One of many
trip reports under the
SilGro home page for Alan Silverstein and Cathie
Grow.
Email me at
ajs@frii.com.
Last update: July 26, 2024
(Previous trip report: 1988_0903-04_MountSherman.htm)
Sunday afternoon, September 4: After hiking Mount Sherman I faced a couple of decisions... Whether to reclimb La Plata Peak, or take in a new summit; and how to get to the trailhead and to bed early! I wound up opting for a relatively unknown mountain that was once considered exactly 14000' (until resurveyed); and for taking the pavement, not Mosquito Pass or Weston Pass, from Fairplay to Buena Vista.
Grizzly Peak turned out to be the farthest peak visible west of Twin Lakes, left of the south flank of Mount Elbert, as you first reached the lakes heading west on Colorado 82. I turned south on "South Fork Lake Creek Road", 15 miles west of US 24. The gravel road immediately became slow and rough, though passable with care and without 4WD. Ditto for the marked turn north into McNasser Gulch 3.3 miles later. Another 1.2 miles up switchbacks brought me to a locked Forest Service gate as the trees became patchy down in the valley (around 11340').
It was another cold, clear night, but I put ten hours' sleep in the bank, sans tent.
Monday morning, September 5: At 0720, a whole 45 minutes past sunrise (how lazy of me), having seen no one since the previous evening, I started up the road west past the gate. I followed that road past a private cabin and various mine ruins to its end high in the valley at 12200'. Tundra turns fall colors as do the aspen; in fact, far more different hues and shades -- it was awesome.
Here I noticed a strangely silvery creek a quarter mile away and detoured to investigate. Sure enough, the stream had cut into whitish volcanic rock and painted its bed a silvery gray, in sharp contrast to the deep green and orange tundra. Quite a sight, especially with the icicles left from the night before.
Near the head of the valley at 12500', I cut directly right (north and northwest ) up a grassy slope for the northeast ridge. After many minutes hauling myself up a 45 deg slope I encountered a trace of trail along the ridge, going west below jagged outcrops. This route took me all the way to the main summit ridge, thence south a short distance to the top of Grizzly Peak at 1017 (2:57 for 2650').
Grizzly was made of colorful igneous rock that ranged from black to red to white, with sharp contrasts. The complex, black summit itself was the highest of several small, jagged points. There was hardly room to recline, certainly not to sleep safely or comfortably, given the rocks and the cliffs just feet away to the east.
On this clear, cool, breezy morning I could identify and count 32 other Fourteeners, including Mount Sneffels 97 miles distant. It was an intermission in the smoky days before and after due to fires in Yellowstone. Grizzly was located west of the bulk of the Sawatch Range, so it offered a perspective on the back sides of the high peaks of the range. The Elk Range mountains of course formed a colorful panorama to the west, but further away and grouped more closely than I expected.
Grizzly was just about due south of Independence Pass and west of La Plata Peak. Its west flank dropped steeply 4000' down to a north-south dirt road. Ski runs near Aspen were clearly visible, as well as the Independence Pass road on both sides of the crossing (but not the pass itself, due to a mountain in between).
After a while some other people arrived, also from McNasser Gulch. At 1230, with hardly a cloud in the sky and the temperature about 44, we decided to proceed together to nearby Garfield Peak, 13760'+. We strolled down the ridge south to 13480'+, up to a 13600'+ point, down to 13400'+, and finally up and around the southwest side to the next summit at 1330.
Garfield was also a small, rocky peak, not quite as complicated as Grizzly. It afforded a nice look at the taller peak to the north, and offered a different perspective on the surroundings.
The others departed a bit ahead of me. At 1400 I followed them east down to the next saddle. However where they dropped into the gulch, I continued to stay high on generally comfortable talus. The volcanic roughness of the boulders made for an easy traverse northeast and east along the ridge, bypassing a probably-technical massif nearly as high as Garfield but certainly tougher.
I enjoyed "running" this ridge nearly back to the Jeep. After an hour bypassing the crags I regained the top of the ridge. Then it varied from a broad, rounded, grassy walk to a jagged, cautious downclimb. It was long and arduous but a fun way to walk the high Sawatch -- what a feeling of sharing in the majesty. I looked far down into McNasser Gulch as I wandered back. Toward the end I encountered dwarf trees and big boulders; lots of fun. Finally I dropped through forest on a very steep slope to return to my trailhead at 1642, for a total round trip of 9:22 and a gain of about 3150'.
(Next trip report: 1988_0917-18_MilnerMtn.htm)