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Snowmass Creek |
When my hiking friends had other things to do this weekend,
I figured I'd take advantage and climb a fourteener that still remained on
my list. Ken and Kirk had done this peak last year and I, in turn,
had missed out. However, solo hikes themselves are very rewarding
sometimes so I was really looking forward to this trip. Of course,
being a fourteener, I wouldn't truly be alone. There would certainly
be other hikers and climbers up here. The one thing about this trip
that I was a little apprehensive about was the length: approximately
23 miles round trip. Ouch.
I left Denver mid morning on Saturday and enjoyed a great drive out to the Elks. The dirt road to the trailhead is passable to all cars. It gets a little rough the last couple hundred yards but it's really no big deal. The road terminates in a fairly small parking area with views up the Snowmass Creek valley. |
| The beginning of the trail does not start directly up the
middle of the valley. That's private property so the trail stays
fairly high hugging the left hand side of the valley. It's about an
eight or nine mile trip to Snowmass Lake which is a worthwhile destination
itself. Along the way the trail passes through spectacular pristine
wilderness. About four to five miles into the trip I looked up
another valley across Snowmass Creek and saw an impressive
waterfall. Beyond that, I spotted the northern summit of Snowmass
Mountain.
A couple of miles more I arrived at the famous Snowmass Creek log jam. A lot of guidebooks, websites, and word-of-mouth talk describes the log jam crossing as fairly serious. Well, it's not; it's very easy to cross and the logs are wedged in place nicely. The size of the log jam is impressive though. |
The famous log jam |
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Snowmass Peak (not the 14er!) |
On the other side of the log jam, I began the final ascent
to Snowmass Lake. The trail first followed the valley a little
longer then began switching back as I emerged into a dense pine
forest. A little further up, there's a labeled trail junction with
the right fork heading to Snowmass Lake. Although I didn't pass that
many people, I was amazed at the amount of people who were day hiking up
to the lake. That's a 16-mile hike, pretty hefty for one day.
I knew I was getting close because I could see the outline of Hagerman Mountain through the trees. I passed one very impressive waterfall on my left then hiked a little more and arrived at the base of the lake (left). The creek formed another very pretty waterfall right as it left the lake. The water flowed over a very smooth 30-foot rock which formed a smooth curtain of water. I began searching for a spot to camp off on the right hand side of the lake. I found a pretty good spot and set up my bivy sack and had lunch/dinner on the edge of the lake. After eating I wandered over to the other side of the creek and found even better camping spots. I ended up moving my campsite to a spot within twenty feet of the waterfall. I nestled my bivy sack in between large ponderosa pines and a huge fallen tree trunk. This was the best campsite around! |
| I talked to a few other people before going to bed.
Most were up there just to hike around or to fish. Of everyone I
spoke with (including people along the trail) only one person was planning
on climbing Snowmass the following morning.
I turned in fairly early and was content to just relax and listen to the waterfall. I took this picture (right) as the moon was rising. I fell asleep pretty quickly and slept great. The next morning I arose just as the sun was rising and began hiking pretty quickly. The first part of the hike took me around the lake through a long grove of willows. The trail began steeply climbing up into the basin where the Snowmass Mountain snowfield was. Actually, there had been less than average snowfall this year and there wasn't much left of the permanent snowfield other than hard and icy snow. I kept on the rocks the entire time. |
Night sky |
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Near the top of Snowmass, looking back at Hagerman |
Without the snowfield, this trip is a massive rock hop up to
the saddle between Hagerman and Snowmass Mountain. Hagerman looks
quite difficult from this angle. Snowmass, on the other hand, is
pretty easy. Near the top, the scrambling increases but it's nothing
difficult at all, mostly moderate 3rd class scrambling. I passed one
party who were on their way down (they must have left well before sunrise)
but when I arrived at the summit, I was all
alone. I signed the register and took in the great views of the
surrounding Elk Mountains.
I decided to descend straight off the face of Snowmass. It was pretty steep from the actual summit, so I downclimbed a little bit and then headed straight down. It was pretty easy for the most part. It was fairly loose but quite manageable with my trekking poles. It didn't take me long at all to arrive at the base and I began rock-hopping my way back down. Along the way, I passed the only other person that I'd met who was actually planning on climbing the mountain. I gave him my various opinions on the route then continued on. |
| Back at camp I refreshed myself in the creek. I
spent a fair amount of too sitting on a small island in the creek and
enjoying the views. I began the hike out sometime in early
afternoon.
This ended up being a true march. I passed a few parties on the way down and would stop to talk to them, taking advantage of the rest time. I met one couple who had spent part of their honeymoon hiking up to Snowmass lake and now, twenty five years later, were making a return trip. I also passed a group of college guys who were intent on climbing Snowmass the following day so I passed on my various observations on the climb. By the time I was within a mile of the trailhead my legs were absolutely spent. Twenty-three miles in one weekend (not to mention 5700 feet of elevation) is pretty rough. On top of that, this was a very busy summer, so I was by no means walking on fresh legs. In any event, I made it back to the car exhausted. I took a lot of time to stretch and relax before I began the long drive back to Denver. |
Aspen grove |
