route obvious

I continued following the ridge west towards the summit, on the class 1 trail

This rock is the summit block. I climbed it.  The summit area (besides the block) is flat

I summited Mt Spalding at 8am

Mt Spalding:

From Mt Spalding I could see my next objective to the southwest:  The Sawtooth

I continued following the class 1 trail south towards Mt Evans, but once I hit the ridge to The Sawtooth I left the trail and headed west. Here’s my overall route

And some step-by-step pictures

I summited The Sawtooth at 8:35am

The Sawtooth:

From The Sawtooth I could see Mt Evans to the east (actual summit hidden)

I made my way back to the Class 1 trail

I was still off trail, but just before linking back up with the actual trail I came upon a couple of mountain goats.  They didn’t seem to mind my taking their picture.  I never would have seen them if I’d been 50 feet away, on the actual trail.

Now back on the trail, I followed it southeast

I came to a small saddle, and while there are cairns on the other side, the true trail descends the gully a few feet, and picks up below.  There are cairns to indicate this way as well

I followed the cairns southwest, until I made it to 14175’.  I then left the trail, put on my helmet, and aimed for the ridge, and West Evans above. This was all easy class 3

I summited West Evans at 9:25am

West Evans:

From West Evans I could see the summit of Mt Evans to the east.

I descended back to the class 1 trail, and followed it east to the summit of Mt Evans

Just before the summit I followed the large switchbacks to the summit

This is the actual summit of Mt Evans. I still had on my helmet, so I scrambled up.

I summited Mt Evans at 9:40am

Mt Evans:

There were summit markers… not on the summit

And tons of tourists.  Time to head down.  I made my way back down the switchbacks, and headed east to the summit house

Once at the summit house I continued northeast, back down to the road below. At times there was a well-defined trail here

Back on the road, I followed it north to Summit Lake, and my truck

I made it back to my truck at 10:30am, making this a 10.28 mile hike with 3263’ of elevation gain I 5 hours, 45 minutes.

On to the next trailhead!

Gray Wolf Mountain – 13,604

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RT Length: 9.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 2300’

Surprised they hadn’t yet closed Guanella Pass for the season, and with the only above treeline forecast for peaks I want to climb that didn’t have forecasted “blowing snow and blustery winds” I decided to try to get in this bicentennial before they closed the road. The drive up was icy so I took it slow, arriving at the Guanella Pass trailhead at 6am.

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It was windy and cold and windy. Did I mention it was windy?  I got ready in my truck, put on my snowshoes, and sat in the front seat, willing the wind to stop blowing my truck back and forth.  It didn’t, so I decided as soon as it was light enough where I didn’t need a flashlight I’d be on my way.  Today’s hike was short and I wasn’t too worried about time.

I started from the south end of the parking lot at 6:40am

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Here’s an overview of my route

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I followed the well trenched Bierstadt trail through the willows until I came to post #11

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The wind stopped as soon as I descended into the basin, which was a welcome surprise. At post #11the trail continued to Bierstadt, but ended for me.  I turned left and angled northeast through the basin, doing my best to avoid the willows and creeks.

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Avoiding the willows wasn’t too difficult, but avoiding the small tributaries and creeks was a challenge.   It seemed as if there were offshoots of water everywhere.  They were covered in a thin layer of ice and several inches of snow.  Since they hadn’t yet frozen over completely they were a hazard.  It would look as if I was walking along a section of grass, and then I’d hear cracking and gurgling beneath me.  I had to take care not to plunge step into a small creek but wasn’t too worried as they weren’t very deep.  As I made it to the middle of the basin I noticed a herd of elk moving ahead of me.  They’d obviously seen me first and were doing their best to put some distance between us.  Luckily for me I noticed they were traveling in the same direction I wanted to go, so I decided to just follow their tracks.

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Following the elk had its advantages: they’re heavier than I am and I can see where they posthole and whether or not they break through ice.  I didn’t take the conventional way up this slope, but I felt more secure in my footing following animal tracks.

I followed game trails through the willows and trees

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to a small plateau. Still following the elk tracks I gained the side of the mountain

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And found a cairn! Woot!  It seems I was on the right track.  The elk had gone left and I wanted to go straight so I stopped following their prints and headed east through the willows and then followed the drainage up the basin, keeping the drainage to my right.

