On the summit ridge of Peak Three, Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado.
A couple weeks after our Sunlight Basin pack-in, Steve and I headed back down to the Weminuche to try for a few more peaks at the tail end of summer. The destination this time around was Stormy Gulch via Trinity Creek. From there we ended up hitting Peaks Two and Three to the northeast of Vestal Basin, and Peak Eight to the west of Silex Lake.
Back to the Weminuche, with the colors just beginning to turn a bit.
After camping near Beartown for a night, we set off at sunrise and packed over Hunchback Pass down to the Trinity/Vallecito Creek confluence. There we broke off the main trail and headed up into Stormy Gulch. The trail quickly petered out, eventually disappearing completely and the bushwhack was officially on. These Weminuche backpack approaches never seem to get any easier.
After a few miles of battling undergrowth, we broke out of the trees into the large, open meadow near 11,000 ft. There we dropped our heavy packs and continued on up past Trinity Lake towards the eastern flank of Peak Three.
Views from Peak Three looking southeast at Storm King and Silex.
Peaks Two and Three are the high points along the ridgeline extending north from East Trinity Peak, just west of Peak One. They are straightforward peaks with great views that can be done from a basecamp in Vestal Basin, as a long daytrip along the Elk Creek trail from Kite Lake, or from Stormy Gulch. In every case, they’re a fairly tough duo to reach so it was nice to finally get in there and check them off the list.
On the saddle between Two and Three, with Vestal and Arrow in back.
After topping out on Peak Two and taking a break to call our wives, we took a traversing descent into the Elk Creek Basin and popped over the saddle south of Hoedown Lake. From there it was a pretty straightforward hike back to camp, with a stop off at Trinity Lake along the way.
Trinity Lake with Mt. Silex towering overhead. Cool spot.
Back at our meadow in Stormy Gulch, we set up camp and cooked up some dinner. With a fall chill in the air, we hit the sack early underneath the full September Corn Moon. It was cool to be in such a wild place on the night of the full moon.
Moonlight captured by the iPhone camera. It really did seem nearly that bright.
Next up was Peak Eight, a large, narrow fin of rock that resides just west of Lake Silex next to Peak Nine. To get there from Stormy Gulch we ascended a big talus field up and over the Storm King/Peak Nine saddle. From there we dropped down into upper-Tenmile Creek and contoured over to the base of Peak Eight’s north face. The “standard” ascent route heads up a series of class 3/4 ledges for several hundred feet, then west across the ridge line to the true summit.
Scrambling up ledges on Peak Eight with the Trinities and Vestal Peak in back.
Some decent exposure down multiple fall lines through here. Photo by Steve.
Moving up an exposed spine just below the summit ridge.
Peak Eight was one of the recent LiDAR additions to the 13ers list. So it was hardly ever climbed prior to the update but has become much more popular in recent years as many aspiring 13er finishers have returned to this area just to climb it. Steve and I passed underneath it during our 2015 Leviathan trip en route to Peak Nine, noting that it looked to be a fun climb and a challenge for peakbaggers were it ranked. That indeed turned out to be the case.
Peak Eight’s summit. Photo by Steve.
Looking south into Leviathan Creek.
And Jagged across the way.
After a long summit stay we carefully descended back down Eight’s north face, taking a slightly different route than the one we came up. It ended up being a little sketchy, so I was pretty happy when we finally touched down on firm ground again.
We returned to camp, packed up, and began the long backpack out to Beartown, which of course entailed a 2,000 ft climb back over Hunchback. We just took it slow and enjoyed the beautiful day.
A secret swim hole we found.
Beers back at Beartown.
Despite being a short trip, it was nice to get into the Weminuche twice inside of a month after several years in a row of not making it down there. It really is the most spectacular set of mountains in the entire state in my opinion, which has never changed.
Between the two trips we hit 8 new 13ers, and some of the most interior, hard-to-reach peaks on the entire list at that. Steve is now down to only 5 peaks left to be a Colorado 13er finisher, and 3 of them are in the Weminuche. So needless to say, we’ll be back.
A parting shot from Stormy Gulch.
Until next time, Weminuche…
Funny how time spent in the Wemniuche always takes on a greater proportion in perception/memory than “regular experience.” Those three days were incredible, despite the grunt to simply reach the meadow in Trinity basin, where we said, looking at our intended camping options farther in: “hell no.” It worked out better that way because of the moonlight the first night and brilliant sunset the second on all of the surrounding peaks. Thanks for posting, Ben!
Nice work, guys. I’m jealous.
I need to clarify my comment earlier, as Ben kindly reminded me that we only spent one night by Storm King. The first night was the camp near Beartown.