Quandary Peak

Quandary Peak

Quandary Peak has been on my list all summer but I have been avoiding the crowds for as long as I could.  I’ve heard horror stories of the hundreds of people that hike this mountain on the weekends because it’s within 2hrs of Denver and any vehicle can make the trailhead.  Brian had already climbed this peak and was out climbing with his Dad this week, so I now had a good opportunity to make my summit bid.  I haven’t done a solo hike since before Brian and I met so I was unsure how my motivation would be today.  When the alarm went off at 3am I kept saying to myself just keep sleeping, but thankfully that didn’t last too long.  I made myself get up and was out of the door by 3:30am.

The drive over was quite boring by myself.  I played some Eric Church and Luke Bryan on the stereo and drank a thermos of coffee to keep myself awake.  The drive over to the TH took around 2hrs, which isn’t too bad for a 14er from the Denver area.  When I arrived at the TH there were two rigs already there where people had camped the night before.  I woke everyone up, unintentionally but that’s what you get when you sleep at the TH.  It was pitch black and I wanted to get up the mountain and down in a reasonable time so I put my headlamp on and within 10minutes I was off on the trail.

Sunrise

Navigating the trail in the dark wasn’t too hard.  I have a Princeton Tec Headlamp that puts out a pretty good beam and was more like a spot light for the first 20minutes or so.  The only issue was the trail starts out up this rocky gauntlet and searching in the dark for the route and spotting rocks at the same time was a little bit difficult.  After an initial climb the trail is really nice, gradual in spots and you seem to climb without noticing it.  That is one thing I love about starting in the dark, it never seems so bad. 

About 40 minutes after I started I got passed buy a guy who was moving pretty good.  Just as he passed I noticed some deer just below the trail.  There were three or four of them and two were bucks, and of course I couldn’t get a good picture in the early morning light.  Switchbacks up the ridge soon started and the tree line was thinning.  I noticed a lot of goat hair in the bushes and trees along this point, so I was hopeful for another Mountain Goat sighting today.  For the time being I just kept making my way up the trail, which now had turned to rock.  Brian warned me about this route telling me how much he hated the rock so I was a little worried about the rock going into the climb.  There was about 2miles of rock each way, but nothing worse than we have seen this year already.

Benchmark

The ridge seemed never-ending at times, but the good thing was the summit was in sight.  Just as I made it up onto the main ridge another guy came blazing up the trial behind me and I watched him create quite a gap between us in no time at all.  The wind on the ridge kicked up and I had to put on a fleece and my gloves so I made a two minute pit stop before my final push up the last 1,200ft.  I started memorizing the rock layers up the last section of the mountain so I could tell how much progress I was making then I took off.

After the first 500ft I had made it past the white layer and was now in the black rock layer.  There was one layer left the rust layer then the summit.  I notice the first person that passed me early in the morning was sitting on a rock for some time and I finally caught up with him.  I asked if he was o.k., because I rarely catch up to people on 14ers.  He was in tennis shoes and his feet weren’t doing so well and he was contemplating turning back.  I convinced him to join me and told him we were close.  His name was Nick so we already had something good going for the both of us.  It was nice talking to him, he is about to head off to boot camp in the Navy so we chatted about my family history in the Navy for a while.  This was also his first 14er, so I was happy I was able to convince him to head up before his journey in the service starts.

The upper trail was perhaps the best part.  Tight winding switchbacks in hard packed dirt, it was nice to get off the rock for a bit.  In no time at all we made the summit.  At almost exactly 3hrs since I started it was just before 9am.  I was able to go over my 1,000ft per hour rate so I was very happy with my progress today.  There were three others on the summit which is a pretty open summit from what I’ve heard with this peak.  The views to the West were smoky, I was guessing from the fires in Idaho since there isn’t any significant burning in Colorado right now.  I was able to get some good recon on some nearby peaks I want to do in the future as well.  I spent maybe a half hour on top then started making my way down.

Decalibron Mountains to the South

The trail down was quite crowded; I would say there was close to 100 people on the mountain throughout the day.  The first 2,000ft flew by quickly as I was making my way down the rock at a much better pace than the mountains we have climbed lately.  Just as I got to the switchback section I saw a large group of Mountain Goats.  I would say there were about a dozen of them and that didn’t surprise me after all the goat hair I noticed on the ascent.  There was a group of three right on the trail just a bit further down and they had no intent on moving.  They didn’t seem to mind people, but I did drop off the trail about 10ft to give them some room.  I always love goat sightings, and this was only my second encounter in Colorado so far.

