Tellurium Creek Road – Wild Wanderer

RT Length: 16.42 miles

Elevation Gain: 4219’

Last time I went to Ptarmigan Lake I did it in my side by side and it took over an hour and a half to drive up. This time, feeling like I needed to ‘earn’ this hike, I parked in the dispersed camping area and hiked 6 or 7 miles (depending if you trust Strava versus CalTopo) to Ptarmigan Lake. Here’s a picture of the camping area. There are several large, dispersed campsites at the beginning of the 4WD road. Vehicles (Tundra, Subaru, Tacoma, 4Runner, etc.) are not allowed on this road, so unless you have a side by side, Razor, etc. you’ll need to hike in.

It took me 3 hours carrying a full pack to make it to the lake. The road is easy to follow but very rocky. Here are some pictures of the road up to 11900’, where the junction is with the trail that takes you to the lake. There are several stream crossings along the way, but this time of year they were all low enough I could rock hop across.

At around 11480’ there’s a junction in the road. You can go either way. To the right you’ll go through a marshy area, to the left you’ll stay high and see the marshy area. I went right on the way in and hiked out the other way. Both were comparable, but the road to the left is a little shorter.

Here are some pictures of the rest of the route up to the parking area.

At 11900’ there’s a parking area and a closed gate. To the left if the gate is a trail that will take you to some old mines. The trail stops at the mines, but in the distance you can see where the old road to Ptarmigan Lake used to be. I aimed for that and hiked up to the lake.

From here you can go right to Ptarmigan Lake or continue your hike. I stopped at the lake and set up my tent for the night. My watch said it was 6 miles to the lake, CalTopo gave me 7 miles and 2650’ of elevation gain. It took me 3 hours to get to the lake.

From Ptarmigan Lake the next objective is to head northeast to make it to the saddle of West Tellurium/Tellurium. It’s an easy class 2 hike to get there.

Once on the saddle I turned right, and this became a ridge hike. I followed the ridge east. It started out as class 2 and continued to be class 2 until the false summit. Just before the false summit the terrain became rocky but stayed at class 2.

From the false summit I continued to follow the ridge east. The terrain became more difficult as I descended about 150’, then reascended up to Tellurium. I mainly stuck to the ridge, unless it was obvious to drop down to easier terrain. I felt this was easy class 3, but with a lot of choss/talus and exposure.

Here are some pictures of the ridge:

The last section of the ridge just before the summit became rocky, but a class 2 rocky

I summited Tellurium Peak at 7:40am

Tellurium Peak:

This was my only peak for today, so I turned around and headed back down/up/down the ridge. Here are some pictures of my way back over to the false summit.

Then it was back to the West Tellurium/Tellurium saddle.

Then from the saddle I hiked back to my campsite at Ptarmigan Lake

From the lake to the summit and back took me 3 hours total, with a stop on the ridge to make a phone call. Now to head out. From the lake I followed the 4WD road back to the trail/mines

Then I followed the road all the way back to the dispersed camping area, taking the upper road this time (both roads make a loop).

I made it back to my truck at 11:45am. This hike totaled 16.42 miles with 4219’ of elevation gain. Here’s the topo of my entire route

And one closer up

On to the next trailhead!

RT Length: 12.14 miles

Elevation Gain: 4624’

From Tellurium Creek Road. There is no real trailhead for this hike. A good place to park is at the junction between 742 and 584, and to start out following 584 north. The rest of the road is 4WD, but is really better suited for an OHV. There also isn’t a good place to park further up. I did not park at this junction but should have. Instead I drove up the 584 road and after about a quarter mile decided I loved my truck too much to continue. There are some really big rocks. My truck could have made it further (I didn’t know it at the time, but I’d already driven the worst part) but I decided instead to find a place to park between some trees and hike the rest of the road.

From my parking spot I followed the 4WD road for a mile before turning right onto a closed road. In the dark I missed the turnoff, but in daylight it’s obvious, marked by large rocks closing the road to vehicle traffic.

This is an old mining road that switchbacks up the side of the mountain. They really don’t want you driving on this road: as if the rock barriers weren’t enough, they’ve mounded the road as well. It’s still easy to follow.

The road passes the Enterprise Mine

And switchbacks a few more times up the mountainside before heading to another mining claim. I took two more switchbacks after the Enterprise mine, and then left the road to head north up the mountainside.

Once I’d gained the ridge I turned left and followed the ridge northeast.

From here on out this is a simple ridge hike, but there are a lot of false summits

Here’s the actual summit of Anderson Peak

It’s a long but straightforward, class 2 ridge walk to the summit (with a lot of small ups and downs)

For some reason I saw an anchor set up on the ridge? I’m not sure what the reason is, considering this is all class 2 and it’s not near the summit.

Here’s the last bit to the summit. Notice how blue the skies are?

I summited Anderson Peak at 8:45am

Anderson Peak:

https://youtu.be/sX7Og2Fu62c

Here’s looking back at the ridge

I turned around and continued following the ridge that led to Petroleum Peak

Here’s an overview of the route

And step by step, all class 2. Notice the increasing clouds?

Getting up this section was a little steep, but still class 2

I stuck to the ridge the entire way

The summit was long and it was difficult to tell where the actual summit was. I walked all along the ridge and found the summit cairn/register further to the north.

I summited Petroleum Peak at 10:10am

Petroleum Peak: https://youtu.be/agIJEkY3uqQ

Here’s a look back at the route from Anderson Peak over to Petroleum Peak

It wasn’t lost on me the clouds were increasing at a rapid rate. It wasn’t even 10:30am yet, but the forecast predicted a 20% chance of thunderstorms after noon. It looked like they were going to happen, and I wanted off the mountain as soon as possible. I continued following the ridge north to avoid rock hopping, then turned and followed the mountainside as it curved south.

Now, I could have just aimed for the road and taken that back to my truck, but where’s the fun in that? Side note: If you’re not good with route finding off trail, aim for the road.

Oh, and those clouds I’d been worried about? Around 10:30am it started snowing! Wow! That had happened FAST! I put my camera away during the worst of it, but it wasn’t too bad, just unexpected. Mostly graupel and small flakes.

I continued curving around the side of the mountain until I came to a well defined game trail, then followed that to a basin.

Once in the basin the trail ended. I turned right and followed the drainage 2.5 miles. There is no trail here, but if you stick to the creek you will eventually make it to the road you hiked in on. The brush can be thick at times, there are some willows to contend with, but it’s easy to stay near the creek. Eventually you’ll want the creek on your left, but feel free to navigate back and forth as needed.