UN 8300, 8161, 8140, Sheep Mountain
8.28 mi, 3500' EVG total
After earlier plans in the northern Mummy Range were postponed due to major flooding along the Front Range; Joe Grim, Nick Kemp, David Johnson, Nikolai Braun, Poudre(Joe's awesome dog) and I set out to climb some 8ers in the Lone Pine Creek area. The plan was to hit 8300 which had been scouted out by some of the group's members previously before climbing up to 8161 and over to 8140, tacking on Sheep Mountain afterwards if we felt like it.
UN 8300:
After driving up Cherokee Park Road and down the somewhat eroded Prairie Divide Road, we parked at the upper of two small pullouts to the northeast of 8300. The route starts gradually circling around the equally impressive rocky point (8080+) that neighbors 8300 and drops into a shallow valley where we had to ford across one of the day's many seasonal creeks revived by the multiple inches of rain the region received earlier that week. When we reached the base of 8300, we all picked our own routes up the mixed brush and rock to the northern subsummit. At the saddle between summits, we dropped our packs with Poudre and surveyed the class 4 crux. The crux is a pair of smooth jumbled boulders that block easy access up to easier rock, which required me to jam my back into the rock and 'walk up' the chimney the boulders form. Joe found an easier and more interesting route just beneath the boulders, a tunnel that can be crawled through that leads to the backsides of the boulders, where they become easier to ascend. Though I didn't ascend that way, it looked like hard class 3/ easy class 4. From there the summit was close, and on top there was an interesting register with just a few entries. Views were great in the early light, and many of the area's peaks can be seen. On the way back I crawled through the tunnel and we descended down the east slope of the saddle(which was a much better way) and we followed our approximate route back to the cars.
After earlier plans in the northern Mummy Range were postponed due to major flooding along the Front Range; Joe Grim, Nick Kemp, David Johnson, Nikolai Braun, Poudre(Joe's awesome dog) and I set out to climb some 8ers in the Lone Pine Creek area. The plan was to hit 8300 which had been scouted out by some of the group's members previously before climbing up to 8161 and over to 8140, tacking on Sheep Mountain afterwards if we felt like it.
UN 8300:
After driving up Cherokee Park Road and down the somewhat eroded Prairie Divide Road, we parked at the upper of two small pullouts to the northeast of 8300. The route starts gradually circling around the equally impressive rocky point (8080+) that neighbors 8300 and drops into a shallow valley where we had to ford across one of the day's many seasonal creeks revived by the multiple inches of rain the region received earlier that week. When we reached the base of 8300, we all picked our own routes up the mixed brush and rock to the northern subsummit. At the saddle between summits, we dropped our packs with Poudre and surveyed the class 4 crux. The crux is a pair of smooth jumbled boulders that block easy access up to easier rock, which required me to jam my back into the rock and 'walk up' the chimney the boulders form. Joe found an easier and more interesting route just beneath the boulders, a tunnel that can be crawled through that leads to the backsides of the boulders, where they become easier to ascend. Though I didn't ascend that way, it looked like hard class 3/ easy class 4. From there the summit was close, and on top there was an interesting register with just a few entries. Views were great in the early light, and many of the area's peaks can be seen. On the way back I crawled through the tunnel and we descended down the east slope of the saddle(which was a much better way) and we followed our approximate route back to the cars.
UN 8161("West Maxwell Peak"):
After 8300 we drove down to Maxwell Ranch and asked the family in the first house on the left if we could drive down to the end of their property and access the Forest Service beyond for the next peaks. They were quite friendly and granted us permission(Joe had asked a previous fall when there were hunters on the land and was denied, so the best results will likely be found by asking permission when it isn't hunting season). At the fence, we angled into the first obvious gulch to the north and bushwhacked through scrubby bushes and downed trees until the gulch widened and the terrain became easier to hike. From there it was short work to reach the rocky summit on 8161, which had no register but equally great views as the last peak.
UN 8140("East Maxwell Peak"):
We dropped down the north side of 8161 and traveled east down a deep drainage. The terrain was more open than the previous gulch, and at the small meadow at the bottom we followed an old road downstream until it disappeared. As we approached the bottom of Hole Canyon, the side canyon we were in became steeper and thicker though it was possible to travel above the worst parts on the north side of the creek. We had many great views of 8140, which was quite impressive from our vantage. We scoped out a fun looking ramp that angled between cliff bands on the northwest face, and followed a small side gulch in the direction of the ramp's entrance. The slope steepened and we encountered some pretty difficult bushwhacking just before climbing up the ramp. Once on the ramp, climbing became easier near the drop-off, and the we exited quite near to the summit. The summit was well worth the pain of getting there, with birds-eye views into the canyon below and peaks to the east. The summit was the most "Red Feather-y" of the day's peaks in my opinion, with the tough bushwhacking and rocky scrambles characteristic to the peaks around Red Feather Lakes. The sky was becoming cloudy and the wind picked up, but we took our time enjoying the summit.
