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Mosquito Range | Pike National Forest | Fairplay, CO
05/17/20 | 7.10 miles | 2,515' gain | Class 2
All May, my friend Allie and I were dying to find 13ers that were melted out enough for us to hike without snow gear. We had a dry spring so the high country melted out relatively early, and we started seeing other people's reports of snow-free routes.
The east slopes of Mount Sheridan was one of the first dry routes we found. Fourmile Creek Road wasn't open all the way to the trailhead yet, so a little extra road walking was in our future, but it would still be a relatively easy hike.
The east slopes of Mount Sheridan are just ahead, a snow-free path just for us!
We parked just past the Leavick mill. There was a snowdrift blocking the road that we weren't sure we could drive through, so we parked without investigating it too much, already resigned to walking the road. The road was very gradual and was a perfect warm-up, though as we walked we realized we could have driven a bit more (oops!).
Dauntless Mine area
We soon passed the summer trailhead and the Dauntless Mine, where we cut off the road and began our ascent of Mount Sheridan. A few people were attempting nearby 14er Mount Sherman and hadn't brought a map. We gave the best directions we could, and it seems they found another group to tag along with later, so hopefully they were able to summit! (Please, for the love of God, always hike prepared!)
One of many...many breaks.
Above the Dauntless Mine, the terrain transitioned from gradual road to steep tundra. We picked our way around the few remaining patches of snow, very rarely encountering an unavoidable section. After the first slope, we came upon a flat area and made very good time getting to the base of the final slope.
Getting closer!Mount Sherman (14,036')Sheep Mountain (left; 12,818') & Lamb Mountain (center; 12,438') beyondSomeone wasn't thrilled about the wind making her ears stand up...
Only 550' of steep & semi-loose talus remained between us and the summit, and we made surprisingly quick time. The wind was starting to pick up and it was COLD. We were able to find trail segments that switchbacked up the talus, saving us some effort.
We stayed on the cold & windy summit just long enough to get a few pictures and then began our descent. Once we were out of the wind, we took our lunch break and then spent some time exploring various mine ruins & relics.
Mine ruinsPikes Peak (14,115') is wayyy out there! The mountains in front are Sheep & Lamb again"Blower No. 5"Mount ShermanIf you've met Lady, you know she's crazy. If you've ever seen Lady lay down on a trail, you know she's tired.
We slowly meandered back to the road and followed it down to the car.
First alpine wildflower of 2020!Ptarmigan! Still in her/his winter garb.Fin!
My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Comments or Questions
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