 |
| Mount Edwards |
School is in full swing now so finding time to get back into
the mountains has been tough. With my
birthday coming up and Brian’s just passing, I knew I wanted to squeeze in a
birthday climb so we could both celebrate our youth in the mountains. The original plan was a climb of Mount Wilcox
from the Waldorf Mine, but plans always change as they did again on this
trip. The weather forecast wasn’t
looking too bad so we slept in a bit on met at the Trex Lot at 6am on Friday
morning.
Last October we both made a trip back to the same TH of
Waldorf Mine when we climbed Argentine Peak.
I’ll be honest the drive back here sucks, and it sucks a lot, be
prepared for a long bumpy ride. From the
Trex lot it took about 1hr 45min to get to the TH. From the Denver area head up I-70 west and
take the Georgetown exit. Drive through
town heading towards Guanella Pass Road.
A little over 2.5 miles up the road from town there is a second set of
switchbacks, on the second corner is a small pull-out and a dirt road (FS 248.1). In the winter time this would be the TH or if
you have anything other than a high clearance 4WD this would also act as the
trailhead. The drive is about 7 miles
along this rough 4WD road and plan on about 45minutes to get to the TH. The worst part is the very beginning heading
to the first switchback; if you can get past here you should be good to
go. Just stay on the main road, there
are numerous smaller roads heading off to the left and right. There will be a series of switchbacks you
will drive through before heading in a
south westerly direction. Once the
switchbacks are over the road stays pretty true to the creek for the remainder
of the drive. This was once an old rail
road grade that went to the top of Mount McClellan for tourists to take in the
view of Grays and Torreys.
 |
| Me and Brian on Edwards |
 |
| Grays and Torreys from Edwards Summit |
There is a more direct way to Edwards from the Waldorf Mine
that is easy to see, so if that is your objective the climb is a straight
shot. We had to do a bit of a willow
bushwhack, but it was all dry so it wasn’t too bad. We made our way for the main gully and it
leads you directly up the south face of the mountain. This is a steep and short hike, so make sure
to stretch out those calf muscles because they are going to burn. This hike is as straight forward as they get,
just keep heading straight for the mountain till you make the summit.
I won’t like, I was sucking some serious wind and my legs
were good and tight so I was taking my time.
Brian was a good distance ahead of me and was going at a good clip
today. Towards what appeared to be the
top, he said there was a mountain goat sleeping. As we got closer we could see he was dead,
the key being his gut sack lying next to him.
A hunter arrived to the spot we were at almost the same time telling us
he had shot the goat the previous night.
I was none too happy to see this since mountain goats are my favorite
animal, but that’s life. We chatted for
a minute with the hunter and then climbed the last 50 vertical feet to the
summit.
 |
| Continental Divide Looking South |
Before getting to the summit I was baking like a hot potato
in the oven. I had my alpine pants on
and the sweat had been flowing freely.
Once on the summit the clouds covered up the sun and the temperature
dropped about 30 degrees almost instantly.
So, from hot to cold in an instant, the sweat was now frigid on my legs. This was quite the rapid change; I even put
my jacket on while we had our lunch. The
sky was starting to get pretty cloudy, but I was still able to take a few
decent pictures of the surrounding mountains.
This is an amazing summit because the 360 degree views of the mountains
is perhaps as good as it gets this close to Denver. We may have hung out for around 20 minutes
then saddled up for our next objective; Mount McClellan.
 |
| Mount McClellan |
This is about as easy of a twofer that one can ask for. Just hike along the ridge where game trails
come and go. From the low point of the
saddle it is only about a 200ft vertical gain to the flat summit of
McClellan. It is a really enjoyable
ridge walk as looking to the north the cliff faces drop into the Stevens Gulch
below. The hike between the two mountains
is quick, so I would definitely recommend doing these as a pair.
There are a few options for getting back to Waldorf
Mine. Either head down the gully you
ascended or do a loop like we did that heads around the east side of
McClellan. I think the loop that we did
is a lot mellower of a down climb than the gulch, it just adds probably another
half mile or so. The hike to the east of
McClellan is pretty cool; this side is all cliff chutes heading down into an
old mining camp. Follow the gentle slope
and don’t get suckered into the direct talus bowl. The grass rib you can hike down will cross a
number of roads, just keep in mind where you parked and there will be a way to
connect yourself to the right road.
It tried to rain a bit on us as we were within a quarter
mile of my rig. Nothing serious started
coming down till we were packing up our gear into the truck. Once again, we made it just in time before
the ugly weather came in. It’s important
to get an early start and know about how long your trip is going to take;
weather can be a real S.O.B. in Colorado at times. Now that I have these two mountains under my
belt, Wilcox is the only one left to finish the group heading all the way to
Mount Evans from Kelso. This is a great
area to explore, and even better because all the other “suckers” are on 14ers
leaving us some solitude on the 13ers. I
love it, mountains are meant to be climbed in solitude…at least for me they
are.
 |
| GPS Track |
Date: 9/6/2013
Starting Elevation: 11,582ft
Mount Edwards Summit: 13,850ft
Mount McClellan Summit:
13,587ft
Total Gained Elevation: 2,440ft
Class: 2
Distance: 4.95 miles
Time: 3:40 moving, 1:30 stopped.
Climbing Partner: Brian
Picture Link: https://plus.google.com/photos/115877356129727775322/albums/5920895697198237697?authkey=CMTi3ozQlr3Kcg
No comments:
Post a Comment