Point 13,556 (labeled as Point 13,545)

June 20, 2022

~3.6 miles, ~2,000 gain

TH: Linkins Lake Trailhead

Max difficulty: Class 2+

The newly "discovered" ranked 13ers via LiDAR has me motivated to return to a past obsession – 13er bagging. The routes described below I climbed were undoubtedly not the shortest or the easiest but seemed the most aesthetic. It's about enjoying the climbing and not just checking a box; in hindsight, how I perhaps should have climbed some of my prior peaks.

It's been less than a week since I tested positive for COVID. I was feeling alright and was certainly going stir crazy from isolation in the house (I was past the 5 day isolation period). With a good weather forecast without storms, I casually left Denver at 9 AM and made the 3 hour drive over Independence Pass. I parked at the Linkins Lake Trailhead located at a large switchback on the western side of Independence Pass (~1.9 miles from the summit of the pass) and began hiking up the Linkins Lake Trail (#1979) around 12:30 PM. I took my pace very slow to see how my stamina would hold up. After 0.2 mile of hiking, I crossed a stream and reached a trail junction. I departed the Linkins Lake Trail and continued on the well-signed Lost Man Trail (right).

I continued up the well-traveled Lost Man Trail through a willow-strewn valley for an additional 1.4 miles. Before reaching Independence Lake after crossing a little stream at ~12,460', I left the Lost Man Trail and began hiking towards Point 13,556's north ridge since the ridge looked like an appetizing scramble. A reasonably stable talus grind east led me to the ridge's base at ~13,240'. I took a short break and then continued south up the ridge crest. The ridge looked more challenging than it actually climbed. Acceptably sound rock guided me to the summit (class 2+) where I easily avoided any tricky sections on the ridge's left or right side. For the descent, I hiked down Point 13,556's class 2 talus ridge to the top of a scree-filled gully at ~13,360' and headed west down the gully back towards Independence Lake. Some have taken this gully for an ascent route which would be terrible considering all of the loose rock. A quick scree-ski had me back in the basin and on the trail. I returned back to the parking area around 3:20 PM and felt pretty good. I made the quick drive to the Rockdale Trailhead for my next objective and slept a solid 11 hours. Far from fully recovered.

Point 13,486 (labeled as Point 13,472)

June 21, 2022

~11.4 miles, ~3,700 gain. (If I parked at Clohesy, ~5.4 miles, ~2,700 gain)

TH: Rockdale (could have been Clohesy Lake)

Max difficulty: Class 2, Moderate Snow

Ah, the Rockdale Trailhead river crossing..... Over 20 years ago, I got a vehicle stuck crossing Clear Creek in May. I'm not as bold with water crossings, and the water seemed high, so I parked at the base of the Clohesy Lake Road instead. The following morning, I crossed the river with sandals around 5:30 AM, a rude awakening, and began hiking up the Clohesy Lake Road. Gaining the cirque north of Point 13,486 (labeled as Point 13,472) was not an easy task. I should have crossed the Lake Fork north of Clohesy Lake, followed a faint trail halfway around the lake counterclockwise, and then continued following a faint semi-cairned trail into the cirque – I found this "trail" on my descent. This trail is far from ideal.

I ended up hiking south of Clohesy Lake before crossing Lake Fork and then bushwhacked, not-that-great, west into the cirque. Lots of willows followed by downed timber made progress slow. Once through the bushwhacking, I continued along Lois Lake's north shore into the talus-strewn cirque. Not paying attention to my GPS, I was suckered into a good looking couloir that wasn't my main objective. I ended up hiking into the eastern, northern cirque. Unfortunately, the harder, more inspiring snow line was discontinuous and melted out in sections; I probably missed the climbing window by a week or two.

Fortunately, I could traverse west around a rock rib without losing too much elevation to reach the western north cirque. Once in the western cirque, my original snow climb was obvious. I enjoyed 500 feet of moderate snow climbing (30-35 degrees) until intersecting Point 13,486's east ridge at 13,220' (continuous snow could be climbed from ~12,200' to the saddle). From the top of the couloir, I rambled west up the ridge (class 2, some might argue class 3) until intersecting Point 13,486's north ridge. From there, it was a short class 2 rally south to the top where I arrived at 9:20 AM. The descent was uneventful and a little easier since I found the "trail" back to Clohesy Lake. On my descent, I ran into two vehicles that made the Clear Creek river crossing, so it's manageable this time of year. I arrived back at the car at 12:20 PM, made a quick drive to Ellingwood Ridge and slept another 11 hours.

I'm not entirely sure the north face couloir on Point 13,486 would be worth the invested approach from Rockdale; however, it's probably worth the effort if parked at Clohesy Lake and you could locate the “trail” into the northern cirque.