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| Traver Peak |
Overview
Traver,
McNamee, and Clinton Peaks are a set of 13ers located in the Mosquito Range of
Colorado. This was my first ascent of these peaks, though I have summited many
other nearby including North
Star Mountain, Drift Peak,
and Fletcher
Mountain to the north and Mount
Lincoln, Mount Cameron, and Mount Democrat to the south. This was my first
trip back to the Mosquito Range since my climb of Horseshoe
and Peerless Mountains in 2014. These peaks are all class 2, allowing for
some off trail, choose your own route adventure. I didn’t see anyone on my
ascents of the peaks, so there is solitude to be had while you enjoy the climb,
but as you descend back to Wheeler Lake plan to see many people. I hope you
enjoy this trip report and find it helpful in planning your next adventure in
the hills.
Directions/Trailhead Information
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| Wheeler Lake |
The Montgomery
Reservoir Trailhead is located at—latitude 39.356791°, longitude -106.082845°.
There is a parking area that will accommodate about a dozen vehicles. We
arrived at 5 am, and were the first to arrive, but when we left the parking
area was full. There are no restrooms at the trailhead. From the Denver you
have the option of using I-70 W or US Hwy 285 S. We took I-70
W heading towards the mountains. Take exit 203 onto CO-9 S heading
towards Breckenridge. Drive south along CO-9 S for about 21 miles
heading over Hoosier Pass, reaching the CO-Rd 4 intersection, turn west.
Follow CO-Rd 4 for 0.8 miles, then take the higher road to the right.
Follow this road to the trailhead which is 1.7 miles from the intersection of CO-9
S. There is a concrete wall with an open parking lot. The road to the TH is
hard packed dirt road that is accessible for all vehicles. Note that these
mileages are approximates, not exact distances.
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| Wheeler Peak |
The Climb
I met up
with Brian in the Denver area about 3 am, and after the 2 hr drive we arrived
at the TH around 5 am. By 5:15 am we were on the trail with headlamps on. The approach
trail for this climb is on a rough 4WD road that heads to Wheeler Lake. This
starts by passing the old Magnolia gold mine, within the first quarter mile.
After the mine the road becomes incredibly rough, so I wouldn’t try driving up
the road unless you have a modified rock crawler.
It sounds
funny to say it, but the road presented us with most of the morning obstacles.
The road is an intermittent pond/creek throughway more than a passable hiking
trail at times. When we had to detour around the water, we soaked ourselves
with the leftover rain fall on the willows, so we weren’t winning from the
start. I’d consider wearing some Chaco’s up to Wheeler Lake if I head back this
way just so you can stay on the road and walk right through the ponds, it would
be way more efficient anyway.
As we
approached the 11,800 ft contour the creek coming from Wheeler Lake was raging,
and the road was a full-on river. We started to make our way up the east side
of the creek till we came upon a snow bridge around the 12,100 ft contour. At
this point Brian decided to call it a day and I headed up for the peaks by
myself.
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| North Star Mountain |
The upper
road which is part of the standard route for these peaks was covered in snow, with
drifts flowing into the west side of the lake. Because of this I decided to
hoof it straight up one of the snow fields to get into the upper basin around
the 12,400 ft contour. I didn’t have any snow gear so I kicked steps in on the
ascent. My route took me to the “bergschrund” (not a real bergschrund, but the
same concept) where there was a significant gap between the snow and the rocks.
I had to traverse around a bit, and it got a little uncomfortable since I didn’t
have any foot traction or axe with me. I did have my trekking pole and I kicked
good steps, moving with extreme caution. By the time I made it onto the rock my
legs were pretty tired from the kicking, so it took a bit for me to recover.
The upper
basin was still holding a fair amount of snow, so I wasn’t sure what was the
best direction to climb the peaks. I decided to head up Traver first, primarily
because it had a bare ridge and I knew nothing other than my physical condition
would be an issue with ascending this peak. As I gained elevation on the ridge,
I could see this was the right approach for these peaks as the base of Clinton
was holding most of the snow. My preference would be to walk/slide down that later
in the day when it was soft. The east ridge of Traver was giving me a run for
my money, I was huffing and puffing, but still gaining ground. The route was consistent
large boulders, so moving up was rather efficient. I reached the summit of
Traver Peak around 9 am.
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| Climax mine |
From here I
had two options – 1) head back down the route and wake up Brian from his nap,
or 2) continue the loop and let him get some rest 😊.
Well, that was an easy choice, so onto McNamee Peak I went. There is only about
a 250 ft descent to the saddle between Traver and McNamee, so a lot of climbers
wouldn’t consider these separate peaks. The general rule is peaks need to have
300 ft of prominence between them to be “ranked” peaks, but to me if there is a
name on a peak that’s good enough. Anyway, back to the climb. The ridge walk to
McNamee took about 20 minutes from Traver. It is a gradual ascent to the top,
where there is a lot of debris from old radio towers or something similar. From
the summit there are great views of the Climax Mo-W mine. Most people would not
get too excited about that, but I on the other hand work in the field of geology
so I find it quite impressive. So next time you turn your lights on at home you
can thank Climax for the filaments in your light bulbs.
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| Me on the summit of Traver Peak |
The ridge to
Clinton seemed to be the longer section, timewise it took me about 25 minutes
to gain the summit. A quick stop at the summit and I was on my way down to the
basin below. The descent was rather nice, the upper section had fairly loose
rock that would give a bit on each step, then the snow field was great for
plunge stepping. I thought about a glissade, but the slope was a bit steep for me.
Once I made the initial descent into the basin it was a walk to the drop into
Wheeler Lake. I was glad the snow had softened up, making it an easy descent to
the lake.
I found
Brian in the area I left him about 4 hours earlier. The loop took me a while
longer than I initially expected, but I’m glad I stuck to it. We took the
scenic route back to the TH in attempts to bypass the ascent route up the
flowing creek. It wasn’t an awful route since it bypassed most of the willows,
but it was probably not the most efficient route we could have taken. We were
back to the TH a little before 2 pm.
Parting Notes
This was a
great climb, challenging physically and mentally since I don’t get out as often
as I’d like to. I’d recommend this route, and would do it again. I think the
route would be best in dry conditions, but I’ll take 3-13ers in one climb anytime
I can. I have another TR in the works for the second day of our climbing
weekend. In the meantime, happy trails and stay safe in the mountains. Cheers!
Date: July 26,
2019
Trailhead
Elevation: 10,980 feet
Traver Peak:
13,855 feet
McNamee
Peak: 13,773 feet
Clinton
Peak: 13,812 feet
Total
Ascent: 3,050 feet
Class: 2
Distance: 10.6
miles
Moving Time:
7 hr 39 min
Stopped
Time: 0 hr 52 min
Climbing
Partners: Brian
GAIA GPS
Link: Traver,
McNamee, and Clinton Peaks
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| GPS Track |