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The beginning this part of the hike wasn’t too bad. I just kept following the drainage towards Gray Wolf Mountain

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Just as I made it to the base of the peak the wind started picking up intensely. I made the decision not to ascend Gray Wolf Mountain via the ridge because I was worried the winds would be too much for me (dotted line).  Instead I followed the basin until I felt I was parallel with the summit and gained the ridge that way, thus being able to make it to the top without the intense wind (solid line)

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Winds were forecasted at 20-25mph, but they far exceeded those numbers. The winds never slowed down and they never stopped.  It’s difficult to get a picture of wind…

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Eventually I hit an ice patch and decided it was time to start climbing Gray Wolf Mountain

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I turned left (north) and ascended the ridge

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The higher I climbed the lower the wind speeds became. The snow here was either hard packed or soft and unconsolidated, making route finding challenging.  I had to go slower than I would have liked to avoid twisting an ankle in the snow hollows between larger rocks.

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The further up the mountain I went the more snow I encountered

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Until I made it to the ridge and saw it was mostly windblown. Here’s the path to the summit

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And looking back, you can see a better view of the dropoff between Gray Wolf Mountain and Mt Spalding and the wind that went with it

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As I got closer and closer to the summit of Gray Wolf Mountain the winds increased again. I had to keep my head down and body angled forward to avoid getting blown over

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When I made it to the summit I took off my backpack to set it down and it was blown by the wind, tumbling 10 feet away from me. I hobbled back and forth in my snowshoes to retrieve it before it was blown off the mountain altogether.  Wow, those were some strong winds!  I set up my camera between two rocks on the summit cairn to get a picture of myself on the summit.  I got one before the camera was blown over.  This is me stoically struggling against the wind to remain upright in the wind. Also, I’m cold.

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I didn’t even bother looking to see if the picture was good: The wind wasn’t stopping and I had to get out of there.  These were sustained winds that I’m guessing exceeded 60mph.  I bent down to retrieve my backpack to put it on.  I was able to get one arm through one of the straps, but tried over and over again unsuccessfully to get the other arm through.  The wind kept blowing the pack away.  Frustrated, I half laughed/screamed “STOP!!!!”  to the wind.  It didn’t listen and it wasn’t going to listen so I had to get creative.  I propped my backpack up against the cairn, turned around, sat down and put the pack on.  At this point the wind was blowing me against the cairn and I couldn’t stand up from a sitting position.  I rolled onto my side and used my trekking pole to hoist myself up.  I made the decision right there not to attempt Mt Spalding today:  If the wind was this bad at 13,600’ I could just imagine what it was like at 13,800’.

I trudged against the wind back the way I’d come

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When I made it back to the ridge the wind lessened as I descended out of its path. I followed my tracks back to the plateau

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Here you can see how each step varied: sometimes the snow was firm, and other times I’d sink

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I followed the drainage back down, keeping the drainage to my left. The wind was again strong here, but nothing like it had been on the summit

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I aimed for this bump in the ridge

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Found the cairn

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And headed back down the hillside and into the basin. Here you can see my tracks, along with a bunch of elk prints

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The wind hadn’t been present here, so I was easily able to follow my tracks back to the trail

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I only ran into an issue once, when an area I’d crossed earlier had warmed up and I stepped through the ice. I’d known water was here and traversed the area slowly.  In my snowshoes my foot didn’t even get wet, but this picture shows a break in the ice

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I love following animal tracks!

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There were tons of moose tracks near the boardwalks in the willows that hadn’t been there when I’d hiked in, but I didn’t see any moose. There was one other vehicle in the parking lot when I left.  I didn’t see anyone else all day so I’m assuming they hiked Bierstadt.

I made it back to my truck at noon, making this a 9.5 mile hike with 2300’ of elevation gain in 5 hours, 20 minutes. When I went to stop my tracker it had shut off about an hour or so into the hike (I’m assuming due to cold) so for mileage I’m going by my iPhone’s tally and for elevation gain I’m just using topo estimates.  Red is what Strava recorded, orange is the rest of my route, hand drawn. If there hadn’t been any wind this would have been a really easy day.  I was kind of bummed I hadn’t had been able to try Mt Spalding, but there are numerous ways I can hit it next time.

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Also, apparently my balaclava hadn’t been entirely covering my face. It had frozen in the wind and I’d thought everything was covered but when I looked in the mirror I had a dime sized sunburn on the tip of my nose.  Very cute.