Displaying items by tag: Centennial

After an amazing day of rigorous hiking which culminated in a successful summit of Half Peak by Sarah Musick and I, we slept at our fantastic campsite in the picturesque valley below Cuba Gulch, near Lake City, Colorado. Instead of taking the longer, more scenic (and steeper) route to Jones Mountain via Cataract Gulch near our campsite, Sarah and I opted to drive over to American Basin and approach Jones Mountain from that side. Usually, climbers looking to summit Jones Mountain approach it from Silverton; however, because Sarah and I were already on the Lake City side of Engineer Pass and were driving a Suburu Forester, we decided to take an alternative route. I had researched our route ahead of time by consulting the out-of-print and quite handy 13er guidebook by Gerry Roach. Upon arrival at the American Basin trailhead for Handies, Sarah and I set-up camp and she decided to quickly hike up Handies since she had never done it before. I decided to stay behind and rest my legs. My ankle was still quite sore from my basketball injury two months prior and my legs were feeling pretty heavy yet from our climb up Half Peak. I spent the afternoon napping by my camera while taking a time-lapse video of wildflowers in American Basin. Upon Sarah's return from Handies we celebrated by opening up some Odell Myrcenary, one of my favorite Imperial IPAs. Good stuff. 

After enjoying our beverages, I convinced Sarah to hike up American Basin with me for some photography. The clouds were setting up nicely for sunset and I found a sweet little waterfall which made a nice combination with American Peak in the background. Sarah shot a quick panorama of me setting up a shot in the basin with her phone which depicts the scene quite well I think. 

And here's the shot I was setting up to take...

I also decided to hang out past sunset and well into the night in order to get some night photos. I always wanted to get a Milky Way selfie and I thought this spot would be perfect for that shot.

I also set-up for a Milky Way panorama from this spot, relying on the faint light of the moon to light up the hillside.

After freezing my hind quarters off, I decided to head back to camp and hit the sleeping bag for some sleep. Knowing the weather would be great, we decided we would start early enough to get some photographs of the basin at sunrise, but not so early that we would be hiking in the dark. Our route took us up the main Handies Peak trail and then off-route for most of the rest of the day. After hiking about 1/4 of the way up Handies, we split off the trail and started our leisurely stroll up the fragile tundra and wildflowers below American Peak. As the sun began to rise, American Peak began to light up with sweet alpenglow.

The view of UN 13,535 behind us wasn't so bad either...

After enjoying the awesome sunrise, we began to head up the un-trailed section to the west saddle of American Peak. Our target was the lighter colored rocks as seen below. We planned to just bushwhack our way up the side of the mountain. 

The climb was not too bad - the hardest section was the loose scree and dirt just below the saddle. 

We were quite excited to reach the saddle and get our first glimpses of Jones Mountain.

Our route took us up a very faint trail to the ridge between American Peak (left) and Jones Mountain (right). The hiking was pretty easy going.

Once we were between Jones and American the views opened up a bit and we could see just how rugged Jones looked from this vantage. The summit of Jones is seen at the far right.

We headed down (and then up again)...

Upon reaching the summit of Jones Mountain, we ran into another hiker and his dog. My mind was blown when I realized that the other hiker was Mike Megorden, a friend of mine from high school! We played on the high school football team together. Pretty small world!

Sarah and I celebrated our 16th summit together with views of the Grenadiers and Needles behind us. What an amazing view. Oh, how I had missed this part of Colorado!

I set-up my tripod and shot some panoramas using my telephoto lens. The air was still a bit hazy, which added some interesting tones to the photos. Looking south.

Looking south-east.

Looking east. You can see the rugged ridgeline of American Peak.

Looking north east - featuring Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn. 

Looking north.

Looking north-west.

Zoomed in on Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn. I think this one would look pretty nice printed large.

After enjoying the views we decided to head back down. We were contemplating American Peak and would need to make a decision when we hit the American - Jones ridge. The weather was looking 50/50.

A glimpse sideways at Jones' north face reveals how rugged it really is.

I was pretty amazed at how great the flowers still looked for this time of year. Here's a shot of some alpine sunflowers with Jones in the background.

Sarah and I rested at the ridge and decided not to take on American Peak - the weather was starting to look a bit questionable; however, the tundra was quite inviting for nap-time.

Sarah and I took our time heading back, enjoying the great scenery on the way.

Back on the American Basin side, we ran into a huge field of wildflowers which I had to stop and take photos of. I really want to go back and get this same shot at sunset or sunrise someday. Here's a shot Sarah took of me composing my photo.

And the crown jewel shot of the day - a mix of awesome wildflowers with the shoulder of Handies Peak in the background at the right. American Basin truly is one of the best spots in Colorado. 

Sarah and I got back to our campsite and packed up. We decided to drive back to Lake City and up Nellie Creek for our next adventure: Uncompahgre Peak. I had done Uncompahgre back in 2000 with my dad, but was excited to see if I could get some photos at sunrise from the top. We cracked open some more tasty Odell brews and prepared for our next adventure...

I hope you enjoyed following along for this adventure up Jones Mountain. Next up: Colorado 14er Uncompahgre.

August 30, 2013
Distance: 11.5 miles (according to GPS)
Elevation: ~5,700 ft (according to GPS)
Time: 10.5 hrs (4.50 am to 3.20 pm)
Team: Rick McBee, Ben, Matt Payne and Natalie Moran

I suppose I never dreamed of climbing Dallas Peak. First viewing it's full stature from the summit of Mount Sneffels in 2010, I was immediately struck by how intimidating the peak appeared and how overwhelmed I was with a sense of fear and surrender. I'm pretty sure my exact words were, "F*!$ that!" :-)

Fast forward three years and a few climbs later and my attitude towards difficult mountaineering feats has shifted quite a bit. Peaks like Dallas are a now a hearty and welcome challenge in my quest for the highest 100 mountains of Colorado. Ever since reading about Dallas as a boy, I've been fascinated with the technical aspects of how to summit it. When you're a kid, everything looks a lot harder than it really is, and this is especially true of mountains. My mountaineering hero, my dad Ray, never did make it to the top of Dallas, having deferred his quest for the highest 100 for a middle-aged devotion to my baseball career, which surely made him father of the year multiple years running. Knowing Dallas was never completed by Ray made it even more magical and impossible in my mind, just as I had thought of Vestal's Wham Ridge before I also completed it successfully in 2010. Exacerbating my Dallas Peak magical thinking was its extremely short-lived climbing history. The thing has quite simply not been climbed a whole lot. As Rosebrough puts it:

"Interest was renewed in Dallas Peak in 1976 when Spencer Swanger made a solo climb of the peak, which was the last of the hundred highest peaks in Colorado which he had not climbed. Swanger felt that of the nearly 300 climbs he had made, 'perhaps Dallas had been the toughest.' Indeed, only two ascents of Dallas have been recorded before Spencer Swanger's, Don McBride and Everett Long in 1934; and Stuart Krebs in 1956." - Robert Rosebrough - The San Juan Mountains - A Climbing and Hiking Guide.

