The Indian Peaks Wilderness is an area that I (surprisingly) just haven’t spent much time in during my mountaineering wanderings. This is in spite of the fact that I, A) Went to CU, a mere stone’s throw away, and B) Lived in Westminster for years. I guess I always had other objectives in mind during both other phases of life. Go figure. Keep Reading…
The La Plata Mountains are a small subrange of the San Juans that reside in the far southwest corner of Colorado northeast of Mancos. A handful of craggy peaks make up the bulk of this small range, a majority of which can be explored in just a few days time. The mountains are named after the silver deposits discovered there by the Spanish exploration of the region in the mid-1700’s. As one of the farthest away sets of thirteeners from my house, I’d always wanted to get down there to check them out but it’d been a long time coming. Finally this year was the year, and I found myself making the long drive down there from the Vail Valley over the 4th of July weekend. Read more…
Earlier this fall Brian, Steve and I set off from the Gore Creek Campground and hiked “Hail Peak”. It was a sweet day out, and was one of the last summer-esque days before the area received it’s first real snowfall.
“Hail Peak” is a high point along the ridge line connecting Mt. Valhalla and Mt. Silverthorne just northeast of Snow Lake. It’s a reclusive peak and one that doesn’t see very many ascents on an annual basis. The only reasonable route to the top is via the peak’s southeast slopes, though I know at least one party that’s run the connecting ridge over to Mt. Valhalla. The approach from Gore Creek TH takes the long trail up the drainage to the Recen Brother’s grace site, then up the trail to Gore Lake. From there, you have to split off the trail and hike up through the open meadows towards Snow Lake. Eventually you’ll be standing right at the base of “Hail Peak” with nothing but a few thousand feet of boulder hopping between you and the summit. Keep Reading….
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. Keep Reading…