"Booby Prize"

Route: Quintet from South fork lake creek
Posted On: 10/13/2024, By: yaktoleft13
Info: Drove to end of South fork lake creek road, 3/6, subaruable. One washed out section a mile and a half from la Plata trailhead. Route was Middle -> 13457 -> prize bm -> booby -> lake fork. From end of road, turned right after 5 minutes and ascended middle. Descended to tundra, skirted ridge, and found route through cliffs to tundra/rocks up 457. Stayed generally left of ridge all the way toward prize bm. Some scrambling required. Ridge proper seemed to hold more scrambling. Over to booby, skipped large towers to right side. Looked fun on ridge, but I had my dog with me so needed to keep route to class 3 at max. To descend, we went toward the 12er to the south, cut back under the cliffs, and found a gentle gully we used to reach the valley floor. To get to lake fork peak, we threaded the edge between the willows and talus to lake pass, then grinded out the grassy and talusy slope to the summit. The descent back to the car crossed some willows and marsh, but nothing too bad. 10.6 miles on garmin (caltopo had almost 13 miles), 6200 gain, 10 1/2 hours. Surprisingly slow terrain 

Route: From UN 13460
Posted On: 9/5/2023, By: SionaRW35
Info: Dry summer conditions. No boobies seen 1 star would not recommend 

Route: S. Fork Lake Creek
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: k_fergie
Info: Skied the NE face of Booby yesterday (06/24). Was in pretty good conditions, suncupping wasn't really present until you get to the flats. No idea why this one doesn't get skied more often. Easy access from FS 391 (very manageable 3.5/6 difficulty to get to the end of the road, lots of Colorado pinstriping, though), aesthetic NE face that holds good snow with minimal cornices, its named Booby, and there is a dick-lake as well. Trail 1466 in was basically a muddy stream, though. 

Route: E Ridge / NE Couloirs
Posted On: 6/2/2021, By: TakeMeToYourSummit
Info: TH info: I'll keep this here since it's changing so much day to day. On the 29th we were able to drive past the McNasser junction but then were stopped by a larger snowdrift at the next creek crossing. Once past this snowdrift the road was relatively snow-free until you approach the Peekaboo junction (about 1 mile each way for us). It looked like a truck had tried to push further but was unable to make the summer TH. Peak info: Otina was right! This peak makes for an awesome ski! The approach is super gradual & we managed to walk the snow 98% of the time without postholing in the morning. Be prepared to dry tool your skins for sections (or annoyingly on/off) for a bit of the approach (thus the booting). The east ridge is a nice mix of rock scrambling & snow climbing. I would not advise this route be done w/o crampons & axe in its current condition. Our group dropped couloirs off both sides of the major rib that runs to the summit with agreed success. We managed to ride down the basin until we were somewhere under the 12ers to the south. The snow wasnt going to allow me to boot it so I transitioned & linked snow patches the best I could to the summer TH. More patchiness on the road with a similar dry or on/off options. An amazing line to get in awesome corn conditions. Fully recommend! 

Route: From Prize BM + 12,862 + 12,750 + 12,934
Posted On: 10/13/2020, By: supranihilest
Info: The best named peak there is. Reverse the route from Prize Benchmark across the ridge, then contour around the big point nearest the saddle just north of "Booby Prize". The route looks somewhat improbable from afar, like nearly vertical talus, a glass smooth slab crossing, and/or a gnarly ridge to traverse, but it clears as you go. You can avoid the ridge entirely, the slab is broken into avoidable chunks, and the talus, while steep, is never problematic. Overall the route goes at Class 2+ or so, and the upper slopes are easy. If the 13ers are all you're doing today descend south on large boulders to the saddle there and follow an intermittent trail back to the trail up the valley then to the trailhead. Bonus 12er #1, Point 12,862: descend south from "Booby Prize" on large boulders to the grassy saddle with 12,862, then ascend boulders and talus to 12,862's summit. Descend back to the grassa and take the trail down. The trail is steep, loose, and intermittent, but it will eventually lead to the grassy flats between "Booby Prize" and the duo of 12ers to the east. Bonus 12er #2, Point 12,750: from the grassy flats simply hike towards 12,750's west ridge/slopes, then go up them. The bottom looks like it will suck but it's not as steep or as loose as it looks. Still, caution is warranted because it is a little steep and a little loose. Climb the Class 2+ talus to the top. It's about 600 or so feet up. Bonus 12er #3, Point 12,934: from 12,750 head east down the ridge. There's lots of Class 2+ scrambling on the first half of the ridge, all of it on solid rock. The exposure is always mild. Climb up 12,934's talus-laden western side from there, which is easy. The east ridge of 12,934 to Lake Fork Pass is apparently super awful, so we descended back down 12,934's west side and then north down the talus slopes. There's even a trail through the talus! Once back in the willows it's pretty much a willow bash until you're at the creek. Find a crossing, bash your way through more willows, and find the trail on the north side of the creek. Take it back to the trailhead. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 9/20/2020, By: Flyingfish
Info: In general the route is dry but there is some snow on the north/west slopes 

Route: South Fork Lake Creek TH
Posted On: 8/19/2019, By: IHikeLikeAGirl
Info: Note: There was no canister or register. I added a register and pencil, in a plastic bag, tucked under a rock (see photo). Please bring a jar or adequate container to put it in. It won't last long (if it even made it through the night) in the bag. :) Road is driveable to within 100-200 ft of the actual trailhead (AWD will suffice, with good clearance and careful driving in spots). Several avy debris fields along the road to the trailhead have been cleared/cut through...except for the one JUST before the TH. Social trails have been created to bypass the debris fields along the trail, but the debris is not that bad. Most of it, you will just walk through. Two small snowfields to cross, just below the saddle (decent boot pack across), dry the rest of the route. 

Route: South Fork Lake Creek Trail
Posted On: 8/15/2019, By: zrsimpson
Info: The access road to South Fork Lake Creek TH (FR 391) is blocked by avalanche debris about 0.5 mi. after the junction with the Peek-a-Boo Gulch Rd. The road is passable to that point for high clearance vehicles.