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August 1, 2012
~10.2 Miles, ~4,900 Gain
TH: Mill Creek TH (Same as for Dallas)
Monsoon season and a 4:00 PM roll call at work in Durango limited my options for 13ers but "T 0" was a perfect orphaned candidate. This would also be my third attempt at "T 0." I drove from Denver to the Mill Creek Trailhead where I slept in my car and woke up at 3:50 AM and was hiking up the Deep Creek Trail by 4:10 AM.
The junction for the Last Dollar Road Trail came quickly and I started up the switchbacks working my way towards the Sneffels Highline trail junction. Due to the dousing of rain overnight, things were very wet. I started up the Sneffels Highline trail and followed it up a few switchbacks before I left the trail and started hiking north directly up grassy slopes.
Moonset.
By hiking directly north, I reached a minor ridge off of Point 12,853 which I followed until I figured out the ridge directly towards "T 0" wasn't going to work. From the south-southeast ridge of 12,853, I traversed into the talus basin directly south of "West Dallas" and hiked up the basin. Between 12,400-12,600 there was some hellacious scree.
Talus basin south of "West Dallas"
Sunrise over Dallas.
The short hellacious scree section.
Working my way up scree I intercepted the south ridge spur off the east ridge of "T 0." There were some minor cliff bands that I had to bypass, up some gullies to the east of the ridge crest. The rock quality was somewhat questionable but manageable as I regained the ridge (class 2+). Once on the east ridge of "T 0," it was a more enjoyable class 2 talus hike to the summit where I arrived at 7:20 AM.
The south ridge spur of the east ridge on "T 0"
Silhouette of Dallas.
East ridge of "T 0"
Route up the south spur.
Looking down the gullies.
Morning light over the western Sneffels range.
Final ridge to "T 0"
The Wilson group from the summit of "T 0."
Excellent views of the Wilson and Sneffels. I wasn't too excited about descending my ascent route so I decided to add Campbell Peak and explore a different basin. From the summit of "T 0," I descended the class 2 southwest ridge to the Campbell-"T 0" saddle. I ditched my pack and made the quick side trip to Campbell and then returned to my pack. Descending directly off of the Campbell-"T 0" saddle didn't look the best due to steep loose talus, so I angled north and then down towards the basin that feeds Eider Creek.
Campbell from the Campbell-"T 0" saddle
"T 0" and its southwest ridge from Campbell.
"T 0" from the basin that feeds Eider Creek.
After descending about 400 vertical feet it was just a talus hop back to treeline and once back at treeline, I traversed east at ~11,400 until I re-intercepted the Sneffels Highline trail. To my surprise, I found an old trail which led the way. Travel was quick once I was back on the trail and I returned back to my car at 9:40 AM. Plenty of time to drive to Durango and even take a nap before work.
San Juan Hoodoos.
Neat area near the Sneffels Highline trail.
Hoodoo from the Sneffels Highline trail.
Route map.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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