Sheep Mountain:
We all agreed to tack on nearby Sheep Mountain since the route would be pretty easy in comparison to the day's earlier peaks. We crossed over the summit plateau of 8140 and weaved through small pocket meadows and gentle rock slopes in the open country. Eventually we dropped off a boulder strewn slope into the large grassy meadow that forms the saddle between 8140 and Sheep. The final climb to the summit was quick, and the few trees on top weren't enough to block the nice views to the south and east. Amazingly, 8140 and Sheep had a total of 3 registers between them, and after transporting one to Sheep assuming it didn't have one, I combined two into one.
We dropped south down treeless slopes back into Lone Pine Creek valley, and along the way we were treated to incredible views into the drainage dominated by UN 7835. Weaving across the rain swollen seasonal creeks, we reached the broad valley bottom and headed back upstream. I nearly stepped on a 4' long bull snake and saw another small snake right before disappearing into a bush a few minutes later. There is a small road that climbs up the valley, though in many places it is nothing more than a intermittent path slowly being reclaimed by nature. Lone Pine Creek was flowing higher than I'd ever seen, and in many places bent grasses showed the places where it had flooded its banks. After passing a cool Lumpy Ridge-like playground of granite slabs, we jumped the stream flowing out of Hole Canyon and reached the cars.
Overall it was an excellent day in some tough terrain, and 8 miles with 3500' gain of bushwhacking definitely proved that just because peaks are below treeline doesn't ensure that they're easy! More photos can be found at Joe's website: 8300, Maxwell Peaks and Sheep Mountain.
After 8300 we drove down to Maxwell Ranch and asked the family in the first house on the left if we could drive down to the end of their property and access the Forest Service beyond for the next peaks. They were quite friendly and granted us permission(Joe had asked a previous fall when there were hunters on the land and was denied, so the best results will likely be found by asking permission when it isn't hunting season). At the fence, we angled into the first obvious gulch to the north and bushwhacked through scrubby bushes and downed trees until the gulch widened and the terrain became easier to hike. From there it was short work to reach the rocky summit on 8161, which had no register but equally great views as the last peak.
UN 8140("East Maxwell Peak"):
We dropped down the north side of 8161 and traveled east down a deep drainage. The terrain was more open than the previous gulch, and at the small meadow at the bottom we followed an old road downstream until it disappeared. As we approached the bottom of Hole Canyon, the side canyon we were in became steeper and thicker though it was possible to travel above the worst parts on the north side of the creek. We had many great views of 8140, which was quite impressive from our vantage. We scoped out a fun looking ramp that angled between cliff bands on the northwest face, and followed a small side gulch in the direction of the ramp's entrance. The slope steepened and we encountered some pretty difficult bushwhacking just before climbing up the ramp. Once on the ramp, climbing became easier near the drop-off, and the we exited quite near to the summit. The summit was well worth the pain of getting there, with birds-eye views into the canyon below and peaks to the east. The summit was the most "Red Feather-y" of the day's peaks in my opinion, with the tough bushwhacking and rocky scrambles characteristic to the peaks around Red Feather Lakes. The sky was becoming cloudy and the wind picked up, but we took our time enjoying the summit.
Sheep Mountain:
We all agreed to tack on nearby Sheep Mountain since the route would be pretty easy in comparison to the day's earlier peaks. We crossed over the summit plateau of 8140 and weaved through small pocket meadows and gentle rock slopes in the open country. Eventually we dropped off a boulder strewn slope into the large grassy meadow that forms the saddle between 8140 and Sheep. The final climb to the summit was quick, and the few trees on top weren't enough to block the nice views to the south and east. Amazingly, 8140 and Sheep had a total of 3 registers between them, and after transporting one to Sheep assuming it didn't have one, I combined two into one.
We dropped south down treeless slopes back into Lone Pine Creek valley, and along the way we were treated to incredible views into the drainage dominated by UN 7835. Weaving across the rain swollen seasonal creeks, we reached the broad valley bottom and headed back upstream. I nearly stepped on a 4' long bull snake and saw another small snake right before disappearing into a bush a few minutes later. There is a small road that climbs up the valley, though in many places it is nothing more than a intermittent path slowly being reclaimed by nature. Lone Pine Creek was flowing higher than I'd ever seen, and in many places bent grasses showed the places where it had flooded its banks. After passing a cool Lumpy Ridge-like playground of granite slabs, we jumped the stream flowing out of Hole Canyon and reached the cars.
Overall it was an excellent day in some tough terrain, and 8 miles with 3500' gain of bushwhacking definitely proved that just because peaks are below treeline doesn't ensure that they're easy! More photos can be found at Joe's website: 8300, Maxwell Peaks and Sheep Mountain.