Mountain Goats

The rest of the trail down was pretty uneventful.  I just had to keep getting out of peoples way as they made their way up.  I never really stopped and just kept moving.  I made the descent to the car in 2hrs and it was just past 11am when I made it back to the car.  I love being able to climb a mountain and be back to my car before noon, it doesn’t happen much so I’ll take advantage when I can.  There were no storms or anything to rush me down, I just wanted to get home and relax before my work week starts on Wednesday.  I would rate Quandary as one of the easier 14ers right behind Sherman and the Decalibron.  This was a nice hike and the scenery and wildlife was great.  My schedule at work changed so I doubt I will get out as often as I have been, but I hope to put out trip reports a couple times a month at least.

GPS Track

 Date: 8/21/2012

Starting Elevation: 10,850ft 

Quandary Peak Summit: 14,265ft

Total Gained Elevation: 3,450ft

Distance: 6.91 miles

Time: moving 4:40,  stopped 1:00

Solo

Picture Link: http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/nickkarl72/Quandary%20Peak/

Twin Sisters Peaks

Eastern Sister on Left and South Sister on Right

The weather forecast for Monday was less than desirable over most of Colorado.  Originally I wanted to get a climb up La Plata back in the Sawatch Range, but with 50% chance of thunderstorms and another 2am wakeup call it was time to look for something a bit more close to home.  Rocky Mountain National Park has a lot of mountains to choose from, all the way from class 1 trail hikes up to rock climbing the North Face of Longs Peak.   Last week Mount Massive destroyed my knees and ankles, so I was looking for an easier hike with great views of Longs Peak.  Twin Sisters Peaks automatically came up on the radar.  There is a nice trail all the way to the summit with about a 2,000ft gain; this was my kind of hike.

For once Brian and I got the chance to sleep in.  I met him in Broomfield at 6am and it was just over an hour’s drive from there to the trailhead.  The trailhead parking is along the road which was surprising to me since I think this is a very popular hike being in RMNP.  There were two cars and one mini van parked when we arrived just after 7am.  After a quick change into our hiking shoes we were off on the trail.  I let Brian lead the way which could have been a mistake since he is so fast out of the gate usually.  Today I was willing to keep the pace at a higher rate since our elevation was lower and the mileage and elevation gains were less than what we have become accustomed to.  It was nice being able to breathe normally at the lower elevations!

The first 100yards of the trail heads up an old dirt road till meeting with the TH sign.  For the most part the trail stays at a mellow grade with stone steps every now and then.  I like the way it was done because there would be a good gaining section then a section of near flat for recovery.  We had caught up with the first family of hikers from New York within the first half hour.  They were out enjoying the views not in a march up the mountain like us.  There was a great traverse that brings you around the Crags then the switchbacks start.  The switchbacks lengths were short and the gain was quickly and not too difficult.  Before we knew it we made our way to the upper saddle between the Crags and the Twin Sisters.  

We were moving very well, never breaking the entire way up and keeping a pace that was comfortable for conversation.  Soon we found ourselves on the upper switchbacks passing another group of two men.  From here on up Brian was leading the way.  Not long after these switchbacks start we cleared tree line and made our way onto the rocky road.  Boulder fields have become typical for us during our recent climbs, but the trail here was nice and still comfortable on my feet wearing hiking shoes.  After a few tight switchbacks we were at the point in-between the Twin Sisters.  Our ascent time was only about an hour and a half, which made me feel good being able to keep my pace up.

I don’t know of names differentiating the sisters so I simply referred to the one on the East as the Eastern Sister and the one to the West as the Western Sister.  If you keep following the ridge to the South there is another peak that people refer to as the South Sister.  We decided to hike over to the Eastern Sister first since I think it is the true high point of the twins.  From here to route turns to an easy class 2 climb up to the summit.  I would say a 5-10minute climb from where the trail ends to get you over and up to the summit.  There was a benchmark, but no elevation or mountain name information was stamped on it, which is something I have never seen.  With a staff stuck into the rock we knew we were on the true summit.  We just needed a flag to place on our newly found flag pole.

Our Route up the Western Sister

The views over to Mount Meeker and Longs Peak were amazing.  Both of us brought up our binoculars but we couldn’t make out anyone on the summits.  The wind had picked up on the summit, but we found a nice block to hide behind for a snack.  The weather was not ideal, staying overcast most of the day.  It would have been nice to have a clearer look at the big mountains but we were not complaining.  We thought about hiking over to the South Sister then decided against.  It was nice to have a relaxing hike rather than our grueling 8-10hr days.

We gathered our gear and made our way to the Western Sister.  I spotted a much more exiting route down, still a class 2 but we took some fun shots playing on the rocks.  When we got back down to the saddle between the summits we scouted out a short class 3 route to take up to the Western Sister.  This was a very short section, but it was a lot of fun to get a bit of scrambling in.  Brian took my camera and got a picture of me making my way up the rock.  A few minutes later we were on top.  There were two people up there and apparently the summit was there’s because they had no intention of letting us up to the true high point.  We enjoyed the views of Longs again and started on our way down.

