I was in Lake City for a few days before my friend Whiley was to run the High Five 100, a 100-mile-plus ultra that, among other things, bags the five 14ers around Lake City - Uncompahgre, Wetterhorn, Handies, Redcloud, and Sunshine (in that order for the race). With the extra time I drove up to Cooper Creek Trailhead near the Grizzly Gulch/Silver Creek trailhead (for Handies/Redcloud/Sunshine), hoping to finish off the 13ers I had left in the area. I started with a loop netting four 13ers northeast of Cinnamon Pass. The title of this trip report is a reference to Gudy Gaskill, who is the visionary behind the Colorado Trail ("Gudy Peak" is clearly named for her, and I assume next door neighbor "C.T. Peak" is a reference to the Colorado Trail). The Colorado Trail is one of Colorado's finest stretches of trail, and at 486 miles from Durango to Denver, is a part of the access route for numerous 13ers and 14ers. The title is also a shoutout to those who write trip reports, including those who wrote reports on this quadruplet before me. I'm writing this not because it's a particularly exciting set of peaks but because everyone seemed to mention how crappy the descent off Point 13,540 A is en route to "Gudy", and I wanted to use the vision of those who came before me to show an easier way.

From Cooper Creek Trailhead I hiked west on the road towards Cinnamon Pass. I was solo so I'd have to loop it instead of shuttle it like most folks do. This section of road isn't particularly exciting either, and I tried to get through it as quickly as possible. After about an hour and 20 minutes and a little over four miles, I was up most of the switchbacks. The road was busy and I was glad to be able to leave it up steep grass in a small drainage. My goal was to reach lower angle terrain north of the road.

I continued northwest with the aim of contouring on an old road that traversed Wood Mountain A's east face, then shot east across the slopes of Point 13,427.

I ended up quite a ways above the road but found an old, faint mining trail to use instead. This trail is visible in the third photo just below the cliffs.

The trail eventually petered out on a bench below the ridge, then picked up again beyond the bench.

The terrain upon leaving the bench turned to an annoying mix of tundra and rock before shifting entirely to rock. Views from the summit were excellent in usual San Juan fashion.

From 13,427 it was a simple Class 2 walk over to 13,540 A.

From the summit of 13,540 A "C.T Peak" looked quite far away. I also knew from previous trip reports that this was where the easy terrain came to an end. The ridge direct to the saddle with "C.T" is steep, scrambly, and apparently extremely loose. It seems most people don't like this section, so I had kept an eye out for an easier way down that wouldn't involve the ridge direct. That easier way? Back track a quarter mile along the ridge and go down grass. That's it. Well, that was underwhelming. I'm surprised everyone seems to take the crappy option, even if it's more direct. No doubt it takes more time on the unpleasant rock!

The small amount of extra distance was worth it when I got down and saw the mess of towers and cliffs that would require navigating going ridge direct.

The only part of this workaround I didn't like was the talus in the bowl, but it's a fair sight better to walk across than scramble down.

I crossed the bowl, found a decent section to climb out, and was back to tundra between the peaks.

The remaining hike up "C.T." was nothing more than a Class 2 tundra and talus hike.

The ridge between "C.T." and "Gudy" was rockier than the others but still stayed at Class 2. It was a quick hike to the last peak of the day.

Views from the summit of "Gudy Peak" were outstanding in the evening light.

The easiest way down from the summit of "Gudy" was another reversal of the ridge I had just come up, followed by another grassy descent into Cooper Creek drainage.

There was a bit of loose junk getting off the ridge in pursuit of the grass, but once again it was short-lived and I was quickly on easy and fast grass.

From the bottom of the drainage I should have crossed over to the south side of the creek - there's a trail that runs along the south side before crossing over to the north side, which would have been faster and easier than finding my own path along the north side. Eventually I ran into the trail, whereupon a ran down to the road. What a trail this is! I'd been on it with Whiley in November of 2020 and don't remember it being so well maintained, including dozens of log steps on the lower section.

I raced down owing to the encroaching shadows at the end of the day, hopped in my van, and drove up to the American Basin/Cinnamon Pass junction, planning an even bigger day the next day. These might not be the most exciting peaks - unless one takes the crappy scramble off 13,540 A, that is - so I was happy to have kept it not so exciting, for once.

Statistics

Climbers: Ben Feinstein (myself)
Trailhead: Cooper Creek

Total distance: 14.01 miles
Total elevation gain: 5,142 feet
Total time: 6:52:08
Peaks: Four thirteeners

• Point 13,427
• Point 13,540 A
• "C.T. Peak", 13,312'
• "Gudy Peak", 13,566'

Splits: