Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

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ColoradoGuy
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by ColoradoGuy »

Wow! Nice photos Benners! :D
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by elkheart22 »

One of my favorites!!! =D>
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by Dobsons »

Colorado Guy,

It was great meeting you briefly on Horseshoe. My wife and I also enjoyed the hike tremendously. The flowers on top were awesome, as were the views of the Sawatch. After seeing you on Horseshoe we made our way over to Sheridan and then joined the masses up Sherman. I am always amazed at how I can hike two 13ers and only see one person and then hike a 14er in the same area and see 100+ people. I'll always hold a special place in my heart for the 14ers, but I am beginning to learn that the 13ers are what I really enjoy! Let's keep it quite though. :wink: Hopefully well bump into you again some time.

Corey
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Jim Davies
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by Jim Davies »

I climbed this last Thursday from Weston Pass. An awesome day! The south end of the summit cabin has collapsed in recent years - if you look inside (when it's melted out) you'll see the top of a square mine shaft.

On the ridge coming from the south, there were stretches (mainly in the saddles) where the rock turned into a sort of orange-brown shale, and was covered with bright orange lichens and crammed with thriving and blooming tundra flowers. My understanding is that the orange lichens require extra nitrogen, so is that rock some kind of enhanced fertilizer-full stuff (hence the bounteous plant growth)?

A great thread about a great mountain, one of my perennial favorites. The alpine forget-me-nots around the summit of Horseshoe are some of the best anywhere, and they're peaking right about now.
Alpine forget-me-nots, Horseshoe Mountain, July 2008
Alpine forget-me-nots, Horseshoe Mountain, July 2008
ShermanSheridanHorseshoe 024.jpg (109.16 KiB) Viewed 1626 times
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by Mark A Steiner »

Marvelous flower shot Jim. This thread continues to get better.

Being a geologist and not a botanist, all I can say is the lichens apparently aid their existence with nutrients directly from the rocks themselves. I understand they secrete a weak acid that slowly breaks down hard shales or arkosic sandstones (sand rocks with quartz feldspar) and build a very primitive soil they can anchor to. Over time (who knows, years, decades, centuries - at 13,900 feet the process is very slow) this process may form a thin soil suitable for the forget-me-nots. Just an educated opinion from not much of an expert. Maybe someone else can amplify on this or for other Mosquito Range peaks.
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by ColoradoGuy »

Great discussions here. I finally have photos of my Horseshoe Mountain climb up:

http://coloradoguy.com/horseshoe-mountain/colorado.htm

On Horseshoe, facing NE (or NNE?) toward Mt. Sherman and White Ridge:

Image

-Steve
It's a tough job, but someone has to photograph the mountain. www.MtPrinceton.org
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by rijaca »

Horseshoe.small.JPG
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by kaiman »

Horseshoe is a great mountain. I climbed it last summer from the Gold Basin http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.ph ... ki=Include and despite the wind it was one of the best days of climbing I had last summer. When climbing from that side you don't get the view of the circ that you have from the Leavick side, but Gold Basin is probably one of the prettiest places I been in the Ten Mile/Mosquito Range.
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by Mark A Steiner »

Hope this thread keeps going. Excellent photography and captions. Thanks to all of you Horseshoe Mountain contributors!
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content - Paul the Apostle.
Like it or not, I am a slow driver. Putt ... putt ... putt ...
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by elkheart22 »

No thread about Horseshoe would be complete without mentioning
the old mining shack near the summit.....
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by Jim Davies »

The old building on the summit has a mine shaft inside it.
A peek inside the Horseshoe summit house
A peek inside the Horseshoe summit house
shaft.jpg (177.69 KiB) Viewed 1358 times
Along the winding road up from Leavick there is an old mine with this curious "diving board" structure.
Horseshoe "diving board"
Horseshoe "diving board"
diving_board.jpg (188.98 KiB) Viewed 1358 times
This mine also has some nicely decrepit ruins and an old gas truck. Two years ago, I ran into a couple of guys who had just bought the mines here while hiking down the road; they told me the tanker is empty (much to their relief).

The cirque is the outstanding and unique feature, of course.
Horseshoe cirque and lake
Horseshoe cirque and lake
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Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall — it's great when you stop. -- Chris Darwin
I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now. -- Forrest Gump
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Re: Horseshoe Mountain Appreciation Thread

Post by SenadR »

My impessions from Horseshoe Mt.
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