So, when I received an email from Rick McBee about climbing Dallas and Teakettle on Labor Day weekend, I immediately responded with a prompt "I'm all in." Rick and I became acquainted with each other last year when he sent me a message after I completed the 14ers. He purchased several of my photographs for his company after seeing my shots from my Pyramid Peak and Maroon Peak trip report. I knew Rick as a fellow 14er completer and a very awesome dude. He had also named another accomplished mountaineer, Natalie Moran, as being a part of the climbing party, so my confidence in our success was very high. I had heard great things about Natalie from other 14ers.com members and so I felt great about our odds. The plan was to meet at the Mill Creek Trailhead above Telluride on Thursday night and climb Dallas on Friday morning. After Dallas Peak, we'd head over to Ouray and climb Teakettle Mountain on Saturday. Both mountains demanded the use of ropes and a keen ability for rappelling, neither of which being things that I am an expert in. I warned Rick of this and he assured me it was not a problem at all.

I debated a great deal as to which camera lens or lenses to bring for this trip, knowing I would be doing some technical climbing and quite a bit of tricky maneuvering on shaky terrain. I eventually decided to bring the heavier yet versatile Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 attached to my D800. Strapping the camera and lens to my chest vis-a-vis my Lowepro Toploader would not be too difficult, and I could always opt to throw the camera bag into my backpack for the roped sections. Note and shameless disclaimer: those are affiliate links above, so if you like to shop at B+H and want to help keep the site running, please consider using them.  

The drive to Telluride was totally uneventful minus some construction on Highway 50 between Gunnison and Montrose. My last stint through Montrose led me to a Denny's which was not exactly the most vegetarian-friendly establishment. I regretted not doing more research, again, and opted for a trip to Subway before heading to Telluride from Montrose. The trip began well, as I caught up on my email while eating dinner to learn I had won tickets to see Bill Burr at the Pikes Peak Center. Woohoo! A good omen indeed. Per usual Centennial procedure, I consulted Gerry Roach's "Colorado's Thirteeners" book for directions on how to find the trailhead. The description provided by Roach was quite accurate, taking me up an un-marked road exactly 1.9 miles east of the Highway 145 turn-off for Telluride. So far so good. My Subaru Forester made it up the hill without incident and I found both Rick and Natalie's vehicles parked on the side of the road near the end of the Mill Creek Road. I parked my car and introduced myself to Rick and his friend Ben, who was joining us for Dallas. Natalie was already fast asleep in her Forester. I decided to sleep next to them in front of my car, so I would have to test the sleepability of my Forester another night. The stars were out, but only for a brief moment as clouds rolled into the valley.

We all woke up at 4:30 AM for a 5 AM start. I introduced myself to Natalie, after having exchanged several private messages with her over the past couple of years on the 14ers.com forum. I knew that Natalie was from Russia, so it was quite awesome to hear her accent. You see, as my wife will attest, I have a thing for accents. They intrigue me, and I love listening to people talk with them. We began our hike up the trail and were immediately stumped by a marked split in the trail, a common occurrence when you begin hikes in the dark. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your outlook on the accuracy and usefulness of Roach's route descriptions, Natalie had brought a copy of the route description from Roach's book, which clearly stated to take a left at the signed trail junction, which we eventually did after some debate. Here's a photo of that trail junction taken later in the day on our waydown, which is clearly marked as the Deep Creek Trail.

From this junction, Roach writes that you need to hike another .7 miles through three switchbacks to a meadow at 10,000 ft. and then west through the meadow. For some reason we thought there would be another trail to take after finding the meadow; however, that was our misunderstanding. We found the large meadow in the dark, which continued west and then north. A heavy layer of clouds still obscured our views. We knew we were looking for the Sneffels Highline Trail after reaching a ridge at 10,600 ft. We found this trail without any issues as well, but were confused quite a bit in the dark before finding and turning right onto the marked trail junction as depicted below.

The views from the Sneffels Highline Trail were divine in the early morning light, showcasing amazing scenes of the Wilson Peak group to the southwest of us.

The light hitting the mountains above Telluride was absolutely sublime, and made for quite the stunning black and white image.

We followed up the trail through seven switchbacks as described by Roach and then found ourselves wondering when to start climbing up the slopes of Dallas. We found the trail quite easy to follow but often questioned our location and direction, having to consult GPS and map quite often before agreeing on our next course of action.

As the trail wrapped up and around the southern flank of Dallas, views to the north and west continued to wow us as the morning progressed. We were making great time, taking minimal breaks. I tried to stay back a little so I could get some good photos of the route heading up and of our awesome party.

Rick and Ben were setting the pace and keeping us on the right path, with an occasional team discussion about our next moves. Man, it was great having competent mountaineers on this trip. Rick was a strong leader, and Ben was a true champ.

The sky was pretty overcast most of the morning, but that did not stop the sun from lighting up the San Juan peaks above Telluride, across from us to the south.

We continued up the Sneffels Highline trail and enjoyed our views to the south very much. It was a very calm morning, and we were holding onto hope that the weather would improve and that our day would be marked with success on Dallas.

After losing a little elevation and crossing a small creek, the trail wraps around to the south and west and then across a large grassy area below Dallas, where we began eye-balling our route up to the first cliff bands on Dallas' southern flank, shown as a white band in the photo below.

We left the trail at stream coming down from Dallas and fanned out to ascend the very steep grassy slope up to Dallas' cliffs.

As we climbed, a deer was seen above us on a ridge. I did not have a telephoto lens with me, so this is heavily cropped from the D800 (about 100%).

Natalie sneaked a photo of me taking that shot. It was great having some people other than me taking photos!

Telluride was still looking great in this photo of Natalie as we continued up the steep grassy hillside.

And of course Lizard Head, Mount Wilson, El Diente and Wilson Peak (left to right) looked amazing across the valley from us.

Ben volunteered to take a shot of me heading up with my camera, with the great light behind us. Thanks Ben!

Mount Emma was also looking amazing as we ascended to the cliff bands, with early sun behind.

The lower section of this part of the climb was pretty straight forward, albeit rather steep. There was good rock and grass to grip with our boots, and the larger rocks were quite avoidable through here. We found this part of the climb to be relatively simple with little to no route-finding needed. There were numerous areas that had a clear trail identified all the way up to the cliff bands. We stopped a few times to catch our breath and take in the views.

We were a very strong group, so stops were not very frequent. Also, for not climbing together before, we were quite friendly and the group's conversations were very enjoyable. Rick carried the rope while I did the heavy lifting with the camera. Ben and Rick wore their harnesses all the way up, while Natalie and I opted to leave those in our packs until they were needed later.

We continued up the easier section without any issues. When we reached the first set of cliff bands, we were a little unsure where to go until some cairns revealed themselves to us and the route up past the cliff bands to the left became obvious. Also, the climbing become much more exciting as we entered some very fun class 3 sections of rock ledges.

Here's a shot of me heading up the class 3 section, taken by Rick. You can also see the general area we came from, having left the trail about where the trees end near the bottom of the rock gully far below.

As we continued up the lengthy class 3 section, the light below Mount Emma improved, illuminating the awesome stream coming down from above.

We found the climbing in this area to be very fun and enjoyable, with only the occasional loose section of rock. Natalie was a wicked climber and did a wonderful job of surveying the route.

Dallas was quite imposing as we reached higher and higher to the base of the peak.

And damn, the light over on the Wilson's was spectacular in the early morning sun.

The terrain got a little more tricky as we kept heading higher on the southern flank of Dallas, forcing us to find fun and entertaining routes up the mostly solid rock. Here's Natalie powering up one of the final sections of this part of the route.

Once up to the end of the cliff band, the route evened out quite a bit and lead us to the west to a notch referred to as 13,000 ft. notch. Rick led the way.

The route heading up to the notch was very straight-forward, we just followed the cliff band and up a boulder field on a very well-established trail.

