Location: North 37.88146, West 105.01343 (GPS at the summit)
Difficulty: (YDS) class 1
Climbed August 16, 2012.
Information:
Here is a quick reference and summary of all
peaks visited on my 2012 summertrip to the USA.
How to get there:
From Denver, head south on I-25, going through Colorado Springs and further south to
exit west onto Hwy. 165. Follow this road past San Isabel and locate a hairpin turn (right)
on the Hwy. from where Forest Road 360, called Ophir Creek Road, turns left.
Measure from here. This road is a good quality gravel road, fine for ordinary cars.
At mile 1.2, keep left on Forest Road 369, then at mile 8.2, keep left in a 4-way junction,
staying on the main road. The road ends with parking at mile 24.2. This is the trailhead,
location N37.89401, W105.04163, elevation about 3495 meter.
Route description:
There are two alternatives, see also below for a description of the shortest route.
Head up the obvious trail that
starts from the trail self registration. This trail climbs
out of the trees and contours back left in order to reach the main crest. From here, head SE and
hike to a main saddle located at N37.88998, W105.02656, elevation 3664m.
From here, follow the trail that climbs the ridge, sometimes staying a bit on the left side.
There is a big hump before
the final ascent to the plateau where the highest point is located.
The alternative and shorter route to the summit is to locate an old forest road that continues from
the trailhead at about the same elevation. That is, you need to start out more to the right and follow
this old forest road. From this road one may ascend directly to the key pass at
N37.88998, W105.02656, elevation 3664m, mentioned above.
In fact, one may follow this road all the way until
just below the summit, then climb from there.
Comments:
I did this climb with Rob Woodall, this was the southernmost peak visited on our
3 week trip.
After quite a long drive, also a long drive on the final dirt road,
we see our mountain, however
the summit is quite a bit behind what can be seen from the approach.
We started at 1310 and make the summit around 1415.
The view is good, but hazy due to
smoke from forest fires in the north. We leave after a few minutes, I heard thunder further
north and the sky does look like we may have rain and possibly thunder. We are back at the
car by 1510, taking the shorter route back. Thanks to Rob for good company.