Meeker and Longs

Just as we were starting down the New Yorkers were making their way up the last section to the summit.  The trail was busy heading down; the ants were making their way up the mountain.  I would say we saw at least 30 people along the trail all in all.  The hike down was nice unlike how it usually goes.  We both had stashed our trekking poles when we were scrambling on the rock earlier, so that allowed for increased mobility on the way down.  My knees and ankles weren’t hurting and for the most part I was able to keep up with Brian.

In no time at all we were down the trail.  We reached the car at 11:45am, not even lunch time yet.  This is a great hike that anyone could do.  We were able to do it in about 4hrs round trip and we were by no means running up the trail.  The views are worth the effort since you can see all of RMNP from the summits.  Instead of summit beers we decided to drive to Lyons and stop at the Oskar Blues Brew and Grill for lunch.  I highly recommend it, great food and great beer.  I hope to get up to the park for one or two more trips this fall.  With any luck Brian and I will make a trip up Longs for our September birthday celebrations.

GPS Track

Date: 8/13/2012

Starting Elevation:  9,148ft

Twin Sisters Summit: 11,428ft

Total Gained Elevation: 2,280ft

Distance: 7.51miles

Time: moving 3:38,  stopped 0:40

Climbing Partner: Brian

Picture Link: http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/nickkarl72/Twin%20Sisters%20Peaks/

Mount Massive

Mount Massive from Colorado 300

Mount Massive, the name is self-explanatory.  This is the 2^nd highest mountain in Colorado and the view of it from Leadville is quite amazing.  As Gerry Roach says in his book Colorado Fourteeners: “If Massive were truncated at 14,000 feet, the area of the resulting plateau would be nearly half a square mile!  No other peak in the 48 contiguous states has a greater area above 14,000 feet.   By this measure, Massive reigns supreme.”  This has been on my list since hiking Mount Elbert a few months ago, so I got a hold of Brian and we made plans for another hike in the Sawatch Range.

The 2:30am wake up was less than satisfactory, but I do like the comfort of a bed rather than sleeping at the trailhead the night before.  I met Brian at the T-Rex Lot at 3:30am and we were off to Leadville.  From the Park and Ride Lot to the North Half Moon Creek TH took about 2.5hours.  After leaving the pavement from road Colorado 300 onto Lake County 11 the driving went very slow.  It was still pitch black and the wash board was pretty bad.  At a few points I wondered if my Blazer would hold itself together.  I never put my rig in 4WD, so just high clearance will do for now. 

At 6:15am we hit the trail and were finally on our way up Mount Massive.  I enjoyed the first 1.25miles on the trail since you only gain about 700ft, it gives your body some time to warm up before the steeps start up.  There was a lot of dew and rain drops on all the plants and trees from the previous night, and at some points the trail goes from a nice forest hike to a in the jungle hike.  I really enjoyed the changes along such a short section, because soon all changed to rock.

Mount Elbert

By the time we hit the trail turnoff for the summit trail the sunlight was hitting Elbert with a great light.  The view was amazing, so the tourist in me had to stop and take a picture or two.  I knew the easy part was over and the trail would be nothing but up, up, up for the rest of the day.  The steeps start quickly, almost directly off the main trail.  Before we knew it we were in the first boulder field making a bend around a large rock rib.  The trail work was pretty amazing, almost stairs all the way through the boulders which was great on the way up and on the way down.  It’s always nice knowing you can trust a rock not to move on you, so thank you trail crew for all your hard work!  We took our first break above the tree line and the boulder field somewhere around 12,000ft.  I didn’t get any pictures of the Pikas in the boulders but the chirping was constant.  They were hard at work gathering grass for the winter.  Between the Pikas and Marmots it was a busy day of wildlife along this route.

Elbert and the Collegiate Peaks

After the initial boulder field the trail mellows out quite a bit.  Not so much rock and lot more dirt which is always nice in my book.  I’m not saying it was any easier, because now we were getting higher on the mountain and I could tell by every breath.  There are a couple long traverses with nicely cut switchbacks that made it not so painful, but still hard as hell if you ask me.  The hard part about this route is you never really see the summit till you are there, so it’s little goals all the way up.  At one point we took a breather somewhere in the 13,500ft range.  Brian noticed what he thought was a White Marmot which I had never seen before.  The marmot was a ways off, but I did get a picture of it in my photo album.  See if you can find him in the rocks.