A look back on the route we took up to the notch.

As we rounded the corner a bit, the route to the notch became even more apparent - stay as far left as possible without climbing straight up a wall.

We stopped just below the notch to enjoy the views.

The frequent rain over the past few months really greened-up the mountain-sides. Vestal and Arrow were just coming into view in the distance (left middle).

A look back at the Wilson Peak/Mount Wilson massif shows the trail we followed up to the notch.

As we reached the notch and rounded the corner to head up the west face of Dallas, Sneffels and Teakettle came into view, filling us all with a sense of excitement and glory.

Once the notch is reached, the fun begins. We immediately began working our way up a fairly obvious route towards Dallas' summit towers above through loose dirt and rocks.

Teakettle was looking quite awesome. I was savoring it already. I was wishing I had a longer lens to get a nice zoomed-in look at the handle of the kettle, but a super-cropped shot from the 24-70 would have to do.

Climbing up this section was pretty straight-forward, but quite loose. I could see this being a challenging section if there was snow on the ground still or if significant rain had happened prior to the climb. There seemed to be a feint trail all the way up to the class 4 section on the west face. The trail led us up this loose gully that was directly against the face of the peak, and then over some ledges to the west.

Once over the ledge system we reached what was clearly the class 4 section. To our left was an impassable chimney and to our right was a huge drop-off into the basin between Dallas and Sneffels. We worked our way up to the base of the class 4 section and mentally prepared for the steep rocks that awaited us above.

Finding the class 4 section was not hard, but locating a route up it was quite the challenge! I love class 4, personally, so I was very happy to find this section, as I had mostly forgotten about it from the route descriptions I had read. A look back down where we came up showed just how steep the west face was, but it was certainly nothing too hard, in my opinion.

Approaching the class 4 section was not hard, but it was strewn with a lot of loose garbage.

I kept my position as caboose and Natalie fired off some shots of me coming up the class 4 section, which I found to be quite exposed but very solid.

I continued to enjoy the views of Sneffels as we continued up the side of Dallas.

We found the class 4 anchor station, which we figured some people used to rappel down the class 4 on the way off the mountain.

At this point, the route became looser and steeper, but nothing overwhelming in nature. We followed the loose scree up to the first crux below the summit towers.

A look back towards Sneffels revealed some awesome hoodoos on the ridge. What a cool geologic playground.

Almost to the first crux, Ben and I stop to revel in the San Juan glory behind us.

We reached the first crux, which was quite obvious and marked at its base with a cairn. This chimney looked very challenging and I was wondering how I would get up it with my camera on my chest.

Thinking that would not work out so well, I opted to put my camera bag away and head up the same way as the rest of the group. The chimney was low class 5, for sure.

I found ample but difficult handholds on the left side of the chimney and worked my way up to the first ledge seen just above Ben's yellow bandana above.

From this ledge, the route becomes a little less obvious, and the footing is somewhat unstable due to the slope of the rock you are standing on; however, I decided to head to the left through an awkwardly diagonal weakness between rocks.

We did not rope up for this short section, but I think some parties might benefit from a rope at this spot for some added security and peace of mind.

Natalie captured a photo of me coming up the small chimney from above. 

A view from above, shot by Rick:

Here's another view looking up from the bottom, showing the general line you take to reach the top of the chimney.

We also found an anchor at the top of the 1st crux and figured it was used to top rope the chimney. Photo by Natalie.

Once past the chimney, we were a little perplexed as to where to go next. Ben and Rick study the route in this photo from Natalie.

The route was not obvious at all. Roach describes down-climbing from here, but we found no such need or desire. The only way that looked even do-able was a ledge system going up and around the north face of Dallas, which had dramatic exposure as seen in this photo snapped by Natalie. Would you downclimb here? No - thanks though Roach.

Following a lightly worn area of rock up a small series of ledges proved to be the best bet.

At least the views were still holding up.

We found it difficult to find the summit pitch, but some sleuthing by yours truly discovered a dirt gully leading up to a ledge which was at the base of the summit pitch, which looked quite challenging. Rick set-up his rope and got down to business as soon as Ben arrived to belay.

Here is another view of the dirt gully leading up to the summit pitch.

Rick placed only one cam for protection before reaching a belay ledge about 30 ft. above. Our route went right over the first boulder and then up to the right.

After watching Rick tear up the face to the belay station, I took one last look over at Sneffels and Blue Lake before mentally preparing for the ascent up the face. Rock climbing is not really my area of expertise, with only a few other forays into the alpine roped climbing arena in my past. Ben ensured I was tied in correctly and helped clean some mud off my boots.

Natalie got one last photo of me before my first alpine ascent in several years. Adrenaline started pumping.

A look up revealed my route. Nothing too crazy, right? That's Rick perched up there with the white hat barely showing. Oh, and hey, an appearance by the moon.

Up we go into the crazy class 5 crux. I found it pretty tough in muddy mountaineering boots, but managed to find some solid footholds with the help of Ben's finger pointing out some spots for me to try. Photo by Natalie.

A patient and watchful Rick watched from above. I'm not sure if I should be happy or disturbed he got photos of me while belaying. All is well that ends well. All joking aside, Rick was an awesome leader.

Once up the 1st big boulder, climibing became quite a bit easier.

After I unclipped, Rick threw the rope down to Ben.

Ben topped out with ease and enjoyed the views of Sneffels while Natalie roped up.

Natalie made it up to the belay station without any issues and Rick continued up the route. We found the next section to be a bit easier.

Rick went first and got to the top within about a minute. He setup a belay and I went 2nd, deciding to clip in for added security. The final section was exposed but there was a lot more handholds and footholds to choose from and it felt very low class 5, perhaps class 4. I reached the top of Dallas and was overwhelmed with joy. What an amazing climb! Natalie came next, and I was able to document her topping out beneath Rick's "meat anchor."

Natalie was just as excited to get to the top as I was.

The views from Dallas were expansive and incredible. Blue Lake was awash in light. This panorama is pretty huge. In the full resolution version, you can see all of the buildings at Telluride and make out people on top of Sneffels. Click on it to go to my photography gallery.

I was all smiles on top of the world. Only 18 more Centennials to go!

Natalie got a great shot of me after I fired off my summit panorama.

After enjoying some lunch and watching the storms build to the west, we decided to get a group photo and prepare for the rappel off the top.

Rick set up the rappel and everyone gave me a needed refresher on rappelling. Rick went first and I went second. Setting up the rappel for this was a bit tricky. Natalie let me borrow some cord to anchor myself to the anchor and then I got onto the final ledge and roped up. We had about a 90 foot rappel off the west face of Dallas, which contained some interesting rappelling features. First of all, as soon as you step off the edge, the rock inverts and you're off to the races. Second of all, you have to aim for a hole between a giant car-sized chockstone below, about 60 ft down. Natalie got an awesome shot of me moving into the first part of the rappel.

I think the rappel was even more heart-pumping than the climb up. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy rappelling, but it had been at least two years since my last rappel and I was hanging off the side of a huge mountain. Amazing stuff.

Once I popped through the hole below, I was ectatic. I photographed the others coming down through - here's Natalie.

Our fearless leader awaited us below.

Another view of the hole we rappelled through, this time Ben coming down.

After the rappel, we head down pretty fast. I took a nice tumble on the class 3 section on the south slopes and got a few cuts, nothing too crazy. We made it down to tree-line just as rain began to move in.

We reached the infamous meadow that Roach refers to and I decided to get a parting shot of Dallas above.

