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Trailhead: Fourmile Creek at the Winter closure Route: East Ridge Length: 8 miles Vertical: 2800 feet Partners: Solo
I just HAD to get me some elevation. After doing short low altitude hikes like Spruce Mountain that I documented here, I did Pennsylvania Mountain a week ago because it seemed like the easiest 13er around that wasn't in either Summit or Clear Creek counties. That went well so I decided to try something slightly harder and the east face route up Sheridan sounded like it fit the bill. It also offered the chance to catch Sherman and/or Peerless-Horseshoe if conditions were good and I was feeling up to it. I ended up only doing Sheridan as the snow was starting to get pretty soft as the day went on and I didn't exactly get an early start on the day.
(some pictures were taken on the descent but are merged into place)
It was pretty obvious that one shouldn't attempt to drive past the winter closure. Seems like every time I've been up this road in the Spring, some yo-yo has tried to get past this and gotten stuck. Not this time.
Two signs that say "Park Here"
My FJ and a couple other vehicles were the only ones there.
I found the road well packed by snow machines and I wore spikes as my snowshoe boots have little tread. It was an easy hike to the gate.
Horseshoe always grabs your attention on the way in.
Then came the big surprise of the day - someone is building a home on the Leavick site almost on top of the Mill At least I assume it's a home...
An almost industrial feel to the building
Looking back at the construction
This is a new sign so I guess it's a family of 7 building the home?
From there to the gate, the hike was uneventful and the views were nice on a bluebird day.
Nice snow cornice near the winter route cuttoff
Dauntless Mine
I decided at this point, I would gain the ridge via the dry rocks as the snow here was of the bullet-proof variety and my spikes weren't getting very good traction on anything with an incline.
My route starts behind the structure (pictured above and below) and follows the orange line to the ridge
The loading chute structure (at least that's what I think it is)
The route up to the ridge was pretty easy
Looking back down from near the top of the ridge
And a nice view of Sherman on the way
Another look back down the valley. Sheep Mtn certainly is prominent...
My route would zig-zag up the rocks.
There is a bit of a climber's trial in the rocks but every other time I've gone up this way, I couldn't seem to find it until I was almost half way up. No different this time. The rocks are relatively stable - certainly nothing as bad as Garfield (that I wrote about here)
The route is fairly steep as seen here
Looking left
Looking right
And looking back left
As with virtually every mountain in Colorado on a nice day, the summit views were awesome
Sherman
Dyer
Northern Sawatch
Massive
Elbert, La Plata
Southern Sawatch
Peerless (low on the left) and Horseshoe looking at the north side.
White Ridge
Zoom on Pikes Peak (with a cloud that makes it appear to be erupting.)
It was never clear to me which end of the summit area was the true summit so I shot a short vid from each one. It was a tad windy on the summit as you will hear in the vids.
From the west end
From the east end
The trip down was uneventful although I was glad I had lugged snowshoes along as they were very helpful on the way down.
One last look back at Sheridan.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and please be careful out there!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
It was indeed a lovely day out there... you have a pic of Twin Lakes and you can see me there ... he he... as I was hiking there on the CT and up Willis Gulch!.
@MtnGt - Yeah! I think I did see you! OK, so maybe my eyes aren't really that good... Thanks for the compliment.
@Trotter - Boy, you are spot on with that comment. There were solar panels on the roof (that didn't show up in pics), plus the front door looked more or less residential. Strange house for sure.
...is actually a lair for an international villain! :-) I passed that house twice this winter (actually 4 times, up & down) and daydreamed that building a house on top of an old mineshaft was the perfect setting for a B-quality Hollywood thriller. You know, innocuous vacation house on top, but what evil lurks beneath [insert diabolical laughter here]! Guess I was bored trudging up and down that road!
I really like that area in the winter. Not super hard, but easy access and the mines add a historical flavor. Thanks for posting, Jay!
@Tom - I like the way you think! Perhaps the next James Bond movie will include that house? It had been a couple years (at least) since I'd been up that road and I'm pretty sure I would have noticed it then if it were there... Or maybe not? (the invisibility cloak?)
#Dw13 - You are absolutely right! I will change that now. Thanks for catching that. Also, I do seem to remember the Leavick site being up for sale some time back for next to nothing but I would have guessed the access, lack of water, needing to bring power, etc., would have stopped anyone from building there. Except as Tom pointed out - the random international villain...
Someone already beat me to the Pikes Peak volcano confirmed joke. I'll follow it up by saying that Pikes is a conspiracy, Horseshoe is the real volcano and it erupted sideways, Mount Saint Helens-style!!!!!1481##1!11!$!11! Nice report, Jay!
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