Summit Ridge

As we continued up the mountain I see we didn’t research the route information as much as we should have because on the upper portions we ended up directly assaulting the mountain after we missed the switchback heading to the West.  It came at a point where there were a lot of smaller trails heading directly up and we ended up following a couple of those till we found they ended.  It was nice climbing on the grass and rock and it was still pretty mellow, a little more heart pumping going on but I enjoyed hiking directly up the ridge till I stumbled upon the trail again.  You can kind of see this on the GPS Track just below the 14,000ft contour.

I remember looking at my GPS and seeing I was above 14,000ft and I still wasn’t on the summit ridge yet.  A couple youngsters were on their way down and said it wasn’t far and you will make it.  I hate that, just say have a good hike.  There is nothing worse than false hope, and what may not be far for you seems like eons to me.  After getting to the summit ridge I could see Brian ahead of me again.  He probably had 10 minutes on me, so I didn’t feel too bad.  There were about 6 other people on the true summit which you can’t really see till you get on the false summit.  So, be prepared for some false hope.  The summit ridge wasn’t bad other than the fact that you are above 14,000ft for so long.  It took me quite a while but it was a very enjoyable section.  The ridge stays class 2, but for the most part it’s a class 1 trail hike all day.

Summit In The Distance

The summit views were great.  It was a cloudy day, but at least no thunderheads in sight yet. I stayed on track at 1,000ft and 1mile per hour reaching the summit in just about 4hrs from the TH.  Not too bad for a 270 pounder, it hurt but it was a good hurt.  Right after I sat down on the summit Brian handed me my summit beer.  Today it was an Avery Joe’s Premium American Pilsner.  It was a great summit beer because the alcohol content was only a 4.7% so you don’t get too loopy up high.  Brian gulped his down…at least it seemed that way, I am a slow drinker on the summits, but get me down to 5,000ft and that story changes.  It’s funny that we are becoming beer testers at 14,000ft this year.  So far its been a different beer at each summit, it’s nice testing out the Colorado water up high.  As usual I had a great PB&J, had to deal with a couple begging dogs and enjoyed our little time on top after a great climb.  We decided not to linger too long just in case a storm starts brewing, so somewhere around 11am we started down.

As we were heading down the ridge we could see hoards of people heading up the standard route.  As I like to call them: Colorado Ants.  The standard route seemed almost like an amphitheater, because we could hear their conversations 1,000ft below us.  It was nice once we dropped back over our side of the ridge, we were now on our own again.  My knees were starting to ache as were my ankles because I was in my hiking shoes not my hiking boots today.  I am seeing that it is going to take a while for me to get used to hiking shoes because I have been a boot guy all my life.  Nothing that some medication can’t solve for now.

It was a slug down the mountain.  It took us about the same time to go down as it did to go up.  I was really slow in the rocky sections, but made it eventually.  We were able to stay on the trail the whole way down and made note of where we lost the trail on the way up.  At one point a trail runner came buzzing by us, he made it look way to easy.  Nothing really unique happened on the way down.  There were a lot of Marmots sun bathing on the rocks and a couple didn’t care for a few humans to walk by them.  The view on the descent is amazing.  All of the Collegiate Peaks are right in-front of you till you are down to the main trail.  I was in heaven when we reached the main trail again.  It was so nice to be off the rocks, the stairs on the way down were nice but being back on dirt was bliss to my knees and feet.

With just over a mile to go my body was glad the day was about to end.  I got a few more pictures of some wildlife and was able to walk a bit faster for once.  Brian was nice and never got too far ahead so he had a lot of patience for my slow slug down the mountain.  I was so happy to get back to the car and take the shoes off and put the sandals on.  Overall it was a great day.  I did enjoy this route even though it was so hard on my body.  I would do this route over the standard 13.5miles again if I ever did it again.  Maybe take next week off, maybe not.  It’s all about how fast I can recover, but I will always have that urge to climb another mountain.

GPS Track

Date: 8/7/2012

Starting Elevation:  10,500ft

Mount Massive Summit: 14,421ft

Total Gained Elevation: 3,950ft

Distance: 7.8 miles

Time:  6:36 moving, 1:51 stopped 

Climbing Partner: Brian

Picture Link:http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/nickkarl72/Mount%20Massive/

Hyndman Peak

Hyndman Peak

Hyndman Peak is the 9^th ranked Idaho 12er standing at 12,009ft.  Having lived in the Boise area for the last 8 years I have made plenty of excursions to the Pioneer Mountains and to this day this is still one of my favorite areas.  Hyndman has become one of those peaks that I climb almost every year, if I don’t summit I always enjoy the wonderful wildflower hike into the upper basin.  Now that I reside in Colorado the trip to the Pioneers is a bit more difficult, but with Kristi’s folks living in Hailey it makes for an easy entry way into the mountains.