Back at the parking lot, we conspired for our plan of attack on Teakettle for the following day.

Overall, I would rate Dallas Peak as one of the hardest Centennials (highest 100 mountains in Colorado). The long, steep approach coupled with the challenging route-finding and intense class 5 climbing as well as the bomber rappel make this one of the most demanding peaks in Colorado. So far, I think Dallas would be rated as the hardest mountain I've climbed to date. As far as route-finding goes, don't rely to heavily on Roach. We found his descriptions somewhat lacking, especially on the upper section of the route after the 1st crux. Study our photos carefully and you should have no problems finding your way if you should choose to attempt Dallas. I would highly encourage other climbers to use Natalie's GPX file and reference her trip report as well. Here's a map and a rough hand-drawn route to reference as well.

For more information on travel and lodging in and around Telluride, check out this site, full of great information.

Lastly, I want to thank my amazing climbing partners, Rick, Natalie and Ben. These three were amazing to climb with and I could not be more happy with how our climb went. Next up, Teakettle...

Climbing mountains in solo-mode is therapy for me. While I have often espoused a deep belief that climbing mountains solo is a safety concern, there are times when the benefits outweigh the risks. I'm not sure that this particlar climb qualifies; however, I must admit, this was a truly wonderful experience that I will never regret. I decided somewhat at the last minute to take Friday off of work and climb a 13er. Having only 20 or so Centennials left to complete my quest of the highest 100 in Colorado, I have been getting more motivated to tackle the mountains left.

Grizzly Peak had always intrigued me. It is one of the few Centennials not visible from a paved road (I am fairly confident of this) and has a very remote status. Grizzly Peak is nestled deep in a valley just west of the summit of Independence Pass between Leadville and Aspen and is the most western Centennial in the Sawatch Range. There are tremendous views of the Elk Mountains from Grizzly Peak, including Pyramid Peak, the Maroon Bells, Snowmass Mountain and Capitol Peak. Grizzly Peak also carries with it the distinction of being the highest of 7 mountains in Colorado named Grizzly and the highest ranked 13er at 13,988 ft. (Sunlight Spire is higher, but is not ranked - for more on this issue see this article).

Since I would be climbing by myself, I knew I would have as much time as I needed to take photos and do some crazy photography projects from or near the summit. I chose the west route of Grizzly due to the very short length of the climb, which was very appealing for weather purposes. The plan was to drive the road to the base of the mountain Friday morning, climb the mountain, take photos of sunset from the top, and stay on the top as long as possible for a shot of the Milky Way and to do some star trails photography. According to Roach's 13er guidebook, the road is open all the way to the very base of the mountain, leaving only about 2 miles of hiking to the summit. When I reached Grizzly Reservoir, the road was closed at this point, which meant I had to add another 2 miles both ways to my hike. This was not a huge deal, but it certainly made me re-think my plan.

Being that I had nutty plans to do some extensive photography work from the summit, I packed quite heavily. I was carrying the following photography gear with me:

I'm not especially proud of carrying all of this weight up a steep mountain, but I certainly don't regret doing it.

After I parked my Jeep near the Grizzly Reservoir campground, I head out with a pack full of camera gear and fresh legs at about 1 PM. This is not a very typical start time for me, and probably not highly recommended due to weather concerns, but I figured I would play it safe and keep an eye above for the hike in. For any photographers reading this, I decided to stick with the 24-70 f/2.8 as my walk-about lens, which worked out fairly well. The round-trip stats for this hike are 8 miles w/ 3,500 ft. of elevation gain.  

The view from the road was fantastic. Lower, but very rugged 13ers adorned the valley and made for quite a nice sight on the hike in.

I certainly enjoyed the view but was keeping an eye on developing thunderstorms above.

I'm usually not a fan of hiking on a road, but I could not really complain with the view I had, plus I had the Nerdist podcast to keep me entertained.

On the hike in, I was able to find some Columbine flowers growing in a small open field, making for a fun photography experiment. One thing I have been wanting to try to do is a technique called focus stacking, which allows a photographer to capture a very sharp photograph that is really the combination of multiple photographs taken at various focal points. I tried that out on these columbine flowers, which worked pretty well considering the wind was blowing (which makes focus stacking almost impossible).

I was looking for a gully cut into the side of the mountain to my left (east), which would be my entrance point for the Grizzly Peak ascent. The mountain has no trail and is basically a steep slog up a very pretty, wild, but generally straight forward gully going up, up, up. Before reaching the gully, the rain started to come down a little, so I stopped to get a photo at this beaver pond before putting my camera away and heading up the gully.

While small rain was coming down, I decided to keep my camera bag packed in my main pack to make it easier and to give me some peace of mind. As such, I was unable to take any photographs with my camera until the rain totally left and I was about a quarter of the way up Grizzly via the gully. I stopped to snap a set of photos to be later stitched into a panorama, looking west across the valley towards Truro and several un-named 13ers.

A look up at the terrain revealed just the sloggy mess I was climbing up. It was quite steep and somewhat difficult to navigate through all of the small pine trees, willow trees and rocks. I just had to pick my way up and take frequent rest breaks (I was carrying a lot of weight, haha). The Nerdist podcast of Rick Moranis made the slog a lot less painful, although my laughter probably drove wildlife away.

As I continued up Grizzly, the storms seemed to subside, and I was feeling a lot more comfortable about the hike up and eventual stay on the summit. A look back down the gully showed the way up and I could now see the road I hiked up from the North (right).

Once above treeline, the gully was pretty obvious in terms of where to go. It was mostly rock and dirt with wildflowers and boulders strewn about.

The views were pretty enjoyable in all directions. Despite some wind, I really could not complain.

The 13ers to the west kept me looking back quite often, and the wildflowers were just too cool. They were all over the place, even above treeline, which is always awesome. I probably could have made it up the mountain in a lot less time, but I took the time to take some quality photos. This is another focus-stacked image making it so the very close flower in the foreground could be in focus as well as the distant peaks.

As I continued up, views of the Elk Mountains (specifically, Castle Peak) began to materialize above the horizon to the west beneath some virga coming from some small storm clouds.

I was not worried about the weather yet - the clouds were pretty small and my new expansive views to the west indicated I should be in the clear for the remainder of the day. At this point, the climb became progressively more difficult for my weary legs. The weight of the photography equipment was really kicking my rear end and I had to take more and more breaks. The terrain was also much more difficult - not technically, but physically demanding. There were more boulder fields to contend with and the dreaded scree that takes you downhill one step for every two you take. As such, I decided to pack away my camera again so I could focus on the hike and make sure I did not fall. I finally was able to reach the saddle between Grizzly Peak and Garfield Peak as the light from the impending sunset was starting to generate some magic on the valleys below to the west and east. Seriously, if you've never done a sunset climb before, you need to - it is simply one of the most amazing experiences you can have in the high country.  

While the weather to the west was looking fabulous, the weather to the south and east was starting to look kind of nasty. I was not too concerned yet, but was keeping watch. One benefit of carrying a 5 lb tripod up a mountain is that you can do self-portraits. Here's one looking south and east towards Garfield Peak and Taylor Park (not visible).

I also decided it might be fun to do a very large vertical panoramic showcasing the sky from the saddle, looking South-West-North. To the north (right) would be the summit of Grizzly Peak itself.

After about 20 more minutes of climbing, I was able to reach the summit of Grizzly Peak. I was greeted by an incredible view to the east and south, which included the Three Apostles and an amazing rainbow just shy of Taylor Park, where a huge thunderstorm was brewing.

