Helen and I had originally planned to drive south and tackle a couple more 14,000ft peaks, but around noon on Friday she canceled in favor of resting up for a busy work week. Left on my own, I worked to come up with some last minute plans. Our anticipated climb of Shavano and Tabeguache was to have been a pretty big day, around 5,000 feet of vertical. I wanted something at least as big for a good workout. I also wanted a route that would play to my strengths – no skiing, long mileage over class 2-4 terrain, go light and move fast.
Staring at maps until I went cross-eyed, I finally determined to attempt a long loop following the ridge line that encircled Chihuahua Gulch. From Breckenridge, the drive was only about 30 minutes away and would take in Ruby Mountain (13,277ft), Grays Peak (14,270ft), Torreys Peak (14,267ft), Grizzly Peak (13,427ft) and Lenawee Mountain (13,204ft) in a counter-clockwise loop.
Judging from the topo maps and portions of published routes on some of these mountains, I new most of the route would “go”. Before leaving the trailhead, I had 3 unknowns:
- Route up Ruby Mountain
- Ridge line from Ruby to Grays
- Ridge line from Grizzly to Lenawee
Luckily, I had several bail-out points from the middle of the loop.
My first surprise of the day was finding the road up Peru Creek still gated and limited only to non-motorized traffic. Thankfully, I gotten an early start and by 5am I was hiking up the road 2.2 miles to the mouth of Chihuahua Gulch. A few mule deer greeted me near Chihuahua Creek as I turned north on the 4×4 road. Looking to my right I examined the slopes of Cooper Mountain (a 12,782 foot bump on the ridge from Ruby and not considered a separate mountain). Deciding the rocks and tundra would work as an ascent route to Ruby I started slowly gaining elevation. North of me, Grizzly Peak was catching the first light of day.
Cooper’s summit came easily enough if not quickly, and I was glad this route had worked. Hopefully I could continue to follow the ridge crest completely encircling the little dog. Behind me the views of the Gore and Tenmile range stood out under perfect, cloudless skies.
Looking ahead I had a simple ridge to ascend to Ruby, my first real peak of the day.
Once on Ruby’s summit, I took a quick break to snack and apply sunblock. I also glanced at my next objective: Grays Peak – one of Colorado’s highest mountains and the highest that sits directly on the continental divide.
Grays Peak’s south ridge from Ruby was one of my unknowns and I could see a few cliffs on the rugged lower half. All the published routes up this side of the mountain had connected with the south ridge higher up – avoiding the cliffs in favor of more gentle slopes above.
The route down from Ruby was steep with some loose rock, but nothing technical. At the saddle I saw a couple tiny flowers.
As I began the climb up Grays, I mostly stayed on the crest of the ridge which provided fine scrambling – a few sections definitely requiring hands (class 3). On the west side of the ridge there were several use-trails providing routes around the harder sections and as the ridge steepened, I alternated bypassing the problems and tackling them head on. Staying near the ridge crest definitely provided more of a challenge and a few sections were clearly class 4 scrambling (rudimentary climbing moves) including a black gully that had likely only recently been freed of snow.
Above the black gully, the difficulties eased off. The final slopes to the summit were mostly on a trail.
I was surprised to see only one other person on the summit. Grays and Torreys are very popular 14′ers and this was a beautiful weekend day. I could see other people on Torreys or still ascending the normal route on the mountain’s east side. After another snack I started toward Torreys.
The slope was covered in snow, but it had softened up just enough that I could drive my heel in and thus stomp my way down to the saddle. Climbing up Torreys I passed a few people headed down, including one CMC group which had climbed the “Dead Dog Couloir” to reach the top of Torreys. A few people were also skiing from the summit – something it’ll be years before I’d contemplate doing.
I didn’t spend long on my second 14′er of the day. Instead I was excited to revenge my failed attempt on Grizzly Peak (via the other side of the mountain) from a couple weeks ago. However, the terrain beyond Grizzly was starting to worry me. All along this route I’d been stealing glances at the ridge between Grizzly and Lewanee – and the steep sided rocky ridge with a few cliffs looked beyond a solo hiker with no technical climbing equipment.
