Unnamed 13305 Trip Report 08/18/2017

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Unnamed 13305 - 13,305 feet "Lake Fork Peak" - 13,333 feet
Date Posted	08/18/2017
Modified	08/24/2017
Date Climbed	08/12/2017
Author	quaternion

Obscure 13ers and Solitude in Sayres Gulch
After climbing N. Maroon last weekend, and enjoying the festival-like happenings around Crater Lake and Maroon Lake, I decided to opt for the solitude of some obscure Sawatch 13ers. These mountains are not spectacular, but they provide a great outing and a worthy reminder of why I climb obscure 13ers. My TH was at the mouth of Sayres Gulch, right on the South Fork Lake Creek Rd ... Road 399 per Google Maps, Road 391 per the USGS quad. Either way, it's the road that heads south from Independence Pass Road right at the TH for La Plata's NW Ridge Route. Note that the road crosses the North Fork on a solid bridge ... no need for driving through water. There is a fair amount of camping along this road (although the loud partying of other campers, and even a gunshot resounding through the valley after I was in bed, don't make me want to rush back to camp there). About 2.5 miles in on the South Fork Lake Creek Rd you reach a junction. Turning hard left takes you down a short spur with parking, and a footbridge across the creek. Turning slightly left leads to a stream crossing, and would allow you to drive up into Sayres Gulch (see photo). Since I thought I might make a loop out of my hike, I left my car at this junction, and hiked in across the footbridge across a striking little gorge! Junction for Sayres Gulch. Footbridge into Sayres Gulch. Shortly after the footbridge you come to a junction; specifically, the road from the drivable stream crossing comes in from the right, and the road into Sayres Gulch goes left. (This is a bit confusing, as the USGS Quad doesn't show any of this, but does show a different intersection which would be just a little further up ... if it still existed.) With the footbridge behind the photographer, turn left at this intersection for Sayres Gulch. My plan was to climb PT 13,295, and then if it looked reasonable to run the ridge N to 'Lake Fork Peak' (PT 13,322) ... so off I went toward the head of the gulch. The road extends for about 2 miles before reaching the Wilderness boundary. This is a beautiful valley and a pleasant hike. View from before reaching the Wilderness boundary. The Wilderness boundary at ~2 miles (looking south). The mountain at center is unnamed 12850â, the eastern wall of Sayres The trail continues for another mile plus and then gradually becomes less discernible in the willows. I crossed from the west side to the east side of the creak at about 11,450' to minimize the bushwhacking. Eventually the willows give way to grass, and the grass gives way to talus, and the talus leads to the east ridge of PT 13,295. The talus and the ridge are straightforward. The summit of PT 13,295 provides fantastic views in all directions. From the TH to this summit was 5.2 miles and about 2800' of elevation gain. The head of Sayres Gulch, with PT 13,295 just left of center. This is where the real exploration began. The next goal was to summit unofficially named Lake Fork Peak, or PT 13,322. The ridge turned out to offer some good variety, including unpleasant broad but loose slopes, narrow and exposed solid class 2+, the occasional hand placement, and one minor loose downclimb on the west side to get to the saddle (which has a trail crossing it!). Then it was up more class 2 ridge to the summit (total distance and elevation gain to this point was 7.4 miles and 3800'). NW ridge of PT 13,295, with Lake Fork Peak 2 miles in the distance. Note the grassy east slopes providing descent from Lake One of several class 2+ narrow sections of the ridge (view is looking north). Looking back (southeast) toward PT 13,295 from just north of the saddle. The cliff band just south of the saddle goes at eas The summit of Lake Fork Peak also has beautiful views. The benchmark on the summit would have us believe that the summit is only 13,318', but it felt to me like a solid 13,322'. Summit marker on PT 13,322 ... could lead to serious confusion. I considered heading down the west face to Lake Pass and then bushwhacking over to Middle Mtn. But the slope looked miserable (like bowling balls stacked at the angle of repose) and I couldn't see any reasonable path through the willows, so I decided to forego the suffer-fest. I dropped a few hundred(?) feet back down the south ridge, and cut east down very reasonable grass and talus slopes. I had to skirt some minor cliffs and pick my way around/through some willows, but nothing of particular note. I rejoined the barely discernible trail in Sayres Gulch just below 11,400', and enjoyed a leisurely hike back to the car. The battery on my 'fully charged' Garmin Forerunner died (it's old ... finally motivated me to replace the darn thing), so I can only estimate the total RT distance, but I'd put it at just under 12 miles (and 3800' of gain). For reference, my timeline was just over 2.5 hours from the TH to the first summit, on second summit before the 4.5 hour mark, and just under 7 hours car to carâ¦not racing. Bottom line is that these two peaks combine comfortably â¦ in case anyone else ever wants to combine them. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Obscure 13ers and Solitude in Sayres Gulch

After climbing N. Maroon last weekend, and enjoying the festival-like happenings around Crater Lake and Maroon Lake, I decided to opt for the solitude of some obscure Sawatch 13ers. These mountains are not spectacular, but they provide a great outing and a worthy reminder of why I climb obscure 13ers.