It was pretty awesome to be on top of the Continental Divide before sunset. The views were great, and that sweet rainbow stuck around for quite a long time to the northeast. The light from the sun was hitting the clouds over Taylor Park and causing some interesting streaks to appear. I signed the summit register, which was last signed by a guy I had read a trip report of from the day before. He had made a tribute to Steve Gladbach, a very accomplished and famous Colorado mountaineer who had just perished on Thunder Pyramid. I decided to also sign the book as "For Steve." I think Steve's passing weighed on every mountaineer's mind heavily, including mine. I never did get a chance to meet Steve, but we exchanged several cordial and thought-provoking messages over on 14ers.com regarding my morbid articles I write about the mountaineering deaths each year. Steve wrote a very eloquent and thoughtful post about death over there a few years ago and it always stuck in my mind. I even remember responding to his post saying that "heaven forbid you die in the mountains..." and yet - he eventually did. Steve had conquered the goals I have set for myself and I had always looked up to him, not only as an accomplished mountaineer but as a very amazing person. There are countless stories of his selfless acts and I felt a solo climb a nice tribute to his life. 

As I enjoyed the last few minutes of sunlight, I had to take advantage of my somewhat foolish decision to haul up my 300mm lens, which weighs 3 pounds on its own. I wanted to get some zoomed in shots of Ice Mountain, Pyramid Peak, the Maroon Bells and Snowmass Mountain using the 300 and a 1.4 Teleconverter, which gave me an effective focal length of 420mm.

Castle and Conundrum were looking freaking awesome, with some crazy sunset light surrounding it. Thanks to Michael Colson for the correction!

Snowmass Mountain was also looking wicked with the sunset light, giving the photo a very layered feel in black and white.

As the light continued to approach the magical photographic Golden Hour, I had some fun playing with different photos.

I also stitched together a massive 360 summit pano centered on the sun. This photo, being taken with the Nikon D800, is a massive file. If printed at native resolution (no loss of quality), it would span 30 feet wide. I'd love to see that. If I have time later, I'll work on an interactive 360 file so you can see this thing at a bigger resolution and zoom in.

The sun went behind some clouds but then created some nice god beams coming down near Mt. Sopris.

Then the sun reappeared and allowed me to snap off this photo which I think looks kind of like a Colorado flag.

A look back to the east revealed some magic also. The light was very soft and colorful, showcasing the grand scale of La Plata Peak (left), Colorado's 5th highest mountain.

Sunset from the Continental Divide - an awesome experience. I took some artistic liberties on this next photo...

As the sun dipped below the horizon, and stood and watched the magic fade.

At this point, I had to make a decision. Watching the clouds to my east and south, I was getting a little nervous about the prospect of staying on top of the mountain to photograph the night sky. I was really motivated to do so, but I did not feel like it was a risk worth taking. While climbing down the mountain in the dark did not appeal to me, getting struck by lightning was even less appealing. I decided to pack up the gear and head down. The hike down was an adventure to say the least. It became quite dark very quickly, as there was no moon. I found myself in some sketchy spots where I had no recollection of that route from the hike in. I took my time and was very deliberate about each step. I was able to ride down a scree field a ways using some scree-skiing techniques and from there it was pretty much a boulder/snowfield/cliff/willow dodging fest. Downclimbing in the dark without a trail - not recommended - AT ALL. Hahahaha! It was certainly not the safest mountain climbing experience...

After reaching the road at 11 PM, I was rewarded with some insane views of the Milky Way. I set-up for some shots of the Milky Way and to my huge surprise, was able to also capture the Northern Lights! This next shot is a panoramic looking north-east-south. I just can't believe I got the Northern Lights - so awesome.

My final shot is me laying in the grass with my head-lamp, gazing into the night sky.

I slept under the stars at my Jeep back at the Reservoir after a long but enjoyable hike out in the dark and drove home to Colorado Springs early the next morning. What a great trip!

If you enjoyed my photos, please consider purchasing a print for your home or office. You can visit my gallery for a full showcase of my photography - if there are any photos from this trip you are specifically interested in, please do contact me. 

UN 13,832 and UN 13,811 (UN = Unnamed) have been on my radar for quite a few years now. My dad and I were hoping to tackle them both back in 2009 but weather steered us elsewhere. I've also eyed them as a potentially fantastic winter climb from the Williams Creek TH, but have not had the ability to string together the time to pull that off either. So, when I figured I had the opportunity to take a vacation day and do some climbing, I quickly picked out these two gems. I coached my son's first t-ball game and then afterwards drove to Lake City for an estimated 1 AM arrival at the trailhead. I planned to meet my friend Regina there (she was coming down from Denver via Highway 285) and get a few hours of sleep before we set off to climb early Friday, June 1st.

Interestingly enough, UN 13,832 and UN 13,811 are the only two mountains of the highest hundred peaks in Colorado (Centennials) with neither an official nor unofficial name. These two fantastic thirteeners (ranked #90 & #99 respectively) are located just east of the 14ers Redcloud and Sunshine near Lake City, Colorado. If you're like me, you are wondering why these two mountains in the highest 100 are unnamed. These unnamed mountains are located within a large section of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, specifically, BLM's Redcloud Wilderness Study Area. According to Summitpost, "in 2004, these two mountains were "protected" from being named when the USGS turned down a proposal to christen them after two of Colorado's mountaineering pioneers, Carl Blaurock and Bill Ervin. Apparently the policy is to not approve new names of mountains within wilderness or wilderness study lands, and a competing Blaurock/Ervin naming proposal was selected for a pair of peaks in the central Sawatch Range."

With all that being said, I needed something to do to keep me awake on my drive down to Lake City... so I focused on trying to think of clever names for these two mountains. With the close proximity to Sunshine and Redcloud, I figured it might be fitting to name UN 13,832 something to do with the moon. The sun shines, then it sets... the clouds get red (Redcloud), then the moon rises. How about "Moonrise" for UN 13,832 and "Not Last" for UN 13,811 (since it's ranked #99 / 100)? Let's see if they stick anywhere.

Speaking of the moon, on the way down to Lake City, I decided that it would be pretty awesome to stop near Lake San Cristobal and get a shot of the stars and moon, so that's just what I did. I stopped right off the road heading towards the trailhead and took a 5-shot vertical pano (my camera was vertically orientated vs. horizontally oriented) of the Milky Way, moon, and Lake San Cristobal. I think it worked fabulously! Please click to see a larger version or to purchase on my photography website.

With the shot I had envisioned complete, I continued on up the road towards the trailhead. I finally reached my destination at around 12:45 AM and decided it was suitable to sleep under the stars in my sleeping bag, so I set out to do just that. Shorly after I settled in, Regina arrived and set-up her gear to do the same. I took the time to take one last set of photos (why not). This one turned out even more magical, I think. It is 7 veritical shots as a panoramic of the Milky Way over "Sundog," the 13,432 ft. mountain connected to Sunshine Peak's north ridge. The moon had just set and allowed for a great scene. I was actually inspired by another photographer's (David Kingham) photo from last month and wanted to give this a shot. Click on it to see a larger version on my photography website.

