Canby Mountain and Galena Mountain A
Elevation: 13,478 and 13,300 ft
Rank: 267 and 401
Date Completed: August 16, 2018
Trailhead: Stony Pass (4wd)
Mileage RT: ~6.5 miles
Gain: ~2,000 ft

Earlier this year I set a goal for myself to reach 50 Colorado 13er/14er peaks by the end of summer. Well, Galena made #50! That makes me 7.85% of the way toward my goal of 637 peaks! These two are by no means difficult, but it's been a while since they have been commented on so I thought I'd impart some knowledge and give an update on the route. Here goes.

Kyle, Harp, and I spent the night in the jeep at Stony Pass the night before our hike. It was rainy, but when the clouds parted we were rewarded with gorgeous glowing views sans smoke. I'd hiked Stony Pass Peak a few weeks before with my mom while visiting family in Montrose, and Galena and Canby were on my short list of peaks to accomplish this week. Canby had been on my radar for quite a while, ever since Kyle and I had our favorite night on the Colorado Trail camping beneath it's shadow three years ago, watching the cowboy and his dogs herd the bleating sheep in the sunset. It was a magical evening that sparked a love of Stony Pass that I'll have the rest of my life. I digress. There were no sheep this time.

We found out the hard way that there are two ways to hike Canby from the pass. Both start on the Hard Rock 100 route heading up Canby's southwest face, but one is far less strenuous than the other. The research I did on Canby before the hike had been done a few weeks prior, and all I remembered reading was that Canby was easy and to follow the grassy slope to the summit. We did just that, and Kyle cursed my name the whole way up. Allow me to illustrate:

Yeah, it's that easy. The grassy slope route is definitely doable, but it goes straight up. Even Harp kept giving me "what the hell" looks. Don't get me started on the looks Kyle gave me when we got to the ridge only to glance left and see a trail. This mountain is class one if done right. Oh well. This one was earned, even if it was only 900 feet of gain from the pass.

We signed the register inside the jar and took our victory shots. With Canby done, we headed down the easy ridge (the one we didn't take up) to meet with the saddle of unranked Hardrocker. I had to turn my phone off at this point to conserve battery, but the route is pretty obvious. Summit Hardrocker, then follow the long ridge all the way to Galena. You can skirt the mountain and stay at about 13k feet most of the way over to avoid going up and down minor peaks. We kept to the ridge on the way over and gained and lost quite a bit of elevation, but skirted at 13k on the way back. At the top of the road above the Buffalo Boy tram house are three memorials. One in particular is very recent and very sad. Google the name and you'll find that the murder trial is actually scheduled for next week.

Clouds started gathering to the north when we were one subpeak over from Galena, but we were determined to make #50 so we pushed on. Kyle dropped the backpack at the last saddle and we skipped up the mountain for a few quick victory shots before descending. We didn't find a register on this one.

Reevaluating the weather conditions, we decided we had time for lunch in the saddle. Mistake. I forget how quickly the weather changes up there. Though it was a quick lunch, we made it to just beneath the memorials before a loud rumble of thunder sent us quite literally running the rest of the way to Stony Pass. We've had two lightning scares in our hiking careers, and for me that is two too many. Kyle laughs, but those experiences have made me scared of lightning even when I am inside my own home. Neither of us are runners, but we ran all the way to Hardrocker before slowing down, knowing it was all downhill from there. By this time, the storm to the north had bypassed us but a new one was forming just west of Stony Pass. Harp and I just got to the saddle when the storm blew over us and unleashed a torrent of hail and rain. Though it wasn't far, all three of us were soaked when we got to the car. No more thunder or lightning was heard or seen but the storm had done it's damage and put a damper (hehe) on my 50'th peak experience. Oh well, these are the hiking stories we live for! Onward to Silverton for beer and Thee Pitts Again!