Huron Peak Trip Report 06/12/2007

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Huron Peak - 14,006 feet
Date Posted	06/12/2007
Date Climbed	06/10/2007
Author	maverick_manley

Huron North Ridge
Mountains: Huron Pk (14,003') Route: Started at the 4WD TH at 10,560' Stats: Elevation Gain - 3440' Roundtrip Mileage - 6 miles (approx) Roundtrip Time - 5:45 including 1:30 on summit After Antero I drove straight over to the Huron trailhead to meet up with Shad (Shad), Val, Rebecca, Dan, Kirk (KirkT) and Chris (Chris P). The 4WD road past Winfield was pretty cool. It's pretty straightforward and any 4X4 should be able to make it to 10,560'... easy on that clutch. I got to the trailhead and set up camp at a sweet spot. I had a kickass view from my bedroom window. Here I met bustaheel (John) and learned of his plans for a tour de huron. The dude hikes like an animal. Shad and co. turned up later that night. KirkT and Chris P showed up early the next morning. We had heard that snowshoes / crampons / axe wouldn't be necessary and decided to travel light. Chris carried crampons (which actually turned out to be a good idea in the end). We left camp at 7:10AM according to Kirk's log book after snagging a picture of this breathtaking scenic. We set off with Dan in the lead, setting a Lhakpa-Gelu-Sherpaian pace. We made good time and reached treeline by 8:30. The trail was great. There is absolutely no snow anywhere along it. We got up into the basin and decided to go up the following grass/scree slope up to summit. Chris decided to use his crampons and go up the adjacent snow gully. The snow was crusty in patches but there were several regions that were icy and would not allow for proper kick steps with the summer hiking shoes that a few of us were wearing. Snowshoes would've made our ascent a lot faster. If time is your major concern, go up the standard route rather than going up the scree we did (marked in red)... or bring snowshoes and go up the gully marked in blue. The angle never exceeds late 20s... maybe 30 at the steepest section. The following picture is from later in the day. We were well up the slope by 9AM. Here's looking down it And here's looking at Chris making his way up the snow slope... he was soon ahead while the scree made our lives more and more miserable. Here's another look at the snow slope These slopes join the standard route close to the ridge crest and proceed up to summit. It's a very simple hike from this point on. Chris summitted first. I followed at 9:45AM. We found this great view of the apostles. The ridge leading to the Apostles looks extremely inviting. It's a certainty for some day this summer or maybe next winter. Kirk followed at 10:10AM bringing some clouds with him Shad and Becca followed a few minutes later... there's a very interesting looking cornice up by the summit ridge... We played the fool on summit until Val and Dan came by. This was Val's first 14er... congratulations! We stayed on summit until 11:20AM and then began our descent. The descent went quickly. Chris, Rebecca and I decided to glissade down the gully I marked out earlier. The others decided to descend the standard route. The glissade was a lot of fun and got us down to the basin by 11:50AM. Here's looking at the others descending the standard route. The group reconvened at 12:30 and we proceeded down together. This snowfield that's part of the standard route made for some postholing later in the day. The rest of the descent went very quickly and we were back at the trailhead by 1PM. It was a truly awesome day. Huron is a beautiful mountain placed in a great location. Besides, a climb is also more fun when your climbing partners kick @$$ . It was another great day and yet another magnificent mountain summitted in the Sawatch. Life is good.

Huron North Ridge

Mountains: Huron Pk (14,003')
Route: Started at the 4WD TH at 10,560'
Stats:
Elevation Gain - 3440'
Roundtrip Mileage - 6 miles (approx)
Roundtrip Time - 5:45 including 1:30 on summit

After Antero I drove straight over to the Huron trailhead to meet up with Shad (Shad), Val, Rebecca, Dan, Kirk (KirkT) and Chris (Chris P). The 4WD road past Winfield was pretty cool. It's pretty straightforward and any 4X4 should be able to make it to 10,560'... easy on that clutch.

I got to the trailhead and set up camp at a sweet spot. I had a kickass view from my bedroom window.