We crashed at 1:45 AM and decided to set the alarm for 5:45 AM, which came all-too quickly. There was one other hiker at the TH that started before us (and did wake me a few times by starting his car), so solitude was looking to be guaranteed. I promptly threw down some coffee soymilk (which was surprisingly good and filling) and we departed! I knew from the get-go that I wanted to do what Roach calls "Point Fever," which is to say, combining UN 13,832, UN 13,632 and UN 13,811. The route is a long but easy 12.8 miles and gains 4,727 ft. in elevation. A nice leg burner. [Colorado's Thirteeners - Roach & Roach, pg. 222]

Here is a map of the route we took from the Silver Creek TH (click for larger version):

So, that's just what we set-out to accomplish. The semi-early start granted us a nice view of Handies Peak and Whitecross Mountain across the valley. It was really great seeing them from this side since my climb of them with my dad in 2010 on Father's Day. 

As we climbed on the trail, we stumbled upon an open area with boulders. I was immediately struck with a rush of nostalgia, remembering vividly coming through that part of the trail and seeing a marmot during my climb of Redcloud and Sunshine in 1987 at the age of 9. Crazy! 

Before long, we were gaining altitude and came across a nice stream. It seemed the perfect spot to test out my 9-stop ND filter, so I put it on my Tokina 11-16 lens and did a very long exposure. I liked how it turned out.

As we gained elevation, parts of Redcloud came into view to our right. It was immediately taken aback by how little snow was left. It was truly remarkable. Indeed, Colorado's state-wide snowpack levels are at 2% of normal. Very dry.

Regina was setting a nice pace for us and the weather was holding up quite nicely. I had no worries about my chances of summiting both 13ers.

Before we knew it, we found ourselves gaining the ridge between UN 13,832 and Redcloud. We had also caught up from the guy that left before us that morning.

Gaining the saddle was no problem, and the views were great from there. As expected, the other hiker turned up to climb Redcloud. Solitude was guaranteed at this point. Here's a 360 degree view from the saddle, with Redcloud at far right and UN 13,832 just under the sun.

The hike from here was just long and gentle - easy class 1 / 2 stuff. Here's a view of UN 13,832 as we approached from the ridge.

Looking back at Redcloud, with Sunshine barely peaking up over the ridge.

And finally, Uncompahgre Peak came into view for us!

Heading up towards the next saddle made for easy and fun trail / ridge walking.

I was impressed by how far apart Sunshine was from Redcloud - much further than I remember.

We finally topped out on UN 13,832 at around 10:30 AM. Regina was loving the view of Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre, no doubt. 

Also awesome was the view of the Grenadiers and the Needles. Eolus, Sunlight, Windom, Silex, Guardian and others all stuck out quite prominantly. This perspective really shows you how far part Eolus is from Sunlight. Pretty amazing.

I also did not mind the great view of Wetterhorn from here. Such a cool looking mountain!

Regina decided she was not going to continue over to UN 13,811, so I fired off a few more shots, including the below panoramas, and headed off for UN 13,811. Regina was going to wait for me below the saddle of Redcloud and UN 13,832. 

The San Juans are truly great.

UN 13,811 was still quite a ways off, as seen from this next shot.

I began my hike over and was constantly drawn to the view of Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre. I just loved those two mountains.

UN 13,632 was one obstacle in the path to UN 13,811, so I needed to go up and over it as well.

All while still enjoying my view...

Within about an hour, I finally made it over to UN 13,811 to complete my 75th Centennial. Pretty impressive and almost there!

I snapped off a few shots for a panorama from 13,811 also , still in shock over how little snow was truly left.

The view back over to 13,832 was sobering to say the least. I was starting to feel a little tired in the legs, so I was not really looking forward to the hike back. I did however, really enjoy the surprising view of 13,832 from here.

I headed back over to UN 13,832, which was quite the demoralizing slog. I reached the saddle of Redcloud and UN 13,832 in quick order and met up with Regina at a small tarn below Redcloud Peak. THe view of Whitecross was very cool from there.

And of course Handies and Whitecross were our guides for the duration.

Regina led the way while I snapped off this super great shot of her hiking out. I think this was one of my favorites from the hike.

We crossed over a small stream that had some wildflowers growing at it. I thought it was a nice looking scene to stop and enjoy.

Before long, we had reached treeline again and Handies was all that we could make out above the trees.

The remainder of the hike went without incident. I will say that these two mountains are pretty fun. The hike is very long, but affords welcoming views of very recognizable 14ers and 13ers in the area. Solitude is almost a given, since most people in the area are there to tackle the more famous 14ers Redcloud and Sunshine. I think you will also enjoy the hike if you choose to take it. 

We stopped in Gunnison on our way home for some much needed sustanance at our favorite Mexican food place on Main St. Until next time... I hope you enjoyed this trip report!

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California Peak has long eluded me. Being one of the highest 100 mountains in Colorado (a Centennial), it has been in my sights for awhile. California Peak rises to 13,849 ft. and is ranked 84th highest in Colorado based on my list of the highest 100 mountains in Colorado. Over the past two years, I've set eyes on it numerous times, first from the summit of Lindsey, Iron Nipple and "Huerfano," and later from the summits of Ellingwood Point and Blanca Peak, all close neighbors of California Peak. I had hoped to climb it back in 2009 with my wife, but those plans were foiled by some hoodlums shooting guns at me and my family. I also wanted to climb it in 2010, but those plans were foiled by a seriously bad weather outlook that forced me to stay home. So, a few weeks ago, my long-time hiking partner, Ethan Beute and I made plans to climb California Peak. Our plans to climb it two weeks ago were completely thwarted by forecasted 100 MPH winds and again the following weekend due to snow. Alas, this weekend came and we pulled the trigger, with highs forecasted in the 40's for California Peak and wind gusts of up to 40 MPH. Not knowing how much snow was on the trail itself, we both packed our MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes and a great deal of winter gear. We both also brought our Outdoor Research gaiters, expecting to encounter a fair depth of snow. I scoured the internet for trip reports for California Peak in April and found none, so we really had no idea how much snow would be on the trail or the road. I met Ethan at his house at 3:45 AM and we left for the beautiful yet dangerous Huerfano Valley. We were not sure what the road would be like, so we were very concerned with how far we could get his vehicle, given the last report stated the road had significant snow drifts fairly far from the trailhead. At 6 AM, we were able to make it to within about 2 miles from the trailhead just as the first views of Blanca Peak came into view.

Ethan snapped a great photo of California Peak and Blanca Peak (right to left respectively):

I was very pleased with this starting point and start time. I was also very pleased by the apparent lack of snow on the road and in the trees, as well as the relatively warm temperature. After evaluating the snow levels from afar, we opted to bring our snowshoes because we were unsure if we would need them or not, and since the MSR Lightning Ascents only weigh 3 pounds, it was a sacrifice we were both willing to make to ensure peace of mind. After properly securing our gear and donning our hiking boots, we were off to the races.

One thing you should know about both Ethan and I is that our first passion is hiking but a close second for both of us is photography. Last year, Ethan purchased a very nice Olympus camera on a deal that was too good to pass-up. I became increasingly jealous of the great images he'd been producing, so I set my sights on upgrading my old Sony DSC-F828 that I purchased in 2001. I was able to purchase a Nikon D7000 a couple of months ago and so I was really excited to finally put it to the test on a proper mountain ascent. Given our mutual love for photography, Ethan and I tend to take several breaks on our climbs to capture some photos along the way, and this trip was no different. In retrospect, I feel that I have a lot to learn about my new camera even though I felt really good about all of the settings after familiarizing myself with its features for the past couple of months. Many of my photos from this trip were blurry, under or over-exposed, and just plain not what I expected. I need a ton more practice!