The descent down Torreys was slow going down loose rocks and the occasional glissade down a snow patch. The saddle itself was windblown free of snow and vegetation was starting to assert itself.
Above the saddle I ascended a mix of rocks and snow until the snow became too deep and soft enough to support my weight. Standing thigh deep in snow, I took off my pack and laid out my snowshoes on the snow. Steeping into each one I rose out of my postholes, then started climbing up with a little more dignity. The wind had been blowing strongly all day, but really made itself felt on Grizzly. While I tried to move steadily upwards, I often took quick breaks to steady myself from a particularly strong gust or look back at the 14′ers and snap a shot of their windblown aspects.
As I neared the ridge crest, something seemed wrong. For some reason I had pictured a gentle ridge above me, but I suddenly backed down a few steps when I realized the ridge was sharper and corniced. Had I continued much further I might have walked on to the overhanging lip of snow. Above me I could see the rest of the route to Grizzly’s summit and the large cornices hanging over the leeward side.
I sheltered myself behind the rock walls on the summit of Grizzly and enjoyed the views.
I’d already decided not to try to follow the ridge crest to Lewanee, but I had picked out another line that would descend from Grizzly into Chihuahua Gulch and then follow a ridge up to Lewanee. It would mean more elevation gain, but should be safer. Before starting off I admired the view to the north of Hagar, Citadel and Pettingell. I first saw Citadel on the aborted Grizzly Peak attempt and was struck by its steep sided summit. I had also signed up for a CMC trip to attempt the peak in less than 2 weeks.
For the first time today I retraced my steps, heading back towards the Torreys-Grizzly saddle. I stayed a little below the rocky ridge crest hoping to keep out of the brunt of the wind. Traveling on soft snow I found myself sinking in and then punched a deep hold to my crotch. Straddling the snow I laughed at the situation until I discovered that my left foot was stuck. The snow had compacted and hardened around the toe and heel and I could pull it out. Using my ice axe I tunneled toward my foot from the side and eventually excavated enough snow to free myself.
Sticking mostly to rocks to avoid a repeat situation, I reached the saddle again and contemplated the rest of my descent. I had planned to drop enough to traverse along the mouth of Chihuahua Lake, the continue under cliffs below one ridge and reach another that I hoped would provide a safe route to Lewanee’s summit. However, as I dropped from the saddle the snow had become quite soft and it was easy to convince myself that climbing up would be an exhausting experience. Additionally, I could make some more cornices that might make the route less safe than I’d hoped.
Decision made, I continued descending Chihuahua Gulch and warming up out of the wind. Looking back I had a wonderful view of Grizzly Peak.
As I lost elevation the snow disappeared, replaced by beaver ponds and the notorious willows – the bane of cross-country travelers in Colorado. Willow-bashing seems to be most climbers least favorite discipline, and I soon joined their ranks.
Frequent consultations with the map told me a 4×4 road ran through this gulch. Wandering back and forth I searched the for promised easy travel, but mostly found more willows, intermittent ski tracks and marshy regions.
Eventually, I spotted two skiers just ahead and followed their tracks hoping they knew a sane route. When I caught up with them at a large beaver pond, stowing their skis, I knew they didn’t have much better luck than I. We hiked and chatted for a bit before coming to a boulder field where they broke for lunch. I continued on in my search for the road.
Rock hopping over the boulders is one of my favorite sports and spotting a marmot added to the pleasure. Even better, was finally spotting the road and knowing it would lead me back to the trailhead with uncomplicated hiking.
Rough map of my route:
I don’t know what the total mileage was for this hike, but a conservative estimate for the elevation gain was 6,300 feet. Definitely worthy of my “Lord of Pain” shirt, which I hadn’t worn since Whitney. I think I’ll reserve that gift from the Bloomington Hikers for days like today.