Here I met bustaheel (John) and learned of his plans for a tour de huron. The dude hikes like an animal. Shad and co. turned up later that night. KirkT and Chris P showed up early the next morning. We had heard that snowshoes / crampons / axe wouldn't be necessary and decided to travel light. Chris carried crampons (which actually turned out to be a good idea in the end). We left camp at 7:10AM according to Kirk's log book after snagging a picture of this breathtaking scenic.

We set off with Dan in the lead, setting a Lhakpa-Gelu-Sherpaian pace. We made good time and reached treeline by 8:30. The trail was great. There is absolutely no snow anywhere along it.

We got up into the basin and decided to go up the following grass/scree slope up to summit. Chris decided to use his crampons and go up the adjacent snow gully. The snow was crusty in patches but there were several regions that were icy and would not allow for proper kick steps with the summer hiking shoes that a few of us were wearing. Snowshoes would've made our ascent a lot faster. If time is your major concern, go up the standard route rather than going up the scree we did (marked in red)... or bring snowshoes and go up the gully marked in blue. The angle never exceeds late 20s... maybe 30 at the steepest section. The following picture is from later in the day.

We were well up the slope by 9AM. Here's looking down it

And here's looking at Chris making his way up the snow slope... he was soon ahead while the scree made our lives more and more miserable.

Here's another look at the snow slope

These slopes join the standard route close to the ridge crest and proceed up to summit. It's a very simple hike from this point on. Chris summitted first. I followed at 9:45AM. We found this great view of the apostles.

The ridge leading to the Apostles looks extremely inviting. It's a certainty for some day this summer or maybe next winter.

Kirk followed at 10:10AM bringing some clouds with him

Shad and Becca followed a few minutes later... there's a very interesting looking cornice up by the summit ridge...

We played the fool on summit until Val and Dan came by.

This was Val's first 14er... congratulations!

We stayed on summit until 11:20AM and then began our descent. The descent went quickly. Chris, Rebecca and I decided to glissade down the gully I marked out earlier. The others decided to descend the standard route. The glissade was a lot of fun and got us down to the basin by 11:50AM. Here's looking at the others descending the standard route.

The group reconvened at 12:30 and we proceeded down together. This snowfield that's part of the standard route made for some postholing later in the day.

The rest of the descent went very quickly and we were back at the trailhead by 1PM. It was a truly awesome day. Huron is a beautiful mountain placed in a great location. Besides, a climb is also more fun when your climbing partners kick @$$

. It was another great day and yet another magnificent mountain summitted in the Sawatch. Life is good.

Comments or Questions

KirkT	Great hike.. 6/13/2007 5:59am Yep, another great outing with good hiking partners. Looking forward to the next one on Sunday. I do believe your trip reports are getting pretty damn good.. Kirk
Shad	Great report 6/13/2007 2:20pm Great Report!! Here is the link to all my pictures..... See you all Sunday. http://new.photos.yahoo.com/shadmika/album/576460762404208523
mrkite1977	What a Day 6/13/2007 3:47pm Those pictures are making me anxious while I sit in my office chair. Looks like you are getting the most out of this short season.
Spam	Awesome 6/13/2007 4:54pm I love that third pic with the reflection! Congrats Val on your first 14er! May it be the first of many!
Shad	Ankle 6/13/2007 6:48pm The ankle is still a little sore but not bad, at least the swelling is almost all gone. I have been taking an easy the last couple of days trying to get it as healed as possible before the Race up Mount Evans on Saturday. I am going to try and run on it tonight.
debbie	nice 6/14/2007 7:35pm nice work dude!
Yog	Cool Report! 8/28/2008 12:37am Looking forward to Huron. You took some really nice pics! Looks like you guys had a fun time on the summit :D
maverick_manley	Thanks for... 11/30/2010 5:28pm stopping by to comment. Spring has been great. Shad, how's the ankle?
doumall	Sweet man! 2/5/2011 12:22am Way to get after it.

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