Right away after setting off on the trail, Ethan and I were greeted by the sunrise kissing the top of Blanca Peak, one of the most magnificent mountains in Colorado. The vantage of Blanca Peak from the Huerfano Valley is one to behold, and I can't produce a much higher recommendation for a scenic location.

The road was almost completely clear of snow, minus a few large drifts that were in the shadows of trees. A large dead aspen tree had fallen to block the road about 1/8 of a mile from where we parked, so we were glad we parked where we did. Someone's going to have some fun with a chainsaw to get that tree out of the way.

The standard route for California Peak takes you from the road up the Zapata Trail that weaves through the trees and intersects with a high meadow.

From there, the trail heads even higher on the eastern slopes of California Peak until dropping you onto a gentle ridge at 11,800 ft. From here, the idea is to follow the very long south ridge of California Peak all the way to the top, a ridge walk consisting of about 2,000 ft. in elevation gain over three miles. Our plan was to stick to the standard route as much as possible, taking detours when the trail was lost. As it turned out, the trail was quite visible for most of the hike, until we lost it just after the meadow. From here, we opted to head where we thought the trail went and then straight up a steep gully towards the ridge.

This gully ended up intersecting the actual trail eventually, and so we re-gained the trail and followed it to just below the ridge, where we trodded up a steep snow slop and over a small cornice to reach the ridge and the crazy wind that accompanied it.

Here is an outline of the route we took for California Peak (click for higher resolution):

The trail offers some pretty nice views of the Huerfano Valley below, including a nice vantage of the Iron Nipple.

The wind on the ridge was pretty intense. It was not gusty, rather a constant ripping wind that had a biting chill to it. The wind was blowing across the ridge from the west, which explained the relatively little amount of snow on the ridge minus the drifted cornices on the very eastern edges of the ridge.

Ethan and I began hiking up the gentle ridge towards what we thought was the summit of Unnamed 13,476. Once we crested it, we realized it was merely one of several false summits leading up to California Peak. While these false summits were constantly demoralizing us, we were pleased and surprised by the breathtaking views of Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle, Mount Herard and the Great Sand Dunes National Park to the north.

We reached the summit of another false summit and realized that California Peak was a long ways off yet. This ridge was quite a long approach indeed!

Once we reached the summit of Unnamed 13,476, we needed to stop because Ethan's hands had gone numb. This was surprising to both of us because he was wearing his brand new Marmot Windstopper gloves. Apparently they did not stop the mighty wind of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I went into my first aid kit and produced two Hand Warmer kits, one of which I had looted from a geocache find near Mount Shavano in 2009. The kits seemed to help Ethan, so we continued on up towards the next false summit.

The summit block of California Peak was fairly steep, although nothing too crazy, and we were able to boulder hop our way through the shallow snow and to the summit by noon. Needless to say, the views of Blanca Peak, Ellingwood Point, Mount Lindsey, Iron Nipple and "Huerfano Peak" were outstanding.

It had appeared that no one else had signed the summit register since October, so it was cool being the first to sign it in 2011. We took several picutres and refueled for the descent. Despite the strong and chilly winds, the summit was great. It was awesome to be on my first top 100 mountain of 2011.

It was also really great to make the realization that I had just completed my 60th highest 100 summit of my life.

If all goes according to plan, by the end of 2011, I'll have only 15 of the highest 100 left to climb. My life-long dream is coming closer to completion. After soaking in the amazing views from the summit of California Peak, Ethan and I headed back down the ridge, but not before taking a 360 degree panoramic photo set:

Click HERE to view an interactive version of this photo (SMALLER FILE - 1.8 MB).

Click HERE to view an interactive version of this photo (LARGER FILE - 27.1 MB).

I was able to take two more sets of parting shots before we left the ridge, and I was quite pleased with the way in which they both turned out (one is the first photo in this trip report and the other is below).

We found our trail in the snow without too much trouble and made quick time back to the road, and eventually, Ethan's car. Here is my favorite shot of Ethan's from the trip:

Here are some fun statistics from our hike:

Miles hiked: 11.5 round-trip

Total time: 10 hours

Total photos taken: 190 (far less than usual, despite having the new camera - shooting photos in the wind sucks)

I hope you enjoyed this adventure or that the information was useful for your planned hike of California Peak. As always, you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Please also remember, if you're planning on making any camera-related or outdoor-related purchases, use the links found HERE to support this site.

I look forward to your comments or questions regarding the hike or the methods used in any of the photos!

Rio Grande Pyramid has long been on my "to-do list" for the Centennials (the highest 100 mountains in Colorado). Isolated by over 10 miles from its neighbors in the San Juan Mountains, Rio Grande Pyramid sticks out like a sore thumb by itself to the east of the Needle and Grenadier subranges. I viewed Rio Grande Pyramid from many angles this year, including a great view from Handies, and another wonderful perspective from Vestal and Arrow Peaks.

Needless to say, I have been eyeing Rio Grande Pyramid a lot this year, and I have known since January that I would be climbing it with my dad at the end of August. Since Rio Grande Pyramid is very isolated, it requires a fairly lengthy backpacking excursion and some planning. My dad (Old Climber on this site) has wanted Rio Grande Pyramid for many, many years, so he jumped all over the chance to attempt to tackle this beast.

The plan was to leave from Colorado Springs after work around 5 or 6 PM on Friday, set-up a quick camp near Rio Grande Reservior, back-pack to Weminuche Pass on Saturday, set-up camp there, climb Rio Grande Pyramid on Sunday, and backpack out on Monday. With the weather forecast for the area being up to 70% chance of precipitation for pretty much the whole weekend, Ray and I were prepared for a wet trip, but hopeful that the weather would cooperate for a summit attempt. Just in case, I packed a book, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, per the recommendation of my wife.

To start off, here are some meaningful statistics for this adventure:

Peak summited:

Rio Grande Pyramid: 13,821 ft. (ranked 97th in Colorado)

Total elevation gain: 4,674 ft.

Total distance hiked: 19.26 miles

Total time hiking: Approx. 14 hours

Total photos taken: 350

Total distance driven: 540 miles

Trip duration: 3 days

The drive to Rio Grande Reservior was uneventful, and finding a place to camp was surprisingly easy. We were aiming for the Thirtymile National Forest Campground, but we balked at the $16 fee, so instead we decided to camp 400 yards away, for free, in a large field by the Rio Grande River. This proved to be a great campsite. We woke up around 7:30 AM, packed up, ate breakfast, and drove to the campground, where the parking lot for the Weminuche Trail is at. At about 8:30 AM, Ray and I were packed and ready to hike, and began our 3-day journey into the remote Weminuche Wilderness Area.

A topographical map of our trip, click to enlarge.

The hike in is a relatively easy backpack, with the exception of mile number 2. The first mile is spent traveling along Rio Grande Reservior along a gentle trail, and then the trail picks up elevation quickly in mile 2 as it climbs and rounds the corner to the south west. After the 2nd mile, the rest of the hike in is very mild, with excellent views of the wide-open and very photogenic Weminuche Creek basin.

The Weminuche Creek.

For our campsite, we were aiming for an area near Weminuche Pass. On the way up, both Ray and I were marvelled by the variety of mushroom that were growing along the trail, certainly evidence that this was been a very wet summer. Little did we know, the mushrooms would be one of the highlights of our trip (for those wondering, we did not ingest any of them).

A Fly Agaric mushroom along the trail leading towards Weminuche Pass.

Two Fly Agarics emerge from the hard soil.

