"Peak N"

Route: North couloir ascent, east couloir descent
Posted On: 6/24/2023, By: Chipmunk
Info: I live in Grand County and have been staring at this line for years as I drive past on Hwy 9 en route to other high peaks. Peak N has several couloirs - the prominent east facing couloir that ascends to the N-O saddle, the steeper north couloir that branches off the east couloir, and the NE couloir to lookers left of the east and north couloirs. It is also climbable via its more gentle southern face. The north couloir is deeply inset and only visible when looking at the peak from north of Green Mountain Reservoir. My partner wanted no part of the extra 5 miles RT the Brush Creek gate closure added, so I waited (im)patiently for the gate to open on 6/20. With coverage still looking excellent during my weekly road gawk, low overnight temperatures and clear skies, we settled on Saturday to climb the line. We drove up to the Brush Creek TH Friday night and there is one significant obstacle you are not making it through without 4WD. We saw several 4Runners, a Tacoma, Jeep Gladiator, and Chevy Silverado at the trailhead. We started at 4:50am. Great trail up to Lost Lake with minor deadfall, then a classic Gore bushwhack to the base of the couloir. The 3.4 miles to the lake took us 1 hour and 30 minutes and the next mile of bushwhacking from the lake to treeline took 1 hour and 20 minutes. I wish I had taken some pictures during the 'shwhack, it was THICCC in there. Would NOT be fun carrying skis. Once we mercifully broke treeline we boulder hopped to 11.8k where we switched from light hikers to mountaineering boots and crampons for the climb. We climbed the north couloir which has a slope angle in the 40 degree range throughout, with a sporty steeper finish. The snow conditions in the couloir were absolutely perfect, and I would expect this line to be filled in well into July. After topping out in the couloir there is a short, dry class 3 scramble to the summit. There is a jar on the summit but no pen or paper within. We descended via the east couloir. Getting to the top of this from the summit involved a short, dry class 3 scramble and minor route finding. On descent we stayed on snow until back at treeline. Final stats were 11 miles and 4.5k vertical feet climbed in just shy of 9 hours. 

Route: Ridge from Guyselman, descent to upper Slate
Posted On: 9/22/2022, By: SnowAlien
Info: Traverse from Guyselman is fairly straightforward, skirt the ridge difficulties to the west. Return route to Slate lake is a bit soul crushing as it requires a re-ascent of ~500 ft at the end of the long day (Terry Horvath route from dbaker TR). Route works great otherwise, especially if you like steep Class 3 grass. 

Route: View from the saddle of Kneeknocker Pass
Posted On: 7/17/2016, By: WillRobnett
Info: Still quite a bit of snow on the east side of Kneeknocker, Peak N looking summer. 

Route: Brush Creek
Posted On: 7/13/2016, By: piper14er
Info: After the failed early May attempt the gate was opened back on June 21 and I started at the trailhead. There was not much snow left but there were some snowfields and plenty of creeks running well. The trek ended up to be about 13.5 miles and 4500 feet or so. The trail is great up to Lost Lake but then look out because there is obnoxious bushwhacking through uncountable dead and downed trees, cob webs galore, mosquitos aplenty and spiders on the rock up to the base of the final ascent. The last 0.3 miles requires about 1000 feet of gain to the summit. I went up and over a lot of rck on the way up and tried returning more through the trees. Slow and demoralizing at times. I have posted a gpx at listsofjohn. 

Route: Brush Creek
Posted On: 5/7/2016, By: piper14er
Info: We made an attempt at Peak N but the weather chased us back at one point and there was plenty of slushy snow to deter progress. The road started dry and then snow started. It is two miles to the trailhead and some parking/camp spots. The trail started dry also along the south facing side of the slopes. Once at the Gore Trail split the trail heads along north facing slopes either way you go. The trail goes through a blow down area and then turns north, then west. That trail had 3-4 feet of slushy snow to navigate. The Gore Trail that heads southwest is also snow covered. We might have still gone ahead if it had not started to snow as the clouds that were around during the morning settled down lower. As usually happens and I said it to myself when we turned around "it will probably turn to blue skies once we are down", which is what happened. Anyway after several thousand feet up and many miles this peak will have to wait until another day. The sign says that the gate will open June 21, which will save 4+ miles of roundtrip walking and some vertical. There was plenty of snow higher up on the slopes below Peak N. I looked at the map and I believe the sign at the gate said this was the Brush Creek Road. You get to this road by taking the Heeney turn off of Highway 9 and then go 0.5 miles to the road or the parking. I read that people said this road was very rough so maybe it is not the same road because I did not see anything that would need high clearance. The road might be a little tough in a few stretches if it was wet and slippery. 

Route: North face
Posted On: 5/29/2014, By: goreskier
Info: Climbed and skied the north face of this gem in the gore range. the most vertical for a ski descent in all of the gore range. not super steeep, but a very long descent. just be sure to bring patience. Still in from summit down to creek. around 3500‘-3900‘ of skiable vertical.