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Peak(s):
Pt. 7774
Long Scraggy Peak - 8812
Raleigh Peak - 8183
After a cold trip up Platte Peak last weekend, I was looking around for something that promised less snow, warmer temps, and the chance to stretch the legs with some extra mileage. I decided to try for a trio of Pt. 7774, Long Scraggy Peak, and Raleigh Peak, all of which all promised to have unique summits and opportunities for some scrambles.
Clay and I drove from my place and met Chris at the Little Scraggy Trailhead. Little Scraggy TH is along the Colorado Trail about 13.5 miles south of 285 on Hwy 126. (Just south of Buffalo Creek.) The route we planned on following started just north of the TH on the east side of 126. (This road is labeled as 530 on some topos, but is not shown on most other maps.) We could have parked right at the gate for 530 instead of the TH to avoid a parking fee, but apparently there is a contractor that occasionally uses the road for access and I didn't want to block him out. (Found this information out from a call to the ranger district.) By following this road towards the east, all private property is avoided.
We left the TH, crossed 126 and headed east on 530 at a pretty quick pace a few minutes after 8:00AM. The snow was minimal, and the temps were already warming up a bit. The road twists and turns quite often, but eventually we reached trail #695. (Also known as "Top of the World Trail".) This trail isn't on most maps, but is obvious once you meet it. From here we took a right and headed south towards Pt. 7774. After another mile, we reached the base of the peak. It's quite an unusual looking mountain. It almost looks like a giant mushroom just sticking out of the terrain.
Starting out along 530. First views of Long Scraggy Peak from the trail. Bad picture of 7,774's summit, sadly the only one I had.
I didn't look too deep into information regarding the best way to gain this summit, so we just began circling the giant mound around its west side until we found a doable route. We each took different variations, but all ended up being on the SW side of the peak. Our routes varied anywhere from class 3-4. Lots of fun to be had on this little peak! Definitely worth the trip from the TH just for this summit if one was limited on time.
Chris and Clay searching for the best route up. Clay scrambling up the SW side of 7774. Looking west towards Green Mountain from the summit. Nice views of Long Scraggy from 7774. Carefully descending 7774.
We hung out on the summit enjoying the views of Long Scraggy and Raleigh Peak. (Raleigh looked like it was a LONG ways away from here.) Finally, we carefully descended to the trail and headed back north. Once we met back up with where we left 530, we continued following trail 695 to the north and eventually as it turned to the east. Right as the trail begins to head north again, we left the trail and continued straight east. (The northern most rocks on Long Scraggy's north ridge were directly east of us at this point.) I recalled hearing that there was a cairned trail somewhere along the north ridge of Long Scraggy Peak, so we kept our eyes peeled for any signs of it. After some steep hiking towards the ridge, we finally came across numerous cairns that would lead us the rest of the way to the summit. (Met the trail at N39 21.321 W105 12.287) From this point, the final 0.5 miles along the north ridge went smoothly, although the sugary snow made for some slippery rocks. The only one who didn't seem to have issues was the dog. Chris and Clay sped out in front and reached the final little scramble to the summit a few minutes before me. We dropped our packs and made the quick ascent to the top.
Views from this peak were great. The weather was even better. We stretched out in the sun enjoying zero wind. If we didn't have another peak to head for, I'm sure we probably would have hung out there for quite a while. However, Raleigh Peak was calling and we knew we had a long way to go to get there.
Rufus blazing a trail up Long Scraggy Peak. Scenes from the north ridge of Long Scraggy. Final ascent scramble to the summit of Long Scraggy, Rufus waiting below. Doesn't that rock look like a giant paw?! Raleigh Peak from the summit of Long Scraggy. Looking south at Thunder Butte and Pikes Peak from the summit of Long Scraggy.
We descended our ascent route back out to trail 695 and continued north. To keep our distance at a minimum, we left the trail again after less than one mile to keep aiming straight for our destination. This would be the last time we'd see that trail. Soon after leaving the trail, we popped out into the burn area that separates Long Scraggy peak and Raleigh Peak. This is a really amazing/creepy/sad area, not to mention a tough area to hike through. The rains and flash flooding have created a terrain that creates lots of up and downs along with deadfall to hop over. It seemed to take us a while, but finally we made our way up out of the burn area and into the trees to the NW of Raleigh Peak. (Note: we were able to find no remnants of trail 695 through the burn area. I suspect that it was wiped out with the floods.)
My original plan was to meet the saddle of Raleigh to the NW. Surprisingly, we discovered that this was private property so we decided to just head directly up the west side of Raleigh. Although steep, this worked well and we were able to find a bit of a trail a few hundred feet below the summit. Once again, Chris and Clay made it to the summit area a few minutes before me. The register below the summit rock was wet, so we didn't bother trying to sign. The summit rock was a lot of fun! I was able to find enough grip to shimmy up so the top rock was about at neck level. From there, I could reach out and "hug" the summit. That would have to be good enough for me, because I wasn't even going to attempt to stand on the block. A bit too airy up there for me to do that!
Making our way to the burn area from the north ridge. Entering the burn area. Following a flood path on the way to Raleigh. (background) Looking back at Long Scraggy from the burn area. Burn area. Approaching Raleigh Peak. Crack in the rock near Raleigh's summit that allows access to the true summit. View north from the summit rock. Long Scraggy and 7774 (the little bump on the right) from the summit of Raleigh Peak.
By now, the sun was starting to get low in the sky and we knew we needed to head out. From the summit area, we headed straight NW to the saddle and continued on until we met up with Raleigh Peak Road. We turned left onto the road and put on the autopilot. The original plan was to take the Colorado Trail, but Raleigh Peak Rd followed right alongside the trail and was wider and clearer. Due to that, we ended up following this road all the way to 538, a side road off from Hwy 126. We used a small section of the Colorado Trail to make our way over to the highway. Instead of trying to continue following the CO trail back to the trailhead, we decided just to walk on the shoulder of 126 back to the parking area. Not exactly an "outdoorsy" finish to the day, but it allowed us to make it back to the cars without pulling out the headlamps.
Heading out along Raleigh Peak Road. Long Scraggy from Raleigh Peak Road. Looks like a long way now! Sun setting while walking the burn zone again. Raleigh Peak in the fading daylight. Final section to hwy 126 on the Colorado Trail. Final track of our day from Googleearth.
It was a long day, but I had a great time and enjoyed some spectacular weather and views. If only I could wear short sleeves every January!
--Derek
My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
Thanks for the GPX file, bud, it will be useful as we stagger through the woods this weekend (then stagger out of the Bucksnort!)
See ya in the hills!
Sarah
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