A Fly Agaric poking through the dirt.

We finally found Weminuche Pass, which was easy to spot by the two almost useless signs sticking up out of some cairns on each side of the trail. Heed my warning now, the sign on the right is for "Sky Line Trail," which is the route to Rio Grande Pyramid. The sign is poorly marked and at the time pointed in the wrong direction. We've since fixed the sign, so hopefully you'll see it better than we did. We camped directly east (left) of these signs along a small but gorgeous creek that flowed down from the Continental Divide. The area was a very large and impacted campsite, with plenty of great spots for a tent a a nice fire-ring.

The creek near our campsite.

After setting up camp, I decided to go for a walk around the area, and see what kind of mushrooms I could find. Since I know almost nothing about mushroom identification, this was more of an opportunity for me to practice taking macro shots with my camera. I do think that mushrooms make for excellent subjects for photography, and I suspect/hope that some mushroom lovers out there may appreciate this trip report. I've submitted these photos to MushroomExpert.com (which is a very cool site) and hope to find out soon if we can name any of them. If you don't care for photos of mushrooms, you can skip that section by clicking here.

A little brown mushroom (or LBM for short, as Ray would say).

Some funky yellow mushrooms - we saw a lot of these under the pine trees.

Another "LBM."

A nasty looking 'shroom - I think it has seen better days...

Three "LBM's" emerge from the mossy ground floor of the forest.

I wonder... did these mushrooms seal the fate of this poor animal?

A King Bolete mushroom near our campsite. It turns out that these are quite edible.

Another view of the King Bolete.

A ring of mushrooms near our campsite.

More LBM's.

A LBM emerges from the pine needle floor.

Little white mushrooms were everywhere...

The "gills" of this mushroom made for an interesting subject for a macro shot.

Another LBM rises from the grass.

These mushrooms looked like blobs slithering across the forest floor.

Yet another LBM!

These tiny mushrooms were growing in a very obscure location. I don't have a clue how I spotted them. Pure luck. They were about an inch tall.

Another tiny little mushroom.

A perfect Fly Agaris specimin near our campiste. Doesn't it look like something out of Super Mario Brothers?

Mario emerges!

A view of the underside of the Fly Agaric.

This mushroom looks like it maybe got a little too much sun. Sunscreen is important in the mountains.

More crispy 'shrooms.

This little mushroom looks like she put on a little too much lipstick...

A white mushroom.

A small button cap mushroom.

After photographing the mushrooms, I took a nap. Sleeping next to the creek was great, and I recuperated from my exhausting search for the perfect mushroom. Ray and I cooked up some mashed potatoes and gravy with StoveTop dressing and chicken breast (we know how to cook when we backpack), and then after dinner I decided to go on another adventure up the valley to see if I could watch the sunset.

A view of the upper Weminuche Creek basin, just past Weminuche Pass.

To the east (left), I saw a small meadow at the base of the hillside pictured above. In that meadow, I saw a deer grazing, so I decided to see if I could stalk the deer and get a good photo of it. I think the deer was aware of my presense for pretty much my entire walk, which about 400 yards total across the basin. As I got closer to the meadow, I found myself looking down upon an awesome series of pristine beaver ponds.

A hidden beaver pond and meadow. The deer can barely be seen in the upper meadow.

Another beaver pond.

The beaver ponds were full of duck and fish, and it was fun watching the ducks swim around with their little families of chicks.

I even took some video of the ducks. If you listen really closely you can hear coyotes howling in the woods nearby.

In the distance I could make out what I believed to be Pole Creek Mountain in the late sun's light.

Pole Creek Mountain.

After being spooked at the beaver ponds by continuous coyote howling, I decided to return to camp. We crashed fairly early and set our alarm for 5 AM. The alarm went off and it was really cold outside. We got ready quickly and were on the trail by 6 AM. This is where we made our first mistake. Instead of following the "Sky Line Trail," we followed the Weminuche Trail further south until I realized we were doing something wrong. We backtracked to the Sky Line Trail (which does NOT follow where it shows on the USGS topo map, as seen by my TOPO map of our route) and began the steep upclimb along the Continental Divide. This trail is well established and somewhat steep. The weather was very foggy and winter-like for us, but there was no precipitation, so we continued up. The trail splits at one point, trying to avoid some deadfall; however, we found the best thing to do is to stay on the trail and go over the dead trees. This prevents you from losing a lot of elevation. Eventually, the trail brings you around the bend and Rio Grande Pyramid and The Window come into view.

The Window and Rio Grande Pyramid.

The Window is a very impressive geologic formation along the south ridge of Rio Grande Pyramid, and it does not disappoint. It was truly striking.

The Window.

The trail flattens out here in the upper basin and eventually brings you to a junction at the base of Rio Grande Pyramid. We took the junction to the right and climbed up a steep trail to the lower plaform of Rio Grande Pyramid. From here, we chose to follow the platform south and then up the gradual southeast slope.

Nearing the summit of Rio Grande Pyramid.

The view back from where we came near UN 12,808 was pretty awesome, with the greens and yellows of the huge basins showing their true colors.

UN 12,808 towers over the valley below.

The Moon sets over Rio Grande Pyramid.

I was very intrigued by the volcanic nature of the rock on Rio Grande Pyramid. It was very much like lava rock in many regards, and made for quite easy travel compared to the "dinner plates" in the Elk Mountains or the famously loose rock found elsewhere in the San Juan Mountains.

Ray takes shelter in a ring of rocks we found.

From here, it was smooth sailing to the summit. While steep, Rio Grande's final summit block is nothing to be worried about. It is relatively short, and there are even class 3 variations for those seeking out a more challenging ascent. As I crested the summit, I was worried that there would be complete cloud cover in the area and that my view of Vestal Peak and Arrow Peak would be obscured. When I first viewed those two mountains at the top, I was ecstatic. While the weather did indeed obscure much of my view of the Needle Range, the Grenadiers were in plain view.

The Grenadier Range.

Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre to the north.

A 280⁰ pano from the summit of Rio Grande Pyramid.

Ray Payne on the summit of Rio Grande Pyramid Matt Payne on the summit of Rio Grande Pyramid

A view east and south. The clouds loomed over us all day long.

A pano looking east. "Fool's Pyramid" or UN 13,278 left of center.

Since it was really windy and cold on the summit, Ray and I opted to head back down a few yards to eat a snack and refuel for the climb back down and hike back to camp. It began to lightly snow, so we headed on down. The weather began to clear for us on our descent, and better views of Rio Grande Pyramid were had from below.

A super-high resolution pano of Rio Grande Pyramid.

Ray rests on the trail in this wide view pano of Rio Grande Pyramid and the surrounding ridges and valley.

As we hiked down, I was constantly drawn to the deep green and yellow colors of the meadows below.

On the way back down, Ray and I took our time looking for mushroom, and we found plenty to take photos of. The mushrooms were honestly one of the highlights of this trip, because both Ray and I are fascinated by mushrooms.

A trio of Fly Agarics.

A circle of Agarics.

A tiny white mushroom.

An odd cluster of gooey looking mushrooms.

This one looks like a UFO.

This one grew around the grass...

This one had it's own wooden house.

Covered in moss. Or - the Dagobah Mushroom.

This one caught our eye...

Once back at camp, I decided to get a few more shots of our close-by creek. I think these came out quite well!

Ray and I cooked up dinner - a fitting meal of tortellini, salmon, alfredo sauce, and 4 kinds of dried mushrooms. A meal fit for kings.