I ended up getting together quite the crowd for this hike.   The original plan was for my friend Harsha to climb his second 12er after doing Borah last year and also try to get Michelle to the top on her second attempt.  I invited a few other climbing friends; Mike, Loren and Jeff, and it turned out to be much more of a social outing which was nice.  The night before the hike I drove up to the trailhead and met up with Harsha and Mike and kicked back with a few beers and told stories of my climbs in Colorado this year.  I brought everyone some beer from Colorado called Colorado Native Lager; a beer made of 100% Colorado products and only sold in Colorado.  So, I smuggled a 12pack on the plane.  It was great to catch up with old friends and we all looked forward to a great hike the next morning.  After a bit I headed back to Hailey where I would bed down for a short sleep before the 4am wake up.  The only problem is when I got back to town I kept drinking good old Ninkasi and ended up not hitting the sack till almost midnight….oh well.

Cobb

I never have a problem rising when I know I’m heading into the mountains, but I was much more sluggish today.  Michelle had the coffee ready; we tossed the packs into the rented Chevy Cruz and were off to pick up Lisa.  It was still pitch black out and a little breezy by the time we made it to the trailhead.  Everyone was up and getting their final preparations done as we arrived.  I got a head count of 9 people and we were off on the trail by 5am with headlamps donned.

So usually I can fight through the hang over, but the Ninkasi Total Domination did just that to me..domination.  I wasn’t feeling the best but still trucked on up the trail.  The lead kept changing as people would constantly be shedding layers or adjusting packs, somehow I ended up in front.  I am still used to hiking solo a lot and found myself getting far in front of the pack at times.  When we got to the split to Big Basin we made sure everyone was still with us and did our introductions since we could now see faces in the early morning light.

I tried eating some food, but that didn’t go so well, so my plan was to sweat out the booze.  I took off up the hill heading to the first mosquito pond.  The grade here seems steeper every year, but I would rather have it in my face than dragging out miles of no gain like the previous two miles.  Somehow I always find another gear hiking the steeps, I think a good mix of a rest step and establishing a rhythm is the key.  From hiking the 14ers in Colorado this year I found this is the most efficient way to get up the monsters.  I made it to the pond by an old camp site and waited a while for everyone to re-group for a rest.  Unfortunately the mosquitos were out and they wanted that sweet nectar from the IPA in my blood.  I had a good sweat going, and I thing I dried up my food and water resources in my body but was able to eat a granola bar and a shot block.  I was still a bit queasy but doing better….dam beer!

Upper Hyndman

Up the “levels” as I like to call them we all spread out a bit more.   This was a nice social section of the trip where I got a chance to talk with pretty much everyone.  The wildflowers were out and they were amazing.  I always love this hike because of the great Geology and the magnificent wildflowers.  At one point I was in the back hiking with Michelle and Lisa and we noticed Mike was coming down the trail.  He said he was done.  After climbing mountains the two previous days his legs were starting to cramp up so he was heading to the car.  We said adios and continued up.  Not 10 minutes later Lisa looks down the trail and said: Is that Mike coming back up?  It sure was.  Typical Mike, he just couldn’t turn around on such a beautiful day.  Mike is always good for a laugh out in the mountains.  The four of us were a bit separated from the others at this point since we were talking more than hiking.  I must note this now that Mike and I are the only ones up here to previously climb Hyndman.  So, we knew the route and didn’t have as much desire to climb as the others did.

I think Jeff was in the lead at this point and we noticed everyone was following him up a boulder field in-between the snow chutes.  Michelle had a good idea this wasn’t the way since she had been high on the mountain before, so she waited for me to catch up.  I pointed everyone in the right direction and we all found our way down to the standard trail except for Loren who was tackling the boulder field on his way to the ridge.  We found a nice trail heading up to the saddle and in not too much time we found ourselves an excellent view.

I had made it clear on the way up this was a “saddle day” for me.  I fear that I imbedded a bug into everyone.  We took a good rest at the saddle and nobody else had enough desire to climb the ridge to the summit.  So, we all watched Loren climb like an ant on a hill.  Once he figured out we were all lazy and were calling it a day he took off like a jack rabbit up the mountain.  A few of us had “saddle beers” instead of “summit beers” at 10am, took many beautiful photos of the Pioneer range and enjoyed the great weather we were having.  We thought we could see Loren summit and we hooted at him, but later he told us our hooting was a little premature.  But, like I told everyone this is like a Himalayan Expedition, we all worked together to get one of our team to the summit.  Haha, not really but it made us feel better inside by saying that.  While at the saddle Jeff stumbled upon an ammo box with a register saying something to the effect that they got tired and left a register here.  Like Loren said after the climb, this is one register that can be taken away.

Pioneers to the North

We started down the mountain after what seemed like an hour and all of us were constantly searching for Loren up in the rocks.  After we dropped a few levels we all took a nice nap on the grass as we waited for our lone summiter.  Jeff and his crew took off once we could see Loren was almost to us.  Lisa and Michelle took off about the same time as Mike, Harsha and I waited for Loren.  He told us of the great views and talked a bit about the upper mountain then we were off.

