Lookout Mountain and UN 10582 9/24
8.1 mi RT, 2400' EVG
I've been able to sneak in some Thursday hikes lately, so my father and I headed up Buckhorn Canyon to climb Lookout Mountain. The Ballard Road intersection isn't marked well, as there are no Larimer or Forest Service road signs to identify it. The road is a little rough at the bottom but was an easy 4WD road to the pullout where the Donner Hill trail crosses the road. The trail starts out in a grove of aspens which were hitting the peak of their color change, one of the reasons we wanted to hike in the area. The trail is relatively flat until reaching an old trail intersection, at which point it starts to climb towards Donner Pass. The area was logged years ago, and eventually the trail follows an old road to a group of abandoned sawmills. At the trail junction at Donner Pass, we took the trail west up to UN 10582 to climb the highpoint on the ridge. There are several points that look like candidates for the summit as you follow the trail, but the summit rocks are pretty obvious once you reach the base.
After returning to Donner Pass, we then headed east on the trail to the Lookout-10720 saddle. There is a summit trail at this saddle that weaves through downed timber before petering out at the saddle between the two summit outcrops. There is a line of cairns to the summit which is possible to follow, but reaching the summit is pretty easy by any route. The weather at the summit was pleasantly calm, which we were glad of. The views from Lookout are excellent, allowing one to see most of the Front Range peaks from Boulder to Wyoming. On the way back we explored around the old sawmills a bit, satellite images show more woodpiles in the area but we decided to explore them on another day. Zero people seen on an excellent September day.
I've been able to sneak in some Thursday hikes lately, so my father and I headed up Buckhorn Canyon to climb Lookout Mountain. The Ballard Road intersection isn't marked well, as there are no Larimer or Forest Service road signs to identify it. The road is a little rough at the bottom but was an easy 4WD road to the pullout where the Donner Hill trail crosses the road. The trail starts out in a grove of aspens which were hitting the peak of their color change, one of the reasons we wanted to hike in the area. The trail is relatively flat until reaching an old trail intersection, at which point it starts to climb towards Donner Pass. The area was logged years ago, and eventually the trail follows an old road to a group of abandoned sawmills. At the trail junction at Donner Pass, we took the trail west up to UN 10582 to climb the highpoint on the ridge. There are several points that look like candidates for the summit as you follow the trail, but the summit rocks are pretty obvious once you reach the base.
After returning to Donner Pass, we then headed east on the trail to the Lookout-10720 saddle. There is a summit trail at this saddle that weaves through downed timber before petering out at the saddle between the two summit outcrops. There is a line of cairns to the summit which is possible to follow, but reaching the summit is pretty easy by any route. The weather at the summit was pleasantly calm, which we were glad of. The views from Lookout are excellent, allowing one to see most of the Front Range peaks from Boulder to Wyoming. On the way back we explored around the old sawmills a bit, satellite images show more woodpiles in the area but we decided to explore them on another day. Zero people seen on an excellent September day.
