Father Dyer Peak

From the south end of Breckenridge, drive 2 miles south on Colorado 9. Turn right on Spruce Creek Road. Stay right up a hill before turning left at an intersection. Continue another mile to reach the obvious 2WD trailhead at 10,400'. To continue to the upper, 4WD Spruce Creek trailhead, pass through the gate and drive nearly 2 miles to reach the end of the road, near 11,100'. If you're headed to the Crystal Creek area, leave the lower trailhead, and after 0.2 mile turn right and follow a steep, narrow, 4WD road that goes all the way to Lower Crystal Lake, at 12,000'.

This route is best climbed with stable snow on the slope leading up to the southeast ridge. From the 10,400-foot trailhead, follow the 4WD road up a short distance to a road junction and turn right toward Crystal Creek. Follow the steep, 4WD road for over a mile and to exit the heavy forest. After near 1.3 miles from the trailhead, cross the Wheeler trail. Continue on the road through Crystal Creek basin ( 2) to Lower Crystal Lake, near 12,000'. Near the remnants of a mine building, turn left and continue up an old road - 3. Follow it up to the top of some talus at the mouth of a cirque between Mt. Helen and Father Dyer Peak. Climb up onto the rough talus and work your way west into the cirque - 4 and 5. Keep hauling over talus to reach the west end of the cirque and a slope leading to the southeast ridge - 6.

Climb the slope ( 7) to gain the southeast ridge and turn right to see the remaining route - 8. Hike northwest along the ridge to the final summit pitch near 13,400' - 9. Carefully climb up steep rock (Difficult Class 2) to reach Dyer's tiny summit.

High-clearance 4WD vehicles can drive all the way to Lower Crystal Lake. It's a rough, narrow road with few pull-offs along the way. Remember - this is the road that starts on the right a short distance up from the main trailhead.

It is also possible to start this hike on the south end of the Aqueduct road that runs between Spruce Creek and Crystal Creek. This involves leaving the main trailhead, driving over 1 mile up the main Spruce Creek road (4WD but not too difficult), and turning right to the start of the Aqueduct road. The road is gated on both ends but parking here shaves some time and elevation off of your hike. Hike north on the Aqueduct road to intersect the main route near 11,200'.