Upper Lake Surrounded by Wildflowers

The hike down was more of a scenic walk.  I was in no hurry, so I took the chance to have more conversations and get photos of all the wildflowers.  I always dread that last two miles where it becomes much more of ground pounding, but the scenery is still so good I never let that leg of the race bring me down.  Once I got down to the creek I dunked my head in the cool water and was refreshed again.  Somewhere around 2:30 I made it back to the car.  Jeff and crew had already left, Harsha was packing up his camp then Loren gave me a beer.  I took the beer and headed to the creek to dunk my feet in for an ice cold bath.  Man, once I put my feet in my arch cramped up…ewww didn’t enjoy that part at all.

The rest of us sat around Mikes car had some beers and sodas and talked about the trip today and other trips we had done this year.  Not long after CAPS LOCK DOUG showed up with Spider Legs from their climb of Old Hyndman.  This was my first meeting and I think he speaks with CAPS LOCK on as well.  We finished off what I had left of the Colorado Native Lager and Loren got me hooked on Deschutes Twilight, by 3:30 we called it a day and headed back into town.  We had a BBQ to get to and if there is one thing I love like the mountains its good BBQ!

GPS Track

Date: 7/22/2012

Starting Elevation:  7,040ft

Hyndman Saddle: 10,800ft

Total Gained Elevation: 3,760ft

Distance: 11.8 miles

Time:  6:32 moving, 4:09 stopped 

Climbing Partners: Michelle, Lisa, Harsha, Loren, Jeff and Crew

Picture Link: 

 http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/nickkarl72/Hyndman%202012/

Square Top Mountain

Square Top Mountain

Thunderstorm season is in full swing in Colorado right now.  Brian and I had troubles finding a mountain to climb while avoiding the storms this week, so we decided on a mountain not too far from Denver.  Square Top Mountain is a high 13er, with its summit reaching 13,794ft.  With the drive only being about and hour and a half from home we knew we could get up there before the 1pm thunderstorm predictions.  The trailhead is at the popular Guanella Pass, which is where most people start the climb of the popular Mount Bierstadt.

We met at the T-Rex lot off of I-70 at 5am and hit the Guanella Pass TH at 6am.  Within 5 minutes we were off on the trail.  There was only one other car in the upper lot at the time, but the lower lot (Bierstadt Lot) already had 7-8 vehicles present.  About 100yards down the main trail we happened upon a USFS employee who asked us to carry a GPS tracking unit with us today so they can get a good idea of trail usage in the area.  After that meeting we were trail blazing for the rest of the day.

Grays, Torreys, Argentine, Edwards

The trail is very good leading to the Square Top Lakes.  Unlike the other side of the road leading to Bierstadt and all the willow/mud bogs, this trail avoids the nasty and is in great shape.  The trail drops and gains a few times before reaching the lakes, but it maintains a low grade traverse not feeling like too much elevation gain is taking place early in the hike.  Once near the lakes there is a trail split and we headed to the left to the supposed “Square Top Mountain Trail.”  We followed the trail around the rib of the mountain to the south and started following a much less used trail that was marked with large rock cairns.  Soon we reached a sign telling us where to break off for Square Top.  As we checked out the route we noticed there was a large herd of Elk below us to the south.  They were on the move, and could probably hear me breathing a mile away. 

The sign pointed to west, so we started up the rib.  There was no obvious trail, but here and there an old beaten trail would emerge through the rock and grass.  The ridge does not waist any time, the steepness is in your face practically till you arrive on the summit.  It was a good calf burner, unlike any of the other mountains I have climbed this year.  Since there wasn’t much of a trail we were just heading straight up the rib.  There wasn’t too many cairns leading the way, on about every rise we could find one so not too many overall on the rib.

Summit Pic Brian and Me

Brian was off and he seemed to be moving pretty fast today.  I was huffing pretty hard since this was much more of a direct stair climb.  The sky was still blue and cloudless above the mountain, but I could see clouds building off to the west.  After what seemed like a couple hours but was probably not much more than one hour I had finally caught up with Brian on the summit ridge.

The conditions were still good but it was getting pretty breezy on top.  I had just shorts today and could feel the chill, but nothing too bad.  Brian was in his jacket and gloves waiting for me; after I met up with him we started the ridge walk to the true summit.  I would say it was about a quarter mile to the true summit from where we came onto the ridge.  The terrain turns to boulders and rocks unlike the hike up which was mostly on grass.  A little before 9am we were sitting on the true summit of Square Top. 

