Last Updated on July 25, 2013 by James Dziezynski
When I received an invitation from Outdoor Minded Magazine to be part of their 25 person team for an epic week of adventures, my head was already swimming with possibilities. The cause was solid: raising money for cancer patients and their families to enjoy a week-long outdoors camp. The camp is run by Epic Adventures, a Colorado based outfit that focuses on not only living but thriving throughout a cancer diagnosis. Cancer has made unwelcome appearances with my family and friends (like so many of us), so I was eager to jump on board to help anyway I could.
Each participant thought up an epic adventure to be completed in a ten day span between July 21-31. I decided to get things rolling early by giving a 10 peak Colorado mountain traverse a go on July 21st,, the first day of the adventures. The goal was to hit a series of peaks starting with 14,035 ft. Mount Sherman and ending at Weston Pass. The summits consist of six named peaks, four recognized points , covered 11.3 miles and roughly 4,700 feet of vertical gain. The x-factor in this adventure is that ten of those miles were spent hiking over 13,000 ft. Bring it on!
Mount Sherman to Weston Peak ten peak traverse!
Our team was made up of four hikers and two border collies, all veteran mountain explorers. Our route began at Iowa Gulch outside of Leadville at 4 AM.
Setting a strong pace, we were able to make it to the summit of Sherman around 5:30 AM, just in time to see the sunrise and soak in the glorious orange-hued light. It was funny to think that getting up a 14er was really just the warm up to our day but as we looked south, we could see the challenges ahead. Most of the work was happening in the first six miles and we could see the summits of Mount Sheridan, Peerless Mountain and the imposing Horseshoe Mountain in the distance.
The sun rises over Fremont on the summit of Mount Sherman.
One summit down, nine to go!
Great light as we descend Mount Sherman.
Hey, you can (sort of) see our car from here! Looking down on the Iowa Gulch trailhead.
As morning breaks, our route reveals itself.
We dropped to the saddle between Sherman and Sheridan as several groups of hikers aiming to get up Sherman were beginning their ascent. We were pleasantly surprised to see something of an established trail through the talus leading to the 13,748 ft. top of Mount Sheridan. A large, very well made wind shelter awaited us on the summit.
The great wind shelter on the summit of Mount Sheridan.
There wasn’t time to linger. A second trail led us down the steep but fairly stable rock piles of Sheridan over to humble Peerless Mountain. What at first appeared to be a lousy pile of stone turned out to have a nice trail along the ridge line. The summit of Peerless was a quick and friendly mountaintop.
Fremont on the summit of Peerless Mountain.
Now, however, it was time to get to work. Even though there is a nice trail up Horseshoe Mountain, our collective legs were feeling the burn of the three peaks we’d already climbed. Our ascent went from 13,200 to roughly 13,900 (13,898 ft. to be exact), so we had 700 vertical feet before reaching what we considered the “golden point” of the day — from Horseshoe on, the terrain would be less rocky and more rolling.
Mystic and Fremont nearing the top of Horseshoe Mountain.
The dogs were the first to summit Horseshoe (of course) and the humans were not far behind. Our 4th summit of the day afforded the best views I’ve seen of the northern Sawatch Range, home of Colorado’s highest peaks. The broad, flat summit also had a remarkable mining cabin just off the summit, though it had fallen into disrepair.
Sheila and the pups on the summit of Horseshoe Mountain.
The old mining cabin near the summit of Horseshoe Mountain.
The route from Sherman to Weston. Click for full sized view!
The next stop (peak #5) was Point 13,678 a minor bump on the ridge. By now our team was in a groove and we only stopped for a moment before working over to peak #6, Point 13,717. Colorful carpets of yellow, purple and red flowers decorated the high alpine meadows and added a magical quality to the day. Because these are the middle peaks of the traverse, they don’t see much traffic and are thus gloriously pristine.
Mystic leads the crew south from Horseshoe Mountain.
En route to the “Point” peaks.
Collie-eye view!
Peak #7 was Ptarmigan Peak, 13,739 ft. and a worthy summit. Several survey markers dot the top and a makeshift marker of old tree limbs graced the summit cairn. Fueling up, we could see the last three peaks just around the proverbial corner.
Dany and David on the summit of Ptarmigan Peak.
Peak #8 was Point 13,525, another minor bump on the ridge. The bonus of this obscure peak was the long snowfield that graced the south face, a wonderful place for the pups to cool their paws! Before we hit the last two summits, there was the tempting option to simply scale down the long, grassy slopes to Weston Pass, where we at last caught a glimpse of our truck. But no… we had just a bit more to go! We continued to make good time.
Point 13,525 with Little Westy and Weston Peak in view.
Peak #9 was Point 13,307 also known informally as “Little Westy”. It’s probably the most debatable “summit” of the route but as David put it, “We have to go up that thing twice, I’m counting it!” As a side note, there are several additional options for adding in MORE peaks on this route. 13,981 ft. Gemini Peak is about a half mile north of Sherman, 13,409 ft. Finback Knob is a spur off Horseshoe (we planned on it but passed because the descent terrain wasn’t dog friendly) and Point 13,251 is a relatively easy walk to the east of Weston Peak.
Fremont on Little Westy.
Dany wraps up the traverse on Weston Peak!
Peak #10 was 13,572 ft. Weston Peak, the final summit of our day. White quartz rock coated the summit like the shambles of a great temple. We were glad to rest, eat and admire far off Mount Sherman, where our adventure began several hours earlier.
Sheila, me and the pups on the summit of Weston Peak!
The route from Sherman to Weston. Click for full sized view!
Wrapping up the day meant a return over Little Westy and a long, grindy descent down 1,300 vertical feet of trail-less, grassy slopes. While the steepness is a little disheartening after a very long day, the endless ocean of flowers made up for it. We were soon at our second vehicle atop Weston Pass and happy to be headed back to Leadville to grab a bite, return to Iowa Gulch to break down camp and head home.
Flowers on the descent hill to Weston Pass.
David wraps up the hike to Weston Pass.
I’m very grateful to partners Sheila Powell, David Tanguay and Daniela Tanguay for joining me on the journey and making the day much more than just a trek in the mountains. And of course, to Mystic and Fremont, our border collies whose free spirits and toughness make them ideal hiking companions.
The journey took us about 9 hours and I would budget 7 – 10 total hours for this traverse depending on your pace and how much you’d like to look around.
It was not lost on our group that it is a privilege to be strong, healthy and able to explore the high peaks on such a beautiful day. Getting back to the purpose of the outing, it reminded us all that cancer is a greedy affliction that steals away possibility. To be able to help those fighting the good fight against this affliction was gratifying.
If you’d like to make a donation to Epic Adventures, visit my Epic fund raising page. Don’t worry if it’s after the July 31, 2013 deadline… any donation will still help!
