stony pass – Wild Wanderer

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!

Canby Mountain – 13,487 and Galena Mountain – 13,307

RT Length: 6.65 miles

Elevation Gain: 2084’

From my parking spot at Stony Pass I was on the trail at 6:30am, following the 4WD road west until the tundra met the rocks, and I was able to find a game trail that picked up on the other side. This trail starts out difficult to find, then becomes a solid trail for most of the hike. Here’s what the route looks like from below:

I followed this trail for .85 miles, until I made it to the ridge

At about 13085’ I hit a saddle, turned right, and followed the ridge to the summit. This was class 2, but there are a few social trails in the area. I just kept following the ridge southeast.

Eventually the ridge became filled with scree, but the angle wasn’t difficult, and it all remained class 2

I summited Canby Mountain at 7:10am

Canby Mountain:

From the summit of Canby Mountain I could see Galena Mountain to the north/northwest.

It was a ridge hike on tundra to get there, and all class 2. I headed back down to the small saddle, and picked up the trail that follows the ridge.

By sticking to the ridge, following it northeast, eventually the trail ends. You can continue to follow the ridge, however, when I came to the scree area (it’s obvious), I stayed at about 13000’ and skirted the ridge. There’s an obvious dirt road in the distance you can aim for, and some game trails here. I aimed for the highest point of the dirt road, and then followed it along the ridge until it ended.

It ended in a roundabout circle, and from there I left the road and continued following the ridge northwest. This is all tundra, and there are a lot of elevation gains and losses along the way. Every once in a while I’d pick up a game trail, and follow it to make the route finding easier.

The final trek to the summit was all on tundra and included a faint game trail for part of the way.

I summited Galena Mountain at 8:35am

Galena Mountain:

From Galena Mountain, I could see Canby Mountain, and that long ridge, to the south/southwest.

I needed to get back to Stony Pass, so I descended Galena and followed the ridge back the way I’d summited, aiming for the Canby saddle.

Back on the road, I followed it a short distance, and then aimed for the ridge once again.

This time, when I was on the ridge, I noticed there was a “y” in the trail. Go left here, towards Canby Mountain

Following this path led me back to the saddle with Canby Mountain

At the saddle I turned right, and followed the trail back down to the dirt road.

I then followed the dirt road back to my truck.

I made it back to my truck at 9:45am, making this a 6.64 mile hike with 2084’ of elevation gain in 3 hours, 15 minutes.

Stony Pass Peak – 13,172

RT Length: 1.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 618’

I had just gotten back from summiting PT 13076, and I wasn’t feeling it today. I was tired and achy and sore, and just wanted to rest. I had some lunch, and about 2 hours later decided to do some scouting on Stony Pass Peak, to figure out how I wanted to summit it the next day. Well, suddenly I had a burst of energy, because instead of scouting it, I just summited the peak.

I could see Stony Pass Peak from my parking spot at Stony Pass.

I headed towards Stoney Pass Peak around 2pm. This is the overall route I took to get to the summit.

First, I headed southwest on the tundra towards the ridge

The terrain became rocky, but there were various social trails in the area, making navigation easy. I just kept heading southwest and up, following the social trails to the summit. There was talus, and it became rocky, but this was all class 2.

I summited Stony Pass Peak at 2:35am

Stony Pass Peak:

From the summit I could see the road and my truck parked below.

I made my way back down towards the road.

Then followed the road to my truck

I made it back to my truck at 3pm, making this a 1.5 mile hike with 618’ of elevation gain in 45 minutes.

PT 13076

RT Length: 9.64 miles

Elevation Gain: 2129’

I woke up nice and cozy in the bed of my truck and sat there in the dark waiting for my alarm to go off. After waiting quite a while, I looked at my phone and noticed it was 8:15am! My alarm hadn’t gone off, and I was late getting on the trail. I was ready 15 minutes later, following the 4WD southeast towards the CDT trailhead. Doing this meant I lost 160’ of elevation in .3 miles, which I would need to regain at the end of my hike. There is one parking space near this trailhead, but when I got there the day before there was an ATV parked there, taking up the entire spot.