Mt. Sherman Trip Report 05/28/2012

Peak(s):	Mt. Sherman - 14,043 feet
Date Posted:	05/28/2012
Date Climbed:	05/28/2012
Author:	zephyr_pelicante

Sherman loop on memorial day
We did a loop of Mount Sherman by taking the winter route up to the summit and descending using the standard route and some glissading. This windy memorial day hike marks my finish of the tenmile/mosquito range 14ers, as well as my 10th 14er. In contrast to my usual style of solo hiking, or 2-man team, I went with a group of 6 which included roommates/neighbors/classmates. The weather warned of typical rocky mountain spring winds of 20-40 MPH, but since I had recently hiked several windy peaks, and was going with some experienced hikers, we decided to go for it. We had two vehicles, one 4WD and one 2WD, the latter of which we parked early on the road and squeezed into the 4WD up to the gate. Mountain mostly snow free We became a bit confused as to which peak was Sherman and eventually ended up a bit into the winter route among the large rocks on the southeast face. Instead of backtrack on such a short hike we decided to just take the winter route. We found a cool looking shelter in the rocks and decided to take a little food/water break. Neat structure Southeast face scramble At this point the wind became strong, and two members decided to turn back and head toward the car. The 4 of us who remained split up into two groups. Two member, Cory and Will, gained altitude along the rock scramble quite quickly while Craig and I decided to wait until we got the to gully which faces north to gain the altitude. Cory and Will came down in altitude a little to cross the snowbanks, and eventually the four of us met at the summit. Snowbanks below summit (on north east side) We took some silly pictures and chatted a bit with a family with 3 young children who just completed their first 14er. I was amazed at the great views from the top. Craig and I spotted Elbert, La Plata, Massive, Holy Cross, Democrat, Quandary, Lincoln, Bross, Greys, Torreys, Bierstadt, Evans, and several of the peaks south of Elbert that were more difficult to identify (but likely Oxford, Bellford, Harvard and Princeton) Looking southwest from summit Looking west from summit Looking north from summit Looking southwest from summit We decided to descend the standard route, and while tempted to knock out Sheridan, we felt it best we return to our friends who had been waiting at the car. Descending the standard route Looking east from below summit Finally Will jogged down the trail while Cory, Craig, and I found a few paths to glissade down after we got to the Sherman-Sheridan saddle. we got about 700ft. of glissading, although this opportunity will probably be gone come June. While I was disappointed two of our crew had to turn back, and that they did during the worst of the wind, I really enjoyed this memorial day hike and am proud to claim a double-digit 14er stat. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Sherman loop on memorial day

We did a loop of Mount Sherman by taking the winter route up to the summit and descending using the standard route and some glissading. This windy memorial day hike marks my finish of the tenmile/mosquito range 14ers, as well as my 10th 14er. In contrast to my usual style of solo hiking, or 2-man team, I went with a group of 6 which included roommates/neighbors/classmates.

The weather warned of typical rocky mountain spring winds of 20-40 MPH, but since I had recently hiked several windy peaks, and was going with some experienced hikers, we decided to go for it.

We had two vehicles, one 4WD and one 2WD, the latter of which we parked early on the road and squeezed into the 4WD up to the gate.

We became a bit confused as to which peak was Sherman and eventually ended up a bit into the winter route among the large rocks on the southeast face. Instead of backtrack on such a short hike we decided to just take the winter route. We found a cool looking shelter in the rocks and decided to take a little food/water break.

At this point the wind became strong, and two members decided to turn back and head toward the car. The 4 of us who remained split up into two groups. Two member, Cory and Will, gained altitude along the rock scramble quite quickly while Craig and I decided to wait until we got the to gully which faces north to gain the altitude. Cory and Will came down in altitude a little to cross the snowbanks, and eventually the four of us met at the summit.

Snowbanks below summit (on north east side)

We took some silly pictures and chatted a bit with a family with 3 young children who just completed their first 14er. I was amazed at the great views from the top. Craig and I spotted Elbert, La Plata, Massive, Holy Cross, Democrat, Quandary, Lincoln, Bross, Greys, Torreys, Bierstadt, Evans, and several of the peaks south of Elbert that were more difficult to identify (but likely Oxford, Bellford, Harvard and Princeton)

We decided to descend the standard route, and while tempted to knock out Sheridan, we felt it best we return to our friends who had been waiting at the car.

Finally Will jogged down the trail while Cory, Craig, and I found a few paths to glissade down after we got to the Sherman-Sheridan saddle. we got about 700ft. of glissading, although this opportunity will probably be gone come June.

While I was disappointed two of our crew had to turn back, and that they did during the worst of the wind, I really enjoyed this memorial day hike and am proud to claim a double-digit 14er stat.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

zephyr_pelicante	Re: Kids 5/29/2012 11:37pm If I had to guess I'd say the youngest one was 6-8. They said they had taken them to Evans (which has a road essentially up to the summit). Taking a drive up Evans (or Pike's) and walking around on the summit a little bit might be a good indication of how your kids do at the high altitude. You could even drive up to the Sherman trailhead and start hiking up the trail and see how they do. The trail is a wide, very smooth vehicle trail for probably the first 1/2 mile or so after the gate. My only concern (besides the elevation) would be the ridge to the summit after the saddle as it is a bit steeper and the rock a bit looser. There're still some great views at the saddle so even if you decide to turn back there it would make for a pretty cool outing. This is probably the easiest 14er I've done so far, but as the saying goes ”there are no easy 14ers”
Monster5	Yet again... 5/31/2012 6:24pm I must use you for beta. Did you happen to get a look at Horseshoe from the approach? A big steep bowl off to the left? Congrats on getting a bunch of engineering nerds up the peak! Bummer those other two didn't make it.
zephyr_pelicante	Re: 5/31/2012 11:31pm Do you mean the West side? I didn't get any of that trail, sorry. I can't imagine it being too bad as the standard trail on the east side had a marginal amount of snow at worst.

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