The view was still clear all around.  There were the clouds off to the west and the north, but nothing close to us.  Originally we were talking about combining Argentine Peak also, but after we discussed it we opted for just one mountain today.  The steepness really wore on us both I think, so an easy one peak day was welcomed.  We hung out on the summit for at least half hour, and enjoyed having it all to ourselves. 

Mount Bierstadt Clouded In

As we were heading down a few groups of people passed us on their way up.  We took our time since it was so early and weather was not a factor for a change.  There was a few geocaches on the trip down so we stopped and hunted for them and ended up collecting 4 along the rib.   The steep sections were less than enjoyable on the descent, but once we made it to the trail all was good.  My new hiking shoes love trails, but are a bit harder on my ankles and foot bed through the off trail sections.  I still enjoy wearing them over the boots, my feet don’t sweat like before and I love the increased range of motion.

I collected some more wild flower photos on the way out.  Slowly I’m trying to get a picture of all kinds; it is a way to help educate me while living in the new area.  The geology of the climb was really neat as well.  I think I found some mineral combinations while around the 12,500ft range, but am not positive on what I did find.  I think the mineral in my photo album is a plagioclase feldspar with quartz and muscovite.  I have yet to see any muscovite or mica type minerals while out in the mountains.  These are really neat and unique because they are thin paper like layers that flake off, they appear to look silver but there is a pinkness to the color.

After we made it back to the parking lot we both enjoyed our climbing beer.  Today is was a Colorado Native, which wasn’t too bad.  The parking lots were full and the road was loaded with vehicles.  The clouds by now had covered Mount Bierstadt, so hopefully everyone in those cars made their way down without any issues.  As I’m finding in Colorado, if you don’t get a early start just stay home.  Weather moves in quickly here and can be very dangerous if you can’t read it.

Next week I’m off to Idaho, so Brian and I will take a week off of climbing the mountains of Colorado.  My plan for next Sunday is to climb Hyndman Peak in central Idaho again.  This is one of my favorite places to climb, so I’m looking forward to getting back there. 

GPS Track

Date: 7/16/2012

Starting Elevation:  11,600ft

Square Top Mountain: 13,794ft

Total Gained Elevation: 2,500ft

Distance: 6.96 miles

Time:  4:17 moving, 1hr stopped 

Climbing Partner: Brian

Picture Link: http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/nickkarl72/Square%20Top%20Mountain/

Mount Sherman-Sheridan-Gemini Peak

Mount Sherman

Colorado finally got a good week of rain and the state wide fire ban has now been lifted.  The recent week of monsoon type weather in the mountains left its share of damage.  Originally Brian and I wanted to make a trip up Mount Massive near Leadville, but the day prior a sink hole 100ft deep closed one of the highways into Leadville and we didn’t want to deal with road closures.  After a brief chat on the phone we decided on Mount Sherman for the week.   The weather looked good at only 20% chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon and there was a chance at adding a few other mountains to this climb.  So, this actually started looking intriguing to me since there was an opportunity for multiple summits.  What I have read and seen on Sherman in the past months didn’t leave me too tempted to put this mountain up on my list, but now after being up there I was very happy we decided on it.

Sherman on right, Gemini behind

It was Brian’s turn to drive, so we were both hopeful that his Subaru would get us up to the main gate.  As our usual we met at the Meyer Ranch Park on hwy 285 at 4:15am to ensure we got a early start on the mountain.  On my drive up just before the interchange of 470 and 285 I saw two very large Elks with very large racks milling the ground on the side of the freeway.  So, technically I can put this in the book as viewed wildlife for this trip.  We met up at the car park and were off right on schedule.  We are getting very used to the drive over to Fairplay, which is a starting spot for most Mosquito Range hikes.  The crux of the drive was the 10 miles on the dirt/washboard road to the gate.  We arrived early, being the first to make it and the Subaru did great.  Any vehicle that isn’t a low rider could make it to the 12,000ft gate for this hike.   

In the recent weeks I have beat the hell out of my feet, so earlier in the week I found some North Face hiking shoes at REI and today would be the test.  It felt odd to leave the car in what felt like shoes when I’m so accustomed to using a boot.  But, as I have found out in Colorado when there is a trail there really isn’t a need for those heavy boots.  The shoes were perfect for the trip and my feet didn’t hurt afterwards which was a beautiful feeling.

When we got out of the car it was freezing!  I changed from shorts to pants and by 6:15am we were off on the old mining road up towards Sherman.  We could see a line of cars coming up the road and had a good idea this would be a busy mountain today.  I was surprised at the incline on the road right past the gate.  Like usual, I had the blood pumping early.  The first mile is all on an old road that meanders through a bunch of old mining buildings which were neat to check out on our way down.  The thing I really liked about this hike was that you could see Mount Sherman for most of the hike.  The hiking was really easy and before we knew it we were on the saddle that divided Sherman and Sheridan. 

