Eastern Grenadiers Approach?

[theuglybear]

A couple routes on Storm King and The Guardian have become my local alpine goals for the summer. Unfortunately, there's no good (easy) way to get back there, so I'm looking for some beta from some folks who have gone back there before.

It looks like we have three options:

Beartown
This would be by far the easiest, but unfortunately neither I nor any of the partners I've been talking to about doing this have a vehicle which can make it up there. So it's not really an option. (Who wants to lend me a dirt bike?!)

Molas
I've done this approach into Vestal basin several times, and cannot tell you how much I hate it! Adding another pass to go over sounds like pure misery. Still, it would be shorter than...

Vallecito Creek
The longest of the options (it looks like about 17 miles), but also the most straight-forward. No passes, a few thousand feet of gain on the way in and none on the way out. I'm currently leaning towards this.

Am I missing anything? Has anybody done these before? Thoughts on what is best? Any insight would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Ben

[snowypeaks]

Just a thought...

I guess that I don't understand whining about the effort needed to spend time in some of the most pristine and beautiful wilderness in the entire country. Every approach you mention is fabulous... it's all a matter of perspective.

[theuglybear]

Snowypeaks,

Stand beside the animas river with a 50 lb pack full of climbing and backpacking gear, after 18 hours of climbing and hiking, and look up at the endless switchbacks and 2000' of gain you have to do still to get back to your car, and tell me it doesn't suck. Worth it? For sure! But nobody's overwhelmed by the sublimity of the scenery at that point.

Got any beta for me?

[planet54]

I can tell you of the route that I took years ago. Instead of going up through Vestal Basin , keep on the CT until you get to about 10,600 and head south up the South Fork of Elk Creek. We made it to treeline in one day from Molas Pass. Our packs were very heavy since we were headed all the way to Chicago Basin and out to Purgatory. You do have to cross a pass at approx 12,600 but I don't remember it being difficult and is easier than the trudge to Vestal Basin. The picture is from the top of the 12,600 pass looking at Storm King and Silex.

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[TravelingMatt]

I've gotten a Rav4 to the Beartown townsite, which is about ¾ mile short of the Beartown TH and another mile-plus to Kite Lake. (The townsite is just an open flat now.) Also, it was mid-September when the rivers were lower. But still... I get to tell people I drove across the Rio Grande in a Rav4. And back.

Anyway, anything in the 4Runner/Xterra/Cherokee class should make it there fine, or even a late-model Forrester.

[DaveLanders]

I've done the Vallecito approach 3 times; I agree it's long, but the end result is worth it. You might be able to hire a Jeep tour operator out of Silverton to take you to Beartown. I also know of people who have hired horse packers to take their gear up the Vallecito; I think the horses had to stay on maintained trails, so the people had to carry their own gear up Leviathan Creek. This would probably apply to any of the other drainages west of the Vallecito, except for Johnson Creek which has the maintained Columbine Pass trail.

[planet54]

Or do you mean the col between Three and One, skipping the Vestal group on this trip entirely?

Yes ,between Peak One and Peak Three with a side trip up Peak Three. But we also went over Trinity Pass 12,800 + to Vestal Basin on a dayhike. I am confusing sometimes.

[SnowAlien]

I've gotten a Rav4 to the Beartown townsite, which is about ¾ mile short of the Beartown TH and another mile-plus to Kite Lake. (The townsite is just an open flat now.) Also, it was mid-September when the rivers were lower. But still... I get to tell people I drove across the Rio Grande in a Rav4. And back.

Anyway, anything in the 4Runner/Xterra/Cherokee class should make it there fine, or even a late-model Forrester.

Thanks Matt, that's encouraging. *Forester owner here*. Did you get to Beartown from Creed side or from Silverton side in RAV4?

I agree with OP that either Molas pass (sans train) or Vallecito approaches are very long for Silex group. I am definitely planning on getting to Beartown somehow.

That 12,600 ft pass near Pk 3 is beautiful and fairly mellow for sure, but the Elk creek basin early on didn't look like much fun to me, even though I was descending it with a fairly light pack. I have some pictures of it in my TR.

[theuglybear]

Hey, guys, thanks for all of your input! And Matt, that is very encouraging hearing you can get close to the Bear town TH without 4wd. I will definitely look into that. But echoing another poster's question, from which direction did you get to Beartown?

[Garrett]

Hands down the silverton side is better and easier to get to bear town. Interestingly enough there was a minivan near the townsite last time I was in there, I would definitly not recommend that though.

[theuglybear]

Thanks, Garrett!

[TravelingMatt]

Silverton over Stony Pass. Up to the pass was no problem. On the east side of the pass there were a couple places I had to be very careful, and then there were the two river crossings (again, mid-September). Beartown road itself was pretty slow going and I had to get out and scout a couple times. As much as I know I shouldn't try it again, I probably will. I'm in Silverton right now actually but have other plans.

Note this is also the best way to access Pole Creek and Northwest Pole, both bicentennials.