Beta on Phoenix Peak from the east?

[Cereal]

Hello, I am looking for any beta for summitting (centennial) “Phoenix Peak” from the east.

We were looking at the Roaches’ “classic” route that starts near the Stone Cellar Guard Station (and goes by Machin Lake en route to the summit), since we will be in the area to hike Stewart and Organ (both via “classic” routes, as well). Their route from near the Eddiesville TH looks to be a bit much for our group; I don’t have the book in front of me at the moment in order to specify the exact route names.

Any suggestion on the drive from Cebolla or Eddiesville THs around to the Stone Cellar Guard Station? Google says 40mi and two hours, which would be unfortunate because we were hoping to do Phoenix on the middle day (with the shorter Organ/Stewart hikes on the first/third days). We may be able to adjust our plan to optimize the drives a little better.

Then, I also found in this @SurfNTurf trip report that navigation of Phoenix from the east may not be as straightforward as we were hoping (see the very first paragraph): https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=21021#

Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks!

[drop_bear]

I did Phoenix from the east a few years back as part of a backpacking trip. We hiked in to Machin Lake via the Machin Basin Trail from Eddysville TH which was straightforward. From the lake, there's a prominent ridge just north of the lake that we took up to the main ridge. There were brief parts of mild scrambling on good enough rock, then a nice tundra stroll northward to the summit. Route finding wasn't an issue. Took Phoenix's east ridge down, which was a very tedious descent on dinner plate rocks. I recall almost every rock wanted to move in some fashion, but it was fine. I was glad we didn't take the east ridge for both the ascent and descent.

[Cereal]

I did Phoenix from the east a few years back as part of a backpacking trip. We hiked in to Machin Lake via the Machin Basin Trail from Eddysville TH which was straightforward. From the lake, there's a prominent ridge just north of the lake that we took up to the main ridge. There were brief parts of mild scrambling on good enough rock, then a nice tundra stroll northward to the summit. Route finding wasn't an issue. Took Phoenix's east ridge down, which was a very tedious descent on dinner plate rocks. I recall almost every rock wanted to move in some fashion, but it was fine. I was glad we didn't take the east ridge for both the ascent and descent.

Awesome, thanks! Glad to hear the routefinding from Eddiesville wasn’t an issue. Do you have the actual mileage/gain? I think the Roaches had it at 19.5mi roundtrip?

[Reg0928]

I did Phoenix from Eddiesville in a loop with 13402 and 13015. Navigation wasn't an issue.

I posted my gpx track in the library here if you wanna look at it. I believe the stats were around 17.5 miles and 5k feet of gain for all 3 peaks.

[drop_bear]

I didn't record the trip so no actual stats, but just mapping it out it looks closer to 24 miles RT. In typical La Garita fashion, the trails don't see much use so there were spots above treeline where the trail disappeared, but there were intermittent markers to help guide you. I recall the willows had started to take over the trail around the Saguache Creek crossing. Here's a shot of Phoenix from the NE:

Screenshot 2023-09-25 161018.png (342.23 KiB) Viewed 811 times

As for the drive from Eddysville to Stone Cellar, google is probably pretty accurate. For the most part the roads are nice gravel so you can make up some time. If you head up 744 past Stone Cellar, the road gets more rough so you'll lose some time there.

[Cereal]

Thank you both for the replies!

I took a look at the Roach book, and discovered another option, the NW Ridge, which goes at 15mi and 3800' .... It is not a "classic", but it starts at Eddiesville. It takes the CT and then Canon Diablo. I found a @SnowAlien TR here: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=15306

Does anyone have an additional advice on Canon Diablo? Particularly, how might the creek crossings go at this time of year? Routefinding? How much of a trail still exists up Canon Diablo these days?

I did Phoenix from Eddiesville in a loop with 13402 and 13015. Navigation wasn't an issue.

I posted my gpx track in the library here if you wanna look at it. I believe the stats were around 17.5 miles and 5k feet of gain for all 3 peaks.

Nice I see your GPX now. It looks like you avoided Canon Diablo. Your ascent route up the northeast flank of PT 13,402 looks enticing.

I didn't record the trip so no actual stats, but just mapping it out it looks closer to 24 miles RT. In typical La Garita fashion, the trails don't see much use so there were spots above treeline where the trail disappeared, but there were intermittent markers to help guide you. I recall the willows had started to take over the trail around the Saguache Creek crossing. Here's a shot of Phoenix from the NE:

Screenshot 2023-09-25 161018.png

As for the drive from Eddysville to Stone Cellar, google is probably pretty accurate. For the most part the roads are nice gravel so you can make up some time. If you head up 744 past Stone Cellar, the road gets more rough so you'll lose some time there.

Thanks, sounds good, and your photo is helpful!