Gemini Peak-center

Once gaining the ridge the route turns into a Class 2 trail through rocks.  The only issue we had was there was still frost on most of the rock so I found myself ice skating quite a bit.  With careful foot placement it wasn’t too bad, but I can’t imagine coming down this in the rain.  The ridge was long, and reminded me a lot of the ridge heading up Mount Cameron.  After a good climb you gain the top, but not the summit.  After gaining the plateau on top there is another ¼ mile to the true summit.  I doubt it was that far, but that’s what it felt like.  I think in a book I read a plane has actually landed up here, but don’t quote me on that.  We made the summit of Sherman a little after 8am, less than 2hrs from the car.  I was very, very happy with that time.  We had the summit to ourselves.  The sky was still crystal blue and the conditions were great.  We didn’t hang out too long; we wanted to climb one to two more 13ers while we were up here so we took off to Gemini Peak.

Pika on Gemini

Gemini is an unranked 13er, not getting the 300ft of prominence from Mount Sherman but it is a named and interesting looking peak.  We made it over to the base of the rocky mountain and what looked like a couple hundred feet to the summit was probably 80-100ft.  The rock was wet and somewhat loose, but I was able to maintain the class 2 ranking by just using my trekking poles for balance.  In no time at all we were on the summit.  I would say about a 30minute hike or so from Sherman’s summit will get you to Gemini.  Someone had put a lot of work into a large wind shelter on the summit; thankfully we didn’t need it today.  By this time we could see the first of many to summit Sherman.  I started to hear a little chirping and soon was able to locate a Pika in the rocks.  He was very much into whatever Brian had on his shoes and let us take many photos of him.  We actually thought he was going to follow us home at one point but he eventually retreated back into the rocks.

I can say I wasn’t looking forward to summiting Sherman again, but it was on the way back.  By the time we made it back to the summit there was probably 20 people up there.  We decided to take a break for a few minutes.  Brian being a Chicago native and me a life long Bears fan took in something you don’t see every day in Colorado; a man sporting a Butkus jersey on the summit.  He said he wears a Bears jersey on all his 14ers.  I just laughed, that’s true pride..haha.

It was somewhere around 10am, so we thought we better be on our way to Mount Sheridan.  Brian was moving very well down the ridge today.  He thinks he is just more comfortable in trail runners, and I would have to agree.  I was slower in my shoes today, in my usual boots I know they can take a lot more beating so I am more free to let gravity take over.  Today I was the slow poke on both ends of the trip.  In no time at all we were back down to the saddle making our way across to the base of Sheridan.  From the saddle it is about a 600ft gain to reach Sheridan’s summit.  What a slow rocky road to the top too.  Not as well beaten, because few people probably venture up Sheridan with Sherman right there.  But the views from Sheridan were the best of the day.  It was amazing looking towards Elbert and Massive then all the way around to Sherman.  I highly recommend anyone heading to Sherman to at least put in a little extra effort to get up Sheridan.  The wind shelter on top someone could have lived in.  I think a brick mason may have started the project.

Mount Sheridan from Sherman

We didn’t linger long on Sheridan.  After my last two weeks of dodging thunderstorms I had no desire to make it a third.  Clouds were forming but nothing bad, it still being only around 11:30am we had a good amount of time to descend.  We decided on a more direct descent into the mining area where we knew there were a couple old roads we could connect with.  This section was tough with the shoes, the one part of the day I wish I had my boots on.  It didn’t take too long to hook up with an old hiking trail.  This trail didn’t appear to get much use, more of a boulder trail I would say.  It lead us through the higher mining structures and onto the road.  A leisure walk down the road checking out the old shacks and before we knew it we were back to the car.

After our hike today I would call Sherman the easiest 14er thus far.  It was not as rocky at Democrat, a hair longer but overall easier.  I enjoyed the views immensely and would plan to come back for a winter climb sometime.  I’m loving the fact that my body does not feel broken the day after.  So, it only takes 15-14ers to get broken in…hahaha.  I guess for some people.  The big thing is wearing proper gear for the conditions and trails.  If I were in hiking shoes most of this year I may still have a few toe nails left.  Let’s hope for Massive next week, if not there we will be hiking something out there.

GPS Track

Date: 7/10/2012

Starting Elevation:  12,000ft

Mount Sherman Summit: 14,009ft

Gemini Peak Summit: 13,921ft

Mount Sheridan Summit: 13,743ft

Total Gained Elevation: 3,025ft

Distance: 7.1 miles

Time:  4:57 moving, 1:10 stopped 

Climbing Partner: Brian

Picture Link: http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/nickkarl72/Mount%20Sherman-Gemini%20Peak-Mount%20Sheridan/