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Mount Sherman is the lowest fourteener in the Mosquito Range. I've always regarded it as a rather mundane peak and therefore, most likely, a rather boring climb. Well, it may look mundane but Mount Sherman was a fun fourteener. This trip featured an enjoyable hike up, perfect weather, and a dramatic, fun finish. |
| We had to park near winter closure. Although the road was in
excellent condition (easily passable for any type of car), a huge snow drift lay across
the road and prevented us from continuing any further. However, it was an easy hike
up to the normal trailhead. There's a road that continues up to a mine
practically at the base of the mountain. We continued up this road to nearly the
entrance of the mine and then traversed southward underneath the west face of the
mountain. The picture to the right is a panoramic shot of Iowa Gulch. In the background, you can see the road that we hiked up. At this point, we'd traversed under the west face of the mountain and were now headed up to the saddle between Mount Sheridan and Mount Sherman. |
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Here's a picture of Scott nearing the top of the snowfield between Mount
Sheridan and Mount Sherman. From here, we angled left and hit the saddle right
underneath the summit ridge of Sherman. The real fun began on the hike up the summit
ridge. In the top picture, the route to the saddle is just out of view to the right.
The summit ridge that we climbed was the south one - running from left to right. There were large wooden poles that ran from the mine along this gully all the way to the top of the saddle. Apparently, it used to be a crude power line but had been long since abandoned. |
| Here's a picture of Scott at the saddle. Behind him rises the long
summit ridge to Mount Sherman. You can also see the remains of one of the power
lines. From the saddle, you can have a good view eastward of South Park and Pikes
Peak in the far distance. To the west, you have a view of Mount Elbert, Mount
Massive, and the Arkansas River Valley. I really enjoyed Sherman so much because of its long ridge walk. From, below, the mountain looks quite boring, but I didn't realize how narrow the ridge was. It's not dangerous or exposed but it's narrow enough to make you feel like you're flying above everything else. Also, the Spring snow made it much more enjoyable than it probably is in Summer. |
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Here's what the first part of the summit ridge looks like. That's me in the middle of the picture on top of the first knob. The entire ridge walk is very easy. |
| Here's a dramatic shot of Scott on the ridge. The summit is still quite a ways off out of view. The ridge is almost consistently a series of small knobs that eventually lead to the broad flat summit of Mount Sherman. |  |
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Here I am just a few feet below the summit. The view from the top of Mount Sherman was fantastic. We had perfect weather - the best I've ever had on a Spring trip. From the top, we were able to pick out tons of other fourteeners - Grays and Torreys, Bierstadt and Evans, Lincoln, Bross, Democrat, Massive, Elbert, La Plata, Huron, Belford, Oxford, and Harvard! |
| Here's Scott on the top with Mount Sheridan in the background. After lounging around on the summit, we started our descent down the ridge. Once on the edge of the ridge, we began one of the longest, most awesome glissades that I've ever done. We glissaded all the way back down to the base of Iowa Gulch! I was certainly surprised at how much fun Mount Sherman turned out to be. I highly recommend this fourteener - especially in Spring! |  |