My TH was at the mouth of Sayres Gulch, right on the South Fork Lake Creek Rd ... Road 399 per Google Maps, Road 391 per the USGS quad. Either way, it's the road that heads south from Independence Pass Road right at the TH for La Plata's NW Ridge Route. Note that the road crosses the North Fork on a solid bridge ... no need for driving through water. There is a fair amount of camping along this road (although the loud partying of other campers, and even a gunshot resounding through the valley after I was in bed, don't make me want to rush back to camp there).

About 2.5 miles in on the South Fork Lake Creek Rd you reach a junction. Turning hard left takes you down a short spur with parking, and a footbridge across the creek. Turning slightly left leads to a stream crossing, and would allow you to drive up into Sayres Gulch (see photo). Since I thought I might make a loop out of my hike, I left my car at this junction, and hiked in across the footbridge across a striking little gorge!

Shortly after the footbridge you come to a junction; specifically, the road from the drivable stream crossing comes in from the right, and the road into Sayres Gulch goes left. (This is a bit confusing, as the USGS Quad doesn't show any of this, but does show a different intersection which would be just a little further up ... if it still existed.)

With the footbridge behind the photographer, turn left at this intersection for Sayres Gulch.

My plan was to climb PT 13,295, and then if it looked reasonable to run the ridge N to 'Lake Fork Peak' (PT 13,322) ... so off I went toward the head of the gulch. The road extends for about 2 miles before reaching the Wilderness boundary. This is a beautiful valley and a pleasant hike.

View from before reaching the Wilderness boundary.

The Wilderness boundary at ~2 miles (looking south). The mountain at center is unnamed 12850â, the eastern wall of Sayres

The trail continues for another mile plus and then gradually becomes less discernible in the willows. I crossed from the west side to the east side of the creak at about 11,450' to minimize the bushwhacking. Eventually the willows give way to grass, and the grass gives way to talus, and the talus leads to the east ridge of PT 13,295. The talus and the ridge are straightforward. The summit of PT 13,295 provides fantastic views in all directions. From the TH to this summit was 5.2 miles and about 2800' of elevation gain.

The head of Sayres Gulch, with PT 13,295 just left of center.

This is where the real exploration began. The next goal was to summit unofficially named Lake Fork Peak, or PT 13,322. The ridge turned out to offer some good variety, including unpleasant broad but loose slopes, narrow and exposed solid class 2+, the occasional hand placement, and one minor loose downclimb on the west side to get to the saddle (which has a trail crossing it!). Then it was up more class 2 ridge to the summit (total distance and elevation gain to this point was 7.4 miles and 3800').

NW ridge of PT 13,295, with Lake Fork Peak 2 miles in the distance. Note the grassy east slopes providing descent from Lake

One of several class 2+ narrow sections of the ridge (view is looking north).

Looking back (southeast) toward PT 13,295 from just north of the saddle. The cliff band just south of the saddle goes at eas

The summit of Lake Fork Peak also has beautiful views. The benchmark on the summit would have us believe that the summit is only 13,318', but it felt to me like a solid 13,322'.

Summit marker on PT 13,322 ... could lead to serious confusion.

I considered heading down the west face to Lake Pass and then bushwhacking over to Middle Mtn. But the slope looked miserable (like bowling balls stacked at the angle of repose) and I couldn't see any reasonable path through the willows, so I decided to forego the suffer-fest. I dropped a few hundred(?) feet back down the south ridge, and cut east down very reasonable grass and talus slopes. I had to skirt some minor cliffs and pick my way around/through some willows, but nothing of particular note. I rejoined the barely discernible trail in Sayres Gulch just below 11,400', and enjoyed a leisurely hike back to the car. The battery on my 'fully charged' Garmin Forerunner died (it's old ... finally motivated me to replace the darn thing), so I can only estimate the total RT distance, but I'd put it at just under 12 miles (and 3800' of gain). For reference, my timeline was just over 2.5 hours from the TH to the first summit, on second summit before the 4.5 hour mark, and just under 7 hours car to carâ¦not racing. Bottom line is that these two peaks combine comfortably â¦ in case anyone else ever wants to combine them.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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